Poster: Flaya at 12/8/2005 7:21:13 AM PST
Subject: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night |
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Last night I was working on my AB reputation when one of the shamans in the guild announces that he'd like to do an UBRS raid. After a few requests for people to join one of the mages and a warrior agree to join with him. As I'm in Orgrimar at the time I can see him recruiting locally too. After a bit I get directly asked if I'd be interested in going.
My response was that in truth I really didn't want to go but that if they couldn't find enough healers I'd go.
Why didn't I want to go? A combination of factors:
(1) I've done UBRS more times than I care to count.
(2) I usually come back from UBRS down the cost of reagents (group Fortitude buffs) and the cost of repairs with very little to show for it.
(3) There is little compelling reason that I can find for level 60 (a) cloth wearers in general and (b) priests in particular to be in UBRS unless they have a hard one for what is mostly crappy drops for them while melee classes get continuous drops of shiney, uberpower.
The first point above I could get past. Why be in a guild if you're not going to help when called upon? Heck, I later made two runs through Scarlet Monastary to help out guild members, but that brings up the second point. . . .
. . .its not a great cost to pay for the reagents but combine it with the equipment repair and the best I ever come out of such runs is break even and generally I'm down cash. I'm not being paid to go on the raid. Presumably my out of pocket expenses should be made up by what I can sell from the run, what I gain from the run in terms of experience (non-existant at level 60) and items (not likely). That leads to. . . .
. . . .the loot table in UBRS while being a melee's wet dream is beyond poor for cloth wearers, it is down to being indigent, wandering the streets, homeless and drunk on cheap booze.
One staff drops in the entire place, one wand, and the cloth drops. . .of them all only the Skyshroud Leggings and Dragonrider Boots are remotely worthwhile. Ohhh, look. . .3 pieces of Devout drop in all of Blackspire. . .Did anyone mention that Devout blows chunks? If I wore an entire set of Devout it'd grant me as its major boost +55 to healing. Personally I'm wearing over double that in +healing/damage. Why would I be caught dead (or alive) in Devout?
Meanwhile all sorts of goodies are dropping for melee classes. Don't believe me? Check http://www.thottbot.com/?f=i&zones=101&qm=3&iz=1&cols=nktsq and see for yourself.
So I could go, lose money, walk out of it with nothing to show for it short of lightning striking or I could beg off. . . .I think I know which is the wiser course. At least I could run the guildies through SM and not lose money even if I didn't get anything out of it.
I can sense that someone is going to object about other instances where the drops are primarily geared to cloth wearers. Uh. . .where on Azeroth are you talking about? Scholomance? Last time I was there it was a platemail holiday. Take a look at its loot table ( http://www.thottbot.com/?f=i;zones=116;qm=3;iz=1;cols=nktsq;sort=skill ) and tell me it is anywhere near as slanted to cloth as BRS is to melee. Diremaul? Nope.
In the end I thought about demanding to be paid to enter BRS, but then I figured there would be suckers the shaman could find to go along and in the end it turned out I was right.
And the irony to end this with?
For a bit of time a number of us have had the quest "Warlord's Command" to take care of. I have actually completed the requirements of the quest with a PUG but before I had the quest. So I have been inclined to going with a guild group and knocking it out and when asked last night if I'd go tonight agreed to do so. Well what can I get out of doing this? Check it out:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=6424 Cloth
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=6410 Plate
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=6427 Leather
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=6447 Leather
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=6448 Mail
There are two pieces that don't provide a secondary benefit, one of the leather pieces and the only cloth piece. In the case of the leather piece (a) there is another choice which does provide a secondary benefit and (b) the stats on the piece are very good. The cloth piece blows in terms of stats though. Wyrmthalak should be ashamed to have been shackled by that piece of crap.
The quest turns out to be the first part of a three part series which culminates in the following awards:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=13103
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=13103
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=9464
Obviously the first and last item are useless to me. That middle one though. . .its not quite useless, just close.
I'm thinking the developers should be flogged. . .in public. . .then bathed in vinegar and dried by rolling in salt.
Priest: Its Whack-a-Mole punctuated by sudden death
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Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 9:52:44 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night |
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I'm not sure why you are using your group Fortitude in Upper Blackrock Spire when cost is a concern. Simply use your standard rank Fortitude and expend only mana. Concerning repairs, I'm not sure how much how your repair costs could negate the monetary gain from random drops (and gold) found in the instance. I'd guess that either your guild isn't distributing the drops properly, or you're dying fairly often - possibly a combination of both. I run my Priest through all of UBRS on a very regular basis, primarily for the BWL attunement quest and always come out a bit ahead, sometimes more than others of course.
As far as Priest friendly loot is concerned - there is plenty and also pretty reasonable to obtain with minimal risk involved.
