this is BHS

This morning, pre-tuesday restart, I logged into the game briefly to 'check on some things'. I was on maybe 30 minutes before the SERVER timers began. I was doing the usual, checking the GB, moving items around, etc. I see Heydoc post in GC...and this is the conversation after he initially praised BHS for the warm reception his girlfriend received last night.

Heydoc: "I said thats how we roll" (referring to his speaking to his girlfriend after she was elated by the warm welcome to the guild)

Heydoc: "I was floored by the prayer in vent before the raid and how everyone took a knee. That was amazing."

Makarios: "and that is something we will always strive to have before (and I would often say we should have a closing prayer as well)

Heydoc: "and a buddy called who is lost and searching for his faith and the raid paused where any other raid would have replaced me and on top of that i get a tanking shield when i was healing i couldnt believe it."

Makarios: "Doc, the testimony you are giving right now is what our vision is about. making it fun and shocking people against the norm of wow playing. we are not of this world (so to speak) and you noticing that means we are on the right path."

Heydoc: "thats what i told my buddy last night...i feel uplifted when i am in vent a vent full of joy i feel i have become a better person in the last few days ive been in here."

Makarios: "awesome, God Bless all and hope to see you on the other side ;)"

simply, WOW! This was very uplifting for me personally as a member and officer of BHS. I feel we definitely needed this type of post in guild chat, especially in light of many of our member's accounts being compromised and flaming of our guild's vision.

(click to enlarge)

The guild website is down atm, but once it comes up i hope to post this very thread (or similar to this one) on the site.

new jinx! shirt

So I was browsing the jinx! clothing website this morning and came across a shirt design (Jesus Saves T-Shirt). I think I had seen it before. In the shirt link there was a quote by a poster that said:

"Jesus was a horrible healer, always gettin' teh aggro" followed by

"WTF PETER TANK THE PHARISEE ADDS FOR THE LOVE OF ME"

Wow, you gotta have a sense of humor that's for sure :)

I think this shirt is rather harmless. It was designed by the famous Erol Otus of the D&D art design fame.

So if for nothing else it's an original piece of art from a legend in the RP art community. Not sure if I will be getting this shirt or not but most likely will be looking into purchasing a different shirt. There is a Priest shirt that Jinx! offers. Actually there are two shirts I am considering, but I will only be choosing one. Here are the two shirts:

{ or }

There you have it...oh and I'll leave you with a shirt that made me laugh

warcraft census Thunderhorn

So I did some sleuth work of sorts today. I wanted to see how many lvl 80 priests (alliance side) there were on Thunderhorn-US. Here are my findings:

• There are 509 (reported) level 80 alli Priests
• Draenei: 122 ~ 24%
• Dwarf: 70 ~ 14%
• Human: 209 ~ 41%
• Night Elf: 108 ~ 21%

So, looking at the above numbers it is clear that Makarios is in the minority and I'm fine with that. As a side note, and I only post these numbers because I now have a level 80 horde Priest named Perdishun.

• There are 186 (reported) level 80 horde Priests
• Blood Elf: 93 ~ 50%
• Troll: 20 ~ 11%
• Undead: 73 ~ 39%

Now, currently Perdishun is undead. However, I strongly feel should he remain a horde toon permanently I will inevitably change his race to Troll. My first horde Priest ever was a Troll and I just enjoy playing them for some reason, plus Berserking  isn't too shabby a racial.

some ponderings on the Cat changes...

I will try to keep my 'discuss' to a bare minimum as it is late and I just got off work.

What I like about the New Catty spec (in no particular order):

