The Times They Are a Changing

Seems I've hit my stopping point on Skulane. ICC first hall done and I've lost all interest in raiding. So the Alts finally got some attention. Decided to start up a Priest to try healing out, and my oh my did they change the Troll/Orc Starter zone. Used to be when you took the quest. http://www.wowhead.com/quest=6394

Everything was out to kill you the imps felhounds and the big bad at the back of the cave. Now they're all passive till you attack them. Make starting a new character easier but i feel it takes away too much of the old challenge.

I'm Dreaming of a Beta Invite

Folks. I don't need to tell you how many bosses I've killed.

Thats what the Armory's for.

I've faced the horrors of Northrend. Beat down the doors to the Lich Kings home, and gotten rich while doing it.

However as brave as I and all adventures are there is one boss we cant hope to defeat. The NDA boss.

Non Disclosure Agreement, for those that are out of touch with the lingo, basically means you can't say anything about whats going on in whatever it is your testing/creating.

This veil of secrecy is, for WoW players, the most gut wrenching thing they've experienced from a software game company.

They search and scrounge for any info leaks they can on there favorite class.

Days become weeks

Weeks become months

Then suddenly you are sporing a full beard and sores on your tush from being at the computer for so long

...

Thats not just me right?

Good.

The Alpha is a time for secrecy. A secrecy that will drive players mad, until the NDA is lifted

Then comes the Beta

We all wait for the inevitable closed beta hoping to get a shot at that golden ticket of sorts. The one thing that would make all our dreams come true.

Many think they have a good chance at the beta.

"I've never bought gold"

"I've never been hacked"

"I do all the PTRs and make detailed bug reports."

We all hope our in game karma is notice by Blizzard and that they see us worthy to test the upcoming awesomeness that is (inset expansion name here)

In the end many are worthy, but the sad truth is Blizz cant let everyone in. And those huddled masses that are forced to sit out can take solace in the fact that mean old NDA is repealed and they can see it all for themselves.

This is my second time opting in for a beta.

And I'm greatly hoping to get in.

The ability to play as goblins and level to 85 and see all of Azeroth reformed is as appealing to me as it would be anyone.

But truly i wish to be a part of it so that i can help polish, shape and better a game i love. To be able to say "I reported that particle issue with divine storm." Or "I was the one that had them add the proc to blood frenzy."

To be a part of something so massive is a dream i would love to see become a reality.

And if I'm not able to get in i wont moan or cry.

I'll let those that did get in allow me to see what they see.

I'll watch the beta evolve into new and amazing things.

And perhaps get a small feeling of what it was like to be a part of something that will reach millions.

/sigh

Till then I have my dreams.

Well I also have Diet Dr. Pepper

Ya. That stuff is good.

Rainy Days and Tuesdays Always Bring Me Down

Bad news nobody its Tuesday again. More than that its raining so no work today for me. No that gap is not some kind of bug on the site. Its been over a year since i have posted im sure this comes as no surprise to any one thats read this before. I usually disappear without notice for long periods. In any case since I'm here i suppose i should talk about our new Cataclysm stuff. But as I'm sure you've all been good hunters and keeping up on it i wont bore you with the details. So lets get down to the nitty gritty. The next sections will be color coded as

Bad

Meh/Too soon to tell.

Good

Holy $%@# Yes

Mana changed to focus. Too Soon to Tell

Now I'm still waiting to see how this plays out. Theres no doubt it willl change the way we dps. Whether its for the better or worse cant be determined till one gets his/her hands on it.

Cobra Shot~ A new shot that deals Nature damage instead of Physical damage. This ability will share a cooldown with Steady Shot. This will give hunters an alternative to Steady Shot on heavily-armored targets, and we will have talent incentives in the Beast Mastery tree to make this a signature shot.