Briarwood Reed
Serpentine Skuller
Starfire Tiara
Devout Mantle
Dustfeather Sash
Band of Rumination
Dragonrider Boots
Spiritshroud Leggings
Frostweaver Cape
Devout Robe
Tooth of Gnarr
I'm not sure what you're equipping your character with that makes these items completely unappealing, as I personally wore a few of these items for quite a while - only replacing them with loot found in Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159141 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 10:07:00 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night |
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Q u o t e:
Be nice if more mobs dropped actual Gold rather than 5 or 6sp.
The instance drops a decent amount of gold assuming you're in a five to ten man party. Once players decide to build a party of fifteen and zerg Rend and the General - money spreads itself thin. Don't forget to factor in all the random green items that drop which often sell in the Auction House for two or three gold.
Q u o t e:
Telling us not to use an ability that was put in speicifically for Forting Large groups for extended amounts of time...good one.
I suggested an alternative to group Fortitude since cost seemed to be an issue. Players are free to use either in any given situation. I personally use group Fortitude when partied with even one other as I'm never concerned with the cost of a candle.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159433 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 10:20:34 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night |
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Q u o t e:
Maybe I'm a total noob and perhaps I suck (the jury is still out), but my guild does Ony and MC--but we've never successfully 5-manned UBRS which is what this thread is about. Is 5-manning the General even possible? Are you suggesting that doing the instance in a group of 15 is an easy mode zergfest?
The first portion of the instance (through Rend) is tuned for five players. The second portion is tuned for ten. Fifteen players is five to ten more than necessary depending upon which portion you're completing.
I've personally killed the General with as little as eight party members.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159746 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 10:24:50 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night |
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Q u o t e:
So it's tuned for 5 as you say at the beginning, then you're supposed to call in for reinforcement in the second "phase" as it were?
I'm glad I just play this game to have fun and don't pay much attention to what goes on in the forums or I'd probably be just as bitter as some other players about some of these stupid game mechanics.
No, the first portion is tuned for five players in the case that you only want to fight up through Rend, you don't need to recruit as many. If you're goal is in completing the instance, you'll grab ten to fifteen from the beginning. How is that a "stupid mechanic"?
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159825 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 9:52:44 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night *edited post* |
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I'm not sure why you are using your group Fortitude in Upper Blackrock Spire when cost is a concern. Simply use your standard rank Fortitude and expend only mana. Concerning repairs, I'm not sure how much how your repair costs could negate the monetary gain from random drops (and gold) found in the instance. I'd guess that either your guild isn't distributing the drops properly, or you're dying fairly often - possibly a combination of both. I run my Priest through all of UBRS on a very regular basis, primarily for the BWL attunement quest and always come out a bit ahead, sometimes more than others of course.
As far as Priest friendly loot is concerned - there is plenty and also pretty reasonable to obtain with minimal risk involved.
Briarwood Reed
Serpentine Skuller
Starfire Tiara
Devout Mantle
Dustfeather Sash
Band of Rumination
Dragonrider Boots
Spiritshroud Leggings
Frostweaver Cape
Devout Robe
Tooth of Gnarr
I'm not sure what you're equipping your character with that makes these items completely unappealing, as I personally wore a few of these items for quite a while - only replacing them with loot found in Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159141 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 10:07:00 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night *edited post* |
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Q u o t e:
Be nice if more mobs dropped actual Gold rather than 5 or 6sp.
The instance drops a decent amount of gold assuming you're in a five to ten man party. Once players decide to build a party of fifteen and zerg Rend and the General - money spreads itself thin. Don't forget to factor in all the random green items that drop which often sell in the Auction House for two or three gold.
Q u o t e:
Telling us not to use an ability that was put in speicifically for Forting Large groups for extended amounts of time...good one.
I suggested an alternative to group Fortitude since cost seemed to be an issue. Players are free to use either in any given situation. I personally use group Fortitude when partied with even one other as I'm never concerned with the cost of a candle.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159433 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 10:20:34 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night *edited post* |
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Q u o t e:
Maybe I'm a total noob and perhaps I suck (the jury is still out), but my guild does Ony and MC--but we've never successfully 5-manned UBRS which is what this thread is about. Is 5-manning the General even possible? Are you suggesting that doing the instance in a group of 15 is an easy mode zergfest?
The first portion of the instance (through Rend) is tuned for five players. The second portion is tuned for ten. Fifteen players is five to ten more than necessary depending upon which portion you're completing.
I've personally killed the General with as little as eight party members.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159746 |
Poster: Eyonix at 12/8/2005 10:24:50 AM PST
Subject: Re: Why I Refused To Go To UBRS Last Night *edited post* |
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Q u o t e:
So it's tuned for 5 as you say at the beginning, then you're supposed to call in for reinforcement in the second "phase" as it were?
I'm glad I just play this game to have fun and don't pay much attention to what goes on in the forums or I'd probably be just as bitter as some other players about some of these stupid game mechanics.
No, the first portion is tuned for five players in the case that you only want to fight up through Rend, you don't need to recruit as many. If you're goal is in completing the instance, you'll grab ten to fifteen from the beginning. How is that a "stupid mechanic"?
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=6156660&p=#post6159825 |
