Monday, October 18, 2010

The Time They Are A Changing

Or rather the times they have a changed already.
The big class changes patch dropped last week and though I haven't taken the full amount of time I probably could have checking out the changes I have to say I am liking what I have seen so far pretty well. But before I get into what I do like I think I should get the bitching out of the way about the things I don't.

To start with I absolutely hate the Blizzard raid frames. Don't get me wrong, it was terribly nice of them to squeeze that in there but the things are more in the way than anything for me. I don't use the Blizzard stock frames for anything and I haven't for a long time. I'm not knocking them for being there but they just don't fit the layout I have for my UI theses days. I think they should have put an option in to turn it completely off rather than just a hide button that still shows a hideously big tab on the side. I haven't seen a way to move it either (not that blizzard's UI options have ever been movable without 3rd party help from what I have seen) but that would also be something nice for them to add in the coming expansion. That's about the only change I haven't liked so far.

The Blizz power auras have turned out to be pretty nice even if I am still getting use to them and what they mean. They provide a good start but it would be nice if they were customizable in some form like the addon they are based on but since they aren't they still work well with the original add-on for me. Overall I like them.

Now the thing I have been spending the most time on is getting use to focus on my hunter. I was one of the hunters that was completely hyped about losing mana and so far I still feel the same way. Its taking some getting use to but focus is working out fairly nicely for me. I am enjoying the more complex BM rotation (yes I went BM did you have any doubt I would) and also the new pet abilities. I cant even begin to express how nice it is to have such a large pet stable now. One thing I am missing I wasn't expecting to is my volley. I mean it was really only useful in WOTLK but as AoE heavy as Wrath has been it kinda sucks not being able to do a nice AoE like all the not as cool as me kids. Two places I came across that it really sucked badly in were the cleansing chamber going to Prof Putput himself and the damned gates in strat when I was farming something. Since our AoE is dependent on range AND explosive trap things that don't trip traps leave us a bit screwed. So I get to stand there and feel completely useless as I watch Snuggles spaz around the screen like a real kitty does and make random comments in vent. I am sure I will get used to things again though. Volley was fairly crappy in BC and so was rarely used and I am sure I will forget all about it once I am out of AoE fest Wrath for good. On the other side of the AoE spectrum, explosive trap and multi-shot proved way more effective than I was expecting in my raid last week. I wasn't as high as I used to be but I wasn't too far behind it either.

As for my other toons, I haven't taken the time to sit down with anything other than my DK at the moment. I've specced my paladin, warrior, and shaman as well but just haven't wanted to get into them just yet so I will give more updates as I do.

What I have been doing a lot of is enjoying how much better things are running for me in game now since the patch dropped. The water and updated graphics in some areas have been a welcome change for me as I often find myself wandering the landscape just to pass the time and get my memories in before they all go away. Sure the looks don't have all that much to do with how I play but you have to admit for a game that's nearly 6 years old, warcraft is covering her gray hairs very well. Still would be nice to get some character model updates but I can't complain too much about that.

All in all this has been a fun patch for me and given me a nice boost in my lagging desire to play these days.

- Eds

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