OMG I hate html!

OMG I hate html! I got my hands on the domain www.gamingface.com so I thought it was a good time to re-work all of Gaming Faces. What I have done is move all blogs to here and sorted all the Game and WOW class pages to 1) look the same  and 2) load a lot faster and 3) at the same time (I hope) look better!

Just as I got it all looking good I noticed an error with the posting box in the back end of the site. I cannot edit it at this time so I'm stuck with it the way it is ... all thanks to the new blogger Read more feature ...

I still have more work to do on the site but I hope you like it!

OK, bored now ...

With the introduction of TOC, Blizzard gave us a new level of loot - 245. Even the 10 man loot is 232 and most of it is better than the stuff that drops in Ulduar. Now that we've been at TOC for what, 10 weeks? ... we're finding less and less people are needing anything from other raids. Last week, in under 3 hours, on Wednesday night, we cleared TOC, Onyixa and VOA 25. That's all the possible 245 content in ONE night!

Now we've had a few attempts at hard mode TOC but we don't even seem to be able to scratch the surface. being based in Australia on an Oceanic server makes hard mode TOC a bit harder for some, due to lag issues. Rather than the bosses just having more help and doing damage to the tank, they require the riad to move faster. The first boss for instance puts fire on the floor that gives people less than 2 seconds to move out of before they're dead. Considering most of our raid is running at a 350 ping at best, the first second of that fire de-buff is applied before the player even knows it's there. Blizzard really need to keep latency issues in mind when developing hard modes.

So what does a raid group do now that they can clear all new content in one night? Maybe raid just one night a week? The second night we take two groups in for 10 man. Standard 10 man takes less than 45 minutes but it still leaves 5 of our core raiders sitting out. Hard mode 10 man does provide us with a little bit more 245 content but we're finding that it's hit and miss with what bosses you get in faction champions. The last two weeks have not been a problem but this week we had a healing team of Shaman and Druid and for the life of us we could not kill them. Let's hope Ice Crown Cathedral keeps us busy enough that we're not getting bored so quick.

Babblings of a guild leader

One of the toughest things about progressing in any good MMO game is finding the right group of people to get involved with, ie. what guild to get involved with. In WoW, all the cool content with the best loot requires 25 players. You're dealing with people sitting at a computer in all sorts of places, with different circumstances and various personalities. In my guild we have IT professionals, truck drivers, movie directors, housewives, plumbers, students - all sorts. Trying to keep the peace amongst the group is probably one of the hardest things about playing WoW as a guild leader. I find everybody wants power and no on wants responsibility. But a lot of people expect professionally run organisations when it comes to guilds - but they're not willing to put in the work themselves. So where do you draw the line? I know there are professionally run guilds int he US which even have wages for their officers. Our officers get nothing extra - no extra effort points, no gear perks - nothing that a normal raider doesn't get as we try to avoid favoritism. People who raid the most get the most. If we attempt to favor or provide benefits to officers who do extra work, people complain about unfair advantages. If you're thinking about running a guild - don't do it unless you have a good team behind you. And be prepared to be spat on, spammed at, and hated when you don't do things people want. My advice to people who don't like the way a guild is run is to make one yourself and do it your way.

2 new vanity pets on the PTR

Breanni the little gnome in the pet shop in Dalaran has 2 new pets for us when patch 3.3 hits nothing great but will help people get there pet count up!

World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.3.0

World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.3.0


World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.3.0

The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/
The Forge of Souls, the first wing of the 5-player dungeon, is currently available for testing.
Additional Icecrown Citadel dungeon and raid content will be made available in future test builds.
Dazed: Creatures attacking a player from behind can no longer cause players level 1-5 to be dazed, and have a reduced chance to cause players level 6-10 to be dazed.
Copied Test Realm characters will no longer be copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.

Classes: General


Default Equipment: Starting weapons are now more uniform. Rogues now start with a pair of daggers equipped. All other classes except shamans start with a 2-handed weapon equipped and the required skill already known. Shamans start with a 1-handed weapon and a shield, as they benefit more from the shield than they would from a 2-handed weapon.
Glancing Blows: The mage, warlock, and priest classes no longer have an increased chance for their melee attacks to be glancing blows; and the damage penalty due to their glancing blows is the same as for other classes.
Health and Mana Regeneration: These regeneration rates have been increased by up to 200% for low level characters. As a player's level increases, the regeneration rates gradually reduce, returning to normal rates at level 15.
Spell Mana Costs: These costs have been reduced for almost all lower level spell ranks. In general, if a spell decreased in cost with a higher level rank in patch 3.2.0, that spell now has the decreased cost at all ranks. In addition, spells learned before level 20 with reduced cast times and/or durations have even further reduced mana costs, proportionate to their reduction in cast time or damage.

Races: General

WoW's getting a New massive five-player dungeon.

