#SWTOR - Ding, 50.

Nothing of substance to see here today. I'm celebrating hitting 50 last night on SWTOR. I'll discuss my spec sometime next week. Until then - and following old "screenshot or it didn't happen" adage - here are a few fun pics:

The moment, or just thereafter.

Corellia's skyline. Pretty, and the last place I gained experience points (for now, on this toon).

Another view, along with a random billboard that I found striking.

Our giant rabbit, looking very satisfied with himself.

Shameful Confessions About My Warlockery

Poneria wrote a great article yesterday over at Fel Concentration. It actually spawned a bit of Twitter-flurry between several of us 'locks on there, as we discussed some of the sentiments expressed. For my part, I simply stated that I sometimes feel the urge to defend the "funness" of playing a Warlock, especially and Affliction Warlock. I suppose I feel like sometimes we get a bad rap for being too hard, too complicated, so as not to be fun. It sometimes seems like, in order to be considered a good Warlock, you have to know how to run simulations and consult spreadsheets and spend a whole bunch of time devote to arcane studies.

To that feeling, I say: Being a Good Warlock is as much an art as it is a spreadsheet.

Many of us find it hard to explain the feeling when you're really "clicking" on your 'lock. It's a feeling I've yet to match with my limited playing of other classes. Frost DK, the class I've played the most outside of my 'lock, does not have the same feeling. When I'm playing my DK, I feel like a brute. With her, it's more like playing an old button-masher fighting game.

On my Warlock, when I'm playing well, it's smooth. It's a thing of beauty. The best comparison I can make is that it is similar to what athlete's describe as being in "the zone." Training and instinct take over, and the shadows flow from me like notes from the fingers of a virtuoso pianist. Indeed, I often feel like some sort of grand conductor, standing high on a pedestal and gesticulating wildly at my own demonic orchestra.

But things aren't always that way. My play is often far from perfect, and sometimes I couldn't find "the zone" if it were a barn in an empty field and I just smacked headfirst into the side of it. Yet, when we bloggers write about our classes, we're often writing from the best case scenarios, not the worst. Sure, we may talk about troubling mechanics, but I think maybe we don't talk as much about how much we actually suck at playing our class some nights. The zone is great, but it's not all there is to playing. In fact, it's generally a small slice of the time I spend online. And sometimes, it's the most rewarding when you're fumbling around for the right key, boss bearing down on you, and just barely manage to tap it before you get squished. Yep, sometimes it's just luck.

So, I'm bringing 'Locky back. I'm going to admit the things I routinely fail at. A dark confession, of sorts.

I'd like to think people consider me a good 'lock. Maybe not, I don't know. But I've been around for a while, and people seem to stop by here to see what's up with Affliction (when there are, you know, some changes). I'm not a hardcore, bleeding edge player by any means, but most of us aren't.

I simply love my Affliction Warlock. I want others to share that love without fear of being a "failure." Aff'locks (and, indeed, other flavors of Warlock) can be a whole lot of fun, even when played sub-optimally. Sometimes, it's very easy to get caught up in eking out that extra 1k DPS, when our sanity would be better served by saying "F the 1%" and focusing on having fun with the other 99. (Percentages may vary. It's probably more like 80/20, but talking about the "one percent" amuses me.)

So here are some ugly truths about my Warlock play:

• I only use Demon Soul once per fight. It's macro'ed with my guild banner. Even then, I often forget to smash the button. On most nights, I have no idea whether it's conflicting with anyone else's spell (heroism, etc).
• I have to be badgered to provide cookies. Even then, I generally don't eat mine.
• I often forget my Doomguard. He's macro'ed to that Demon Soul button.
• I trust Mr. Robot almost blindly. I've never run a personal simulation.
• 90% of my 5+ years of play time has been spent running as Affliction with my Felhunter. The other 10% was Demo when I'd already cleared everything as Affliction. I've never chosen a spec/pet based on math/EJ alone.
• I overwrite DoTs... a LOT. I cringe every time I do it, but I get paranoid about them dropping off.
• Bane of Agony gets clipped more than I'd like to admit. Generally, I just press the button because I'm used to pressing it. And then let out a big "derp."
• Especially when I'm raid leading, I get lost in my rotation and forget to keep a DoT up. "Oops, went that whole fight without Corruption."
• I don't really pay attention to my DPS anymore. Generally, if I'm looking at a meter, I look at how I'm doing compared to everyone else, usually in overall Damage Done. That's the category I want to "win." The only time I'll use DPS metrics is when testing new builds/gear.
• I don't test things very often, weathering patches with what I enjoy, even if it's costing me some DPS. Only when it looks like something is "in to stay" will I actually pay it much mind.