• Inner Will / Inner Fire - I have never had a problem keeping IF up and active, I have, however never cared for the fact that it has charges...i mean is that really necessary? Anyways, I like that the two will be w/o charges and can be used 'on the fly'. Inner Will gives you a 12% speed burst and a mana discount to your instant casts. Seems to me to be more PVP sided...sure I wanna run a little faster to get to that next boss in VOA but don't really see myself using IW over IF.
• Leap of Faith (Life Grip) - Awesome sounding...if you wanna play daddy or mom in the raid. I am of the school that the healers know what is going on in the raid as a big picture more than the dps or tanks. Not only do the healers watch green AND blue bars they are at a distance (typically) checking things out at max camera range. So why not give them the "get over here you knucklehead' spell. I do like it, some have posted their dislike of the idea...but as a healing priest, I care about the raid, their longevity and contributions {{ALIVE}} so I wont be the wiseguy that macros a raid/say/whisper/chat emote that announces I just saved your butt...if that were the case y'all would have seen that from my Pain Suppression or Guardian Spirit (GS back-in-the-day, I'm not holy ;p) spells going off.
• AOE bubble (Power Word: Barrier) - woot, shieldin' on easy mode?! I don't know if this is the OP part of priests yet or what but man what a spell. I imagine the mana cost will be high for such a beast as this :)
• Also diggin' the drop of Divine Spirit (save a candle or twenty)
  

What I think is 'still' missing from the healing priest:

• Ahem, I've always wanted an interrupt ability while i am healing. I play a shaman as my second main and love, love, love Wind Shear. It is a beautiful thing. So, I'd like something like that while I am healing. I always main target the boss or last multi-mob (jokingly my AFK Mind Sear casting while bored) when raiding (since I use healbot to heal) and am always aware of the spells they are casting.
• ^^ I actually used that old, old spell (only available to draenei and dwarves) I think it was called Chastise? Anyway it would stun a 'humanoid' target for XX seconds. Was nice in pvp.
• Fear Ward - I love this to have more than one charge, maybe 2 or 3. I know I could get Glyph of Fear Ward but who in their right mind would?

I grow weary and tired and shall end this post here. I am, alas, pleased with the changes and will continue to love the Priest class...whether its on the dark side or the light side of priestyness.

Heal on brothers and sisters...heal on...

Cataclysm Class Changes: Priest

Cataclysm Class Changes: Priest

by Adam Holisky Apr 8th 2010 at 2:55AM

As we've been expecting, we now have the first glimpse of what the priest class will be like in Cataclysm. These changes are straight from Blizzard, and they provide great insight into where the designers want to take things. Please remember that these changes are for the beta and will very likely be modified as the expansion nears release.

Some of the major highlights:

• Mind Spike (level 81): Deals Shadowfrost damage and puts a debuff on the target that improves subsequent Mind Spike damage.
• Inner Will (level 83): Increases movement speed by 12% and reduces the mana cost of instant-cast spells by 10%. This buff will be exclusive with Inner Fire, meaning you can't have both up at once
• Leap of Faith (level 85): Pull a party or raid member to your location. Leap of Faith (or "Life Grip") is intended to give priests a tool to help rescue fellow players who have pulled aggro, are being focused on in PvP, or just can't seem to get out of the fire in time. Instant. 30-yard range. 45-second cooldown.
• Discipline will finally be getting Power Word: Barrier as a talented ability. Think of it like a group Power Word: Shield.

The full Blizzard announcement after the break.

Priest Cataclysm Changes

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we'll be making lots of changes and additions to class talents and abilities across the board. In this preview, you'll get an early look at some of the changes in store for the priest class, including a rundown of some of the new spells, abilities, and talents, as well as an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with the different talent specs.

New Priest Spells

Heal (available at level 16): While priests already have a spell called Heal, the existing version becomes obsolete at higher levels, which is something we intend to change in Cataclysm. Introduced at a low level, the "new" Heal spell will functionally work much like a down-ranked Greater Heal did in the past, adding more granularity to your direct-healing arsenal. If you need to heal someone a moderate amount and efficiency is an issue (making Flash Heal the incorrect spell for the job), then Heal is what you want to use. Heal is intended to be the priest's go-to direct-healing spell unless they need something bigger (Greater Heal) or faster (Flash Heal). We will be following a similar philosophy with all the healing classes.

Mind Spike (level 81): Deals Shadowfrost damage and puts a debuff on the target that improves subsequent Mind Spike damage. The intent of Mind Spike is to fill a niche missing in Shadow DPS, though it may be occasionally useful for healers as well. Mind Spike provides a quick nuke to use in situations where the priest doesn't have time to set up the normal rotation, such as when adds are dying too fast or you have to swap targets a lot. Spamming Mind Spike will do about as much damage as casting Mind Flay on a target afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain. The idea behind the debuff is that when you cast Mind Spike, we expect you to cast a lot of them; we don't intend you to fit it into an already full Shadow rotation. It also provides Shadow with a spell to cast when locked out of the Shadow school. (School lockouts will no longer affect both schools for multi-school spells.) 1.5-second cast. 30-yard range. No cooldown.

