Let's play/blog World Of Warcraft | Way of the Warrior | 30 - 40 | #4

Hello again everyone! Welcome to my Let's play/blog series. In this series of blog posts I have been venturing forth on a new character/class combination as voted from my guild mates. In these posts I like to cover my leveling locations, Lore, class abilities and so on. In this episode we're venturing through Western Plaguelands, A place that has seem a bit of change since the last time you may have gone there! So sit back, relax and enjoy, Let's play Warcraft! 

So we set off from our capital city of Ironforge, A city nestled in the mountain ranges of Dun Morogh. I was originally going to quest through Hinterlands but I wanted somewhere a little different. As much as I love it there, I have been to that place far to many times, so I thought, why not go somewhere a little different! The only issue was the enormous walk I had to do to finally reach WPL. I started in Ironforge, headed down to Wetlands, through Arathi Highlands and then cascade down the hinterlands hills to finally find this little shack of quest givers. Fewww! 

Anyway, on to the location at hand, Western Plaguelands. What was once a beautiful and peaceful farmland, to the east of the lavish Lordaeron. Its central hub, Andorhal which supplied most of the grain to the surrounding areas and most northern provenances. This however would be the slow decay of the zone. Knowing how much influence this town had, the necromancer Kel'Thuzad tampered with the grain which then quickly spread across the land like a rash slowly killing off the humans living here, the wildlife and the land itself, which gives in to its new name, Plaguelands. 

We start our adventure to the south, away from the towns for now. Tucked away in the mountains between the hinterlands there is a small path that will lead you to the first quest hub. It's here we start to make our advance through Andorhal and try and decipher the plots being conjured up. I actually really enjoyed the quest line here, it gace me fond memories of the grind back in TBC and that moment when I looted my first epic that sold for 500g! Hefty sum back then I kid you not!

Due to the nature of the quests here, there was so many creatures grouped up that I could finally take advantage of my new AOE ability whirlwind which was awesome. The power of the warrior through questing is unreal. With new additions to my self healing its been a doddle! Plus those 2k wildstrike  lining up perfectly! mmm I TAKE IT! 

During your time questing here you will find yourself surrounded by farmlands. One of the more stranger quests was the one were I had to help out a troll.. UGHH A TROLL! *sharpens axe and strokes beard* Apparently this sucker is training to be a druid and we had to help him. The only fun part was seeing him jump in to chicken form and moonfire himself repeatedly. Other than that, he was as good as a cooked gnome.. USELESS! Look how fancy my purple gloves are though! 

After those quests you then find yourself back in Andorhal and finally facing the menace that  resides there. It was here I had finally find a bit of World PvP and holy hell it was an Orc warrior.. HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT HIT HIM! I would like to just point out that I did not want to be that guy killing someone over and over again to see who the better warrior was.. BUT I SO DID! no shame. 

She wanted me to kneel....

Towards the end of the quest line that I was on, you get to see one of the more notable locations, the tomb of Uther. A place I think everyone should go see once in a while. This guy was a legend among paladins and one of my all time favorite lore characters in the franchise. I thought it was a good time to pay my respects before heading off at level 40 to grab my mount, update my professions and get myself ready for the next adventure! 

Below is the list of new abilities I acquired from 30 - 40

Hamstring 

Single-Minded Fury (passive)

A great passive, a straight up damage increase if I wish to go one handed. Which does looks awesome! Plus a new slow with Hamstring  which works fantastic on those pesky creatures running away in fear! 

So that's it from me this weeks folks. I hope you all have a awesome Easter and I look forward to the next blog post! If you wish to contact me in game or read previous posts please feel free to check out the links below! - Vay.

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3

Vay

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Let's play/blog World of Warcraft! | Way of the Warrior | 10 - 20 | #2

Greetings fellow adventures, explorers and warriors of the world! Its time for my second post on my lets blog series! Follow me as I venture through vast wilderness, spooky dungeons and slay some horde as Vay, the dwarf warrior who enjoys a beverage now and then would be a slight understatement. Last week we started our adventure in Dun Morogh and in this episode we quest through Loch Modan on our journey to level 20. So sit back, relax and enjoy..
Lets blog Warcraft! 

Hey good lookin' want to have a go on my cannon? *strokes beard*

So our adventure continues from the snowy yet beautiful region of Dun Morogh, our home land to another equally stunning location filled with our brothers and sisters of the hammer (and cannons) Loch Modan. This location can be reached via the most eastern tunnel under the mountains and through the valley of kings. Its beautiful rolling hills, tranquil forests are home to some of the more sinister creaters such as wolves, bears, spiders and many other races causing trouble. It is also home to the abandoned Archaeological dig site to the east and a lake right in the middle from which it got its name. Kobolds, ogres and gnolls all have their foothold here but the small town of Thelsamar is home to the dwarfs keeping this place in check.  

I started the quest from Ironforge that took me here (also to complete a blacksmith quest) from which I got acquainted with the folks of Thelsamar whom sent me on a ton of missions in to  some treacherous caves, bottomless of lakes, and in to the cursed woods over looked by the ogres. 

(Right) The Bear Grylls of Loch Modan

Reaching level 20 here was rather simple. A ton of quests will lead you all over the region. What I also noticed was the vast amount of copper/tin ore nestled in the caves and mountains so I took full advantage of that and after the quest line, I was level 19 and decided to grind out the rest of my level. 

Hacking and slashing my way through the zone, the warriors early downtime was none existent which was fantastic. Some of the new abilities I gained were putting out some enormous numbers. I love the feel of the class, it feels some what like organised chaos. You hit sparkly things, things hit hard, things die, things give coin. Success! Time for a beer! 

