20 Days of WoW Blogging

Have I mentioned yet, that I was Navispamed? Wait, I did? Oh. Sorry, still coming down from that.

Now,  the real reason why I brought that up was to cleverly segue into why I'm doing the "20 days of WoW blogging." You see, while I was chatting it up with Navimie, she mentioned that she wanted to visit to get to know me a bit better. I've noticed that, as a recurring theme through the segment. Whether they be readers, writers of blogs she reads, or people she admires in general, she visits them all to get a better idea of who they are, as people.

With that in mind, I wanted to find a way to let readers learn a little bit more about me, without having to try and catch me online. So, I've decided to do Spellbound's 20 days of WoW Blogging Challenge. Please, bear in mind that I may not be able to do it 20 days in a row. My schedule is already packed to the brim. I can promise that I will try to do these as expediently as possible.

We start with day 1. Introduce yourself.

Hi, my name is Malkshake, Malk for short. I've been playing WoW since August of 2005. My first character was a rogue, but in late 2007 I decided to change mains and have been priest healing ever since.

I graduated high school in 2008. That's right, I was one of the high school baddies everyone complains about. I took my first year of university toward a BSc, and quit midway through my second year and promptly signed up for pastry school and graduated from the Culinary Institute of Canada in 2010. I'm currently attending college full time in Business Administration and next year I will be specializing in Accounting. Ultimately I'd like to receive my professional designation in a few years and get a cushy job working in the financial sector. In my spare time I like to WoW, write for my blog, and I draw a little too.  At home I have two kitties and a dog who lives with my parents because my dad decided he liked him too much to let him move out with me. To be fair the dog loves my father way more than he ever loved me.

In WoW, I am a level 90 discipline night elf priest. I'm strictly a healer, meaning my secondary spec is holy, and I've been that way since Wrath. I've held multiple positions in a number of hardcore raiding guilds primarily throughout Wrath; however, have taken a more backseat role presently as my schoolwork and job have taken priority. Most of the time these days you'll find me treating WoW as an escape from the real world. In the time that I get to play I'm usually chasing some new mount, pet, or title, most recently the insane. I'll also admit to having been quite the achievement whore in the past. Sometimes, I just like to sit on WoW and write for my blog. I don't know why, but it's always easier to hammer out an article if Hemoglobin is sitting there on the screen.

I have a handful of alts, all of them alliance. The most noteworthy of which are: an 87 resto/enchance shaman, an 87 frost death knight, an 85 resto druid, an 85 assassination/subtlety rogue and a level 80 holy paladin who is currently looking for a Herald of the Titans group both for gearing and ultimately getting the achievement.

I think that is probably enough rambling for now. If you have any questions that aren't likely to be addressed through the 20 days challenge, or if you want to do this with me please drop me a line at my email malkshakevg@gmail.com

Doing Heroics

I once said that I would never be geared for heroics.

Looks like I lied.

Again.

 I haven't done many heroic dungeons yet, but the few I have done have surprised me. They aren't impossible. They are doable. Dare I say it, they are even fun.

Allow me to make something clear, new heroics... maybe even new max level dungeons are what puts me off of new expansions. Ever since Cataclysm hit and I couldn't heal through one group, much less a whole heroic, I've become a little bit wary of new dungeon content. I am pleasantly surprised that Blizzard learned from the travesty that was Cataclysm and did not make heroics so punishing that they were un-fun again.

That's not to say I found it easy, I have pretty much the baseline required ilevel and have an average skill level. If it was easy for me, I would have been disappointed. If I were an exceptional player, I would probably find them too easy.

I've made it through all of the dungeons I've gone through with minimal mana starvation and only one or two party member deaths which were all due to lack of attention paid to mechanics on their part and not really because of my lack of skill or mana.

I am so pleased that I can complete them without A) going holy or B) ripping my hair out in frustration. I've been reading lately that a lot of players find that Disc output is lacking (maybe it's just for raids?), but I was able to keep my group up adequately and; therefore, have no real complaints except that I still want my Divine Hymn back without going Holy. I feel a little bit lost without carrying it around in my back pocket in the event I fall behind, get stressed, and want a get out of jail free card. I'm sure that will pass though, I still have plenty of toys in my toolkit to play around with.

I still need to work on using Spirit Shell optimally, but I think that will come with time.

Also, LFD has given me decent, non-douche bag groups lately. I didn't know those existed, but am thankful, I needed a break especially after learning that I'm being forced to work both Christmas, and New Years. If I could afford to quit... Anyone want to hire a poor college student trained pastry chef?

I'm trying not to dwell on that.

I suck at not dwelling.

I would also like to draw your attention to my blog roll. It seems that it only took me two months to learn how to make one, and I'd love it if I could get suggestions for awesome blogs to put up there. Priest related, or WoW related, doesn't matter, anything that's worth a read.