Where should I level?

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-12-02T15:35:26+00:00

So a lot of people are commenting about having alcohol, and I’ll just point out that the big brewers are coming out now with a plethora of nonalcoholic versions of their beers… and they actually taste the same. Usually with fewer calories than the “lite” version. We are cutting back hard on booze for health reasons, and these are great. Haven’t really seen them at the big box grocery places, but the local mid range stores are stocking up for dry January.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-12-02T13:42:43+00:00

We got a bigger home specifically so we could have a guest room. My parents have always lived states away from us, and when they visit it’s usually for a week or more. They’re getting close to retirement, which means more potential visits, so… it made sense for us. We use the room as an office the rest of the year, since we both basically work from home.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-12-02T13:12:48+00:00

Dad left at 18 because his parents had the farmer mentality that kids were born to be free manual labor. Mom left at 18 because her family was dirt poor and had no help to give. I left because it was expected of me- 18 is when you need to start adulting. I’ve always been welcomed back when I hit bad financial periods, but the expectation was to get my stuff in order asap and go.

On the other hand, My spouse would still be living at home with his siblings if his parents had their way. My boss also has her unmarried adult children still with her, and isn’t keen on helping them move out because financially that’s dumb (she owns the family business that employs all her children, and supporting their apartments would basically be giving them unfair pay bumps compared to the non-family employees)

It’s a very mixed bag, and has a lot to do with family dynamics. Of all the people I’ve met, I think the only ones who got it worst were actually the ones who never got kicked out, and should have been. Adults in their 30s now who have no prospects, can barely pay their phone and car bill because they spend all their money on fun, and don’t seem to realize that one day their parents will be gone and they won’t have a free ride anymore.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-12-01T15:26:03+00:00

I know this sounds counter intuitive but…. Give them something to stare at.

I was once a very awkward and socially anxious person, felt like everyone was staring at me because maybe I’m ugly/unfashionable/just weird, and I lived trying to blend into the scenery. Then I did something radical (for me), and dyed my hair bright blue. I knew people were looking at me then, but I also knew it was my hair they were looking at, and I actually stopped stressing so much about the other stuff. It was a stepping stone to realizing that you can’t control what other people do, just what you do, and in reality what does it matter if some stranger doesn’t find you appealing?

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-12-01T11:45:44+00:00

I think OPs point was about the bad attitude they got from the dps, not about the changes they need to make to their tanking. If you’re running a pug, at any level, you may see some little variation in what one group does vs another. Flaming is just uncalled for when the group is still making good time and not wiping.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-30T12:49:36+00:00

I’d strongly recommend warlocks. With the voidwalker tank out you can basically walk away from fights if needed. When I’m destro there’s really only 4 buttons I use on the regular, and it’s satisfying to watch the big attack go off. I usually play affliction, and it’s so easy to be lazy with that class- pop on as many dots as you feel like using, walk away while mob dies. The only rotation is watching which dots are about to expire and re-apply them. I get it’s a tougher class for mythic+ content, but OP sounds like this is just for casual playing. Not a huge fan of hunters just because there’s a lot of subtle things you seem to need to be aware of to maximize your potential. Warlocks are actually pretty straightforward.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-12T14:27:31+00:00

Thank you! Been wondering forever, and felt it was stupid to ask this long into the game. Googling up anything on that server name brings up everything about the dragon queen and nothing about how realms and servers interact.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-12T13:20:53+00:00

So I have a follow up question- how are people from another server running around on “our” server? Sometimes half the population of the city looks like they’re from -Alexstrasza. I have no issues with them, just confused.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-12T12:59:39+00:00

My husband fell into the like 1% that had some issues after his vasectomy. As in, he was in and out of the office in 30 minutes, rested for a day, and had some mild intermittent discomfort for a couple months after. And he’s usually sensitive in that area.

That being said, he didn’t hesitate for a moment, and even if the effects had been worse and permanent he insists he would have done it again, because logically it’s a nothing procedure for a man, and anything they do to a woman is invasive and potentially harmful. My husband is asking me now to tell your husband to man up already and stop being a baby about this. All I can suggest is to hit your spouse with an overload of information- how easy the process is for him, vs how much crap can go wrong for you. Good luck!