Inner Will (level 83): Increases movement speed by 12% and reduces the mana cost of instant-cast spells by 10%. This buff will be exclusive with Inner Fire, meaning you can't have both up at once. Inner Fire provides a spell power and Armor buff; Inner Will should be useful on a more situational basis.

Leap of Faith (level 85): Pull a party or raid member to your location. Leap of Faith (or "Life Grip") is intended to give priests a tool to help rescue fellow players who have pulled aggro, are being focused on in PvP, or just can't seem to get out of the fire in time. Instant. 30-yard range. 45-second cooldown.

Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

In addition to introducing new spells, we're planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you're familiar with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we intend for each spec.

• All HoTs and DoTs will benefit from Haste and Crit innately. Hasted HoTs and DoTs will not have a shorter duration, just a shorter period in between ticks (meaning they will gain extra ticks to fill in the duration as appropriate).
• We want to bring back Shadow Word: Death as an "execute" -- something you do when the target is at 25% health.
• While we want to keep the priest's role as a well-rounded healer, we also want to make sure the class is a viable tank healer, which is something priests moved away from a little in Wrath of the Lich King. Greater Heal will probably be the tank-healing spell of choice, though we've also discussed giving Discipline a second shield so that they have a small shield to cast on lots of different targets, and a big, more expensive shield to cast on a tank or anyone else taking a ton of damage.
• Divine Spirit and Prayer of Spirit will be removed from the game. As Spirit will be the primary mana-regeneration stat, we don't want it to vary as much between solo, small group, and raid play. Blessing of Kings and Mark of the Wild will not boost Spirit either.
• Mana will be a bigger consideration for all healers. We aren't trying to make healing more painful; we're trying to make it more fun. When the cost of a spell isn't an issue, then casting the right spell for the job is less of an issue because you might as well just use your most powerful spell all of the time. We are, however, getting rid of the five-second rule, because we don't want to encourage standing around doing nothing. We're also going to cut back on the benefits of buffs such as Replenishment so priests (and all healers) don't feel as penalized when those buffs aren't available.

New Talents and Talent Changes

• We want to improve Discipline's single-target healing capacity. One key is to make sure shielding isn't always a more attractive option than healing.
• We want to improve Holy for PvP healing. One way to do this is to make sure that Heal's throughput is similar between both specs.
• We want to improve Shadow for short fights and reduce its susceptibility to school lockouts.
• Discipline will finally be getting Power Word: Barrier as a talented ability. Think of it like a group Power Word: Shield.
• We want to make Holy a little bit more interesting to play. One new talent will push the Holy priest into an improved healing state when he or she casts Prayer of Healing, Heal, or Renew three times in a row. The empowered state varies depending on the heals cast.
• Since the Shadow tree has a lot of passive damage-boosting abilities -- something we're trying to avoid in Cataclysm -- we will need to replace several of the tree's talents. One idea is to play off of the new Shadow Orbs mechanic (see Mastery section below), possibly allowing you to consume an orb to increase damage from Mind Blast or reduce Mind Spike's cast time.
• Misery will no longer affect spell Hit chance. We want players to be able to gear themselves around a Hit cap that isn't variable depending on group composition.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Discipline
Healing
Meditation
Absorption

Holy
Healing
Meditation
Radiance

Shadow
Spell damage
Spell Crit
Shadow Orbs

Absorption: Improves the strength of shields such as Power Word: Shield, Divine Aegis, and Power Word: Barrier.

Radiance: Your direct heals add a small heal-over-time component to the target.

Shadow Orbs: Casting spells grants a chance for Shadow Orbs to be created that fly around you and increase your shadow damage. This will help lower-level characters feel more like "Shadow priests" before they obtain Shadowform.

We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we're looking forward to hearing your initial thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues.

source

Update: Ghostcrawler has chimed in with some clarifications.

