Do You Have A Dynamic Duo?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Bloggers love email.  Still, many of us don't seem to get a whole lot.  Perhaps it's because our emails are conveniently hidden in the scary and un-entertaining "about" page (up over there on the right side, if you're curious).  In any case, the few emails I do get usually contain very good questions.  Often, they inspire a blog post of their own.  Such is the case today.

It was several weeks ago that I got an email from Deidra.  Here's how it reads:

I have been in a few relationships where I have played WoW with my partner in crime at the time and I have had medium success playing with them and their different classes. However, my hubby now and I have a dynamic that is out of this world! I am an affliction 'lock and he is a fury warrior, do you suppose that the combo works because we work so well together IRL or just that the warrior/warlock combo just works? What has been your experience partying up as a warlock/pally team?


I tried to shoot her a response right away, but I wanted to expand on what I sent today as well as open the topic for other opinions/experiences in the comments.  Here's what I wrote back:

I think Warlock with any sort of tanking class is going to be stellar.  Fuu and I are now playing Aion (another MMO) together as well.  We're both pure DPS classes there and it just doesn't seem to have the same synergy.  Our classes don't map directly to roles.  Even if you aren't specced into it, a tanking class with a 'lock will lend itself well to duo'ing roles.

Warlocks have a unique abilty to basically heal themselves through damage while also having a pet and doing great damage.  Thus, I can pretty much take care of myself, which frees up my partner in crime to do her own thing.  As a pally tank this means she could just basically heal herself when needed and keep threat.  I'd bet it's similar with a warrior in that he can focus more heavily on the defensive side of things and let you pew pew. In fact, probably any plate wearer would work for questing.  In Aion she's a leather wearer and I'm cloth, so that probably makes things a bit more difficult as neither of us can take much of a beating.

Apart from class roles, communication is the key to any good relationship and gaming together is a great exercise in communicating.  While the classes themselves may contain certain innate synergies, it is the communication that will take you to that next level.  Even with classes with non-synergistic relationships in Aion, Fuu and I can talk through an encounter and end up doing some really cool and crazy things to snatch a victory.

I would guess if you feel that you're having a lot of success with your current duo, it's both because of having complimentary roles and also being able to communicate well.  I've known plenty of couples that aren't necessarily the greatest communicators and yet still have a good relationship, however I think the strongest couples are the ones that can talk it out, whether that be facing down an elite monster or the laundry boss

Thanks for the email and don't be surprised if this pops up on the blog in the next few days.  I think it's a great topic that a lot of couples can relate to.  Also, don't feel disheartened if gaming together leads to some fights too.  I know Fuu and I spend a lot of time arguing over strategies and approaches.  Not all discussions are going to be sunshine and rainbows, especially not with at warlock!  The good part is that you can speak the same "language".

Pleasant 'Locking,

-Ful

Coupled gaming is really one of my favorite topics.  We're lucky to know a few couples in-game and have compared notes, finding similar experiences.  The common baselines tend to be complimentary roles and good gaming communication.  The roles may not be tank/dps; it could be tank/heals or dps/heals.  The point is that each member of the couple takes on a responsibility and you work as a team.  The game is built around the concept of teamwork, so that this leads to success shouldn't come as a surprise. 

Also, communication may not mean that you guys talk well IRL, but it usually means that even without vent, you're probably hollering across the room at each other or communicating in some other way (Maybe not always pleasantly either.  Learning how to fight is a big step for any relationship).  A lot of times this is as simple as knowing the other person.  You don't even have to be a couple to be a good duo, as plenty of close friends can probably attest to.  It all comes back to complimenting each other and communicating, but isn't that the foundation of any good relationship?

I'm always excited when one of my gaming friends finds him/herself dating another gamer.  I mean you always want to try to share some interests with your significant other, but gaming can be one of the sticking points in a relationship when it's not shared.  It goes back to what I was saying the other day about the similarities with Sports and Gaming.   Sports is mostly understood, though we still hear all the time about wives complaining about a husband's laziness when the big game is on or what have you.  Gaming isn't much different, except it's less understood.  Whenever you're spending significant time apart, with something else, the natural question is going to be "why".  When it's something that's not understood, it'll probably lead to friction.  Thus, when you find someone that shares your passion, or at least understands it, things usually turn out better.  (You don't have to force your spouse into playing, but you will need to help him/her understand what you're doing and why you enjoy it if you want to avoid friction, IMO.) 