At level 15 I unlocked the talents! They seem absolutely awesome in my opinion and the first row were focused on our mobility which is charge. Below is a photo and descriptions of the talent choices. 

Juggernaut Double Time Warbringer

As you can see I went for the rather tasty looking Juggernaut Its cooldown reduction is perfect for questing and I could really feel the difference in getting to the mobs quicker. The other two are great, one I could imagine being great for PvP. 

New spells are next on the list to share with you guys, so below is a list of the spells I gained from 10 - 20

Enrage
Wildstrike
Piercing Howl 

Getting to level 20 has been an absolute blast and I can not wait to step foot in to a new location. I also aim to complete some dungeons and give you guys a little back story in to those zones. I am still rather enjoying my play time now on this toon and I really look forward to writing the next post! Anyway, after choosing my talent, getting my new skills, I then took a trip back to the city to level up my mining and smithing which are now at 110. Still have a way to go but nonetheless it shall we done! 

So that's all ladies and gentleman! Thanks again for following me on my adventures! Be sure to check out my twitter and armory as linked below to keep up to date with what I'm up too. Also I would like to thanks those for their kind words on the forums who seem to be enjoying this lets blog/play series! Thank you Kept & Favy. Until next time folks, take care. - Vay.

Note: If you wish to add me on battlenet go ahead! Vaylen#2903

Vay
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Forged Legacy - Ravencrest - EU

Restoration Shaman | Playthrough | 50 - 60

Hello everyone, hope you're all having a awesome weekend! A quick little IRL update.. I went out last night to see Turbo with the girlfriend which by the way was totally not my idea... :3 I'm going on 23 and I still want to watch dreamworks films? I refuse to grow up just yet! Anyway, I have to say it was one of my favorite animated films, Was so awesome. It's that time again! Lets see where our little Shaman went in this bracket and get to know a little bit more about the dungeons and why I enjoyed them.

So we finally reach the classic vanilla end game bracket and as you would expect, we was faced with some pretty huge instances to grind through. Some of the most loved and noticeable instances are within this bracket and for me on of the most diverse. The zones are huge, with so many different routes to take, shortcuts to be found etc, I really did enjoy this bracket in terms of healing. The huge pulls, interesting fights and not to mention the locations, It makes this post really exciting for me to write. 

Black rock depths/Spire - This to me is one of the greatest ideas and such a large scale of an area to hold some of the most game changing experiences in my World Of Warcraft playtime to date. Blackrock holds home to some of the most memorable encounters and incredible game development. For new players and people who were not too fond of dungeons per say, This location has been dramatically changed in terms of difficulty and ease of access. With the introduction to Looking For Dungeon, with a click of a button and depending your wait time you will be transported to this location and have quests to guide you through as well as Dungeon maps and can easily get through this in a decent amount of time and not to mention, heirlooms making everything that tad easier.

However, for seasonal players many will either hate this place or love it just like myself. This was the real turning point for me with my gaming Experience. First of all, Black Rock Depths (BRD) Looking for players to run through this place in trade chat was hard enough! But to finally get a team to delve into the depths of this dwarven mountain, each player knew they had 3 to 5 hours worth of challenges to tackle and overcome. With no real clear route to take, with tasks to complete to open gateways, huge dwarven doors and such, this really turned new Players to Veterans. With most people entering with Green/blue gear, backpacks full of potions and back up gear they did not need to repair, the night was set to defeat the mountain. There was also Black rock spire to attack once you reached level 60. This twisting maze of orcs, Dragonkin and trolls made this place even more epic. You heard rumors of this place, but nothing beats that feeling as a new player stepping in to this incredible Dungeon knowing this was the first stepping stone to the legendary Molten Core (MC)

Sunken Temple - The Temple of Atal' Hakkar, also known as Sunken Temple (ST) was a real challenge and used to take a decent amount of time. As mentioned above, with the new changes this instance has been made a tad easier than it used to be and a lot less time consuming. A skinning heaven this place was which made me see my first 500g back in the day, this was considered a lot! with so many twists and turns this maze full of Dragonkin and trolls was one of my favorite experiences. What this place also held was my first Epic item, Dragons call. which at the time was a huge thing, not many people were lucky enough to see one till raiding back then and when we did finally get that rare, mystical Item, We felt good! Even though I was a hunter and every melee weapon available we went for!

Blizzard seem to have put so much effort into the old content, not all of it was accessible to everyone like it is now days, so again looking in trade for a ST run was never easy, it was more of a guild thing, which back pre TBC days, being in a guild was more a privilege than a perk boost like it is becoming today, which I think is a shame. *Sad face* but nether the less, this place held so many good moments. I will never forget the Snakehead puzzle to summon the twin dragons as well as the summonable secret boss.

Now moving on to the shaman stuff! here I will mention each new spell/talent I gained

Tremor Totem - This beauty is great for moments such as boss/mob fears. If yourself or a player gets Feared, drop this and it removes the effect. Simple and yet, so very effective.

Mana Tide Totem - Another water totem to our disposal! This awesome thing gives your raid/party members 200% of your spirit for 16 seconds! It does have a 3 minute cooldown but this is great for low mana situations and no doubt will be used when needed within raiding, One thing about shamans is that you can always rely on there utility. This is just another gem to the bag.

Earth Elemental Totem - Use this and a huge earth like Golem is called forth to punch the things for a minute. This can be used with Fire elemental and I'm pretty sure gives you a buff once you pick a specific level 90 talent. We will have to wait and see.

Greater Healing Wave - Our last real main healing spell we have unlocked, this spell does have a longer cast time than others and is rather mana intensive but it does pack a huge healing punch so I tend to use this only when needed, and mostly used with the next Talent I shall mention.