Now this is intriguing. Right off the bat you can distinguish this is a shot thats is situational in PvE due to the boss armor normalization. No prob were fine in PvE, one of the best balanced classes for it really. So this shot is to help us in PvP. Well I'm not so sure it'll do that As any PvP hunter know one can't sit and spam steady shot because it has a cast time and we have a minimum range. So if cobra/steady make the leap to instant(which i highly doubt) then how is this new shot gonna help out? We cant sit and spam Cobra Shot at a Prot warrior he'll intercept us and tear us a new one. Bottom line is as it stands this shots nothing to write home about.

Trap Launcher~ When used, the next trap can be shot to a location within 40 yards. This provides the current Freezing Arrow treatment to all traps and, as a result, we will be removing the current ability Freezing Arrow.~ Meh

Hey its what we should have made freezing arrow in to in the first place. Now we all know hunters got shafted (arrow pun he he)with there level 80 skill. A ranged freezing trap. Now it was designed to help in PvP and in trapping/CCing mobs however we never use cc anymore so that was out. And for PvP it broke the second a dot hit the person affected with it . Even Hex doesn't instantly break on damage. Ahem but i digress. Being able to fire a frost trap somewhere now thats good PvP. Slowing multiple targets is hot.... erm... cool... The main reason its meh is it should replace our level 80 spell and thus be replaced by something else.

Camouflage (level 85): The hunter enters an obscured state that prevents him or her from taking ranged damage. The character would still be subject to melee or area-of-effect attacks, and dealing or taking damage will break the Camouflage effect. The hunter can move and set traps when under Camouflage, and will receive a damage bonus when attacking while under Camouflage (which will then break the effect).

Now this could go good or meh depending on how it actually works. If its PvP wise its a great opener and those mages have to blizzard you to get you out of hiding. The best part is the fact that you can lay traps. As well with being immune to ranged attacks such as deadly throw, Pally Hammer, polly, cyclone, hex, etc. This could majorly help us in PvP where, lets be honest, were one of the toughest classes to play if were being focused.

New Pet System

More pets to collect? More Space given!

Thank the Titans for this one. I'm having a hard time mining in Sholozar wondering if ill have to drop one of my pets for Louqe if he shows up. No worries in Cat tho as well have our basic call stabled pet spell for 3 pets and a full stable of pets we can only access by going to town. GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!!!!

Complete removal of ammo.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

Why Bliz? Why would you just throw it away instead of making it our version of idles or totems. This really makes me angry. As much as i love not having to pay for my dps anymore im pissed that i loose out on finding cool ammo that dose some awesome things. Ands the engineering business could be pumped up with boss schematic drops for new kinds of ammo.

Examples:

Goblin Explosive Rounds.

Requires: Goblin Engineer

Make Explosive rounds that have a chance to detonate on impact causing (extra?) fire damage instead of physical.

Gnomish Chrono Rounds

Requires: Gnomish Engineering.

Create Technologically Advanced rounds that have a chance to bend time and space around them selfs and skip the flight time of usual ammo causing bonus damage.

Heck you could bring back Tank Ranged Pulls

Nesingwarys Anti Tank Rounds. (ucwhatididthere?)

On use: Fires a particularly dangerous looking round that increases threat generated by #% for #s

Engineers could even upgrade there own ammo via tinkering. Thats enough of my ideas for now but if you have ideas for ammo then please share them in the comments section.

Well thats the gist of it theres plenty more info about hunter changes but im just here to give my thoughts on the big stuff.

Till next time

Skulane out.

Fast and Furious

Well finally after a long ordeal of mining saronite till we vomit.We've managed to get our epic flying skill. 

/cheer

Now we can mine saronite till we puke while going 4 times as fast.

/sigh

well its back to looking for titanium till we can make our Hog.

KABOOOM!!!!

Not afraid to admit, we love blowin things to smithereens. Hence the choice to go Goblin Engineering way back when. And boy did our choice pay off.

Here's the deal.

Were in Wintergrasp attacking the fort. There's 1 minuet left and the final wall is about to crumble.

Then BOOOM!!!  http://www.wowhead.com/?item=42986 blasts our tank in to scrap.