Re: Priest Cataclysm Changes

A few quick clarifications:

Neither Inner Fire nor Inner Will has charges. The decision is on which armor you want up at the time.

Preventing dot clipping is something we want to do in general. It obviously benefits Shadow priests just as much as warlocks.

The idea behind Mind Spike is that you can't always settle into your normal, and high-ramp up rotation. It's also useful when you have to move or get school locked.

The closest analogue to PW:B is the DK Anti-Magic Zone, but it has some important differences, such as a way to counter it in PvP (since it absorbs all damage, not just magical damage).

The idea behind the Holy "cast three in a row" talent (it's called "Chakra") is that we've always positioned Holy as a versatile healer. This talent lets you shift into different modes. If you need to be a tank healer, cast three single target heals and your single-target healing is now better. Cast three area heals, and you can be a temporarily specialized group healer. We're going to try to play this mechanic up with a cool UI to try to get that "I'm almost in the zone" feel. We'll let it apply to as many types of spells as we can, perhaps even Smite for those times when nobody's taking damage.

We pulled Misery because we are pulling every group benefit that improves hit. It's annoying to have to swap your gear in and out depending on who shows up for your group. In general we're going to push even harder in Cataclysm for bringing people you like to play with, not bringing people who have awesome buffs. The answer to almost every question of "But why would they bring me?" should be "Because you know what the hell you're doing."

source

gear updates, etc.

recent gear updates:

• Soulcleave Pendant

• Sandals of Consecration (finally pooled together enough Primordial Saronite (5) needed to have Caricic make these for me.
• Kilt of Untreated Wounds. Didn't win this item, however, I did roll on it and Magturk of our guild won the pants. These weren't originally on my list but after reviewing them may move ahead of Leggings of Woven Death (because the Kilt is easier to obtain--if I had 10 primordial's growing on a tree then maybe these would fit the bill)

With my playing more, at least to get the daily frost badges going on my Shaman and Pally I may be able to obtain more Primordial Saronite for crafting some priesty gear(s). Not a rush priority mind you, just a eventual goal.

Still having fun running ICC10 with the guild. On our first night of the week (Wednesday) we cleared the first wing and got Festergut and his stank brother Rotface (all on the first night)! That sets the stage this Sunday (If I can make it back from our Easter trip back home in time to tip over the Professors table of mutations.

In other raiding news. The guild did an impromptu Sarth 3-D (10-man) run this week. After a few attempts, as I was the only healer, we got him down and all received the title <...of the Nightfall>.

farewell for now...

Meteor Chaser's Raiment

It's true, if you have patience (and I'm not referring to a well known guildie of mine) you can achieve your goals. I set out to obtain a difficult 95 emblem of frost item in Meteor Chaser's Raiment.

It was difficult for me since all I do raiding wise is the daily heroics, the weekly, and a weekly ICC-10 man run with my guild. But I am certainly not complaining, as that is more than enough for a casual raider.

This robe was a much more logical choice for me running in my Disco healing spec than the tier Crimson Acolyte Robe. I don't really see a benefit to the set bonus for discipline healing so I went with the non teir piece. Plus I traded haste for spirit...and that's a better deal for me.

Next on Mak's wish list:

• Leggings of Woven Death - tailored item
• either Sandals of Consecration (tailored) or Icecrown Spire Sandals (ICC10 Saurfang)
• Bloodstained Surgeon's Shoulderguards (ICC10 Festergut)
• Signet of Putrefaction (ICC10 Festergut)
• Soulcleave Pendant (ICC10 Saurfang)

So, technically it looks like I don't have anything on my wish list that requires Frost emblems anymore (since I'm not into the tier gear). Some possibilities with frost emblems I am pondering:

• Primordial Saronite (of course the above tailored items will require these)
• Purified Lunar Dust (a trinket sold for 60 frost emblems)

I think I'll hold this list here. tc all and God Bless...

the professor is next

So its been a little while since I wrote anything here...as always I apologize to my readers...*crickets*

So we finally have Saurfang down pretty well now and have actually gone on to clear Festergut and Rotface. Our next venture is the Professor. As of this post we've made one 'tester' run at him and hope to give it a better go this weekend.