I'm sure there are others. (To my Warlocky brethren - What do you routinely fail at?). These are just what I could think of off the top of my head. If a Warlock pro actually watched me, they'd probably point out a dozen things I'm doing wrong. Even so, I've had a lot of fun and generally not shamed myself. Absent the over-the-shoulder 'lock observer, my mistakes go mostly unnoticed. I hold my own when I need to, and play with confidence.

I suppose the major caveat is this: I'm not a hardcore raider, player, etc. I'm the epitome of casual, and don't place a whole lot of importance of playing "perfect."

That being said, I've raided since TBC and seen all the content. I've been in big raid groups and small raid groups, led both kinds. I've never been kicked from anything, never been greifed about my playing. Though, I will admit that I'm not the most outgoing player, and I try to surround myself with good people.

So, I suppose I should distill this into something potent that you can take home with you. Let's go this route... let's postulate Fulguralis's Keys for Being a "Good" Warlock. (And by good I mean satisfyingly evil.)

1. Educate yourself efficiently. In a broad sense, you should generally know what a Warlock is, even if you don't strictly adhere to the idea. Knowledge is power, but choose your resources carefully. You don't want to get mired in minutia if you're only interested in the basics. This goes for both strats and builds. Good Warlocks are experts at seeing the true soul of things.
2. Focus first on living. Good Warlocks prize their own lives very highly. Dead DPS = 0 DPS. A lot of people do not understand this. They're so worried about getting the big numbers that they die halfway through the fight. Raid Leaders can't depend on people like that. Instead, look at your Damage Done for a boss fight. It's the actual damage that kills the boss, and that's what you want to be contributing to. If your rotation is sub-par because you're trying to live... so be it.
3. Kill what needs killing. This means following directions if you're not the leader, or following the kill order. This is also why I blatantly ignore meters on a lot of trash/add fights. My numbers aren't going to reflect that I swapped from the drone to the spiderlings to help finish them off before they caused the boss to regain life (at great personal DPS expense, I might add). Good Warlocks simply enjoy killing things for the sake of killing things. We don't need to e-peen about it. Act like you've killed something before, even if you haven't.
4. Shard your soul. Not the spell, but in real life. Warlocks should have a solid, crystalline exterior that allows us to be true to ourselves and our own Warlocky ways. If you've followed 1, 2, and 3, then you're probably already doing the right thing. Let the rest roll off you. Good Warlocks don't deign to recognize the criticism of others, including other Warlocks. A big part of having fun in social games (I'm finding) is firmly defining your own boundaries. Decide what is important to you, and then be true to that. No one can take that from you.

That's it. Four steps. Learn 'em. Live 'em. Or come up with your own. I could care less. I'm a Warlock, after all.

A Dancier Dance

I've been following Klepsacovic at Troll Racials are Overpowered for some time now. To some extent, I consider him my reader's personal Howard Stern. That is to say, he can be a bit of a shock jock, but probably less focus on nudity (this being a text-based media, though Howard did it on the radio so maybe he just hasn't gotten that big yet). I'll admit it, I hang around for the lulz. And I inwardly cringe for some of the hate mail he must get when he takes "the line" and leaps across it with wild abandon.

Color me surprised, then, to read his article today. I suppose I was anticipating extreme hyperbole at some point, but instead got a really well-reasoned article. Instead of exercising (or is that exorcizing?) my best warlock cackle in anticipation of the flames to come, I found myself nodding vigorously along with his points.

I encourage you to click through, but I'll summarize what I took from the article. Basically, Klep is establishing that you could basically design a raid fight in several ways. Let's assume all players could be thrown into one of three bins, labelled: Bad, Average, and Superstar. The fight can then "test" one of those levels. Superstar tests require extreme multitasking, and are generally shouldered by one talented member of the raid. An average test clocks in as "DPS" race, where generally the whole raid is involved but to clear it without extra gear, you need to demonstrate a passable mastery of your class. Bad tests then would be best exemplified by "Defile" on the Lich King fight. A mechanic that, should one "bad" person stand in it, will wipe the raid.