There's no way were gettin another one in time. Those Alliance, so sure they had won. Already looking for Tanks and healers for 25 man Vault. However, a goblin engineer always remembers the 3 most important things for getting out of a scrape like this. Explosives, Explosives, and Explosives.  So we decide lets test out our newest toy. http://www.wowhead.com/?item=42641 Sounds harmless enough =D.  1 busted wall and 6 dead Alliance later, we had new found respect for our profession that we thought we'd never have again. Sure the ammo and the gogs were nice but we didn't get much to celebrate about (Hog Excluded of course. Were droolin ta make our own.).

Now we have a little macro set up with a line from another of our favorite games.

/use Global Thermal Sapper Charge

/Y Oh there gonna have to glue you back together. IN HELL!!!

Meet the Team

A Hunter is nothing without his trusted companions. So lets introduce you to the all star line up that we have.

First up the AoE Machine. Cranky

 

Name: Cranky

From: Un'Goro Crater

Species: Gorilla

Role: AoE Tank/ Farming Partner

Notes:When he's not tanking 10 mobs at once, he spends his time: Defending an ore node or napping in Dalaran. If you need a run through a lowbie instance hes the man (well gorilla) for the job.

Next up. Shes the Queen and she knows it. Look at her the wrong way and its a trip to the graveyard. Here's Chi

Name: Chi

From: Sholazar Basin

Species: Wasp

Role: PvP/ Rogue Destruction

Notes: Chi (Japanese for blood) certainly lives up to here name shedding as much as she can on the battlefield. She makes rogues run in terror. For all her bloodthirsty tendencies she is a beauty. However you must remember. Tho she may look gorgeous, this rose defiantly has thorns.

Our next companion is as rugged as the continent of Northrend. This is Banjo

Name: Banjo

From:  Zul'Drak

Species: Bear

Role: Tank for Hire

Notes: Need ta solo a 3 man quest. Banjo's the one to call. He loves a challenge and frequently tanks instances for friends and guild mates. With skin like steel, and a growl that could blow the feathers off a Boomkin. Banjo's one mean SoB

And Here we are at the Main event. Here's the Big Cheese. The one that gets the job done. The Dpsing Dino. Krunch!

Name: Krunch

From: Un'Goro Crater

Species: Devilsaur

Notes: If i had to chose a favorite it would be Krunch. Gnomes for breakfast? Hardly! Hes not satisfied till hes had at least 2 instance bosses. While in Bestial Wrath and Monstrous Bite he never fails to awe the other group members. I'm surprised the bosses don't just drop there loot and run when they see him now. No instance run is complete without him. Hes my closest friend and i wouldn't trade him for the world.

Honorable Mentions

Mr. Billorly

I hardly knew thee. You were only with us for a short time but you made everyone laugh.

Sure you might have been a slime ball with a Bad Attitude (http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=52397) But you never failed to get lols in Dalaran. A moment of Silence for this... slime.

...

...

/sniff

Alrighty then

The next 2 aren't pets but they have hauled my @ss around the world so why not mention them.

First off is Hawkeye My Swift Blue Raptor

To become the Explorer i needed a fast set of... legs.

And Hawkeye here delivered. We Toured the world of Azeroth together. And he is a valued ally.

And to wrap this up i bring you Klinger.

Hes the newest addition to the family. I used to ride the Roflcopter around (http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=44153)

but it was loud and it felt... unnatural.

Klinger is my choice for flight now. Silent flight is a god send after that racket the copter made.

Air Klinger the only way to fly.

And that Wraps up the Whole Family. There's always room for growth so if a new member joins then ill be sure you get an update.

Here We Go Again...

Well well look who's back. Yes that's right its me. Now that I'm more situated i figure i should start blogging again. Some Introductions are in order. Names Skulane. I'm a level 80 Troll Hunter on Chromagnus. I'm a maxed out Engineer/Miner/Fisherman/First Aid(s Man?) Just workin on cooking. I enjoy the sound of gunfire and will always grab a gun over a bow with equal stats.

As it is late here in Sunny Maui i shall retire for the night. I have lots to share and i hope yall enjoy my storries and such.

~Skulane Out~