Could it be?!?

This hasn't, so far, been posted to MMO-Champion's front page yet so I'm not just repeating information! Apparently Blizzard is considering reworking Savage Defense a bit so it will absorb damage until a certain amount rather than just breaking as soon as you take any damage.

For Savage Defense the change we're thinking about would probably be instead of reducing the next physical attack for X damage, it would instead absorb X damage for some duration. Big single target hits would probably drop the shield either way, but all the dinkier hits from pack pulls would be mitigated rather well. It's probably something you'll see fleshed out on the PTR.    - Bashiok, Community Manager

In other words - right now if you proc Savage Defense and you get hit for 1 damage or 50,000 damage the shield gets used up. It might completely absorb the damage or it might mitigate the hit and absorb some portion of the damage (depends on your attack power and mastery rating).

What the devs are considering is changing Savage Defense so that it works similar to a Priest's Power Word: Shield. If you proc Savage Defense it absorbs X amount of damage, even if it's multiple hits!

Two things:

1. Easier add/trash tanking!
2. Yay for soloing old content!

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Also, it's safe to ignore my previous recruitment post, Shenanigans Inc found a new Warlock that we are extremely happy with and we are now continuing our push into heroic content. I also went ahead and assembled a new computer (possible future post) so I'm making a promise to myself to record our heroic kills. Halfus, Chimaeron, Maloriak and Atramedes will not be first kills, but I'm still going to record them. Next up will be Magmaw and Conclave!

<Shenanigans Inc> is recruiting a Warlock or Hunter

I've talked about my guild a couple of times here on the blog, and we've recently had a member step down from raiding for personal reasons. This has opened up our recruitment for the first time since the guild was created at the start of Cataclysm.

We (the founders) got extremely lucky when we first started to put together the guild because we took on a few members that were just absolutely fantastic additions and just all around superb raiders. We now hope to get lucky once more and find a permanent (this is not for the bench) top-notch Warlock or Hunter to raid with us.

We are currently 3/13 Heroic 10M and are pushing progression on heroic Conclave, Magmaw, and Atramedes!

Here is the recruitment verbiage from our post on the Official WoW Forums:

Shenanigans Inc is a ten man raiding guild forming on US-Mal’Ganis (CST). We reject the traditional assumption that “fun” and “progress” are mutually exclusive, and intend to push the limits of both. We believe that accountability and open communication are the keys to success and longevity, and leaven this with a healthy dose of tact and respect. Our goal is to progress rapidly and gracefully through content, and constantly reaffirm the fun we have playing this game. Fun isn't just defined by killing dragons; guild chemistry includes a lot of laughs, and plenty of crude humor. Bring your raid face, but make sure your skin is thick (not just from hot pockets). We are looking for raiders interested in becoming shareholders in this venture.

Our members have extensive raiding experience from Vanilla onwards, including Light of Dawn, Insanity, Glory of the Ulduar Raider, Hand of A’dal and fully intend on pushing forward into Cataclysm to extend our raiding resumes.

The guild will operate under the assumption that each of our members is equally vested in the groups success. We will require exacting self and peer evaluations on performance, and expect every raider to be involved in pre-raid strategy and post-raid assessments.

Official raid times are Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 8-11 ST (CST), but we can and do add and extend our raid nights for new content or to ensure a kill. We have an energetic community of alts and friends, and an active forum outside of the game.

We are looking for raiders who share our commitment to progress and a healthy guild home. As a trial, you would have all of the same responsibilities as our vested raiders, and a successful trial period would be dependent on the dedication you bring to our vision for the guild.

Classes :
We are specifically looking for the following classes, but exceptional applicants of other classes will be considered. Being well-versed in off-specs is expected and necessary.

1 Hunter OR Warlock
*Note - We are NOT recruiting for the bench. This is for an immediate and permanent spot in the raid.

