09-08-2004, 10:16 AM
DEFEAT THE EMPEROR WITH LESSER HEAL
(Originally posted on the WoW Bnet forums)
As many high level characters on the PvP server know, Wannacookie has been organizing serial Blackrock Downs emperor runs in the small hope that he will one day be the proud owner of Ironfoe, the epic mace that only the emperor drops (in like 1 in 10,000 times the emperor is killed). I've joined Wannacookie on many of these runs and have had the pleasure of helping to refine tactics in the hope of shaving a minute here and a minute there off the time of the runs. The runs are all about speed and the worst thing that could happen is to have a party wipe in the middle of the emperor's room, wasting all the time spent getting there.
Today, while waiting for our group to gather, I mentioned that I used the emperor's staff when soloing but that I used the The Hammer of Grace, combined with the emperor's scepter when in a party so that my priest's heals would be 76 points stronger. One of the party members then mentioned that the mace was in fact bugged. It didn't actually increase the power of the healing spells cast by me. They only increased the power of the healing spells cast *on* me. In fact, it's likely that *all* such items with +healing on them work that way. After a fair amount of cussing, I then switched to my staff.
But then this got us thinking. What if Wannacookie, as our warrior tank, wielded the mace? And what if a mage cast cast Amplify Magic on him to give him another +80 to heal? I, as the priest, could then spam Rank 1 Lesser Heals on him and do over 200 points of healing each time for only 35 mana. Plus, since I'd be casting it over and over, there would be a good chance for criticals (and as I'm holy speced, I get a +10% chance of crits on Lesser Heals). That way, I'd often get a +100% bonus to my mana regeneration and I'd often give Wannacookie a +15% armor bonus on top of his already huge armor value.
Did it work? Oh, boy, did it ever work! Wannacookie pulled the emperor and the princess off their dias, and I kept Renew on him and spammed Lesser Heals. On occation, I'd toss in a Flash Heal, but for the most part, Renew and Lesser Heals were enough to keep Wannacookie's life stable. Our group was made up of 1 warrior (Wannacookie), 1 priest (me), 2 mages, and 1 paladin. Except for one or two heals by the paladin, my priest handled all of the healing during the battle. How did the battle end? The princess and the emperor died and I had only used 1/3rd of my mana supply. In fact, after the princess died, I actually gained mana, because of my high spirit and the +100% mana regeneration bonus.
On the next run, we decided to be daring and not kill the princess at all, which you're not supposed to do, according to the quest story. This was a much tougher battle. I threw a few Mana Burns on the princess to keep her from casting too many spells, and of course Wannacookie needed more healing, since he was having to deal with both the emperor and the princess at the same time for a much longer period. How'd it go? We won, and I'd used up my entire mana bar. No bandages or mana potions required, though, and no second priest or major secondary healer necessary. Pretty much, the fight was a piece of cake.
This battle illustrates two bugs/design flaws that need to be corrected quickly in the game:
1. First, items that give +healing bonuses should improve the wearer's healing spells and not give the wearer bonuses when they themselves are healed. All this time, people have been under the impression that items that give +healing are priest or paladin items, when in fact they're warrior tank items if anything.
2. Items that give bonuses to healing and for that matter damage should give percentage bonsuses rather than straight addition bonuses. That is, the Hammer of Grace shouldn't give a flat +76 to healing. It should give something like +8% to healing. Similarly, shadowweave items shouldn't give straight bonuses to shadow damage. They should give +% bonuses to shadow damage. That way, you don't have the situation of having Rank 1 Lesser Heal healing 200+ health or Rank 1 Shadow Bolt doing 300+ damage while requiring little or no mana to cast.
(Originally posted on the WoW Bnet forums)
As many high level characters on the PvP server know, Wannacookie has been organizing serial Blackrock Downs emperor runs in the small hope that he will one day be the proud owner of Ironfoe, the epic mace that only the emperor drops (in like 1 in 10,000 times the emperor is killed). I've joined Wannacookie on many of these runs and have had the pleasure of helping to refine tactics in the hope of shaving a minute here and a minute there off the time of the runs. The runs are all about speed and the worst thing that could happen is to have a party wipe in the middle of the emperor's room, wasting all the time spent getting there.
Today, while waiting for our group to gather, I mentioned that I used the emperor's staff when soloing but that I used the The Hammer of Grace, combined with the emperor's scepter when in a party so that my priest's heals would be 76 points stronger. One of the party members then mentioned that the mace was in fact bugged. It didn't actually increase the power of the healing spells cast by me. They only increased the power of the healing spells cast *on* me. In fact, it's likely that *all* such items with +healing on them work that way. After a fair amount of cussing, I then switched to my staff.
But then this got us thinking. What if Wannacookie, as our warrior tank, wielded the mace? And what if a mage cast cast Amplify Magic on him to give him another +80 to heal? I, as the priest, could then spam Rank 1 Lesser Heals on him and do over 200 points of healing each time for only 35 mana. Plus, since I'd be casting it over and over, there would be a good chance for criticals (and as I'm holy speced, I get a +10% chance of crits on Lesser Heals). That way, I'd often get a +100% bonus to my mana regeneration and I'd often give Wannacookie a +15% armor bonus on top of his already huge armor value.
Did it work? Oh, boy, did it ever work! Wannacookie pulled the emperor and the princess off their dias, and I kept Renew on him and spammed Lesser Heals. On occation, I'd toss in a Flash Heal, but for the most part, Renew and Lesser Heals were enough to keep Wannacookie's life stable. Our group was made up of 1 warrior (Wannacookie), 1 priest (me), 2 mages, and 1 paladin. Except for one or two heals by the paladin, my priest handled all of the healing during the battle. How did the battle end? The princess and the emperor died and I had only used 1/3rd of my mana supply. In fact, after the princess died, I actually gained mana, because of my high spirit and the +100% mana regeneration bonus.
On the next run, we decided to be daring and not kill the princess at all, which you're not supposed to do, according to the quest story. This was a much tougher battle. I threw a few Mana Burns on the princess to keep her from casting too many spells, and of course Wannacookie needed more healing, since he was having to deal with both the emperor and the princess at the same time for a much longer period. How'd it go? We won, and I'd used up my entire mana bar. No bandages or mana potions required, though, and no second priest or major secondary healer necessary. Pretty much, the fight was a piece of cake.
This battle illustrates two bugs/design flaws that need to be corrected quickly in the game:
1. First, items that give +healing bonuses should improve the wearer's healing spells and not give the wearer bonuses when they themselves are healed. All this time, people have been under the impression that items that give +healing are priest or paladin items, when in fact they're warrior tank items if anything.
2. Items that give bonuses to healing and for that matter damage should give percentage bonsuses rather than straight addition bonuses. That is, the Hammer of Grace shouldn't give a flat +76 to healing. It should give something like +8% to healing. Similarly, shadowweave items shouldn't give straight bonuses to shadow damage. They should give +% bonuses to shadow damage. That way, you don't have the situation of having Rank 1 Lesser Heal healing 200+ health or Rank 1 Shadow Bolt doing 300+ damage while requiring little or no mana to cast.