Ancestral Swiftness (Talent) - Your next nature spell with a base cast time of less than 10 seconds becomes instant cast, Great when used with Greater Healing Wave, a real oh crap button when a player takes serious damage. It also gives you a passive 5% spell haste and 10% melee haste. Of course the Melee haste is ignored here but the spell haste is great, It helps with the lower end Haste break points so I hear and helps for lower gear levels.

Healing Rain - I LOVE THIS SPELL! It's received some love recently This is a blanket heal on a specific area and anyone who stands within the rain will be healed every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.  Great for stacked aoe damage and I also found great with healing tide totems and chain heals. Some great Aoe healing right there. ( This can also be instant cast when used after Ancestral Swiftness)

On to the glyphs! 

Glyph of Healing stream - This applies a 10% reduction to fire, frost and nature damage for 6 seconds to the player healed by the totem, It works great in dungeons and will be great within the raiding when moving out of fire and such becomes more frequent.

Glyph of deluge - This gives our chain heal and new cosmetic effect, Instead of a bright light (much like the mass resurrection effect around the caster) it turns it in to a torrent of water around our hands, Looks awesome!

So there you have it, some more detailed information on the dungeons and why I enjoyed them, as well as more information of the new spells I have acquired! It all helps towards the aim of becoming a decent heroic raider and hopefully a frequent blogger on them too. But don't worry my brew drinking monk friends, I have some information I will share soon with you all! 

I would just like to thank Nyxrinne for my new awesome blog layout, I was so pleased with the outcome I couldn't believe how great it was and exactly to my liking. To find out more information on her, she also has a great blog so please feel free to check it out at:

http://touch-of-death.blogspot.co.uk/

Restoration Shaman | Playthrough | 30 - 40

Hello Hello! It's come to that time once again were I post about my dungeon adventures between each bracket, this one in particular was one of my favorite dungeon groups, With a number of rather different dungeons to overcome my little shaman had a blast! 

So, as my journey continues ever more towards the end game content the recent dungeons have been a awesome change to the other ones I have seen so much of. From demonic creatures in the halls and pools of Dire Maul to the lost and all but forgotten mines and temples of the underground excavation site, Uldaman. I had a few new spells to play around with here and as ever I shall list the abilities I acquired through this bracket and a bit of background information on the dungeons. 

A little background on these instances:

Dire Maul East - The east wing is the first entrance that can be found in the dire maul hold to the right within the depths and dense forests of Feralas. The rolling hills give away to a path that runs right through this zone, heading north you will find this building guarded heavily by slightly clumsy ogres and cunning wolves.  The Instance is home to possessed demonic creatures, only but proving themselves to the burning legion. The halls are large but it is a simple navigate around, Just watch out for the trees and other shadowy inhabitants.

Maraudon - This incredible structure sits dormant in the caves of Desolace and unfolds to a huge chain of caverns and underwater features. You start your adventure within the Orange chambers that's home to toxic elements and really hungry plants.. Yes plants! This will then lead on to the twisted and lost caves of the Purple section home to demonic like creatures. Poison falls is then just around the corner, avoiding the blobs and toxic pools you will then see the beauty of the last section, Take a leap off of the waterfall and you will be in front of the last section, The Inner Sanctum of Maraudon.Here you will find Golems the size of zeppelins, Hydras and an assortment of waterlife which will ultimately lead you to take down the cursed Princess if you could call her that, Theradras.   

Uldaman - This long lost and ancient titan fault is buried deep within the mountains of the badlands. Currently in the state of excavation by the dark iron dwarves whom seek all the relics and riches for their master, Ragnaros.  The Caverns will lead you past Scorpions, Bats, Dwarfs, Constructs, Trogg like creatures and deep within his fault the servant of the Titans, Archaedas lies waiting.  

In this section I will go over my new spells

So! Here we go! The juicy bit, but with these 10 new levels I have not required new spells as such but some really strong passives, some are so strong I have noticed as difference straight away and I will list them as follows: 

Reincarnation (Passive) - This beauty is simple, If I die, I can bring myself back to life and continue the fight for survival, great in raids, great in questing, Great for everything, I love it. 

Ancestral Awakening (passive) - when I land a direct critical heal spell, An extra healing spell is thrown on to a player with the least health for 30% of the amount healed, a really strong passive when tank healing and such. It's just a shame you don't see the astral being doing his or hers thing. 

Burning Wrath (passive) - Plain and simple, gives raid and party members 10% spell power, thats why casters love us! 

Resurgence (passive) - This is my favorite one out of the four I have received this bracket. When Water shield is active our healing critical strikes will return a base amount of mana depending on what spell was used from what I read. Healing wave and Greater haling wave replenish more, then healing surge, riptide and unleashed life and then the least to receive the most mana return is chain heal. I hardly ever run out of mana with this beauty.  

So thats it from me this week! Stay tuned for the next bracket! and Remember, stay out of the fire and stay under the rain! - Vay.  

Monk Meditation | Brewmaster Roundtable

Greetings all, in this Episode I was lucky enough to be apart of the hosting team. With a number of great Brewmaster players from around the world, I was one of the lucky ones to be apart of this show.

We spoke on many topics including:

Vengeance, Class synergy, Monk playstyle, favorite spells, Crit vs Mastery, SoO and more!

Restoration Shaman | Playthrough | 1 - 20

Greetings all, In this section of my blog I will be covering my experiences and things I learn as I level up a Restoration Shaman on Ragnaros eu. This will be a home for my accomplishments and what I come across throughout my adventure. - Vaylen.

