Unbearably HoT

After scanning the flutter of e-mails this morning asking what my impressions of 3.1 were, all I can really say is that I logged on half-asleep at 1 a.m. when I got back from Distant Worlds and half-heartedly respecced. In my somnolent haze I didn’t even bother inputting my Bear build—I bought it and then remembered mounts could swim when I fell into Lake Elune’ara. I also started the first of the quests for the Argent Tournament, mostly because I’m determined to get as many pets as possible, and then hearthed back to Dalaran for Fishing Dailies (that I didn’t do, because I somehow took the portal to Stormwind). No excuses, kids. Play like a champion, m I rite?

Though I did miss out on our guild’s first forays into Ulduar (because partying with Uematsu took lead on this one), it seems as though many players in general experienced an enormous amount of lag and/or critical errors when entering the instance. Our guild had little trouble with the Flame Leviathan but soon discovered that Ignis was fundamentally bugged and near impossible to kill in that state. Awesome. If the emergency maintenance today is any indication, Blizzard is likely rectifying many of these issues as we speak and I’ll have a more comprehensive report of Ulduar tomorrow. In the meantime, here are few articles that I’ll be working on updating for your reference pleasure:

• SUPER New Two-handers that will make your pussy go wild! Armor penetration ratings need to be adjusted, and new items are being discovered all the time. A downloadable weapon spreadsheet is on the to-do list for this week.
• Mixology 101. While the lists of consumables remains the same, the weighting of various stats has changed (along with mechanics of key abilities, such as Savage Roar). As such, Elixir of Major Agility and Elixir or Armor Piercing edge out the Flask of Endless Rage (although flasks are still generally preferable for times when you know you’ll be wiping).

What else can you expect to see soon?

• A new guide to eatables.
• DPS gem guide. Bottom line? Start turning those Scarlet Rubies into Delicate and Fractured sparklies.
• Breakdown of a rotation that capitalizes off of Armor Penetration v. one that benefits primarily from AGI.
• A tanking revisitation. As of now, I’m officially getting slotted as an off-tank for trash and various other encounters and as such, will refocus much of my attention to maximizing that discipline. For recent Bear ramblings, please visit Karthis and Kalon at Of Teeth and Claws and ThinkTank, respectively.

Keep the questions coming!

Now that the days of so-called “utility” classes are over and hybrids should be doing nearly as much (if not the same) amount of damage as pure DPS classes, it’s time to start thinking like a pure DPS class. Have you taken a talent that doesn’t amplify your damage? Does that talent greatly increase the damage of the raid group? No? Skip it. You want to start every rotation hearing that dude from Crysis saying “MAXIMUM STRENGTH” in your head.

The 0/55/16 build effectively gives you all of the high-damage tools you need to rock out and omits any sort of general survivability. You can arguably move a few points around to customize your build to do exactly what you want to (ex. drop Improved Leader of the Pack for Feral Instinct). If you’re exceptionally concerned about Swipe damage on trash, you can make a macro like the one below to give you a little more of an edge and bind it to your Swipe button:

/#showtooltip Swipe (Cat)

/equipslot 18 Idol of Perspicacious Attacks

/startattack

/cast Swipe (Cat)

And then switch back by binding your other idol of choice to an ability you primarily associate with single target damage, such a Shred:

/#showtooltip Shred

/equipslot 18 Idol of Massive Boners

/startattack

/cast Shred

Notable DPS talents that have changed substantially:

• Heart of the Wild. The DPS part of this talent hasn’t changed; however, 5/5 Heart of the Wild will only give you a 10% STA boost in Dire Bear form now, meaning that if you decide to be a total retard and pull aggro during a trash pack, going Bear and hoping for the best will make you a squishier target than you remember.
• Rend and Tear. The FB critical strike bonus has been reduced down to 25% from 50%. This may diminish the effectiveness of working FB into a regular rotation; however, using the Idol of the Ravenous Beast while stacking at least 200 Armor Penetration may prove to bump up the usefulness of FB beyond DPS simulations. To that end, this build also maxes out Feral Aggression.
• Primal Gore. Completely new. Although this talent now only boosts our Rip and Lacerate DoT damage (rather than Rake as well), it is a substantial damage multiplier. Have the Idol of Worship? You won’t be disappointed.
• Improved Mark of the Wild. If you didn’t already have this worked into your build, you should. 2/2 IMotW now acts like a baked-in Blessing of Kings and increases all of your total attributes by 2%.