And when date night can also consist of raiding ICC, listening to TNB, and popping open a case of Coronas (while sporting your #iblamesyrana t-shirts, of course)...  well, then you know you have a "keeper".

Hope Is Hope, No Matter Where It Comes From

I'm going to step outside the realm of MMO's for a day here. I promise I'll try to tie it all in, but it's going to be a loose tie at best. 

I'm sure some of you watched the Super Bowl last night, and, if you did, I'm sure that the significance was similarly beat into your hear.  I'm going to go on record with a few things here.  First, I'm a Colts fan.  I live just north of Indy, so it makes sense.  I actually grew up a Bears fan, and am still very much a fan of all things Chicago, but it's hard not to like the Colts.  They have a very classy program, filled with classy players who, for the most part, keep their noses clean and play football.  That's more than a lot of NFL franchises can say nowadays. 

I'm also a Boilermaker.  I went to Purdue.  I lived and died with Drew Brees in the Rose Bowl.  He's another classy individual that does it "right".  Class shows.

Furthermore, I don't live under a rock.  I know that something happened down in New Orleans that had something to do with a real bitch named Katrina.  I might be fuzzy on the details, but apparently she really tore the place up.  (I'm not trying to make light of a tragedy, which it certainly is, but my point here is that while I wasn't directly affected by the storm, you don't have to go very far to have the effects broadcast into your home in full, stunning HD.  If you're human, on some level you're going to be effected, and I deal with tragedy via humor.  It's called a coping mechanism).  Having been to Bourbon Street, I'm not going to call New Orleans "classy" (I kid), but it is a city with a lot of soul.  It has history, tradition, and pride, like many cities.  Moreover, it's filled with people.  Living, breathing, hoping, dreaming people.  I may not speak a lick of Creole, but I can relate to people.  Especially people who have faced adversity.

So last night I watched a football game where one of my favorite teams went up against one of my favorite players, and then a couple tons of emotion were heaped on top by disaster cut scenes and the like, as the media loves to do.  I have to say, the only time I've felt more torn during a football game was when the Colts went up against the Bears a few years back, and every bar from Indy to Chi-town exploded with fights.  Who do you cheer for?    As a life-long Cubs fan, you have to feel a bit for the underdog-Saints.  As a human, how do you not enjoy the story of New Orleans?  As a Colts fan, you can appreciate the fact that Peyton Manning has strong ties to the city himself.  If the Colts weren't the other team in the Bowl, you'd better believe the lot of us would probably be crying "who dat" along with the rest of y'all.  Especially if it had been the Patriots.  Don't even get me started there (sorry New England).

The long and the short of it here is that after the final second ticked off that clock and the party started down in the French Quarter, I thought to myself "well, losing this one wasn't so bad."  Losing still sucks, don't get me wrong.  No one likes to lose.  But if you lose to another classy group of folks with a great story to boot, it makes it a lot easier to swallow.  And the Saints are a team it's easy to be happy for.  Like the Colts, they do it right.  Class shows.   Even for the ultra-competitive person, like me, sometimes losing isn't all that bad.

So what's the tie-in here, however loose it may be?  Well, as gamers and patrons of MMORPGs, we love a good story, and this was a great story.  And it was sports.  There's one thing I find myself saying to a lot of friends who don't understand gaming: "It's not all that different from sports". 

I'm a sports nerd, and I'm a video game nerd.  Those cultures generally don't mix.  I coach football and I lead raids.  On the surface, those would seem so different, but they're really not.  Raiding is a team sport just as much as football is.  Hardcore gamers spend hours upon hours researching stats and strategies, so do hardcore sports folks.  Sports are socially acceptable to waste time on, yet games are still struggling to gain that main stream acceptance.  Tell someone you spent a few hours in a fantasy draft last night and they'll probably ask you who you picked without blinking.  Tell them you spent a couple hours raiding last night and they'll wonder if they shouldn't be thinking about an intervention.  Yet the cultures really aren't that different.

As such, I find that a lot of the same feelings translate easily into both realms.  The feeling of victory when downing a difficult boss is the same high as taking the field on Friday night and outplaying a tough opponent.  The feeling of disappointment and loss when someone in your guild leaves isn't all that dissimilar from watching you favorite player get traded away, or a kid on the team you coach deciding the team isn't for him.  Sometimes we have more control, sometimes we have less, but the feelings are the same.  They're human. 