Since most things are better viewed on a sliding scale, we could say that we have individual responsibility at both ends of our "test" slider, with "involving everyone" in the middle. The problem with simply shooting for the middle is that there are a limited number of mechanics you could employ without being completely bland. Also, it can be a bit rewarding when one person is allowed to shine. The flip side is that it can be utterly frustrating when one person causes a fail (both for the group and that one person).

Klep says that he feels WoW's raid design has slowly been moving that slider downward, toward the "bad" tests. I have to say, I tend to agree. It does seem to me that raid mechanics of late either involve DPS races where most of the raid is involved, or have a mechanic where derping it up wipes the raid. There seem to be fewer and fewer "superstar" type tests.

It's a shame because where "bad" tests are firmly seated in negative reinforcement, I think "superstar" tests have the potential to seem more positive. The problem being, of course, that it flies in the face of the "bring the player not the class" mantra. That is, often "superstar" tests involve a specific combination of abilities, limiting the possible classes needed. This realization serves to reinforce the feeling of that slider sliding lower, and it seems in line with what we've heard from the Devs.

Yet, is it a good thing? Having been a 10-man raider longer than other types of raiding, I suppose I'm more used to enhanced individual responsibility than, say, a 25-man raider. Even so, I find myself wishing often that losing just one person wasn't so dire. In 25's, I feel like: "Fel! We can lose half the raid and we're still fine." Now that's not completely true, but the wiggle room is there.

I don't really have a good solution or anything. We could probably discuss the trade-offs at length, and I'm sure Blizz has. I've said in the past that I'd like to see more tank-and-spanks randomly thrown in (especially early in a raid instance). That is, I think we could do with more "average" tests sprinkled in. They may not be as exciting mechanically, but I think they help keep a raid group together with positive vibes.

I suppose instead of coming to some grand conclusion that I don't really have, I'll instead close with a mostly unrelated public service announcement. I'm sure y'all know this already, but if you bail on a LFR group, you get a 30 minute deserter debuff. Apparently, everyone in our raid group had missed this. And the debuff umbrellas out to include the dungeon finder as well (which is dumb, IMO).

We queued up, but were placed in a group that was a revolving door on the last boss. We'd wanted to do all of the first four, so we dropped right away. There was no warnings about 3/4 cleared, no chance to decline a show already in progress. But they were on the platform, so they'd obviously cleared the first part (we were queuing for the first half of DS, fwiw). Maybe the warning just malfunctioned, I don't know. In any case, it was not what we wanted, and we only need a few seconds to see that they group wasn't going anywhere fast.. The finder, for whatever reason, was throwing people in and no one wanted to do just one boss... people were popping in and out like crazy.

Imagine our surprise when we dropped and got that 30 minute debuff. No big deal, thought we, we'll just do some 5-mans. Oh, wait. Can't do those either. Welp, I guess Ima go play Star Wars then. Boo hiss. (In all fairness, this is my first negative experience with the LFR, though I'm not a heavy user.)

I guess we should have just stayed and tried to do that one boss and been grateful for the opportunity. Still, it seemed like a confluence of odd design choices conspired to end our raid night early. I mean, we didn't even get to the mechanics! We danced with the "organization" raid boss, and wiped. Sometimes, it's just not your night.

Brain Leftovers

I've been really struggling to hash out content here on KeS, as evidenced by the lone post last week. Unless I'm on vacation, I've almost never posted so little. I've made a three post per week commitment to myself, and generally the problem is lack of time, not lack of ideas. As Cataclysm wanes, however, (and SWTOR starts) I find myself paralyzed by indecision. I feel a bit like the frogs in Frogger must feel right before hurling myself into oncoming traffic.

Okay, I'm not sure if that's an apt analogy, but we're pro-Frogger references here on the blog, and I wanted to have an excuse to go on record with that. It is primary season and all that stuff. Important issues are important.

Today, I'm going to touch on some disjointed ideas that, alone, I felt failed to merit their own post. They also may explain a bit why content has been hard for me. These ideas are ill-formed simply because there doesn't seem to be a lot to say. Still, it makes a good ADD Monday post, so here we go:

In WoW...

