Episode 24 – A Foggy Fire Festival

Episode 24 brings with it a familiar face, er, voice, in the form of Fog, who was our very first guest on the podcast, way back in November.

We also take cheap shots at Pat Sajak, mock people who make Kurn rich and take an in-depth look at the Midsummer Fire Festival, which launched today!

 
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Some notes before we give out a bunch of links:

1) The Orgrimmar Fire has moved. It is not horrible to get to. But it’s still not a good time.

2) Honoring and desecrating fires gives guild rep! As a human, wearing the Illustrious Guild Tabard, in a guild with the 10% reputation bonus, I am getting about 35 rep per fire honoured and 70 rep per fire desecrated.

3) Northrend fires are apparently NOT required for the meta, however, it’s in your best interest to do so in order to gather as many Burning Blossoms as possible. (Also, guild rep! Money! Fame — wait, no, not fame. But guild rep and money!)

4) The Ice Stone that melts is what starts the Ahune event. Ahune stops 90% of damage until he retreats into his Frozen Core. Focus adds, then switch to Ahune and pop Heroism/Bloodlust/Time Warp as soon as he “retreats”.

Okay, on to some links!

Lord Ahune’s new drop table is here at MMO-Champion.

Wowhead’s excellent Fire Festival Guide.

Fox Van Allen’s Gold Capped article. (@foxvanallen)

Kurn tweeted: What do you love/hate about the Midsummer Fire Festival?

These fine folks responded. Why not consider following them on Twitter?

@SerrinneWoW: Killing hordies who try to get into IF to put out the fire!

@mageic: all the xp you get on toons that are still leveling πŸ˜€

@stoppableforce: The Ice Stone, melting!

@Technophobia: XP/gold conversion, and free XP for alts, assuming it hasn’t been nerfed.

@soylentverde: XP boost to my lowbies!

@ammonightfall: being one step closer to that frakin Long Strange Journey achiev!

@Osephala: Toasted Smorcs. Yum!

@SturgarHawkwind: The part where Firelands comes out.

@_Rades: AHUNE BEING IMMUNE TO FROST.

@Bindww: Used to hate it, now I’m indifferent

@yawowb: ganking campers at the fires!

@squareSquid: Everything is fun and games until you are corpse camped for a half hour in Westfall! #imawfulatpvp

@Dahrla: I hate having to go to every single flight path.Β  Takes ages.Β  Then again, I love that about Fire Festival, too.Β  πŸ˜›

@whatsatotem: Torch juggling daily, omfg.

@Syrcorax: Hmm everything?

@gamerfridge: That it is only once a year. I love the festival!

And of course, you can follow Apotheosis and Kurn on Twitter:

@ApotheosisET and @kurnmogh

Don’t forget to rate us up on iTunes!

Have a great fire festival guys and we’ll see you next week with a full breakdown of Patch 4.2!

Episode 23 – Legislation for a Legendary

Episode 23 of Blessing of Frost is here and today we’re talking about how to go about awarding a lucky person or a small number of lucky people the legendary staff that will be coming out in 4.2, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest.

Our special guest this episode is Beruthiel, from the blog Falling Leaves and Wings. She raids as a resto druid with the Horde guild Monolith on the US-Llane server.

Kurn pimps out Apotheosis, now 6/13. We’re looking for a tank, a second moonkin, a second elemental shaman and a second retribution paladin: http://www.apotheosis-now.com/

Kurn also pimps out Choice of Skywall, aiming for 4/13. They’re looking for a DPS DK, a resto or balance druid, a ret pally, a holy or disc priest, a resto or enhancement shaman and a DPS warrior: http://www.choiceguild.com/

Vidyala‘s post about alts that was mentioned: http://manalicious.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/how-playing-my-alt-was-hurting-my-raiding/

Rate us up on iTunes if you like the show!

Follow @ApotheosisET and @kurnmogh on Twitter to keep up to date with the happenings in Apotheosis and Kurn.

Don’t forget to check out Beru’s blog and her guild site!

 
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Episode 22 – Dynamic Raid Decisions!

Episode 22 is here and in it, we discuss dynamic raid decisions, such as calls for wipes, in-combat resurrections, cooldowns and heroism/bloodlust. Our special guest this week is Toga, an officer in Apotheosis who plays a hunter.