As I was returning home from the Super Bowl party I attended last night, thinking "losing this one wasn't so bad", it actually brought to mind a bunch of other times I'd lost in my life.  I mean, isn't that how it always works?  We remember the tough loses more clearly than the wins?  Failures more poignant than successes?  I was surprised, then, to dwell not only on my numerous personal sports memories, but also memories of gaming.  They were all intertwined in me, having the same base feelings.

There's a loose tie there, but it's a tie nonetheless.  Feelings are feelings, and taking hope from a football team winning the Super Bowl is no sillier than getting the same hope from running in a huge, pixelated group to a rooftop in Booty Bay.  Raiding for the Cure might not be the WoW equivalent of the Super Bowl, but the feelings of hope we get from our time spent together in game are real just the same.  Football is "just a game" too.  Good stories are good stories. 

Next time someone criticizes your gaming habits, wondering why you are willing to set time aside for something as silly as gaming, ask them if they watched the Super Bowl.  Gamers and Jocks aren't all that different after all.  We're all human, and at the very base of both MMOs and Sports is the human factor.  Sports are games too, just played with a different controller.

Congratulations to the City of New Orleans and Saints fans everywhere on a well-earned victory. Speaking as a Colts fan and an avid gamer: GG.

Like Watching Ice Melt

Fulguralis craned his neck to gaze up at the towering behemoth standing before him.  Nine other adventurers crowded the area, lending a nervous smell to the air.  The room felt a bit on the cold side, but then again, so did everything else in Wintergrasp as one might expect from the name.  The Warlock flexed his hands, still getting the feel of his new gloves and preparing himself for some more spell slinging.

"So, you're the Ice Watcher," Fulguralis mumbled to himself.  "Doesn't seem like it would be much fun, watching Ice.  Especially if it happens to be a Nevermelting Ice Thingy."

One of the other adventurers beside him was droning on about how they were going to approach a tussle with the Watcher.  Fulguralis kept one ear open, but was pretty confident it would be a piece of cake.  He had heard some things, plus those two wonky Gnomes had shown up just before he had entered the zone to give him another piece of parchment with pointers on it.  They were becoming eerily common characters in his adventures.  He wasn't sure what to make of it.  Where did they get their information?

"So basically," Fulguralis noted, "you want me to kill the big guy and some crazy, swirly Orbs of Wintry Death?"

"Yes.  The Orbs are a priority to destroy," the Random Paladin replied. 

This group of ten had been hastily formed outside of the Vault by a Rogue friend of Fulguralis.  The Warlock and his Paladin wife had been lounging around, casting lines into the nearby waters in the hopes of fishing up something tasty when the Rogue had mentioned an assault on the Vault.  Having just come from the Citadel, they had almost turned the offer down, but Fulguralis had wanted to try out his new gloves and the both couldn't help but see for themselves if rumors of a new tenant in the Vault were true.  Apparently Archavon had brought in the whole famn damily.  Or something like that.

"Ugh.  Can't I just focus on one thing," Fulguralis grumbled to no one in particular.

"Awww, are you afraid of a wittle orb?" His wife teased.

Fulguralis glared at her, "I make a point of shattering orbs.  And crystals.  And souls.  And..."

Fuubaar patted him on the butt, "I know you do, honey."  She sauntered off towards the boss, weapon unsheathed.

Fulguralis stared at her backside for a moment before his thoughts caught up and he unsheathed his own weapon.  The temperature in the room plummeted.  How does she always find a way to make me feel... so... confused?  Bah, I don't even know.  The Warlock began to fling shadowy spells at the boss as he lent the fight only half of his brain. Women are totally Mind Rogues.  A sharp, cold pain from behind snapped him out of his inner monologue.  

"What the fel was that?" he yelped.  Spinning around he found himself face to face with a swirling, icy orb that seemed to be spitting frosty bolts in all directions.  "Oh, well that's pleasant," he scowled.   The Warlock ran way.  Bravely ran away.

From a safe distance, he laid into the orb.  Soon enough, it shattered and filled Fulguralis with a smug satisfaction.  "Stupid orbs," he said.

Back and forth between Orb and Titan, the Warlock flung all manner of shadowy spells.  Soon enough, the giant fell.  As warmth seeped back into the room, the adventurers began to pick over the body for anything useful.  Fulguralis dusted the frost off of his robes before it could melt, catching a few orb shards with his wide swipes as well.