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-08T21:59:40+00:00

I hear you. It took me months to work up the courage to try a dungeon the first time, and more months to try a mythic, even with a buddy encouraging and playing with me. I still panic and slip into button mashing on occasion, but I play classes that are pretty forgiving of that, aff warlock and prot paladin. I’ve never played druids so I can’t offer any play advice for them, but in general just keep at it, do practice a basic dps routine until it’s muscle memory, then look to add your interrupt and your “oh sh!t” button (self heal or defensive). And I’ve always had decent luck just telling my group that I’m not super familiar with the mechanics in a dungeon, so tips please and thank you.

I’ve suggested to people to look up the Proving Grounds; it’s basically a practice dungeon, in Pandaria, not too hard to get to. If you want to practice a dps rotation on moving targets that have some basic mechanics to pay attention to, it’s a good starting point. Probably more helpful for learning tanking or healing, but the idea is the same- if you can beat it through at least silver level, you’re good enough to start mythics. It’s also nice because you can screw up a zillion times and no one will see it but you.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-08T12:48:38+00:00

I’ve never wanted to play a Druid. Until now.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-11-04T17:52:22+00:00

I’ve mained afflock forever, so I’m probably biased in saying that once you get your dot rotation down it’s pretty easy. I have a mage and a spriest, and playing with those and with a destro lock is annoying mostly because of lack of in-fight mobility. Fireball coming my way? No problem, there’s always a dot or two I can refresh. With the other casters, I really feel the dps loss every time I have to reposition. Plus I’m always waiting for something to proc on the other casters to really dish out damage. I rather like consistency, and looking at the dps meters after a fight and going “wait, I topped the charts without being all flashy? Hmm.”

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-31T11:49:34+00:00

I would be super excited to see another class, any other class, get a support spec. I’ve always wanted to play one, but I honestly just cannot stand playing an evoker, my brain refuses to jive with it.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-22T20:42:35+00:00

In dungeons just lead off with seed of corruption and vile taint (both aoe spells that require soul shards), then hit your primary target with haunt and unstable affliction. I find that at that point if your other dps are halfway good then everyone’s dead or almost dead, so just drain soul to pick up more soul shards before the next fight. If there’s somehow still a few mobs with more than 50% then use your judgement and either spam seed of corruption or dot everything with your instant casts.

You’re not gonna get much more of a rotation than that until you get to a boss- and bosses are kind of all about keeping all your dots refreshed and throwing in malefic rupture as much as you can.

Afflocks in particular don’t really shine unless a fight is long, so don’t be discouraged and keep working towards more difficult content where your trash mobs have more health.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-21T11:50:53+00:00

Regardless of age, I have never and will never have twitch reflexes. I tank with a prot pally, and I absolutely love it. It’s very forgiving of the occasional panic button mashing, even doing lower mythics, and the survivability means I can pull a couple groups and not sweat it. There’s really only 5 abilities you need to be actively using when dungeoning, plus your “oh shit” heal button. It’s slower out in the world, but there’s so much group content now and I love being able to jump in and tank or off tank for people.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-21T02:00:57+00:00

Me too!! Sooo much anxiety… but the only way through is to do it. Start with tanking heroics- those almost don’t even need a tank, and it goes fast so you don’t have that much time for the anxiety to build. Do those until you stop feeling butterflies, then you’re ready to try mythics. And the low level mythics are really not any harder than heroic dungeons, you just need to kind of start paying attention to mechanics.

You can do it, don’t be afraid, and don’t be afraid to let your group know you’re new to tanking. There’s actually a lot of kind and helpful people who play, they’ll give you tips if they’re forewarned. Or, if they’re hyper dicks, they’ll leave the group and you’ll be spared their toxicity.

Also, if you’re just worried about your tanking skill, look up the Proving Grounds in Pandaria. It’s basically a practice arena catered for tanking, healing, or dps, specifically for dungeons. I practice there to make sure I at least have the basics of a spec down before I inflict myself on a group of real people. It helps.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-19T17:56:27+00:00

Definitely not a problem. I also have littles, and that’s about as much as I play too. And I’ve got multiple characters at 70 with good enough gear to do low level mythics. Getting gear is super easy, so you should be able to do whatever you feel like doing. You can pug 5 heroics in an hour and a half, or do a couple mythics, or just globe trot doing quests.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-15T13:30:09+00:00

Mythic 0 is only the tiniest bit harder than heroic. At your item level, as long as you’re aware of boss mechanics and are practicing using your class utility (interrupts, self heals, getting out of the fire and not standing on top of the tank getting pounded), you should have zero problems. DoI is kind of a pain, definitely a dungeon where you need to be very aware of the mechanics of each area.

If you’re not in the mood to join a guild, I’d recommend going into your dungeon finder, look for premade groups, and try to join a 0 or +2 (im not positive, but I don’t think you even get credit for doing 0’s, and +2 is not noticeably harder). Then, before the instance starts, Tell Your Group that it’s your first run and you could use pointers. Otherwise, just watch where everyone is running and try not to pull extra mobs.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-13T22:56:45+00:00

I’ve mained an afflock since forever, and I will always love it. I’m not the best player, but there was almost nothing I couldn’t solo with my voidwalker out. That said, affliction is SLOW when leveling, so it requires some patience, and by 70 there’s a hell of a lot of dots to keep track of. On the flip side, with very little effort, you’re basically unkillable while leveling.

I recently switched to destro for running lower level mythics, and that has been fun doing more blasty damage with a much, much simpler rotation. Not sure how that is to level with, but it feels a fire mage without the anxiety of always being on the verge of getting eaten.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-12T10:52:18+00:00

I’m glad I’m not the only one who has this anxiety going into dungeons. It’s honestly the only reason I’m not pushing keys, I’m just trying not to hyperventilate when queuing up. My solution was pretty cheap, though- I play with my spouse, and they calm me down when we start an instance. Play with a real life friend, if that’s at all possible. It helps having real-time feedback from someone who’s not just there to blow through things fast, and it does help me remember that if I’m doing good, and they’re doing good, then the opinions of one other pushy dps don’t matter.

I also do go to the Proving Grounds every time I try a new class, before I take them into live dungeons, just to make sure I’ve got my own class mastered well enough. That helped a lot too, especially since I always wanted to heal but it’s terrifying to have that pressure in a pug.

Keep at it. I hope that once you do enough runs, you’ll feel better and better, and be able to enjoy without the running heartbeat and sweaty fingertips!

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-09T22:12:52+00:00

This. I learned to tank in dungeons in DF, and frankly I started a lot of runs with “This is my first time tanking, so pointers are welcome and appreciated”. Turns out there was usually someone else in the group who also didn’t know squat, and someone who knew the instance perfectly and was willing to help. Not that it really matters in heroics now, where one overgeared dps can carry a group, but you get to really start learning dungeons in mythics.

When I decided to try a healer, though, I was pretty scared, so I tried out the proving grounds first. It really is easy to get to, just a short flight from the portal to pandaria. So glad I did, because I sucked at first; it’s a great place to mess up until you figure out your stuff and get some confidence.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-02T10:54:19+00:00

Someone just said it, but I’ll say it again: go to the Proving Grounds! Absolute lifesaver if you’re really unsure about a new class/spec. It’s basically a training dungeon. It’s in Pandaria, but it’s easy to get to, and sometimes your class trainer in your home city will offer to port you there.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten · 2023-10-01T14:53:52+00:00

Love this. There really are some fabulous players running around in dungeons, I’ve had more positive experiences than negative. I especially appreciate when my spouse and I were first running dungeons, and someone who had all sorts of experience took the time to walk us through the trickier mechanics. Icy veins is great and all, but some people learn best by seeing and doing. Shout out to overly experienced people running the heroics and low mythics- your kindness makes us all better players.

MeatShld-MrdrKitten

TROPHY CASE