 
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Majik was at Digital Overload 2011 which is why we didn’t have a podcast last week. (Check out Ctrl-Alt-Del!)

Hot fixes through to June 1: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2690293

oRA3, an awesome raiding addon: http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/ora3.aspx

Episode 21 – Summer Slowdown

Summer is nearly upon us in the northern hemisphere and that means the dreaded summer slowdown is a possible stumbling block for raiding guilds (PVP guilds, RP guilds) throughout WoW. Any kind of guild where group participation is required in some fashion could be affected. What can combat this? How does guild management deal with this?

Our special guest this week is Serrinne (aka Sara), a raiding holy priest of ours in Apotheosis.

 
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Fortune Card that Kurn flipped: You are very fortunate!

Latest hot fixes: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2690293

Stoneybaby of US Sen’jin’s Big Crits Blessing of Frost appearance: https://www.blessingoffrost.com/episode-11-progression-pointers

Kurn’s Healer Evaluation blog post: http://kurn.apotheosis-now.com/?p=1639

Lovely people YOU should follow because they were awesome enough to tweet me back about how they’re going to deal with summer slowdown stuff:

@JinxedThoughts: My bfs guild did a schedule to track everyones absence to make sure they had every raid event covered with enough people. From first of june to last of august

@Vosskah: we have a similar thread for planned absences. I also send raid invites a month ahead now to help with planning.

@mageic: nothing, as we are coming into Winter here πŸ˜€

@matticus: with even more massive recruiting!

@JoeEgo812: Fight the apathy with recruitment & gkicks.

@Shetawy: Continue the show. it must go on after all!

And speaking of following people on twitter, check out Apotheosis (@ApotheosisET) and follow Kurn (@kurnmogh). Don’t forget to rate us up on iTunes!

Finally, Sara wants all healers to go to PlusHeal.com (run by Matticus of World of Matticus) and engage in some awesome healer talk.

Episode 20 – Switching is Srsbusiness!

Our 20th episode of Blessing of Frost is out and our special guest this week is Srsbusiness, a shadow priest raider in Apotheosis. Our subject this week is about people switching mains — why they do it, as well as the problems it can cause or even resolve, particularly in a raiding guild.

 
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We cut the Hot Fix segment out this week because we rambled a bit and didn’t want to go as long as we did, but do check out the official Blizzard hotfixes:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2690293#blog

Switch videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvd5hpX2dy8 – Mage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5mD1n4v2JA – Paladin

Kurn asked Twitter:

Have you ever changed raiding mains? Tweet me the WHY, now!

Here are some lovely people you should follow because they were awesome to respond to us!

 

@restokin: I changed mains to a resto shaman for part of tBC because my druid’s idol wouldn’t drop in shadow labs. and also, resto shaman were way overpowered in tBC, lol. I went back to my druid when WotLK hit…
@_darista_: Mage to Resto Shaman (duh) – bored with Mage, liked to heal, didn’t want to fight anymore over cloth gear hehe πŸ˜‰
@Orithea: switched from a warlock to a paladin because I discovered I loved tanking and healing
@Bindww: I changed from Resto Druid to Prot/DPS warrior for no particular reason, but maintained raider status anyway!
@Szayel_: I went from a Resto Shaman in TBC/WotLK to Holy Paladin mainly for a change of pace.
@Arydel_AD: Several times. And always because the guild needed it. Mage to Pally and then Pally to Priest in ICC.
@SaltySlainte: Switched from Shadow Priest to Holy Paladin. BC into WotLK. My DPS sucked, that’s why.
@TheWompage: switched from a DK to a holy pally because we needed healers. Levelled from 1 to 80 just to help out
Dayden: Went from tanking in Wrath to Enhancement Shaman. Enjoyed the complexity and chaos over 969.
@LynestaWoW: I changed raiding mains during EverQuest2 because my class got nerfed into the ground and our raid needed more healers.

Don’t forget to rate us up on iTunes!

Episode 19 – Money Matters

Welcome one and all to Episode 19 of Blessing of Frost! This week’s guest is Ludde, one of the tanks in Apotheosis, and this week’s topic is guild funds! How to get money in your guild bank and how you might want to go about spending it.