I have graciously taken the healing adviser role for the guild, this spans priest/shaman/druid/and pally so I need to brush up on my pally/druid healing.

take care all.

I gotz fingers?!

Yep, that's right boys and girls. I upgraded my gloves to the highest level I think I can achieve today (since I don't for-see me doing any 25-ICC anytime soon). It cost 60 emblems of frost, but I proudly slid on these:

• Gloves of Ambivalence. I just can't decide whether or not I like these gloves...I think I'll procrastinate the decision. These gloves are very nice and versatile, since I can use them for my dps set as well.

Tomorrow, BHS ventures into DBSaurfang's presence again--eager to deal him a timely death. Stay tuned...

Saurfang is sour!

Alright, so we are progressing through the lower wing of ICC-10. We are pretty comfortable, for the most part with Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, and the gunship battle...but this menacing DK is a 'bloody' pain. We know he will go down soon, thats why we call it 'progression' and we will get it together soon enough.

Last nights run saw us roll smoothly through LD and the gunship battle, but we got stuck on Deathbringer (and he did just that) Saurfang.

Notable loot I won tonight was a trinket that was on the top of my wish list:

1. Muradin's Spyglass: True, its more of a caster trinket; and I did make sure the main spec'd casters didn't want to roll before I rolled on it. Very pleased I was able to obtain this.

well, that is all for now. I am also trying very hard to level my cooking up w/o havign to go to Gadz to talk to a goblin that I know will want to throatpunch me.

ICC "stabbing westward"

The guild has been running ICC-10 lately and we are nearly dispatching of Saurfang. The other bosses have proven to be worthy adversaries...one in particular, Lord Marrowgar. He has been noted as being a 'gear check' for most guilds or raiders in general. For the most part we have got his mechanics down and move thru him nicely. The second boss, Lady Deathwhisper was taken down on Jan 10. Her headache mainly comes with her minions and such. As far as the third encounter, The Gunship Battle--a rather interesting twist on 'boss encounters'. Its pretty straight forward, so as long as we don't stand in the 'nicely marked rocket targets on the ground' we should be fine...who doesn't like rocket propelled jet packs?

Not long ago, not sure if I made mention, but I took my second spec back to shadow and plan to stay there. I have had more opportunity to do dps in 5-mans and consistently push 2.8-3k dps.

New gear additions, and I'm guessing this is new to anyone reading:

1. Cord of the Patronizing Practitioner
2. Volde's Cloak of the Night Sky

I have been appointed to Healing adviser for my guild. I have some awesome support with me on the Healing advisory team. We will strive to make confident healers out of anyone that presents interest. Farewell for now.

happy new years!

whoa! looks like ive not made a post in a while...my apologies, but I don't know if anyone reads these so I will entertain myself.

Recent news: I dropped the PVP healing spec to go back to shadow for flexibility in the new dungeon finder system. Of course all I get are healing assignments, no worries there. Still rockin the disc healing spec, may never go back to holy I loves PW: Shield and Penance too much.

with the new shadow spec Ive been spending triumph on dps gear and have a solid set going now...too much hit i must say, but that's the norm. Haven't been raiding all that much with the holidays but the guild has entered the new ICC-10 and we dethroned Lord Marrowgar and attempted Lady Deathwhisper. cant say i enjoyed the Bone Spike Graveyard .

I did do some of the Winterveil stuff only to hit a brick wall with the cooking part. I will never again try to become a Bloodsail Buc, it messed my cooking lvl'n up too much. For those that know what I mean, you understand.

new helm and others...

So, I finally went after the tier Priest helm to match my robe. It looked basically the same as the one before so there isnt much difference in that. I also got a new and fitting holy wand (pretty happy with that one, I get to pew pew with holy power now.

Some recent achievments I've earned.

1. The Antechamber of Ulduar (10-man), 14 Sept 2009, with my guild Link here to website news posting.
2. Koralon the flame watcher (10-VOA), 12 Sept 2009, with a pug group.
3. Got my mind on my money, 11 Sept 2009.
4. Vehicular Gnomeslaughter, 10 Sept 2009.