Like all adventures start, this one began in a foreign place to my knowledge. I had a little dabble in the Panda starting zone but never really paid that much attention to the details. However, with this time round I really did look through every quest, every text, every element and you guessed it, it was a awesome experience. The questing lineage is simple and sends you from point to point, Simplistic and great for new adventures in this land like myself. 

Here You will level to around 11/12 and ultimately save the place of your birthright. With the not so much helpful alliance/horde bashing their ships here and there and generally making a mess of things, we are of course there to clean up their mess. Once the main story is completed You will be given a choice, do you depart as horde or alliance, I went horde, Obviously. 

Once I picked up some quests in Orgrimmar I then headed out to Azshara, North of the horde stronghold. Here I picked up my Heirlooms and Professions. After some research on what would be good for heroic raiding as its what I plan to do on this,  I went with Blacksmithing and Mining  drop mining once maxed and go for Jewelcrafting. I also took this time to grab first aid, cooking and fishing.

Questing here is pretty annoying, its a lot of multitasking so I tend to power through this zone as fast as possible. During my time here I did however find this rather vain artwork, No doubt Gallywix or someone of that goblins status, to get that built for them out of a mountain. :P

Once I reached Level 15 I took a dive in to Dungeon finder and chose my specialization, Restoration. The healing abilities are very limited and will mention my most used healing spells and utility spells at the end of the post.  

After healing that zone I was around level 20, With a larger array of spells, Below shows the spells I currenttly use and have to my disposal: 

Healing wave - My basic healing spell, I use this if I need to cast a small heal, it does however crit big, something like 1.6k at my level and gear.

Healing Surge - My Oh crap heal, Short cast time but costly in mana, use as a last resort. 

Riptide - This I cast on cooldown, it places a hot on a target and also helps with the bonus to health passive shamans posses. 

Searing Totem - I use this with every trash/boss pull. Just shoots a fire bolt to a target.

Flame Shock - A fire dot, I use then when I have nothing to do!

Wind shear - Ranged interrupt  I guess I get in to the habit of stopping everything I can if possible from heroic raiding, so this I use all the time. 

Purify Spirit - Cleanses all magic and curse effects, Only used it once but no doubt will make use of it as much as possible. 

Flametongue - The first Weapon Imbue we get, this we gain a 7% more magic damage done to targets, always helps for now.

Water Shield - This refunds some mana every few seconds, Also when I receive melee damage I retain a lot of mana.  

Stay tuned for my daily updates on this character and I hope you enjoy it as much as I am! - Vay.

From Winds To Water

Greetings my fellow readers! As always a lot has been going on within the world of warcraft community and such things have brought my raiding guild to the conclusion it was time to take a back seat. Officers could not come to an agreement and that has lead to the guild I have progressed with to disband. We had a great run and I really did enjoy my time there, so I truly hope the players there find the other end game raiding guilds of their choice and all the best for the future!

As I went semi afk during the progress I was not really playing my monk so much, but instead gaining more experience in raids on my Holy Paladin. So recently my Brewmaster has taken the backseat. Due to recent changes to tanks, and the direction blizzard seem to be going in terms of tank game play, I have been switching around specs and really found my enjoyment for the class again as Windwalker. With the changes to mastery and some more potent cleave I have really found my footing within a Flex raiding guild and currently really enjoying it!

As times change, as does ones interests. Currently I'm working on a number of things out of wow and in wow.  I have been pretty absorbed by GTA and looking for a Hearthstone BETA key, with still no joys! As well as working out what class to play next, with much thought, changing of ideas and such I'm going back to my roots of playing a Resto/Elemental Shaman. 

My blog will be my place of random posts and what I discover on this new character as well as my thoughts and Ideas on the class as it develops. I think it will be pretty hard to fit it in within this blog but hopefully I can cut a nice deal with a really decent blogger and see if I can get a layout sorted for it. 

Lets play: World of Warcraft!

Greetings all, Follow an aspiring Orc and his trusted companion Barry throughout their exploration and discovery in Azeroth. During the 1 to 90 process we will be thrown in too deep forgotten dungeons, ancient battlegrounds, and exploring the vast places beyond the gates of Orgrimmar, Guys and Girls, You too can be apart of the adventure, so sit back, relax and Enjoy, Lets play: World Of Warcraft! 

Preparations for 5.4, Hearthstone, Diablo 3 talk and Monk Meditation.

This Vlog will be released every Wednesday evening. I will be discussing gaming news, stuff I have seen within the community and other all sorts of goodness. This is my very first Vlog I have done so sorry about the length. All of my upcoming videos will be a maximum of 5 minutes. So sit back with your finest Brew and enjoy. 

Vaylen, Ragnaros Eu.

Question & Answer Time With Sunnier The Brewmistress!

Hello to all my readers, I spoke about a special post in the works for you guys and girls out there! so for those who are interested in the ways of the Brew, want to know more about the class from another perspective as well as a whole bunch of cool facts then look no further! Today we get an insight into one of the monk communities most well known Blogger, Co host of Monk Meditation Podcast and Heroic raider in Frustration. Ladies and Gentlemen, Orc and Gnome alike, I give you Sunnier! 

I am Sunnier, brewmistress blogger of SunniersArtOfWar.com. I tank for my guild Frustration on Fenris-US, update various brewmaster guides around the web, and maintain a surprisingly popular set of Weak Auras. You can contact me via email, sunnier@sunniersartofwar.com, twitter, @SunnierBear, or ingame, Sunnier#1336.

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Class Based Questions.

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- Greetings Sunnier, Thank you for taking part in my questions and answer section for the Brewmaster Monk. As many people may or may not know, You originally played a Druid tank in your early days of world of warcraft. With the most recent addition to the tanking club, What was your main reason for the change from druid to monk? 