Glyphs to have on hand (once they’re available):

• Glyph of Savage Roar
• Glyph of Shred
• Glyph of Berserk
• Glyph of Rip
• Glyph of Mangle

I never had the opportunity to test Glyph of Berserk, although I tend to think that you’d be better off with Glyph of Savage Roar (a veritable no-brainer), Glyph of Rip, and Glyph of Mangle. Obviously, if you have some other form of manglebot available (like a Bear tank or a Warrior with Trauma), you won’t be using Mangle and can substitute that Glyph for something else. 

All other talent choices should be self-explanatory. Questions? Drop me a line.

Like so many of you out there, I’m currently going through the whole Immortal process. It’s ridiculous. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve made it through the entirety of a 25-man Naxxramas run without dying, I’d have…well, enough to go out for dinner and drinks. The point I’m trying to make is that you have to rely not only on yourself and your machine, but everyone else’s ADD, shit-ass computer, family situation, and play style. Last week, we had a tragic mana-bomb incident during the last 35% or so of the Kel’thuzad encounter. It’s frustrating enough when it’s one of our own careless mistakes, but last week when we tried again, we only made it as far as Gothik when an instance glitch stomped our hopes and dreams. Have any of you ever experienced Gothik’s adds moving through the walls to go from Live to Dead side (and vice versa)? Yeah, neither had we. Before we had time to say “What the FUCK?” a group of spectral dudes sashayed from our side to Live and annihilated a Mage and a Boomkin. 

Now, according to a GM, we have approximately 1-2 more weeks to complete this achievement.

I was personally excited to share the news that we essentially already knew: we’d be getting the patch at the end of April. In a recently published Blue post, however, Wryxian alludes to the fact that they’re “basically on the verge of releasing” the patch, and that it is coming “promptly.” I’m curious if this means we’ll see Ulduar and all the accompanying goodies tomorrow. Naturally, I also thought I had at least one more week to get my shit together:

• Make all my flasks before the materials change and stock up on Elixirs of Major Agility and Armor Piercing (at least I have the mats for this, m i rite?)
• Load up on 10 Fractured Scarlet Rubies (the recipe for which Mortality farmed last night) and 10 Delicate Scarlet Rubies for resocketing purposes
• Cement my temporary Bear set for dual-specs (you know, like, turn in those tokens sitting in the bank)
• Farm even MOAR foods
• Prepare for ultimate pet obtainment. 

Just how in-the-know are GMs anyway? What do YOU still need to do before 3.1 hits? 

Just to keep everyone updated, I’m working on finishing up my latest cycle of 3.1 DPS tests for cool cats. If you have any questions or ideas that you’d like tested before I post my article, drop me a line and I’ll see what I can do to accommodate you. I’ll just say this: to all the kittens out there, you’ll be very, very pleased with unbuffed damage come 3.1. 

Please note that Mr. Rogue’s damage is not indicative of potential Rogue damage in 3.1. He, too, was testing out various build and and poison and glyph combinations and I couldn’t tell you which one this was at all. 

Oh, and because someone asked, yes, I am raiding again, and I’m currently playing on Silver Hand with a fine group of people. They’re particularly dedicated to improvement, tracking goals, and researching what’s coming up—exactly who I like to see and participate with. 

When everyone starts talking about the new bosses in Ulduar, I can’t help getting a little excited about the XT-002 Deconstructor—and it’s not just because he drops Twisted Visage. I remember Doomwalker’s ominous voice with peculiar longing, and I’m not sure anyone can resist watching Void Reaver rev his invisible motorcycle. Nothing gets my pistons pumping like giant robots, and I don’t think the Deconstructor will disappoint. The Deconstructor goes back up for testing on the PTR next Tuesday, and I’ve attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the the Deconstructor’s abilities and offer general strategic information. This information is based on previous PTR testing and is thus subject to change dramatically.