Icecrown Citadel will feature a massive five-player dungeon sprawling across three wings of the citadel's foundation. While the Lich King's attention is focused on the Argent Crusade and the Knights of the Ebon Blade ripping through the front gates, players will be tested as they assist Jaina Proudmoore (Alliance) and Sylvanas Windrunner (Horde) in infiltrating the citadel through an alternate entrance.

An epic quest line will present adventurers with the task of weakening Icecrown Citadel's forces, requiring that players defeat the challenges in each dungeon wing before venturing into the next one. Normal and Heroic versions of the dungeon will be accessible to players, although each wing will be considered a separate instance; therefore, on Heroic difficulty, each wing will have its own separate lockout timer. All-new rewards -- including item level 219 (normal) and level 232 (Heroic) loot -- will be offered to those who destroy some of the Lich King's most formidable allies.

Star Wars TOR Beta soon!

"We are excited to announce that we are now collecting information for those interested in applying for the opportunity to test Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Our goal is to get feedback to help us make the best game that we can.

We will be selecting testers from the Star Wars: The Old Republic community based on various requirements such as systems specifications, age, and region. Because the testing program requires feedback from within the community, you must have an active Star Wars: The Old Republic (“TOR”) community account to participate (no banned accounts). The testing is limited to members who are 18 years of age or older and requires the acceptance of the Game Testing Agreement included in the TOR community sign-up process. Users that meet the requirements of the test and are selected for inclusion in the test program will be contacted via email (so make sure your email address is up to date!).

Game testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic will be rolled out in several phases over an extended period of time. These test phases will begin with smaller, tightly focused test groups, and later tests will expand.

Want to get your name on the list of potential testers? First, make sure you are a registered member of the Star Wars: The Old Republic community. If you’re not already a member, click here to become one today! Be sure to check the box to indicate you are interested in becoming a tester. If you’re already a member, go to the Game Testing Portal to begin the sign up process.

Please keep in mind that there are no guarantees that you will be selected once you have completed the sign up process. For more information about testing Star Wars: The Old Republic, take time to read the Game Testing FAQ.

We look forward to your help in making Star Wars: The Old Republic a success!"

Onyxia is back on live!

Well boys and girls, Onyxia is back and she is giving away nice lvl 80 245 loot!

You will find her in her old home in Onyxia's Lair, Dustwallow Marsh. There have been no real major changes to her on the test server and it looks like it went live the way she was on the test server.

The only difference from the level 60 Onyixa is that she no longer drops threat and is no longer immune to fire effects and abilities. Deep Breath's cast time has been increased. Onyxian Lair Guards now spawn in phase and Melee can no longer hit Onyxia in Phase 2.

With that said, let's go over the strategy.

Onyxia is still a very easy fight that you can do in about 20 min.

Phase 1: The tank should back her up to the back wall. Healers obviously heal the tank and DPS should stay away from the tail. Phase 2 starts when she gets down to 65% health.

Phase 2: Raiders should group up, get a tank to gather up the whelps and then AoE them down. Once the whelps are down, DPS should get back on to Onyxia who will be moving around the room. Whenever Onyxia spawns a Lair Guard it is advisable to have ranged DPS kill it immediately. The Lair Guards are squishy but they hit melee hard!

When Onyxia emotes for Deep Breath, move away from the front of her to ensure that you are not hit. Often, simply running for the sides of the room will save you! Her flame breath is a cone effect from her mouth.

If you get another wave of whelps, gather and AoE as before. When Onyxia hits 40% she will land for good. She will cast Bellowing Roar immediately upon landing. Finish off whatever adds remain while the tank positions Onyxia (who has wiped threat from phase 1. It's advisable to have a fear ward or a fear break on the tank initially).

Phase 3 is not much different from phase 1 aside from fears, some raid damage from eruption and occasional whelp spawns, which are not too dangerous. She does nothing else special and will die upon reaching 0% HP.

At this time if Reinforced Shadowstrike drops give it to a player that wants Reinforced Thunderstrike as you get a 1 use to summon Reinforced Thunderstrike the Reinforced Thunderstrike that spawns cannot be traded. The the Reinforced Shadowstrike can be traded to a guild member that wants it so you get 2 for 1!

OMG armor penetration for the win ... or is it!?

I've been doing a bit of playing around with spreadsheets and DPS calculators in an attempt to optimize not only my personal raid performance but also the benefits I bring to a raid. These benefits will change from fight to fight and as your gear increases or changes you will find different stats may provide very different results than you expect.

Last night in TOC ten man we had Fordragon Blades drop off Anub'arak. It’s a nice two-hand pole arm but I have Stormrune Edge already, so at first I said, pass, as they're both level 232 items. No one wanted it and it was going to go to an off spec or vender loot. The others players in the raid were telling me that I should take it. They argued that it has more haste and armor penetration and that it was better than Stormrune Edge. Looking at the stats I could see how it might just be better and the hast for Marksman might help too.