"/golfclap"

I have renamed the blog to "slashgolfclap" since I am no longer melting shins on Mak. Its a tribute to pvp, especially Blood Elf Pally's and Rogues.

back to pvp discipline - welcome Perdishun to ally

yep yep, once again I have switched my secondary spec to pvp discipline. How many times now? Twice? Three times? I dont know. But I do know that Mak isnt going to be shadow anymore...with that said I introduce my shadow priest Perdishun. He was transferred from the horde side last night. Btw, he is a human...my first 'official' human toon. I nearly made him a night elf...but the faction rep bonus and every man for himself ability was worth it...plus I dont really like the Male NE animations.

This way I will have the full spectrum of the priest prowess. Some thing its insane to have 2 of the same class but I just like the Priest that much.

facion change available

ok, so maybe making a gnome priest isnt a great idea...i like the dwarves too much to betray Mak with that. Besides, that isnt an option at this time.

Still kicking around the idea of bringing Perdishun (from the horde over to ally) since the option is now available for a mere $30. Of course I'd make him a pure shadow since Mak is my healy-bot. Yeah I love the priest class that much!!!

Iron council down / Mak a future Gnome??

I did get my new robe (as I mentioned I was on track to obtain it in the previous post). I also, obtained the emblem pants; Legwraps of the Master Conjurer.

I have to work pretty much all this week so I was only able to sign up for one raid for last night and it was for night 2 of the Ulduar 10. We only tried one boss(es)...that being the Iron Council. Basically, its three bosses in one encounter, and after many an attempt we were able to down them. No loot to speak of, Tony got a casting dagger that was a down-grade for me and Bert got some boots.

I am still building triumph emblems to attain the helm I desire: Helm of Clouded Sight (75 emblems is a lot though). My other possibility are the shoulders: Pauldrens of Reverend Morality (45 emblems). Then again, there are still some pretty cheap rings!

New 3rd expansion mentioned recently, Cataclysm. To be open in a year prolly. Among the changes...2 new races and class/combos. Considering making Makarios into a gnome...but that may be a stretch or a SHRINK?!?!

new 3.2 patch

well, we are well into a week of the new patch now and it appears that Emblems of Conquest are the new 'must haves'. Translation, every heroic in Northrend is chock-full of people farming them. I upgraded my neck piece this past week with 19 of them to obtain Evoker's Charm. It was a clear upgrade in that area. The next item, as I mentioned in the last post, is to upgrade my tattered ol' chestpiece. I am 10 emblems away from the needed 58! Looking at getting Conqueror's Robe of Sanctification.

In other news, we had the 1st ever meeting of guildies in the D.C. area. Had a great turnout...eventhough not all were there, it was a blessing to see the ones (and their families) that were there. Good times.

And, not sure if I mentioned it or not. I have dropped Disc again to have shadow as my off dps spec. I can still use the gear for pvp and be in healing im sure (or shadow). Plus, I have more versitility with playing this guy more either for dps or healing. There once was a thought to bring my horde priest over to alliance to be my dps priest and run with 2 priests...not a wise idea I have led myself to discover. I am working all this week in the evenings so no big raiding for me...

nearly upgraded my robe...

was in the joint BHS/NP Naxx 25 run last night and nearly replaced my robe that I've had for 4 months or so now (Robes of Crackling Fire).

The robe I rolled on was Robes of Mutation. We had some trouble with the dkp loading and other logistical issues with it so I didnt will on dkp (I feel if my pally's points had been added to Mak's I would have fared better) but I have no doubt that Eliya will use it well ;-)

along the lines of upgrading my robe, etc. I haven't been as lucky as most priest's, etc. with the tier gear dropping, but I have been blessed with what I call the (alt Tier) gears. good run last night looking forward to night 2, Lord willing!

new gear updates to pvp and pve!

last night in 10 ulduar i won a few items.

1. Combustion Bracers won with a need roll for my holy (main) set.
2. Conductive Cord won uncontested since Hendoom already had them. For my holy (main) set.
3. Eye of the Broodmother won with a greed roll for my disc-heal (off-spec).

PVP upgrade:

1. Hateful Gladiator's Satin Mantle this brings my resilliance to 665