Eric Replied

A Little Bit Special
WoW has and always will have (I hope) a changing landscape for all the different features in the game. For as long as I remember, there have always been changes to balance, features, and functions in the game. I think it’s refreshing that the game doesn’t stay in one solid state for any (prolonged period of time).

There are many “little things” introduced to the game that don’t immediately get a huge following. Things like little talents or little skills that people don’t utilize at first, but become huge forces after people learn how to use and control these abilities.

It wasn’t long ago that a large amount of warriors considered Endless Rage useless. While in its current state, it’s a little weak (5% vs. 25%), the talent itself has opened the doors to 40+ point arms warriors. That’s definitely something I didn’t see in the earlier pvp seasons.

So who’s Special?
There’s a unique team on Eredar: Amelio and his 5v5 team BEARFORCEone (what a great name).  His team has made it to 2050+ with one of the oddest setups I’ve ever seen:

- Warrior (Arms/Prot)
- Shaman (Enhancement)
- Priest (Disc)
- Mage or Warlock
- Druid (or Paladin)

I’ve always felt that it’s refreshing when there’s a change in pace and people find ways to suceed where others fail.  Bearforceone (btw, don’t ever watch the real youtube video for it… it’s terribly awesome) has taken a non-standard team and made headway where others keep trying the typical “optimal” setups.

I’m hoping to try some of my own “uniqueness” in the up and coming weeks:  It’s a little inspiration that I’m trying on our own Alt-5 Team.

Setup and Thoughts

There are a few ways to shuffle Warrior, Paladin, and Shaman spec-wise.  The one that I’m going to talk about is the one I that I have the most experience with:  Arms Warrior/Resto. Shaman/Holy Paladin.  There are a few other successful combinations out there (some I’d definately love to try) such as:

- Ret. Paladin/Arms Warrior/Resto. Shaman
- Holy Paladin/Arms Warrior/Elemental Shaman
- Holy Paladin/Arms Warrior/Enhancement Shaman

Warrior, Shaman, Paladin and Warrior, Priest, Paladin are the only combinations I’ve ever run on Shinsoku.  Most fights are usually drawn out as I’m the only real DPS in the whole team.

Strengths
+ Strong Healing - Two of the longest straight healers! Can’t go wrong with that … can I?
+ Offensive and Defensive Dispels - Cover all bases.
+ High Armor - Anti-Melee as each target sports more than 10k armor.
+ Plenty of options to slow the opposition down (Earthbind, Piercing Howl, Hamstrings, and Judgement of Justice)
+ Sustained and “infinite” DPS

Weaknesses
+ Shamans don’t have quite as many utilities as other healers.
+ Both Healers don’t really have strong spot-healing abilities.
+ Lack of Burst DPS
+ Snaring or CCs on the Warrior disables most of the DPS.
+ Very few CC options.
+ Very susceptible to Mana Burn teams.

Strategy
There isn’t anything incredibly dynamic about this team in terms of timing.  The real key for Pal/Sham/War is positioning.  My general rule of thumb is to never get too aggressive and to play as if you were tied at the waist with a rubber band to your team mate.  If you go out of range and force them into a position where they can get CC’d, it’s going to be rough.  If you play in such a way that they can constantly use Line of Sight to their advantage, then you can probably do well.

I’ve found that one strength of this team is against teams with high burst, but lacking in longevity.  A good example would be RMP (Rogue, Mage, Priest).  After surviving the initial burst, it’s not difficult to turn it around.  Another strategy is to keep working on the class that commonly puts out either the highest CC or the highest burst.  By spreading out the damage or limiting the CC, you can decrease their advantage over you.

And remember, it’s absolutely key to never let the foe drink.  This is doom for your team (and probably any team that lets opponents full drink).

Conclusion
In Season 3, the art of Paladin, Warrior, Shaman isn’t what it used to be. With the rise of Druid+ Anything Teams, Pal/War/Sham are struggling even to match the healing output in the short run that druids can provide.  That said, a good setup can punish and press most any team into playing defensively out of the gate.

Oh, and to the Warriors:  Sunder is Everything. (But this is a topic all on its own)

-ERP-

Argh.
It only generates 5% bonus rage instead of 25% rage. I think I’m going to try 38/2/21.

-ERP-

… and All I Got to Show is this Lousy Helmet.
It’s not really that bad.  Really it isn’t.  I was hoping for shoulders, and I got a helmet instead.  Stat by stat it’s better except in one department:  cool-factor.

5v5 Results
So how did we fare in 5v5 this week? It was up and down. We battled many different teams that ranged from 1700s to 2300s.  We did stay above 1900 the whole time and we ended the week up about 35 points to be 1963.  We reached 199x on three separate occasions but the circumstances wouldn’t allow us to get any farther.  It didn’t help that we played on our off days: Sunday - when the Instance Servers kept crashing and Monday - when the queue times were 5 minutes.

We managed to go 4-1 against Anghellic (if I recall correctly), which I mark as an achievement in itself, but we faltered every time we played against a triple healer team (more specifically: Druid/Priest/Paladin/Warx2).  We also got taken down (really badly, I must add) three or four times by the same 4-DPS Team (Mage/Lock/Ele. Shaman/S.Priest/Paladin).

3v3 Dropouts
3v3 ended on the downside.  We started the week strong and managed to get to 1980 something, but a series of frustrating losses and broken concentration left us at 1915 overall.  I’m hoping we see less Druid+something, but my hopes are probably going to be dashed as the new magic formula is “Druid+Anything+Anything” is a winning combination. Crazzymike improved his healing legs this weekand has gained 120 healing.  I reckon that’s going to help a little.  Just a little.

2v2 with Fortification
Vitamins does a body good, and we pushed up to 1802.  I’m hoping we can at least break 2k sometime this season.  He makes an excellent partner and he’s getting used to my play style pretty quickly.

In the end, I just settled on the Season 3 helmet and set aside my points for next week.  Here’s to 2000 this week, eh …

-ERP-

Reserve it at Game Stop! I’m inclined to think that their release date is pretty accurate. 2.4 comes out in early March. A flavor patch around June. Beta Testing through August and September. Final tweaks in October. Expansion goes live in November.

I laughed at the Product Description that they provided:

“Official price and release date have NOT been announced by Blizzard. In this case, the price and release date were determined by the GameStop e-commerce staff, (comprised of overpowered warlocks), using a combination of 6 and 20-sided die.

Important: If the price decreases between the time you place your order and the release date, you will receive the lower price. Woot! If the price increases you will be given the option to either pay the higher price or cancel your order. However, if the price increases by more than $1,000, many of us here at the corporate office plan to retire and purchase a small Caribbean island. You are welcome to visit us at any time. Please bring pizza, chocolate and cold beverages.

Note: We vehemently oppose “ninja looting” therefore your credit card will NOT be charged until your order is processed for shipping. Pre-order now. Power to the players.”

-ERP-