"There.  That wasn't so hard now was it?" Fuubaar asked in a patronizing voice, weapon resting jauntily on one plate-clad shoulder.  "Those orbs didn't get my baby did they?"

"D'ya see any Orbs left?" Fulguralis gestured wildly about the room.  He couldn't tell whether he was upset by her tone or embarrassed.  Either way, his face reddened.

His wife came up and kissed him on the cheek.  "You're so cute when you blush," she said as she strolled away. 

In the midst of his confusion, Fulguralis's stomach did a little flip.  It always did that when she kissed him.  Burn her!  She's always toying with me!  Still, as she grinned over her shoulder, plate swaying seductively as she walked away, the Warlock felt any consternation melt away. 

Apparently I'm no Nevermelting Ice Thingy, he thought ruefully, not where she's concerned anyways. 

Tanking the Saufang Fight: Paladin Style

Hey gang!


This post has been in my brain for quite a while now and I actually found some time to transfer that gray matter onto the blog.

As you may or may not know, our little 10-man group has made the journey into Iced Coffee Citidel and boy does it wake you up when the aroma hits you.

* POW* Right in the Kisser!

Bone Marrow GAR! Was a tanking pushover as long as your sidekick enjoyed humping your leg the entire fight.

Lady Bubble was DPS burn with a splash of Adds on the side for flavor.

Battleship Galactica was only cool if you had a druid around for his ummm well hind quarters if you will.

Then comes our favorite pal, Saurfang Jr.

This guy really makes me mad! I mean really makes me want to throw him off of the side of the Citidel to his death. Seriously, ask one of your priests to just MC him. The end!

I kid I kid...

Basics of this fight are Tank swap when you get Rune of Blood. This is crucial because once the selected tank gets this debuff, every time Saurfang hits that tank, he regenerates health per landed swing. For 10-man this means around 5100-6900 Health every hit. Thanks To Druid Love for the Info.

If you have Deadly Boss Mods, it will pop up which tank has just acquired the Rune of Blood debuff. Stop what ever you are doing! Taunt like your life depends on it!

I use Hand of Reckoning to snag my aggro back from the other tank. Here's the downside to using Hand of Reckoning though. It's a spell! Since it's a spell, it requires 17% hit to not miss (unless you have a space goat racial or other special buffs) I don't know about you but my tank sure has nothing CLOSE to 17% hit rating. I'm probably sitting around 5-6% at any given time.

Worst case scenario, your hand of Reckoning misses.

Step 1: DO NOT PANIC! Saurfang sees it in your eyes & for some reason knows to hit the other tank faster & harder. The poor Warrior tank weeps as he's being pummeled into Saurfang's yummy pulp while you sit there & pee yourself because ZOMG how did that miss!

Step 2: Make sure that you have your trusty sidekick on Focus for this fight. It really helps if you need to select him for your other taunt. I'm such a bad paladin I can't remember the name of the other taunt. I should be fired. You know the one... that you select your fellow Aggro Whore Friend and save their measly lives. Yes that one.

Step 3: If you do not have the glyph that allows this taunt to never miss (like me) well my friend you have yourself a bit of a pickle. Nothing you can't deal with though because you are a Paladin and we have tools for these sorts of things. No way are we going to be the reason for failure! HELL NO! So if your second taunt fails, what I've actually done is Hand of Salvation. Tell your tank what you have done "Taunt missed twice it's your fault. I'll save you MARY JANE!" "I'm going to Salvation you, please stop generating threat or next time I'll just solo tank this myself" Salvation should allow you create more threat as the other tank's threat is being reduced rapidly. Especially if the other tank begins to pummel you to death for abusing his tanking rights. Perfect way to generate Aggro ;)

Now all of this occurs in a matter of seconds. You don't have time to sit & discuss over tea what happened. You need to act fast because Saurfang is gathering health quickly.

Anyways, I'll trust that you understand what to do when & if your taunts fail. This isn't really want I wanted to talk about in the first place but as you see here, I get excited!

The biggest part of the whole Fight is the Blood Beast spawns. They spawn every 30 seconds right next to where Deathbringer is being tanked. Two will pop out and say surprise to anyone who hits them first. Melee need to be Super Careful with AoEs during these spawning times.

By keeping an eye out for BB spawn timers, you should have a good beat on when they will be welcome guests.

Let's look at the Timers shall we?

Consecrate lasts 8 seconds on the floor. Everything else is instant AoE that leaves no sticky residue behind ;)
This means Hammer of the Righteous or Avenger's Shield can be used any time other than when they are near by. I would say that you have probably a 10 second window. This really brings your awareness level to new heights. Be aware of your rotation at ALL times. No AoEs when the little goonies are around. If you know that you will not be having any Threat issues, don't even use Consecrate in your Rotation for fear that you would use it and snag one or both Blood Beasts.

Again, don't panic if you accidentally pull one. If this does occur, Nail the Blood Beast with your Hammer of Justice. This makes it so that you are not getting hit by their attacks. The DPS should be nuking the other one down pretty quickly and probably working on the one next to you. If they do not pull it off by the time your Hammer of Justice wears off, wait until the other tank has aggro from you having Rune of Blood and run into the Earthbind totem or the hunter's trap. Do what ever you can to slow that thing down from hitting you. Under any circumstances is it NOT ok for you to hit it back. This only generates more threat that pretty much makes it impossible for the Ranged DPS to get it back. Continue running away like a sissy girl until it's dead or you need to taunt the boss back off of the other tank.

These are just a few things that I've seen help on this fight. We've actually taken him down with getting no marks (which is an achievement *confetti*)

Have you found or used any tricks that help to tank this fight? Let me know! I'd love to hear from you!

<3 Fuu

The Patched Affliction Warlock Rotation

After I wrote the quick and easy patch notes post yesterday, I pretty much figured I was going to get the following question:

How will you change your opening rotation with 3 stacks of Shadow Embrace? Haunt>SB>SB>rest of the dots? 

Thus, I did some pre-emptive theorycrafting and research to inform my answer.  Even though I expected it, I still want to say thanks to Parpa who asked it.  This is a great question.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Right?  I almost answered it with a comment, but I thought it deserved a post of its own.  So, how to answer?

First, let's scope the question.  Lay the backdrop, if you will.  Parpa correctly points out that really only the "opening" rotation will change.  That is to say, it will not change what we do later in a fight.  You should still switch to Drain Soul under 25% health.  Don't worry so much about SE then, since you're not spamming S-bolts any more.  Keeping Haunt rolling is a good idea though, so you're bound to get some stacks from that, and really should be able to keep the buff refreshed with that alone I think.  Also, this doesn't change our approach to AoE.  When we're doing our seed thing, SE doesn't really matter.  Thus, the only place it really is going to matter is in our bread-and-butter rotation.

Even then, no matter how you open up, eventually you should be working enough shadow bolts in to keep three stacks up.  Therefore, it really is only the first 15 or so seconds of the fight we're looking at here.  If you're not a bleeding-edge raider or a die-hard min/maxer, this doesn't really affect what you do.  Just do what you've been doing, and don't worry too much about it, you're still benefiting from the buff.  If you want to understand why though, please read on.

I've published my approach to a rotation as this:
Corruption > Curse > Haunt > Unstable Affliction > Shadowbolt.  Spam SB until a refresh of each disease is needed (monitor them individually with a DoT timer.  Fortex or Xperl is great for this).  Life tap as needed, but try to space 'em out so that you tap roughly once for every two haunts you cast. 

If you want to read my whole rationale behind it, check out the HAOW linked post on the left side pertaining to the rotation.  I explain a bit why I do thing this way, but in answering this question I'm going to pretty much invalidate my own rotation.  I know this.  I do my rotation as fits my playstyle, but I realize it's not the optimal way to do things.  What is optimal though?  To answer completely, we need to understand the way DoT damage is calculated.

Shadow's Embrace is a percentage modifier that increases periodic damage while reducing periodic healing effects.  Thus it buffs your DoTs and nerfs the target's HoTs.  The HoT part was modified so that there is, in essence, no change.  That may sound weird, but the point is they basically nerfed the amount done by an individual stack so that with 3 stacks the overall effect would be the same.  This mostly keeps PvP balancing as it was and doesn't really affect us PvE folks.  The DoT buff is what we crave.

So where before we maxed at 2 stacks, now we have three.  The DoT part wasn't modified, so this results in a buff since where before we had 2X, now we have 3X the effect.  As mentioned above, though, this is a percentage modifier.  As we understand it, percentage modifiers apply themselves at the time of the damage calculation (not the strength calculation).  That is to say, the percentage modifier is applied to each DoT tick individually.  