I've always loved monk archetypes in various games -- the agile, squishy melee character who punches and heals -- so I was very intrigued when monks were announced. I still loved my druid, but I think what finally pushed me over was aesthetics. Pandaren looked adorable, and monks could see their transmog in combat! Not to mention the unique animations. I'm a sucker for pretty things.

- The Brewmaster play style was introduced with active mitigation in mind, and it arguably is the strongest to tank with currently in terms of the new tanking system, Are you glad you changed classes when you did? 

I'd say paladins are the strongest tank right now, but there's no question that brewmasters are in a close second. However, even if monks were the worst tank, I'd still be happy with my choice. (I rather enjoy the challenge of being an underdog.) I still think that tanks are relatively balanced in today's world, such that any fight can be completed with any tank. The apparent imbalance only arises when placed under a microscope, and when unintended strategies used by high end guilds become expected in less hardcore guilds.

- The playstyle of the monk is somewhat different to the other tanks currently, do you feel the play style and *feel* of the class makes it stand out and really suit the monk identity?

Brewmasters are unique in that we have so many buttons to push. We have more active mitigation choices than other tanks, though some of those are closer to buff maintenance than true choices. We are exceptionally good at preparing for damage, and I really enjoy that proactive playstyle. I like that we are relatively smooth tanks, which fits well with our drunken brawler flavor. I especially love how Blizzard incorporated aspects of real life "drunken kung fu", like staggering or gift of the ox (where we actually have to make our characters weave about), into our own unique mechanics.

- With the Identity in mind, do you wish the Brewmaster had something else to make them stand out from the other monks specs, or do you feel blizzard have done this well enough with the stance animations and statue? 

Blizzard did a great job of establishing the Brewmaster identity, and I think it's the most well-defined monk spec. Our three identifying features are drunken brawling (the fighting style), brewing, and the ox. Drunken brawling gives us stagger, shuffle, our stance animations, and any other martial arts inspired abilities. Brewing gives us Keg Smash, Dizzying Haze, and the other brew skills. We can thank Niuzao for our ox skills, like Ox statue, Clash, and Gift of the Ox. Now if we're missing one thing, it's obviously the ability to summon Niuzao.

- A huge debate within the Brewmaster community is *what secondary stats do I go for* With this question forever popping up in forums, what would be your reasonings behind going Crit/haste heavy or Mastery/stam heavy? 

My general advice is always: if you die a lot, try mastery/stam; if you're not dying, try crit/haste. When we get into specifics, I usually advise newer players to start with mastery and stam because it's very forgiving. In a full mastery build, your damage intake is so smooth that even if you make a mistake, your healers can likely help you recover. It's also useful for experienced players who are going against an especially hard-hitting boss. When I advise people to go crit, it's usually because they want to push their personal dps. Crit is great for the majority of monks because it double dips as our best dps stat and a strong damage reduction stat. The downside is that you take more bursty damage and can be harder to heal.

As an aside, this stat paradigm is one of my favorite aspects of the class. There's no right or wrong answer (unless you're a high end guild, but most people aren't so we'll ignore that). A lot of our stats are optimal at levels the user feels most comfortable at. As a guide writer, I feel like I did my job when I enable people to make educated decisions for themselves, and since monks have no single correct answer, that makes my job more enjoyable.

- Many people enjoy Throne of Thunder, I personally feel it was one of the better content patches to be released this expansion, which two fights were your most enjoyable/memorable to tank?

My favorite fight is Horridon. When you have to tank both the trash and the dinosaur, you have to focus on two completely different aspects of tanking: add pickup and dealing with large, predictable damage. The different and often conflicting goals made the fight more interesting. And I can't forget that I just love giant dinosaurs in the first place. My second favorite is Megaera. After a bunch of complicated movement fights, it felt really nice to just sit relatively still and focus on surviving. That fight also encouraged the use of some unconventional tools, like transcendence, healing orbs, and glyph of guard.

- From your heroic raiding experience in this patch, what would you say was the most challenging and demanding fight you come up against? 

Dark Animus was the most challenging for me. We spent a lot of time attempting the zerg strat on Animus, which pushed both my survival and dps skills. I learned that I am not very good at maximizing both of those at the same time (though to be fair, neither was the rest of my guild) so we went back to the "normal" strategy and eventually killed it.

- Coming up to the end of the expansion, and with a number of changes to monks in general, do you feel the monk has handled and surpassed your expectations? 

I initially expected monks would experience a roller coaster of changes, similar to the death knight throughout WotLK. I was pleasantly surprised that, for brewmasters at least, we've been incredibly stable. We don't have any glaring issues, we're in high demand, and it looks like it's going to stay that way. I was a bit worried about us during the beta because we were slow to get a defining feel and it was starting to look like we were going to be very boring. But they pulled through and gave us some really great play.

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Get To Know The Person Behind The Class!

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- You have been playing long enough to see all the changes within world of warcraft, The good and the bad. What has been you most memorable moment? This can include an old guild, a specific item/mount you worked for etc. 

Most of my memorable moments revolve around boss kills. I think the one that sticks with me the most is killing H Spine of Deathwing pretty early in the progression race. It was an incredibly stressful experience, and the nature of that fight was that everything went completely nuts at the end. Most of our third phase wipes were due to tank mistakes, which meant that my guild leader was screaming at me the entire time. So when it finally went down, there was such a huge surge of relief.

- Which expansion was your most favorite and why? 

Despite its very obvious balance flaws, I loved the aesthetics and raids of The Burning Crusade. The zones were so bizarre and magical, there's still no expansion that's quite so recognizable as that one. I also have a soft spot for Cataclysm, where I experienced my best progression and I really enjoyed the low level zones.