After the raid I visited a great online tool for hunters over at FemaleDwarf.com. It's a Hunter online DPS Analyzer and using the analyzer I found out that with my Beast Master spec, Fordragon Blades takes my DPS to 5642.96 and Stormrune Edge takes my DPS to 5662.86. And with Marksman spec, Fordragon Blades takes my DPS to 5812.23 and Stormrune Edge takes my DPS to 5865.30.

Fordragon Blades gave me a 19.9 DPS loss in BM and a 53.07 DPS loss in MM. 53 DPS is a massive loss for a single item!

The Heroic Fordragon Blades (lvl 245) will take my MM DPS to 5866.30, a bonus of 1 dps DPS. Hmm ... not a lot for an upgrade but it looks cool, right?!

As your gear changes so do your requirements. For my hunter, the extra crit on the Stormrune Edge helped my dps a lot more than the haste or armor penetration. When you get in to high end gear you've got to pay attention to diminishing returns and also set bonuses, and what your trinkets proc on. If you use trinkets that have a chance to proc on crit, higher crit may increase the amount of times it procs during the fight. If your 2 set armor bonus lets a special ability crit then that also will get a boost from extra crit. Things are always changing in the game but the devs always seem to want you to balance your stats.

For BM hunters, attack power is the stat of choice up to a certain level. I seem to have hit the cap where attack power gives me more DPS and I’m now adding AGI. Just because someone in the forums says ... "OMG I do 8kDPS when I stack armor penetration, it owns all!" ... does not mean it will work for everyone. Do not be shy to do some testing for yourself and if you can find a spreadsheet or online tool like FemaleDwarf.com then use it. It will help you understand your class and mechanics of the stats you need!

Week 5 in TOC: Anub'arak

Although the Twin Val'kyrs fight was the last official fight in Trial of the Crusader, there is one unofficial fight to go, Anub'arak. After defeating the Lich King's minions, the Twin Val'kyrs, the King himself gets a little upset and makes an appearance. He's so angry that he smashes the floor with Frostmourne and all the raiders drop into the Scarab's lair.

With Anub'arak, like all other fights he will not aggro until your tanks engage him or some idiot gets too close.

Although I've briefly experienced this fight on the PTR weeks ago, please note that some of the strategies mentioned here may not be correct. The fight may have changed since the PTR. I'm taking on Anub'arak tomorrow night and I'll post again with my final recomdations after he's defeated. This is my plan on leading the riad.

To start the fight tanks and melee will run in and engage the boss. Ranged and heals will group in the center of the room. Tanks point the boss away from the raid as he has an AOE cone attack and he hits HARD! A good tank will take hits of up to 22k, so healers need to be ready!

Ranged should shoot down the frost spheres from the roof. By doing that, they fall and you get frost on the ground. The frost will slow players and enemy mobs by 80% but it will also protect players from burrowing mobs and spikes. It will also protect players from Impale but if Impale is cast at a player the frost will de-spawn and the player will have to move. if you get enough for the ground cover with the frost it will actually prevent Anub'arak from burrowing into the ground, completely preventing stage two of the fight.

Any off tanks should stay out of the frost or stay right on the edge because they'll need to pick up Anub'arak's adds. This is the same as in Nax. When Anub'arak burrowes into the ground all DPS kill the adds that spawn during this phase (phase two). The adds have a stacking debuff you need to keep an eye on. Another way to get rid of the adds is to have the off tanks move the adds to Anub'arak's location and range can AOE both the adds and the boss at the same time.

This fight was not hard on the PTR but all players were in T8.5+. Tanks need to pick up the adds fast or you will lose your healers!

When the boss reaches 30% he'll caste Leaching Swarm. See that all adds are dead before he gets to 30% because if the adds get loose at this time in the fight they will kill all your healers.

Anub'arak will leach 10% of the current health off EVERY raid member. The way in which the leach works is that it takes 10% of the player's current health, not their total health pool and transfers it to the boss. The more health players' heave, the more health he will generate. This is where your healers will be tested! Healers keep all DPS at 50% to minimise the health Anub'arak gets from them. At this stage in the fight you need to pop hero, Trinkets EVERY thing you have and burn him so save all your cool-downs for 30%.

MMO-Champion Loot table

This is a video taken from the healer's perspective on the PTR:


This video is taken from the off Tank's view, with really annoying Benny Hill music. I did warn you!


Week 4 in TOC: Twin Val'kyrs
Week 3 in TOC Faction Champions
Crusaders' Coliseum week two: Lord Jaraxxus

Northrend Beast loot table on MMO Champion:
Norththrend Beast video By wow.gamingfaces.net: