In-depth dungeon finder impressions

By far the biggest hit of the patch so far has been the new Random LFG system. It seems everybody has tried it at least once, and reactions to it have been mostly positive, especially in the speed that it takes to get a full group together. So kudo's to Blizzard to getting this system up and running.

I've used the tool to run my fair share of heroics since the patch release. I'm usually tanking at least once a day on my Paladin for Emblems of Frost, and then hopping around to my alt tanks and healer to build some Emblems of Frost for Primordial Saronite later. My experiences have been mostly positive on the whole, especially on my Paladin. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is due to the higher item-level of gear and getting matched up with other players of similar stature. Likewise, my Death Knight and Warrior tanks seem to get into groups with other players on the lower sides of gear scores, as they only adequately meet the requirements (at least in my eyes) to tank heroics. Many other players are also reporting these discrepancies in their pugs, citing super well-geared squads or dismal bands of destitutes. The system works well enough now, and while I suspect some players would cry fowl at the prospects of carrying lower-geared players, a better cross section of player gear would be better on the whole for the system.

Here's a bit of etiquette and tips when using the random-lfg:

-If you have friends or guildies that are willing to lend a helping hand, You may want to ask to bring them along before randoming the rest of your group. Especially if your gear is sub-par, having people sympathetic to your situation is better than invoking the ire of random people.

-Speaking of Ire, expect to hear some "colorful constructive criticism" when random'd up with people. Even if you know your doing your job right, some people can't resist ribbing others.

-If you haven't run at least all of the Lich King dungeons once (preferably on heroic) please do the rest of the game a favor and do not check yourself off as leader material. You do a great disservice to yourself and others by posting false claims of your knowledge.

-If you have no idea what is going on in an instance (shame on you for not even doing a little bit of reading), don't be afraid to ask! It's better to live humbly than to die ignorant.

-If your a hybrid class and are checked off as healing or tanking along with dps, expect to not be dpsing. You will however be rewarded with a quicker queue time.

-Remember to take any reagents or consumables you need into the instance with you. Players across servers can only trade items found inside the instance, so the studious Shadow Priest won't be able to trade water to the impromptu Resto Shaman.

-If you do forget to repair or bring liquids, don't forget that you can use the "eye" icon on your minimap to port back to town, and then again to get back to the dungeon. It will inconvenience your party, but not as much as your gear going red in the middle of Halls of Lightning.

-Achievements, especially those that don't make the fights easier, are better left to be achieved with a premade group if that is your prerogative. Ask if you'd like, but don't expect everyone to be happy to go out of their way and not take a red drake through Oculus.

-If you think the dungeon or a group isn't the best use of your time, don't be afraid to desert. While you do get a debuff keeping you out for 15 minutes, if you've got something better to do, the group will survive and find another person to fill your role.

These tips should hopefully help smooth out your pugging experience. Good luck in all your instanced endeavors!

If you got bug problems I feel bad for you son, I got 3.3 problems but a Lich ain't one

Alas, I can't take full credit for the awesome title of this post, that honor goes to Radioted, a reader and commenter over at WoW.com

So after much downtime of getting all the servers gussied up, 3.3 hit us, and in this bloggers opinion, it's actually been pretty smooth.

Far from perfect mind you, but still, most of the features are working as intended (or some semblance there-of) and that's saying a lot for patch day. I'll break down review of what I've tinkered with so far.

The most interesting part of the patch, in my humble opinion, is the new random LFG, which looks to be an invaluable tool in the future of the game. The instance server load for the night of a patch release was, of course, staggering, making our favorite "Additional instances cannot be launched at this time" message make it's triumphant return to the game. Hello loading screen that refuses to load, bane of my existence, unbeatable boss forever and ever. And hark, there was a multitude of forum goes, and their QQ's drowned the Blizzard page, salty words in a torrential downpour...

...ahem...

It's patch day, lots of people want to do the new stuff, and it looks like as the game goes on that you'll have an easier time getting groups. Anyways, the Random LFG seems to be working like a charm. After queueing yourself up for a random group, you get matched up EXTREMELY quickly, I'm talking like a couple seconds. Now, this may be because non-dps rolls are in high demand (healers and tanks) and that there are many hungry dps nipping at the heels of these rolls, so your milage may vary. Any of my toons marked up for a tank or healing roll along with dps checked off was always delegated to the non-dps roll.

Warping into dungeons is pretty darn cool once everybody is ready to go, and it really is super handy for those people who always forget to repair their gear or forgot their tanking belt (you know who you are). Of course, some of these pugs may be like the horror stories we've all heard before, alts coming out of the woodwork with sub-optimal gear. Blizz has stated so far that low gear scores will restrict you from accessing tougher heroics, and so far I haven't set foot in an instance yet where players were at least a majority of blues and epics, so it's been quite acceptable.

Of course, with pulling people from different servers that you may only communicate with with in just one dungeon, you increase anonymity, which on the internet translates into a greater likelihood that your group members will be dicks. If your fiddling around on alts, prepare for some colorful constructive criticism.

The new disenchant option on loot is a godsend. Does the DE for you and rolls out the shard if nobody has needed or greeded. Pretty fantastic.

As for the new 5 mans. I've managed to do two so far. Getting pulled in mid instance for the second one restricted my access to the third, though I've heard that I'm not missing much from an unfortunate server bug near the end of the Halls. From what I have done on heroic, these places are tough. Granted, they still don't quite hit the level of difficulty that Heroic Magister's Terrace had when it came out in BC (CC was an absolute MUST!), but they're a step up from Heroic ToC 5, which is all fine in my book. The bosses are epic with lots of abilities, the music is cool and moody, and the atmosphere feels just right.

Cross-faction mailing for heirloom items is also in effect. Haven't tried bags or gold yet, but it'll be next on the list. Rolling around in super high-damage gear at low levels never gets old to me. More-so, lower level characters are now much more resilient than they used to be. Chopping down the mana costs at low levels was a fantastic idea and makes the starting and learning experience much more smooth for new players. It also makes the game look more appealing as you'll rarely have to eat and drink before level 20. This could end up being a sort of double-edged sword though, as not conveying this information to new players early on may lead to neglect later in the game. The new tutorial system in game hopes to counteract this.

Well, thats all I got for my first round of 3.3. Hopefully some raid reflections will be coming up soon!

3.3 To-do list

Well, 3.3 is supposed to hit tomorrow (today?), so while your chilling out waiting for server's to get off maintenance, patching to go through, or servers to reset again, here's a quick list of things every player should do once we have the world stabilized and ready to enjoy:

-Respec! Before anything happens, make sure that your spec is up to date! Lots of changes to classes everywhere, so you may need to respec or get some exciting new glyphs. There's a lot of potential out there at the moment, Frost Mages getting perm Elementals, Affliction Locks returning to the top of the DPS charts, Unholy DK's supposedly having a workable scourge strike, things like that. Pallies, we more or less got some minor nerfs when it comes to pve (more survivability stuff for pvp apparently) so you might want to check your respecs as well.

-Conquer the new ICC 5-mans! Get an elite squadron of people you trust and clear out all three of the new instances. If you haven't seen the quests involved inside the triple-winged trial, let me just say that they're oozing with lore and dripping with epic loots! 219's for the regulars and 232's for the heroics, so if you aren't already geared to the 9's, there's something in there for you! Also, with the new random LFG system, you'll have these 3 open up as potential locations to get set into. Remember, the new Cross realm LFG doesn't take heroic lockouts for dungeons in account, so there's a chance that if you've already cleared it out with a group regularly, you can get again if the server-god's are looking kindly on you.

(Edit: It looks like some of the quests inside the new ICC 5's will be netting you some Emblem's of Frost! Huzzah!)

Speaking so much of the Random LFG

-Try the random LFG! This is going to serve as your new daily heroic, so you might as well get a feel for it early. Theoretically, in a perfect world, you should be able to log in, queue yourself up for a random dungeon, marking up whatever rolls you can fill, and in about the time it takes to get queued up for a BG, you should be knocking out whatever instance you've lucked into. If your wary your first time through, you can pick 3 people you trust on your server and let the service random up the last person. This will count to the daily reward of two Emblems of Frost! Doing more will also get you closer to a new pet if that's your collection addiction.

-Check out what the weekly raid is! This new system is going to be throwing you a random raid boss every week for a shot at getting 5 more Emblems of Frost along with 5 Emblems of Triumph. These bosses range to thinks like KT (who you can skip to directly now!) and XT-002, to some of the early ICC bosses. Plan and coordinate with people you trust, these bosses can be taken down on 10 or 25, whatever is most works best!

-Check out the new VOA boss! More badges and an early chance at Tier 10! Suggest you spread out the group as evenly as you can (or stack it so your the only one getting tier >_>)

-Finish your Rep grinds! If you've got any factions in Northrend that aren't revered or exalted yet, you can now buy rep tokens for the price of a single Emblem of Triumph! Better yet, shoulder enchants and head enchants are now BoA, meaning you can mail em off to alts!

speaking of BoA

-Roll an Alliance (or Horde)! If you haven't tried rolling around as an opposite faction yet, now is actually a great time to give it a shot! Bind on Account Heirloom items are now mailable cross-faction, so if you've saved up a ton of gear or badges, why not roll around and be op for a bit? I'll be messing around with an Alliance Shaman from time to time ^_^

-Get Quel'Delar! As quick as you can! Unless you were a top tiered raider and got yourself a weapon from ToGC 25, this quest has an upgrade for you (except for you tanks =P). Seriously, go get it, be pro and walk into ICC with an ilvl 251 weapon.

I mean it, do it, people will love you and it will rain money.

-Get a new Heirloom item! Don't forget about the new fishing derby on weekends! A chance at an heirloom ring being able to bring up your experience on alts to 25% with shoulders and chest is just nuts. If you managed to have recruit-a-friend going, it's going to be 375% extra experience. Jumpin'-Jehovah!

And of course, you've got the biggest baddest raid yet, with the expansions penultimate villain waiting for you...