I'm wracking my brain... I'm pretty sure nothing at all happened for Affliction Warlocks since Cataclysm hit. We've really had no major changes, and nothing much to talk about. My playstyle has remained consistent, my spec and stats pretty solid, and damage competitive. Other 'lock bloggers probably feel me here: we've basically been given NOTHING to talk about this entire expansion. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I feel like Warlocks are in a good spot. Changes can be a mixed blessing even in the best of circumstances. Topics like: Shadowbolts, now with +10 cool, do not a full post make.

Frost DKs haven't been much crazier. There may have been a few more breadcrumbs on the DK side, but for a Frost PvP'er, I've not changed a whole lot. No posts here.

My casual raid schedule can't keep up with "easymode" raiding. Everyone seems to be blowing through content. We raid once a week, and even that's been a struggle for us the last few months. The result is that I'm just seeing bosses that everyone else is "over" months ago. I think before in ICC and such, it wasn't so drastic. Part of that is us, part of that is the game. Like my feelings about my 'lock... it is what it is.

While we're on that note, I may as well hit on the hot topic du jour: the upcoming raid nerfs. My stance is the same as it has been with every nerf this expansion (and obviously Blizz hasn't listened). Every time they do this, people complain. Every time, I think they could have avoided complaints by simply making the nerfs somehow toggle-able. I loved the ICC buff. I thought it was a great idea that didn't go abuse "one size fits all" development practices. There can be some downsides to it, but I guess I just feel that choice > no choice any day of the week. But this is nothing new to this set of bosses. They've set the course. It's tough to feel surprised or upset when they stay it.

Finally, on the WoW side, there's simply not as much content to talk about. We were promised smaller, quicker patches, and we got those. The problem is, we still got the same number of them. So we just got a smaller, quicker expansion. The end result is that it doesn't feel as epic, the story feels rushed, and the content thin. Is this a surprise to anyone? I still think that Blizz could make "smaller and quicker" work, but they'd have to do it by altering the practice of releasing an entire tier per patch. I'm not sure that this isn't based more on my own personal quirkiness. I would enjoy smaller slices of story, more quickly, that added up to a good big picture. Others that play more heavily might simply get bored faster. Consider this also ill-formed.

In short, I'm willing to see what Blizz has in store for Pandaria, but like many long time WoWers, they're on a bit of thin ice with me. I think most people would agree that Blizz needs to step up the game for Pandaria. A lot of us are willing to weather a sub-par expansion (and, to be fair, they weren't completely phoning it in... there were some good parts).

Shifting gears to SWTOR....

I'm almost to 50. I plan to do a spec post then. I should also be able to chat about one of the big topics of: "what then?" Until then, Fuu and I are simply duo'ing the game. It's fun and I love the stories. This is nothing new.

I'm also completely willing to be patient. I feel like the minority in this regard. I understand why: a lot of folks need to make the decision of what to pay for when this first free month runs out. Thus, they are really judging TOR with a fine-tooth comb to decide if it's worth their money. Call it responsible spending. I don't begrudge this of others. And, for my part, I don't really want to throw fuel on the flames of a game I'd really like to see succeed. I liked the sentiment expressed by Scary Worlds the other day: even if you don't like TOR, general gamers should hope for the game to succeed since, if Bioware can't make money on the Star Wars IP, what chance does anyone else have of creating a the "next" big MMO?

I, on the other hand, am pretty much an unabashed fanboy when it comes to Star Wars. So long as the game was moderately solid, I was going to like it, and they certainly delivered a moderately solid game. I have some complaints, but none that I'm up in arms about. There are a collection of minor things here and there, and I have confidence that they'll get around to fixing them eventually. Also, I suppose I've not experienced enough yet to really form proper opinions. And I'm not in a hurry. Messing around with lightsabers can keep me entertained for hours, and I find it worth my money.

Sealing the Tupperware...

So, basically, all of my posts would be boiled down to: I see where others are coming from but don't feel strongly myself. Which makes for very boring writing. A side note, one I haven't really mentioned on here, is that Fuu has had some health issues lately. It was scary for a bit, but doctors are no longer of the opinion that there is anything potentially life threatening. Still, such a scare tends to put things into perspective. Maybe I've just found it hard to write because I'm emotionally occupied elsewhere.