This is a key difference to understand.  Stat modifiers, like popping a trinket or the glyph of Life Tap, are integral to the strength calculation.  This means that they matter when you apply the DoT.  Upon casting of a DoT, the math is done for the strength of the spell, and that strength carries throughout the life of the DoT, to be recalculated upon refresh (with everlasting affliction, some stats can even carry through refresh.  I think Crit still does, but haste and spellpower definitely do not).  This is why you sometimes get the "a more powerful spell is active" message and why we always say to pop your trinkets and life tap before applying DoTs.

Each time a DoT ticks, though, some more math is done whereby the chance to miss, crit, resist, any defensive auras, and percentage multipliers are taken into account.  This second calculation obviously makes use of the strength of the spell when it was applied as well.  The take-away message here is that percentage modifiers are only effective so long as they are up.  They will effect ticks as long as they are up, and will not effect ticks if they are not up.  You can't trick the system into carrying a percentage effect through via refresh, you simply need to keep these effects up.

So let's get back to the rotation I use.  I like to start with Corr and a Curse, my instants.  Those each take up a GCD, but can be done on the move.  You can argue either way here, but I like leading off with them as I think it gets me started earlier.  Also, my trinkets have always been tied to my Corruption via macro, so those stat modifiers are sure to be up right away if I do things like this.  Then I follow with Haunt, getting my first SE stack in the process.  I finish with Unstable Affliction to complete my DoTs and get into Shadowbolts where I quickly will bring the stack to it's max.

If you notice, this means that I do not get SE up right away.  In a min/max sense this is a no-no.  We could argue about the practicality of my rotation in a real environment, but I will cede to the fact that in an ideal, I'm-beating-on-a-dummy situation, we'd want to get SE up first.  Why?  Let's look at my timing.

I pop a lot of haste at the beginning (both trinkets and I usually get a black magic proc in there), but let's just do the napkin math with some easy numbers, shall we?  Let's say a GCD is 1.5s.  Haunt is 1.5s of casting, UA is 1.5s of casting, and Shadowbolts are 2s each.  Thus, it will take me 1.5 +1.5 + 1.5 + 1.5 = 6 seconds before I get to my Shadowbolts, then another 4 second before I'm up to three SE stacks.  (It took me two fewer seconds before the buff, mind you).  That's 10 seconds where of the fight where I'm less than ideal.  After those first 10 seconds, it doesn't really matter your initial order as long as you take care not to let anything drop off.  So for the scope of the question, we're only really worried about the first 10 seconds of any fight.

How many ticks would I be gimping then?  Well in my case Corruption should probably tick four times and UA might tick twice.  I think that's right (note that I'm normally on CotE duty, which isn't affected.  If you're doing CoA a lot, maybe it's a small bit higher, but remember the early ticks of CoA are small).  Therefore, I'm really only missing the SE effect on 6 ticks.   Some more napkin math might lead you to realize that's, what, maybe 200 damage lost over ten seconds (or 20DPS)?  So let's assume my math is terrible, and even then we're safely talking <50 DPS difference between my opening pattern and opening with something like Haunt>SB>SB>DoTs to get the SE effect on all the ticks.  Hence, it's less important than the decision you make whether to take the Nightfall talents (which add about 50DPS to fill up).

Still, if you want to min/max, it will always be better to be sure not to miss DoT ticks with your percentage multiplier.  I might argue that by starting with cast times, you're going to start later than me, increasing your DPS number but decreasing your overall damage done, but in any case we're talking small beans compared with high sustained damage throughout a boss fight.  If you're worried about your numbers or want to make yourself a better 'lock, focus less on how you open up and more on how to minimize DoT down time through proper usage of timers and anticipating boss abilities and the like.  

Getting back to the question of how does SE effect my rotation?

The TL;DR:  It doesn't, but I don't do it "right".  If you want to split those hairs, then, yes, you should probably open with Haunt>SB>SB>DoTS. 

Still, it's a great question and important to understand some of the way these things work, if such things matter to you.  (I'm guessing you might be mildly interested if you've made it this far anyways).   Just know that here at KeS, we subscribe heavily to the "find your own playstyle" mentality of theorycrafting.  Elitist Jerks has their maths and their "best way" to do things, but unless you take that and make it your own, you're not going to see the pay out.  Understand why it's the best way, and then figure out how that fits with how you want to play your toon to maximize your personal potential. 