- Every few months, blizzard has an in game event, winterveil, brewfest etc. Which one would you say is your most favorite and enjoyable?

I love the summer fire festival, especially back before you could fly in the old world. It was really relaxing to romp around on a ground mount and extinguish/honor all the bonfires.

- Out of all the raids you have seen and experienced  which one was your most enjoyable, you can also include the one you like the least. 

It's hard to pick just one, since there's something I love from just about every raid. Sunwell wins in the most categories because it was beautiful, challenging, and had excellent visual storytelling (like the elves became more demonic, the lighting grew darker). It all culminated in a fantastic story-as-encounter in Kil'jaeden. The conclusion of that raid was fantastic.

As for least favorite, the mood of Ice Crown Citadel bums me out. I mean, it's a well designed raid and understandably dark and cold. But it still bums me out.

- List your favorite zone from the following continents:

Eastern Kingdoms: Gilneas. They did an excellent job giving the worgens culture through their environment.

Kalimdor: Feralas. A green zone that I felt a special affinity for as a leveling feral druid.

Outland: Nagrand (obv). The home of the talbuks!

Northrend: Howling Fjord. It has wonderful music.

Pandaria: Jade Forest. It's so green!

- With each new expansion released, which one did you enjoy the leveling experience most? 

I really enjoyed the low level quests introduced in Cataclysm, but for high level characters I loved my initial quest through Northrend. The story felt so well connected, like I was contributing, while also learning about Azeroth's most interesting history.

- If you never rolled a druid or monk, what other class has caught your eye over the years? 

The one other class I've always gotten to max level is a hunter, though to be frank I've always felt I mesh better with shaman. I just was never able to stick with a spec long enough (I love them all) to reach max level on one. Power over the elements is very cool.

- With the new expansion on the horizon, what would you want it to be based on? 

I'm really hoping we get to fight the Burning Legion and visit other strange planets. Not only because of the TBC nostalgia, but because I want to see what Blizzard's concept artists can do when you give them free reign. Maybe we should give Azeroth a rest for a few years and go destroy another planet?

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A Sunny Future For Sunnier! 

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- With the success of your incredible blog, Sunniersartofwar.com which is also featured on Icy Veins, What other treats, posts are in the works for your much appreciated Blog?

In the short term, I'm doing a lot of work in preparation for 5.4. Updating guides, reviewing new bosses, catching up on new theorycraft. It's a lot of work! In the long term, I'm working on a few new guides and site improvements. I've slowly been teaching myself lua in hopes that I can translate my auras into a full blown addon, but that's going to take a while.

- Monk meditation is an incredible Podcast, I for one absolutely love it, But how did you guys come about making this awesome show? 

Monk Meditation was the brain child of the guys over in the Convert to Raid guild. CTR is huge and has supported an excellent podcast for a long time, so it's only natural that little baby podcasts branch off. Lucky for me, they reached out because they didn't have a brewmaster representative yet. I was attracted to the project because I've always been a fan of the druid equivalent, Team Waffle. A few weeks of organizing our ideas and Monk Meditation was born!

- Can we expect some master classes on the Brewmaster in the somewhat near future? maybe a tier 16 Trinket comparison?  :P

Ahhh trinket comparisons are so hard and the most requested thing! I've been playing around with them on the beta, but the difficult part about tank trinkets is that there's rarely a pair that is best for all situations and players. Some are good for dps, some for avoidance, some for smoothing, some are mixtures. On top of that, it's difficult to really get a feel for which ones are useful without spending a few nights raiding with them, and that's something you just can't do well on the PTR. 

After that, without diving deep into theorycrafting or returning to the progression race, the best I can do is read around and regurgitate what I find. Since we're nearing the end of the expansion, it's about time for retrospectives and commentary on the meta playstyle, which might be of interest to more experienced brewmasters. :)

- You're the voice of the Brewmasters in this webshow, as well as a key figure within the monk community, did you ever expect to get such a large following of players? 

It sort of snuck up on me. I started out blogging three years ago as a self-teaching tool, and slowly gained followers as a druid, and later as a monk. I try not to think about having a following because it's terrifying! What about when I steer players in the wrong direction, or forget to cover something important? I'm not a theorycrafter or progression leader, so I constantly worry about what I can offer. Whenever my worries get the best of me, I have to remind myself that my blog is just for self expression and conveying my passion for a niche subject, and that the people reading it are just a bonus.

- Frustration, Your home on Fenris, whats your guilds plans for the future? Are you preparing for 5.4 and beyond? 

We're really looking forward to the merged realms in the future. Fenris has a very small population, which makes recruiting skilled players nearly impossible. My team only has 10 raiders, and personally I'd love to have a tiny buffer so that we don't have to stop raiding for two weeks when someone goes on vacation. I hope that with merged realms, and the possibility of skilled pugs or full time raiders, we can actually clear all of upcoming Tier 16.

- What does the future hold in store for Sunnier?

Right now, my mind is very much focused on testing and research in preparation for the upcoming patch. I hope that once the patch drops, I can take a break and do something unimportant like pet battles, the new Timeless Isle, or level some alts, but that's unlikely! In a few weeks I get to go to PAX, a gaming convention in Seattle, and meet some other WoW bloggers. And then in a few months, Blizzcon!

I just want to say a huge thank you too Sunnier for taking the time in answering the following questions. The monk community have followed you throughout your Journeys, Updating us as you go and giving your view on upcoming changes, comparisons and such. I just want to also thank you from so many of us who use your fantastic Weakauras. Without your information a lot of us will be still in the dark, but your guides have given us light. Your blog has inspired me to work on my own one, and just passing 3500 views it was a great idea to work on the inspiration you gave me. Keep up the great work! We as a community appreciate it dearly. /bow

-Vaylen. Ragnaros Eu.