In any case, I guess I wanted to get all these brain leftovers out there. I'm still around. Still playing. And if my posting seems less frequent, it's simply because I don't want to bore you guys. Rest assured that I'll be watching the wires for my usual fare. If Blizz comes out with some major Affliction Warlock change tomorrow, I'll be writing about it. Once we get things ironed out with Fuu, I should have more emotion to spare for fiction and such, too. It's something I want to get back into, but I'm not going to force it either.

I suppose the best way to wrap up these disjointed musings is to offer gratitude for the folks still lurking around these parts. I appreciate my readers all the more when the going gets rough at home. I mean, I threw one raiding article up last week and got great responses on it. This is a great community to be a part of. And if you guys notice something I'm missing, feel free to shoot me and email and I can get on it. I'm certainly not above accepting writing prompts. 

Zon'ozz Pong

One of the things about being back in the saddle as Raid Leader is that I'm apparently going to feel motivated to complain a bit more (read: write on here) about boss tactics. Seeing as how we're woefully behind any raiding curve you can think of, I'm sure my tactics won't be news to anyone. Heck, they probably won't even be helpful. They may, however, be entertaining. Also, I've generally gotten some good and helpful comments from readers (since you're all ahead of me), and who helping someone else can make you feel good. So, I guess, help me help you. Or something.

Our ragtag group is on regular Zon'ozz. We've done him via LFR, but our goal (as has been since mid-Wrath) is to progress through ten man content at our own rate. That is to say, LFR doesn't "count" as far as we're concerned. It's like running BH on off nights. Good for gear and to keep the fingers limber (with a side bonus of introducing us to the bosses).

What I had conveniently forgotten about Raid Leading was that I can't help but get irate at shoddy visual cues and tricky mechanics. When I'm not RL, I'm a little more laid back. I don't feel personally responsible when someone dies. After all, it's not my crappy strat. (To be fair, I try to whisper the RL with any and all suggestions, but it's a little easier to weather when the buck isn't stopping with me.)

Well, now it is, and we're dying. For anyone who hasn't done this boss (and a quick sanity check for myself), here's the quick run down of boss abilities:

• There is Purple Ping Pong Ball of Doom that spawns. Look for the lightning from his nose. It will bounce of players and do distributed damage.
• There is a frontal conic called Psychic Drain. It hits like a truck, but will only occur when the ball is active.
• There is a stacking buff for the boss that makes him hit harder. It stacks up until the boss is hit with the ball and then resets.
• When the boss is hit with the ball, you enter what I call the Back in Black phase. Characterized by creepy tentacle monsters, a dark room, mosh pitting on the boss's butt, and, yes, me singing like Brian Johnson over vent.

That's pretty much it for abilities to worry about. There's one debuff the healers have to cleans ASAP that will cause a knockback, but it's unavoidable. It's probably unfair to my healers, but I consider that pretty much par for the course. (Isn't there always something stupid to dispel, just cuz?)

So what we were doing was the basic half the group on the boss, half the group out at max range. When the ball spawns, our tank flips the boss so the lightning goes through his crotchal region. The ball goes out first, then in (being ponged by the group). After it hits the melee group on bounce (2), we call for them to get out of the way. It pongs off the ranged group, heads back in, and then strikes the boss, starting Back in Black mode.

There are two major issues. First, the flipping ball has a giant hit box that is in no way indicated by its visual representation. After a while, it sort of felt like playing ping pong with ball that has a giant, beach ball sized force field around it. The graphic does not help really at all. Even when it hits a group, the explosion lags behind DBM's reporting and the actual direction change.

Second, a direct corollary of the first, the ball does seem to want to rebound directly at the boss. For the life of me, I can't figure out how it decides it's path. I tried hitting it flush with my ranged group paddle. I tried "adding spin" by moving into it. Yes, I even tried to curve the bullet. Myth Busted. Again. Seriously, if anyone knows how to get the ball to behave, you leave me a comment. Just when I think it's going right... it goes left.

So yeah, "catching" the ball with the boss is a big issue for us, especially when compounded by the fact that the actual radius of the thing is way larger than it appears to be. (So you inevitably get that one person that thinks they're far enough out, but really isn't and sends it ponging back unintentionally. Also, I've heard it sometimes ricochets off of pets. Anyone see that in action?)

When got used to catching, we found that we started getting the tank squished around the third pong match. That is, we were using a 3,3,3,splat... strat. Apparently, and this didn't occur to my bright ass until later, you can and should change the number of pongs. By leading off with a 3 pong, I was likely condemning us to a splat later. Supposedly it has to do with how the stacking lines up, because it takes longer the other times for the ball to spawn (and thus he builds up more stacks before you can get rid of them).