OVERVIEW

XT-002 lurks at the back of a long, rectangular room and seems to be doing some sort of mech-calisthenics when you open the door. I guess I’d be pretty pissed if a bunch of mouth-breathers dropped in on me during my private exercise session, and he reacts accordingly. The main tank pulls Mr. Roboto and tanks him where he stands, just barely pulled back up onto the stairs (although I’ve also seen him pulled back to the room’s entrance). As the raid enters the room, spread out—the Deconstructor will randomly target any raid member and drop a Light Bomb on him or her. This debuff does approximately 2,500 damage per second to any target within 10 yards, so the idea is to get your sorry ass to 11 and eliminate any chance of splash damage. We’ve seen this mechanic on bosses from C’thun to Illidan to Kel’thuzad, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise now. Don’t stand in the fire, don’t BE the fire, and turn on your range checker.

While thoroughly trashing the tank, XT-002 will choose another random target and cast Gravity Bomb. This is another range-sensitive ability that necessitates the Gravity Bomb haul ass out of the raid (think THE LIVING BOMB). After nine seconds, the target explodes and creates a Gravity Well. If the Gravity Well is within 10 yards of any other player, those players will be sucked into the well and crushed for approximately 19,000 damage. Clearly, this is not optimal. As a DPS Druid (or any Druid pressed for time, for that matter), you can hit up Dash and peace out pretty quickly (as if your already increased movement speed isn’t enough). If you happen to be tanking, you don’t have to worry about either of these spells (unless melee is giving you splash damage).

The Deconstructor will periodically cast Tympanic Tantrum: a 2 second spellcast that nukes the entire raid for 10% damage every 1 second for 12 seconds. It also applies an AOE daze effect, making it more difficult for bomb targets to move into and out of the raid. Everyone will be taking damage. Resto Druids make particularly good use of Wild Growth, here, and stacking other AOE healers such as Holy Priests and Shamans makes this portion of the fight mostly trivial. Don’t worry though—Paladins and Discipline Priests still form important components of the 25-man raid group for both buffs and superior single-target healing. It’s a smart idea to dedicate your Paladin or Priest to the main tank so that you ensure consistent tank healing during the Tympanic Tantrum phases. For all you trees out there, it’s well worth watching who’s been target with a bomb before the Deconstructor casts Tympanic Tantrum. The bomb target will take an enormous amount of damage very quickly, and a well-timed HoT could mean the difference between dangerously low health and a dirt bath (a good time for Survival Instincts, if you’re me). 

But it can’t stay that easy the entire fight, right? At 75%, 50%, and 25%, XT-002 spawns a series of adds from the corner scrap heaps that need to be destroyed immediately before DPS can return to the boss.

• XM-024 Pummeler: Melee mob with a “frontal Arcing Smash, a Trample, and Uppercut.” Can be tanked, and has the most hit points of all the bots.
• XE-321 Boombot: What does it sound like? This blows up. Everything. You, other bots, you name it. 12-13k damage within a 20 yard range.
• XS-013 Scrapbot: Zombie Chow. If you let this reach the Deconstructor, it will heal him for a fixed percentage. Has the fewest hit points of all the bots.

Right now, these mobs can all be Death Gripped and pulled back into the raid to be AOE’d to death or be picked up by a designated off-tank. I recommend focusing damage on the Scrapbots  while letting an off-tank dick around with the Pummelers. Feral Druids are in a unique position, because even without the ease of dual-specs, a Cat can still stop damage and tank (and admittedly take more damage) and a Bear can still do reasonable damage and then head back to pick up the bots. To be fair, however, this off-tanking job could likely be accomplished very similarly by a DPS Warrior with a shield or a Death Knight using Frost Presence. If you do this rather than stack an additional “fully Prot” tank, you can maximize your overall damage done. Ranged DPS must focus-fire the Boombots, unless the healers are bored and the melee have a collective death wish. 

While all this is going on, the Deconstructor simultaneously shits out an “Energy Orb” that moves toward a random corner of the room. If you have your ranged DPS focus on the “Energy Orb” and bring it down to 50%, the orb will explode, reducing everyone’s HP by half within 20 yards (this is why I say RANGED DPS; I’m looking at YOU, Boomkin). This major explosionkapow also decimates any adds nearby, which means that if you can finagle the bots into the 20 yard radius of the moving orb, you can focus DPS on the orb rather than each individual bot—and then play clean-up. Handy, m I rite?