I love answering questions, offering advice, and debating minutia, but I also feel it's a bit pretentious to tell you "this is how it should be done, no exceptions".  I'm all about making informed decisions, and I'm not gonna call someone a newb-cake (as happened yesterday in a PuG o' mine) if they want to play like The King.  (You know, have it their way).  As long as they've given it some thought anyways.  If your playstyle is face-on-keyboard, then it better be because you've got no bloody arms or something. 

The Promised Buff; 3.3.2 Live

Today's Patch Notes Update brought do you by Miss Medicina.  For avoidable damage, you're on your own.  For everything else, there's Miss Medicina.  Full patch notes are, as always, here.

As usual, I'll just cover the changes that are important to me and my classes with my own thoughts scribed to the side. Really, it's a simple patch.  Not a whole lot going on that I can see.  No DK changes.  For once a focus on Warlockery.

Warlocks

• Talents
  
  • Affliction
    
    • Shadow Embrace: This effect can now stack up to 3 times, up from 2. However, the periodic healing reduction effect has been reduced from 3/6/9/12/15% to 2/4/6/8/10% per application. -Woot!  The promised buff!  It's true!  I can't wait to see how this helps me.
  • Demonology
    
    • Demonic Pact: The damage bonus granted the warlock by this talent has been increased from 1/2/3/4/5% to 2/4/6/8/10%. The buff granted to a raid or party by this talent remains unchanged. -Another buff.  I love my demonology off-spec, but it hardly sees a raid.  Still, buffs are buffs and this is a 2x bump.  Some day I will pick up the trail Abi left and post some demonology stuff on here.
  • Destruction
    
    • Conflagrate: The damage-over-time effect of Conflagrate has been increased to 40% of the spell’s total damage, up from 20%.-Moar DoTs?  I believe this is a buff.
    • Empowered Imp: The pet bonus damage provided by this talent has been increased to 10/20/30%, up from 5/10/15%. -A sizable bump that will no doubt make the imp the destro pet of choice.  I wonder if it'll effect other specs?
    • Improved Shadow Bolt: Damage done by Shadow Bolt increased by 2/4/6/8/10%, up from 1/2/3/4/5%.-This will buff pretty much every spec... who doesn't use ISB?  Awesome.

Items

• New strength-based melee DPS rings are now available from representatives of the Ashen Verdict. -This is worth noting for DPS DK's.  Yay Strength.
• Tier-9 Sets: The Aspirant vendors at the Argent Tournament grounds have worked out a deal with merchants in Dalaran so that all item level 232 set pieces will now be available on armor vendors in the city. Set pieces which require trophies will still be available for purchase only from vendors at the Argent Tournament grounds. -No more annoying traveling to the tournament grounds?  Yes, please!
• Tier-10 Warlock 4-Piece Bonus: This bonus should now correctly be applied to the warlock’s pet. -I didn't know it was incorrectly applied and it's going to be a while before I get this, but I'd always rather things be correctly applied.  Like Topical Creams.  Don't apply those wrong.  Trust me. 

And that's it!  Like I said, pretty simple.  Straightforward buffs to Warlocks across the board.  Not too much done in the DK realm.  Now I'm really itching for my ICC raid on Thursday.  Good thing I know how to use those Topical Creams.

/Jawclench

I don't have a whole lot to say today as my brain seems not to be cooperating with rational thought. Sometimes that happens when you spend the weekend with the family. You know, emotional overload and all that.  Of course, it didn't help any to my emotional overload to come in this morning and read Ratshag's little OOC post.  /jawclench.

Because that's what guys do when something's emotional, right?  /jawclench.  And this story really hits home for me.  I mean, I was there for the raid for the cure, and I had my own reasons to be there (didn't everyone?).  Like most of you, I never knew there was a connection between that story and Ratshag's.  How cool to see the threads of fate intertwined in such a way though, and all because of a silly little game.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  For all those folks who cry "it's just a game", it's stories like these that give hope to a world that desperately needs it.  Great things can happen anywhere and on any scale, WoW is just one of the many mediums that hope chooses.  Games can be vessels of bigger things just as easily as anything else.  The fact that we're all on this ride together is what makes it so cool.

So I'm really glad that the Orc is back in the house.  It was sad to see him go and is equally exciting to see him back.  He's always had a really unique and entertaining take on all things WoW, so I encourage anyone who either has not been over there, or hasn't realized the place is back up and hopping, to stop in, say hi and all that jazz.

Glad to have you back Ratshag and keep fighting the good fight.  Stories like yours flesh out the this silly little game and all it's crazy characters.