If this is a guild you are interested in, please visit our website, http://shenanigans-guild.net. In such a small group, personality is just as important as skill and we will not compromise our standards on either point. You can fill out an application on our forums, or contact any one of our members in game. We do not recruit for the bench or back up positions. If you are interested in the vision of Shenanigans Inc, you may apply as a non-raiding member.

Who to contact:
Nubaeus
Taggle
Ampzilla

If you are at all interested or would like more information visit our website HERE (take a moment to view our Recruitment page, Guild Charter, or top ranked WoL and of course our awesome banner! Contact me or any other guild member in game as well if you have any specific questions!

The quiet death of hit rating..?

There is a lot of information coming out from various sources about the 4.1 patch. Lots of things I'd like to touch on, but for the moment I want to focus on something that I missed on my first skim of the notes.

"Classes: General

• All non-damaging interrupts off the global cooldown will now always hit the target. This includes Pummel, Shield Bash, Kick, Mind Freeze, Rebuke, Skull Bash, Counterspell, Wind Shear, Solar Beam, Silencing Shot, and related player pet abilities."

Making the case for Hit Rating, kind of

Recently my guild, Shenanigans Inc, downed Heroic Maloriak. During one of our better attempts something happened that was embarrassing and completely preventable. I was in charge of interrupting Arcane Storm and of course the inevitable happened - one of my interrupts missed! So far in Cataclysm I've had relatively good luck with interrupts on my non-hit capped Bear, not so much a few nights ago when I caused this unnecessary wipe. I immediately apologized and reforged a couple of pieces of gear to gain about 1.5% hit rating, putting me above 8%.

Ignoring Hit Rating

Why wasn't I already hit capped? Well hit rating is practically useless past a certain small percent for raiding. Yeah...unless of course you are in charge of interrupting a crucial ability. Sacrificing a fairly large amount of avoidance for a stat that simply increases your threat (and a bit of uptime on Savage Defense) just doesn't seem worth it in the thick of things. When Vengeance gets stacked up a bit and your Mangles are hitting for over 30k threat generation really starts to drop in priority. So I've mostly ignored hit rating (and expertise).

With non-damaging interrupts (aka. Skull Bash) always hitting come 4.1 I'll literally have no use for hit rating except for the first 30 seconds of any given fight. To me it seems with this change Blizzard is really making Hit Rating an option (and a poor option at that) not a requirement. Of course I don't advise running around doing heroic raiding with 0.00% hit, but I'll be dropping the 50 hit enchant from my boots, and reforging most of my hit to Dodge Rating after 4.1 hits live servers.

Problems with ignoring hit

The one big issue with ignoring hit rating is when you are assigned to some form of add tanking in a given encounter. Which is why it's always good to have around a few pieces of gear that can significantly boost your hit rating. For example, pre-4.1 I'm using Fluid Death in one of my trinket slots for a huge hit boost, post-4.1 though you can be sure I'll be going back to either Symbiotic Worm or Lifebound Alchemist Stone paired up with Vial of Stolen Memories.

Honestly if you have a tank in raid that is hit capped and is better at AoE tanking to begin with consider leaving it to them, honestly it's just playing to each others strength, ego need not get involved.

Can't wait for 4.1

Good riddance hit...it was fun while it lasted. Needing hit for taunt (removed chance to miss in 4.0.1), needing hit for threat (end of any tier/expansion when DPS scale up drastically, hello Vengeance), needing hit for interrupts (changing in 4.1), you put up a good fight but you're dead to me. =]

3/13 heroic 10m..

There hasn't been much to talk about. It's not very useful to mirror fan-sites like MMO-Champion and the like. I share a lot of the same opinions about the changes to Feral druids (especially tanking) as most other bloggers in the sphere (aka, Yay for three second Swipe).

Wish this title was permanent!

One thing I'm especially proud of and want to mention is Shenanigans Inc killed Maloriak last night on heroic! I really have to commend Blizzard on the tuning of the heroics so far this expansion. We've killed three of thirteen bosses on heroic and each encounter really felt extremely challenging and that is NEVER a bad thing. Plenty more kills to come!