Lei Shen... *waves*

Good evening to you all! As you can see tonight has been an awesome evening indeed. I know the reputations are so last two patches ago but I have been slacking on this little monk in terms of them so I thought I would polish of old reputations before 5.4 hits which, judging by the twitter feeds is soon! Between the 27th of august and the 3rd of september, so be ready!

Little shout out to Tadzu from Soul Swap who helped me out in terms of farming Warbringers and War Scouts for the tokens and congrats on his Epic mount that dropped! He now sits on 207 mounts, only fair because I was stealing every rep token in sight!! :D

And so, he dies, the guild has killed him a number of times, but in terms of personal progression, I now have 1 more to kill before a full house! This encounter requires every member to be on point with moving in and out of things and coordinating each platform perfectly, I won't go into detail on the strategy, as there are perfect ones out there, but for Brewmaster monks the following really helps:

- Tigers lust, it provides a great sprint for things like moving from decapitate and Helm of command. 
- Dampen harm, Works perfect in the last phase with the fast tank swaps and ready for taking large hits. 
- Leg sweep, timed right with other stuns for the lightning orbs on phase 2 and 3.
-  Breath of fire, the stun after the leg sweep on the previous tip provides you with another stun and aoe damage coverage beside Keg smash.
- Advert harm, A brilliant raid cooldown, so pick your moments. I used mine on the first group up on intermission 1 and phase 3 when I was not on the boss.
- Transcendence, It has its usages in every encounter, just find out were. On Lei Shen Heroic, Its great for the intermissions for the stacking as well as moving for decapitate, which leads me to my last tip..
- Zen meditation, it absorbs most of the Decapitate damage and makes your vengeance sky rocket.  

Hope some of that was easy to make sense off, tomorrow will be a fresh run in tot for myself again so lets hope for some upgrades, Until next time, Vaylen out.

Explorers Diary #2

Greetings adventurers and explorers alike! This post will cover two incredible Raids. Us PVE players have always gravitated around raiding content and what makes it worth all the hours of progression and the strive for gear and downing bosses for the good of our guilds. It was so hard for me to choose these top two, but in my mind they are the few that are most thought out and enjoyable throughout my entire seven years raiding experience. 

Without question, Karazhan was my most memorable experience in terms of proper progression raiding. Even though I did touch on Vanilla raiding in MC and two bosses in Naxx, This for me was my real chance to strive for top end raiding. With over ten bosses to face, some of which were on an RNG type system where you had the chance to go against 1 of 4 bosses (I.E Opera Event) it was one of the most complex and incredibly thought out places to delve into. Its geometric structure was unlike anything I have seen before.. I mean c'mon, A haunted castle, also known as Medivh's Tower who was the last former protector of Tirisfal. With spirits reawakened and Medivh himself still cascading down the haunted halls, you generally felt the epic scale of the place. Ley lines from each magical sector all pointed under Karazhan, from the mages in dalaran to the high priests of Stormwind..  and to me, still holds the title of the most epic Raid to date.

My second top raid would have to be without doubt one of the most awesome raids the dev team worked on after the burning crusade. With a wobbly start to re opening Naxx, Blizzard blew every PVE player out the water with this one. Ulduar, With 13 bosses and 1 extra to go up against, this place was incredible. From Titans to huge gnomish like constructions, old gods and the odd dragon, It was one of those places where everyone had something they loved here. The size of the halls, different sections like the huge conservatory and halls made out of ice, It was beyond the scope of any of our imaginations and to this day is still farmed for the mounts and just to feel the nostalgia of the mighty Ulduar. With the helping hand of Brann Bronzebeard who believed this place to be an old Titan city, we few mortals who dared to enter had one hell of a story to tell the rest of the guild and hold Ulduar close to one of the great raiding memories of all time.

So, these are my top two raids, what was yours?  

Vaylen, Ragnaros EU.

The Back Foot Of Defence, The Fist For Offence.

With new and old players alike looking for a change in progress and looking for new challenges to conquer, many players including myself switched to tanking and have enjoyed the experience ever since that initial change. I see a lot of people asking, what class is best to Tank with, what makes a tank better than a good Tank and what are the basic qualities of a Tank. In todays post I will cover some aspects briefly of the Tank roll, what to expect and hopefully give new players a peace of mind when jumping into the deep end. 

Basic aspects of tanking

People ask this in a number of ways, but Ideally they have played a while as a DPS/Healer and want a change. The tank in theory is the pushing force of the group. Depending on how your healer can handle your pulling speeds and efficiency in instances to not over pull groups of mobs you're generally in control of the pace. Knowing so, you have to understand the concepts of over pulling and managing aggro. 

Over pulling is aggroing a large amount of adds (more than necessary) and is a common reason why a tank has wiped the group. Knowing your limitations and having trust in your healer will make pulls a lot smoother. Use obstacles such as walls, pillars and doors to LOS (Line Of Sight) the mobs, this will force them to stop casting (if they were) and trace you down. This can also be a great way to manage your aggro on large groups.

Having them in a group, will effectively boost your output of your cleave, As a brewmaster the conjunction between Breath Of Fire and Keg Smash will hold a solid amount of aggro, meaning your dps can push that little harder in dps. Maintaining a group of mobs to remain stacked up is a good sign of your Capabilities as a tank and will forever be you go to tactic for casters and such.

Group those bad boys moar!

These reasonings may seem daunting to a new Tank, But what appeals to us, is the control you have over the fights, the dps can't do their job if the boss is jolting all over the place, the healers can't heal if you move to far away, so knowing your limitations, controlling each situation will always make you a better tank.

