Rift – Cleric Tanking (Post Update 1.3)

I’ve been fairly silent for a bit now, and that’s due to the last two updates for Rift. 1.2 made all of the expert dungeons WAY easier. In fact, I giggle when I see someone tweet about how difficult a T1 boss is. Even after that though, I could look forward to raids. I was in the process of grinding out daily experts to earn my plaques for T2 gear.

And then came 1.3. I’m going to start out with this simple admission:

I DON’T LIKE CHANGE!

At least not drastic changes like what they did to cleric. It’s one thing for 1h/shield to be slightly more viable than 2h. It’s another for 2h to be practically worthless.

I spent at least an hour and a half trying to decide on how to do my soul tree after 1.3 hit. I eventually set up two builds (one for straight tanking, one more solo-friendly). I was so frustrated that I signed off for the night. I didn’t play for a couple days after that.

When I finally signed on again, I started going through my bank for the runes and gear I was saving for the 1h/shield switch for raids. I put my shield on. It’s not a very good one, but still a decent expert dungeon drop. Then it came time to put on a weapon. I didn’t have one in the bank, so I head over to the AH. VERY slim pickings, and the one weapon up was overpriced. It’s not like I can tank experts to get a new weapon.

I logged out, and haven’t logged back in since.

This has hit my passion for Rift hard. I’m stuck debating on making an alt my main. Maybe my warrior.

Computer Upgrades

So amongst a slew of computer problems, I have now upgraded everything in my gaming computer except the hard drive. The HD was upgraded less than 2 years ago, so now issues there. 500GB 7200 RPM SATA HD is enough for me.

StarCraft 2 – 2011 GSL Super Tournament (Day 1 results)

There were some great matches yesterday. If you don’t want anything spoiled, don’t read any more of this post.

StarCraft 2 – It has begun

Over the weekend I finally played league games. I know that I’m not a very good player, but I was getting tired of practicing against the AI.

I ended up doing 4v4 with some friends on the EU servers. We went 3-2 on our placement matches as a team. Ended up in gold. I had a lot of fun with it, even though my computer couldn’t handle it. It was so bad the first game, that I ended up WAY behind. We lost that game as well.

The next day I decided to suck it up and do my placement matches for 1v1. I went 3-2. My first loss was against a zerg who roach rushed me. It was a combination of the strat being weak against that sort of rush, and some bad micro on my part. I’m getting better with my forcefields (which are a must when a zerg is overrunning you with superior numbers). The second loss was against a terran who simply outpaced me. I’ve still got to watch the replays of the games to see what they did so I can start branching out my strats based on opponent. I ended up placed in gold. I wasn’t expecting higher than silver, and I foresee a lot of losses in my near future.

A different friend than before and I played some 2v2 on the US servers. We went 2-3 on our placement matches, and got placed in bronze. We went 1-2 after that before we called it a day. I think we make a good team, but we have to work on meshing strategies better. That and I need to not suck so bad. Cannon rushes suck as well. First time seeing one of those.

One of the 2v2 games was pretty epic. By the end of it, I had maxed food, and a HUGE colossi / stalker deathball. Needless to say, I rolled over our opponent. His teammate immediately left afterward. There was another game where the opponent left as soon as he saw a colossi approaching his base (early game).

I’m getting better with my macro. I’m having problems keeping up with my macro during micro as well. I need to work on memorizing the rest of the hotkeys as well. I’ve got the regular buildings down, but not the advanced ones yet. I also simply need more strategies. I need to be able to counter some of the strats that are killing me. Decision making.

Oh, and I REALLY hate playing against zerg. I went 1-3 against them (including a custom match against my friend).

StarCraft 2 – 2011 GSTL May / GSL Super Tournament

Last week’s GSTL had some pretty good matches in it. I wasn’t sure who was going to win between SlayerS and MVP. We saw some players do unexpected things on pretty much every team. f0u and oGs both put up a good fight.

What I’m really looking forward to is the Super Tournament that started just under 3 hours ago. Unfortunately, I can’t access the stream at work.

StarCraft 2 – GSL / TSL

A friend of mine convinced me to watch some of the SC2 matches from the TSL and GSL that happened recently. I was floored by how far these pros have progressed, and haven’t stopped watching since. If I’m not playing a game that requires all of my bandwidth, I have a SC2 match replaying on my laptop. Expect additional posts throughout the upcoming GSTL (which started this morning actually).

Early Saturday morning GSL May had it’s final, and then yesterday afternoon TSL3 had it’s final. If you haven’t watched either, don’t read any further.

Rift – Cleric Tanking (Post Update 1.2)

Wow, 1.2 really nerfed a lot. The trash in dungeons is laughable now. You have a chance of living if you accidentally pull two packs of mobs (either masses of non-elites or 3-packs of elites). You can run the dungeons with a single cleric healer. Chloros could do it as well, but it’s a tad more difficult at points. If your healer is decently geared, then they don’t even require an off-heal for bosses.

I ran a lot of dungeons over the weekend. The only ones to give us a problem were AP and RD. AP we couldn’t get past the first boss due to maelstrom attack that makes a player push away other players. This makes hiding from his attack more difficult. If we had kept trying, we probably would’ve cleared it, but I felt that we had wasted enough time on AP. RD we got to the final boss, and was having an issue with the ghosts. Again, a few more attempts and we probably would have had it. It was late, and I was frustrated. Otherwise the dungeons are pretty easy, and plaque farming is nothing but a mindless grind now.

The upgraded stats on the plaque gear is pretty nice. I took a look at the full sets on Alpha, and the resulting stats were impressive.

Otherwise, nothing has really changed for tanking, except that it is easier. I’m looking forward to raids and actually having a challenge again.

Rift – Cleric Tanking (Expert FC)

Foul Cascade is one of the easiest T1 experts. I ran it again last night, and it was just as easy as I remembered. It was so easy the first time, I didn’t remember anything about the bosses.

Rift – Cleric Tanking (Expert LH)

I think LH is the most forgiving expert dungeon when it comes to gear. Most of the fights are simply mechanics.

Rift – Cleric Tanking (Part 6)

Alright, so I still get a few questions from time to time. Since I haven’t made a post in a couple weeks, now would be a good time to do so. Keep in mind these are all my opinions. I respect yours, so respect mine.