Instead, I should go with at least a 5,3,3,3 strat. We should be close to killing him by that last set of three, hopefully avoiding the splat. Leading off with 5 makes the next couple 3's not so bad, as the ball spawns sooner after you exit Back in Black mode. I guess there's a definite cooldown between spawnings, so by making it bounce more, you're shifting the phase back a bit in time, evening out how long you are forced to take it to the face. I'm not sure I completely grasp all the nuances, but suffice it to say, I need to try a front loaded pong strat.

Yes, this is a healer heavy fight. Our healers are, while not over geared, decently geared. We probably have room for improvement in that area, but it is what it is. We're casual, so we don't focus a lot on gearing, trying to make up for the "grind time" with being smarter in our strats. Thus, more research was needed, and while I don't think I can improve the ball catching, the new pong pattern should help. I can mess with it a bit to see what we can handle.

Anyway, any advice from y'all? Did I miss something? Is it just a matter of getting better geared so our healers can "heal through it?" (Five hits is rough with the AoE, but I think we can do it the first time through.) Otherwise, I'm just going to be pissed about the terrible purple ball graphic. Seriously, if you're going to make a pong mechanic, Blizz, at least make the ball part look logical. I'm not fond of giant invisible force fields on my balls... just sayin'.

Love, A Weakness?

The Jedi looked out over the white wasteland and suppressed a sense of vertigo. Hoth. How had he ended up on a backwater planet like this, pandering to some stupid coalition that didn't trust him? Still, he couldn't argue that the Outer Rim was a mess, and who better to help settle it than a Consular of the Order?

"I could have Holiday create a program to make us believe we were on a beach," his companion, Tharan Cedrax, suggested.

"Can she make a parka?" Ful'guralis asked.

"A virtual one," Tharan replied.

"Not likely to keep us warm, is it?"

The scientist scowled. He didn't like it when the Jedi pointed out the limitations of his artificially intelligent holo-girl. What was up with them, anyway? What sort of relationship did they have? Was it... romantic? How did that even work?

The Jedi decided he didn't want to know. Whatever the scientist did in the privacy of his neuro-circuitry was his business. Who was Ful'guralis to judge? He was having his own struggles with the Jedi code, and Tharan was no Jedi.

Not that Ful was thinking of rebelling against the council, mind you. He was not that eager to flirt with darkness. No, he had the utmost faith that their rules were, generally, in a Jedi's best interest. That is, though they may cater to the safest path, they nonetheless were created with good intentions for the well being of a Force-user.

It was just that... lately he'd been thinking a lot about love. Any good Jedi studied the history of the Order religiously. There was so much to uncover, so much to learn. And, despite the rules to the contrary, there was a recurring them that he couldn't quite shale. For many of the Jedi that had fallen to darkness, it was love that brought them back.

It was easy to understand how losing someone close to you could tempt one to anger. From that standpoint, close, loving relationships were almost a burden to a Jedi. The more connections you had, the more ways for a Sith to get at you. Also, caring for someone put them at risk.

Early on in his journey, when he'd been a padawan, Ful hadn't ruminated as much on the code. He simply had too much on his mind to worry about a relationship. The galaxy was a big place, and there was plenty to do. Fatherhood or romance had never been high on his to-do list, not after his own rocky upbringing. More likely than not, any children fathered by him would end up in a shoddy orphanage somewhere, just like he had. Jedi often didn't live long enough to rear children properly. It was a hazard of a life of service, and Ful had known what he was getting into.

Nadia Grell's face bloomed in his mind. The Jedi pushed it away. A shiver danced along his spine. He chose to attribute it to the cold.

Ful'guralis thought of Setele Shan. More specifically, he thought of the parents that were responsible for producing the Grand Master. Or, at least, what he knew of them. It was rumored that they had both returned from the dark side for love. Furthermore, they had left a strong legacy via their progeny. Was a Jedi coupling really such a bad thing when it resulted in such a formidable offspring?

"Are we going to press onward, or simply stand here gazing until we succumb to snow-blindness?" Tharan asked petulantly, snapping Ful from his reverie.

The Jedi raised an eyebrow before inclining his head.