I hear tank swapping being used a lot, how do I tank swap with confidence?

Managing aggro will also affect how you perform on a boss. Knowing your effectiveness in a fight is key, so if you are starting a fight( Pre pot/use potion for dps/threat boost), use abilities that generate a lot of threat (will say which in the spell toolbar) In my case, Keg smash.

Its not that much needed in five man heroics/normals but if you're interested in raiding or wanting to know more, knowing how tank swaps work will help drastically.

Use of strong abilities on a boss that requires tank swapping

A basic example would be: 
Main tank receives 3 stacks of (random debuff name here)
This is the time you tank off him, Use taunt, use a large threat generating ability, Self heal (if available)
Once you receive the 3 stacks and his has worn off, he will taunt the boss off you, slow down on the dps, use some self heals, think about your position and if you should move closer to the tank or away and continue this cycle.

As mentioned, this is in raids were a lot of generic fights require tank swaps at all times,
So the same applies on tank swaps as if you was starting the encounter. Once you taunt the boss, drop some big damaging abilities and you shall be on your way with dancing with the Boss.

Quick tip: Have your tanking partner set to focus, doing so you are always aware of the debuff count he/she is receiving indicating you when to taunt. To do this follow these steps: (Right click on Tanks name plate > drop down box will appear > Select "Set To Focus") and there you have it, your tank now has your devoted attention. /hug.

Other traits of a good tank:
- Knowing when your healer needs mana, Ask for mana breaks. No healing mana = no heals = a slow death.. Or fast if you ignore the previous section. :P /cheer.
- Watch out for patrolling mobs. You will sometimes see some creatures to call over for you to beat down, but they may have some buddies so be careful, if you see a sequenced patrolling, what for them to pass, taunt over the mobs you were originally going for, pull them away from the patrols wandering around and you should be golden.
- Defensive cooldowns are there to use when things get rough, use them in a logical manner. If you use them when you feel like it, You never know, this one boss really wants you dead and your defensive is on cooldown, say goodbye to what could've saved you, don't play dumb.
- Be prepared, a sleepy orc or gnome, depending on your faction may walk to far ahead and pull some really aggravated mobs, be ready to grab them with some damaging abilities and a taunt if needed to protect your clumsy Allies.    

The verdict

Tanking in my opinion is the only way I will be playing this game for the rest of my days. I enjoy the key rolls, I enjoy taking responsibility for the lively hood of my pals and I like controlling the fights so to speak. With some basic knowledge of your class, understanding the key things to be aware of which you could get flamed for in instances (I.E aggro, over pulling, tank swapping) learning these will make you a better player and I hope this post helped answer some common questions and unearthed some basic conceptions of a tank.

So raise your shield in defiance, your weapon in glory... or.. if you're a tea drinking monk/tree hugging bear, Have fun and stay strong!

Netherix.

Explorers Diary #1

This is my first Entry to the Explorers Diary, I will focus on zones that bring back great memories from when I first started playing from each continent in Azeroth, Including events I experienced, Pvp, Questing, Dungeons and the most memorable Raids in my seven years of playing World Of Warcraft. 

Eastern Kingdoms - Stranglethorn Vale (STV)

Stv! One of my first places I ever really experienced World PVP to the fullest Potential. Being part of a huge PVP server when I first played this game I was lucky enough to see so much carnage in this zone! When ever you logged on, Or started your quests here at the small camp to the North, just below the rebel camp, there was pvp from the get go. Now it seems to have become somewhat remote as you can bypass this zone while questing, but this really held a lot of great moments and you will still find the odd Brawls in the Gurubashi Arena to the South.

Kalimdor - Winterspring

 Aww! The beautiful Winterpsring, I loved this place the moment I got out of that hell hole thats known as Felwood. The questing here was amazing, and with the long grinds to level back in Vanilla, I used to farm the undead that patrol the Lake Kel 'Theril ruins for Icy weapon enchantments. This place had everything, Yetis, Tigers, Bears and the odd Orc and Troll to hunt down, this place really did feel like an endgame zone.

Outland - Zangarmarsh

Once I finally got through the Dark Portal a few nights after the launch of The Burning Crusade which felt like such a huge achievement, I fought my way through the Fel Orcs of Hellfire and the twisted and demonic creatures that lay waste there, I found a new love for what I saw before me leaving this place.. Zangar. Blizzard did an amazing job on the new TBC content and Zangarmarsh in my mind was the most well thought of, and so out the box, It won the hearts of many. I really did enjoy the questing here, as well as having access to the legendary Shattrath City.

Northrend - Grizzly Hills

This one was a tough one to consider because after reading the Rise Of The Lich King book, I adored the Lore and feel to Icecrown, but the sheer Beauty and diversity in Grizzly Hills made it again, my favorite place within the cold rolling hills and jagged peaks of Northrend. I did not experience much PVP here as I would of liked but the questing and style of the place, from its Music to the ambiance, made this place amazing. 

Pandaria - Jade Forest

Finally we come to a close in this Diary Entry of the Explorer, many places through outland and Azeroth have been incredible, some of which I have not mentioned, but simply because the old zones, to new players will all be a great gaming experience, Just like, the feel of something new, something uncharted to ones eye. Jade Forest had this impression on me more than any other zone in Pandaria. Its flowing rivers, peaks beyond the mists and introduction to many new unknown races, this place pulled out all the stops. I think this zone was worked on so much, a lot of the other zones just look reskinned from previous expansions. But I will never forget, that moment of flying a beat down 'copter with all guns blazing to finally descend onto uncharted territory for the first time... In a long time.


So these are my favorite zones within the continents of Azeroth, What was yours?