Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Getting Ready

So I'm going to Karazhan on Saturday. For the first time. I think that these next few days are going to be spent getting as ready for it as I possibly can.

Ran Heroic Mech yesterday-- our little instancing group decided we really need to get back into shape instance-wise because we haven't been running them as often as we used to-- and I maintain that Panthaleon the Calculator must really love me, because last time he dropped my gloves and trinket, and this time he dropped my gloves again (they got disenchanted) and also [Beast Lord Helm]. Now, I'm currently wearing [Gladiator's Chain Helm], and when I've got both of them all gemmed up and stuck a [Glyph of Ferocity] on them... Beast Lord Helm gives me about 2 extra attack power and a little mana regen, and Gladiator's Chain Helm gives me over 1% crit. Not to mention the stamina boost-- I'm sitting at about 6700 HP with Beast Lord. I feel like the world's flimsiest glass cannon.

You may be asking "Why say goodbye to so much crit and stamina?" And the answer is: The two-piece Beast Lord set bonus: Set: Reduces the cooldown on your traps by 4 sec.

I have always seen Crowd Control as being my #1 job in a party. CC comes before DPS on my little priority list. Always. (Unless everybody else in the party can CC-- but when I'm with my normal group, I'm always main CC.) And this trap cooldown is something that I see as being essential for Kara, especially as I have been informed that I am going to be one of the main providers of CC (alongside a priest). I'm glad I managed to snag this helmet before the weekend.

So now I've gained a shortened trap cooldown but lost a bunch of crit. What to do about this? The answer, I think, comes in the form of a list:

1.) Slap a [Stabilized Eternium Scope] on my bow (replacing +10 damage, which is on there currently).
2.) Get the exalted Scryer shoulder enchant (I've got the honored one already, but the exalted one gives a little more crit and some attack power)
3.) Replace the +7 agi enchant on my gloves with the +15 agi enchant.

I want to get those three things done by this weekend. Can I do it? ...I've no idea. I'm only Honored with Scryer (getting close to Revered though, I've been grinding rep in Shadowmoon and Netherstorm these past couple of days) and I've spent several hundred gold these past few days mostly on gear enhancements and the like, so I'm questioning whether or not I have the money for the new scope and glove enchant.

But you'd better believe I'm gonna try my hardest. I want to go into Kara feeling as ready as I possibly can be.

By the way, I think I'm going to borrow a page from Matticus and "liveblog" my first Kara run. What I'm trying to decide is... should I type it all up as I go along and then hit the "Publish Post" button after we're done for the night? Or should I publish it first thing and edit it throughout the run? I'm sorta thinking the first option is the best one, because I doubt anyone is going to be sitting at the edge of their seat refreshing my blog. =P But, we'll see!

16 comments:

Rabbit Stew said...

Hey Pike,

Congratulations on your impending first visit to Kara. I think the idea of "live blogging" it is fantastic. I'll definitely check in on Saturday

Anonymous said...

I just got keyed last night. If you have anyone in the raid that's run kara before, you will be ok. If noone has... read up on wowhead about every boss. I've already gotten a feel of what to expect just by reading up on strategy and tactics.
And for the love of the earth mother, If you don't have improved revive pet, get it. I saved us from a wipe in arc last night with it.
Ralowae and BlackTooth, Zangermarsh

Anonymous said...

As far as trapping goes in Kara it kind of depends upon your group makeup. If you have two priests most likely you won't be doing much trapping. Add in the fact that Kara mobs at least to me seem to resist more often. Which is why regardless of that beast lord set bonus or not you will want to be sure that the cooldown on your trap is up before you have to trap a mob. My other recommendation to facilitate is when you have the time set make sure everyone knows by that time they should either have or be close to having all their repairs done, food, bandages, and pots ready. My recommendation for pots/food to use if you can obtain them are fel mana potions, Elixer of Greater Agility, and Warp Burgers. Gear wise I think you're overall better prepared then I was overall. The key piece to your run will be more as to how well geared your tank is and your offtank for certain encounters. Last night I ran Kara and got to Attumen and our offtank got killed early on but our MT was geared well enough that he tanked both Attumen and Midnight at the same time and then was tanking through them combined. It was pretty sweet to see. Good luck to ya and hopefully I didn't ramble on too much

Matticus said...

If you find yourself in a lull between trash pulls, you can always update it along the way and hit publish. While most readers might not be spamming refresh, they might check back every 30 minutes or so. =)

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to the 'live blog' of your Kara run. My first time in was two weeks ago - a very fun time. If you're planning on doing a full clear, make sure you have a full quiver/pouch of ammo AND a full bag of ammo. You'll need them.

Daniel said...

Good luck on your Karazhan run. May it be filled with Hunter loots and awesome ranged weapons. :)

Anonymous said...

Good Luck Pike!
Can't wait to see what happens.
May Elune bless you with all of your goals before you go!

Rayare said...

KARA KARA KARA!

Unknown said...

Yeah, if you have a good priest and a good off tank, you will have to do very little trapping in there except on one or two of the packs leading up to Attumen.

Hexapuma said...

Looking forward to your first Kara experience. I recommend you publish it after the run. Will give you more time to focus on the actual raid and edit the post before posting it.

Cheers!

Ratshag said...

Lucks! Funs! Lewts! And other assorted wishes!

LS said...

We actually don't have any priests at the moment, which I'm really hoping I'm able to find in the next couple days.

Speaking of which, if any of you know a priest on silver hand...

Michael said...

I hope you enjoy Moroes as much as I did my first time. :)

Jim S. said...

There really should be an addon to let you blog while questing. :-) Maybe someone will write one.

Mirshalak said...

If you're going to be doing CC in Kara, Pike...have you considered respeccing?

Resourcefulness gives 69% off the mana cost of traps and 6 seconds off the trap cooldown; if you had that and BL you'd get a full 10 seconds off.

However, another thought is that if hypothetically you were going to go Surv, you'd want your ag prolly 200 or so higher. I've never been a fan of the BL set for my own use, I'll admit, due to that being the main reason; you can get more ag via other means.

I definitely consider BM a more pure damage build, though; you get around 100 DPS over Surv, but that 100 DPS buys you a lot of utility on the Survival side of the fence. If CC is becoming your primary interest, it's definitely something I'd consider. :)

teflaime said...

I would definately try to get above about 7500 HP if you can. You need 7500 HP to survive the Shade of Aran, if you are the target of the arcane missiles or if you get caught it the sheep/pyroblast.

Good luck. Hope you get the crossbow from Attumen:D