"Oh, goody," the man said, shivering. "Holiday, ready your recording software. This planet promises to positively teem with excitement." He gestured toward the featureless white expanse and shivered. "Perhaps we can overlay all of this with the sound of a crackling fire when we review the footage later."

Ful'guralis rolled his eyes and draped a leg over the nearby speeder. He twisted the accelerator, and took off like a shot, robes - and doubts - streaming behind him.

#SWTOR - Balance Shadow Rotation

I still cling to the term "rotation." I don't know why. Nothing about my Shadow play is really cyclical. It just seems smoother than "priority system." Rotation sounds like it takes skill. Priority system sounds more like something you program into an android. And androids don't poop, and should be destroyed.

Anyway, I'm a bit over halfway to cap on my Shadow, and I'm feel like I'm finally starting to get comfortable with the rotation, as it were. I really enjoy the playstyle, and it's exactly what I expected. I chose Balance because I wanted a character that could mix it up close range, but not be useless further away. The Balance playstyle provides a good balance (derp) between the two. I have some strong ranged attacks, and I have strong melee attacks.

At level 39, I believe I've gotten most of the major abilities. If I were to prioritize what seems to be my hardest hitting abilities, it would go something like this:

1. Spinning Strike
2. Tumult
3. Shadow Strike
4. Force in Balance (AoE)
5. Project
6. Double Strike
7. Whirling Blow (AoE)
8. Telekinetic Throw (Channeled)
9. Mind Crush (DoT)
10. Force Breach (DoT)

Mind you, I'm ranking only based on "hardest hitting single target in an instant." Bioware has said that in an effort to make combat feel more epic, they've tried to make it where you're almost always facing multiple assailants. Even most bosses usually have some sort of ancillary target. I think, therefore, that the design favors burst damage quite a bit.

Even so, DoTs are useful to the Balance Shadow. They provide a measure of healing, and will do significant damage in longer living targets. Thus, just because they're at the bottom, doesn't mean they're not useful.

I find myself using a different pattern of skills depending on the situation. For a group with all normal enemies (non-elites), I'm likely to lead off with a FiB, follow up with a Whirling Blow, and then finish off single enemies with a combination of Spinning Strike, Project, or Double Strike (when SpSt is on cooldown).

For a group with, say, an elite and a non-elite, I will often Mind Maze the elite, and then single target the non. I generally lead off with a Project, then stun, Tumult, and finish with a SpSt. Then, I'll work behind the controlled target, use Shadow Strike to break the stun, and continue with a Project, Force Breach, and FiB. Then, I generally alternate Double Strike and the standard attack, watching my cooldowns. If I crit in melee, I'll get a free, instant Mind Crush, and I'll throw that. I try to use Project and FiB every time they're off CD. Then, as soon as the target drops below 30% health, I'll weave in as many Spinning Strikes as I can.

I find myself rarely using Telekinetic Throw. Unless something is at range, or I'm trying to kite, my fingers are usually finding other keys first. I like to keep Force Breach rolling, which basically means casting it whenever it's off CD. Mind Crush I only use when I get instant pops. If I find myself behind the target, I'll use Shadow Strike when I can.

Tumult, Spinning Strike, and Shadow Strike all seem to hit hard, but they need a certain setup. FiB hits hard, but sometimes you have to be careful about AoE, and I find it somewhat cumbersome to point and click with the mouse. I sort of wish I could just click it twice and have it center on me automatically.

Right now, I'm stacking Willpower, Crit, Surge, and Accuracy as my four major stats. Willpower is the primary, Crit secondary. Surge helps Crit, and I'm just getting to the point where I'm seeing it and Accuracy on gear. Accuracy means I won't miss, though without much of it I'm sitting at 90% melee and 100% force abilities. I'm not sure how. Going over 100% doesn't hurt, though, as it will cause the abilities to ignore some armor. So generally I'm prioritizing thus: Willpower > Crit > Surge > Accuracy. Though I think I'm going to try to get my melee accuracy closer to 100% (putting it above Surge in the interim).

This is how I'm playing my Shadow. It may not be right. I've not done a whole lot of research. It's just what feels effective to me. Feel free to point me to any articles that you think tell how to do it "better" or anything like that. I'm always willing to learn. Or, if this helps you but you have a question or two, feel free to leave that in comments as well. I'll try to answer as best I can.