This fight is essentially a rinse and repeat show, and judging from some of the feedback on the forums, isn’t all that difficult so long as you’re playing it smart and ensuring you’ll make the 10 minute enrage timer. If you were to hit the enrage at exactly 10 minutes, this means putting out 29,750 total raid damage per second. Assuming seven-ish healers, one main tank, and one occasional offtank, this means that the other 16 DPS need to average 1859 DPS. That’s pathetic. More than likely, everyone will average higher than 3k. Sustaining 4k (which may not happen since you’ll be running around and killing adds) will average out at 64,000 raid damage per second. That’s pretty good. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. 

ABILITIES

• Tympanic Tantrum. Deals 10% damage every 1 sec for 12 sec. Nearby enemies are also dazed for the duration.
• Light Bomb. Deals 2500 damage every 1 sec. to all enemies within 10 yards of the caster for 9 seconds.
• Gravity Bomb. Charges the target with dark energy, causing them to explode and pull in nearby allies after 9 sec.  This triggers Gravity Well.
  • Gravity Well. Pulls enemies within 10 yards into a gravity well, dealing 19000 to 21000 damage. 

BREAKDOWN

1. Boss is engaged. Main tank brings the Deconstructor to the back of the room so that the scrap heaps are on either side and places his/her back to the wall. The raid spreads out so that there’s approximately 10 yards between each individual to minimize splash damage from Light Bomb and Gravity Bomb/Well.
2. Hard DPS as normal. Boss will periodically target a raid member for Light Bomb (AOE damage to others) and Gravity Bomb (initial damage and then a Gravity Well). Treat these individuals like Geddon’s “Living Bomb” and make sure that they exit the raid (ensuring 11 yards+ between other raid members).
3. Boss periodically casts Tympanic Tantrum which AOEs the entire raid (10% damage every second per 12 seconds) and dazes everyone. AOE healing is preferred.
4. At 75% (and every 25% thereafter), the boss spawns Pummelers, Boombots, and Scrapbots. He also conjurs an Energy Orb that moves toward the corner of the room. The Energy Orb may be taken to 50% where it will blow up and reduce everyone within 20 yards HP to half—and destroy all bots. Scrapbots cannot be allowed to reach the Deconstructor because they’ll heal him. Stay out of the way of the Boombots.
5. Once all adds have been destroyed, resume damage on XT-002.

Repeat steps 2-5 and collect loot.

HARD MODE OVERVIEW (because we like it hard, right?)

Every 25% (you know, when all the adds are spawning and there’s a big energy orb), XT-002 bares his heart to the raid—you can choose whether or not to break it. Right now there seems to be a bug in that only ranged DPS can hit the heart (2 million HP) unless you do some super positioning on the stairs and/or the ledge; I imagine this will be changed to prevent XTREEM ranged DPS stacking. After you kill the heart, XT-002 will be healed to full and initiates Dashboard Confessional mode: you break his heart, he increases damage and HP by 25%.

In addition, the Gravity Bomb targets now spawn Void Zones that hit folks for 7,500 damage, and the Light Bombs spawn Life Sparks that cannot be crowd controlled and deal 1,500 Nature Damage to anyone within 500 yards every 3 seconds. The rest of the fight proceeds as normal.

The clear difficulty indicator here is whether you kill the heart at 75%, 50%, or 25%—the longer you wait, the more staying power you need to get the job done within the 10 minute enrage timer.

ABILITIES

• Heartbreak. The heart of the XT-002 Deconstructor has been severed, removing the combat limitations of the XT-002 Deconstructor.  Damage increased by 25%. Health increased by 25%.
• Gravity Bomb: Spawns Void Zones. Summon a Void Zone that deals 7500 Shadow damage to enemies that stand within it. 
• Light Bomb: Spawns a Life Spark add every 15-30 seconds that can’t be crowd controlled, has 189k HP (Heroic) and casts Static Charged.
  • Static Charged. Deals 1500 Nature damage to all enemies within 500 yards every 3 sec. 

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

• Many YouTube videos.
• WoWWiki
• World of Raids
• StratFU
• WoW Dungeons & Raids Forums
• Wowhead’s PTR site
• Updates and additional information are welcomed.