 
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The quest Kurn finally read to learn about the overall “I see dead people” in Strat Live: The Dreadlord Balnazzar

Sadly, I do NOT have a screenshot of Ludde in guild chat to include here, although I swear I thought I took one. Apologies!

Hot Fixes: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2690293

Welcome to Jasyla of Cannot be Tamed!

Also, we were wrong. Guild banks were introduced in 2.3, the same patch that brought us Zul’Aman back in Burning Crusade.

Don’t forget to rate us up on iTunes!

Episode 19 Next Week

Due to the Canadian federal elections today, May 2nd, Blessing of Frost will not be recorded this week. Tune in next week for a brand-new episode of shenanigans, hosted by Majik and Kurn!

In the meantime, why not catch up with previous episodes of Blessing of Frost?

You can also rate us up on iTunes!

Have a great week and Canadians — get yourselves out to the polls! All the info you need is here at Elections Canada. πŸ™‚

Episode 18 – There is Only Zul

Episode 18 is here to help you figure out what to do now that Patch 4.1 has hit the servers! Of course, we strongly encourage you to read the actual patch notes!

 
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Official Patch Notes: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2657803

Official Patch Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMaGgT8fGnU

MMO-Champion’s 4.1 Info: http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2265-Patch-4.1-on-Live-Servers-this-Week

Kurn’s Shoutout: Canadians should go to Elections.ca if you have any questions about voting next Monday, May 2nd!

Prior to the show, Kurn asked Twitter what they were most looking forward to with the patch. Here are the responses she got. Follow them!

@Jezriyah: The ability to farm an epic ranged weapon πŸ˜› / TROOOOOOOOLL LOOOOOOOOOORE

@SerrinneWoW: Holy Word: Sanctuary buff!

@hestiahdruid: Smart heal for Efflorescence. And Efflorescence no longer being attached to Living Seed. / Being able to do all 7 heroic runs in a single day.

@whatsatotem: Revamped Fire Nova! (No, wait, now I actually have to use it. Bugger.)

@TikariOfET: Non-hit-dependent interrupts and rogue speed buff πŸ™‚ / Doesn’t like old raid gold nerfs.

Dayden: Call to Arms! A reason to put up with PUGs when I do my daily heroic. / not-hit based interrupts!

@xmolder: Warlocks being even better than they already are.

@Shathus: interrupts no longer missing!1!!11!

@Technophobia: Tie between archaeology changes and the continuation of ZG/ZA / Oh also I WILL SAVE MY LITTLE RAPTOR BUDDY, DAMMIT. / SAVING MY LITTLE RAPTOR BUDDY. (I may have had some alcohol.)

@Hulrok: Heirloom transfers. oh! And hunter AOE is suppose to hit harder now.

@Kaleri_: Strength of Soul removing other weakened soul debuffs! It’s gonna be a debuff removing-fest! / Oh, and sinnce the majority of my characters are healers and one tank, I’m kind of excited about the Call to Arms thinger!

@EntropiaWoW: the changes to the Resto Shaman Mastery is zomgawesome. ;D

@ammonightfall: all the QQ threads!!! Lol / cheap crystals n new dungeons to heal

@matticus: Can’t wait to go trollllll hunting!

@roseofmontague: Rogue movement speed while stealthed buff and the implementation of different graphics for enemy area effects (Ring of Frost, etc.)

@MoodyDK: Raise Ally!

@Bindww: My bags overflowing with glorious maelstrom crystals. Landslide and improved enchants for all my gear!

@JRWStormy: I was a WOTLK baby, so I’m looking forward to NEW CONTENT I’ve never seen! De trolls, mon, de trolls! Also, MIND SEAR BUFF YAY.

@RoaringRogue: Interrupts that don’t miss are high up on the list.

@LunarthePriest: I’m excited for the new AoE healing graphics for druids and priests! Especially the priest, its all sparkly with fairy dust! lol

@JoshuaLive: New efflorescence look. And that’s about it xD

@Velidra: tanking heirlooms oddly enough

@Kenichan: Any indication of Ragnaros related to C’thun lore

@_darista_: New totem toys!

Merk: Frost DK buffs, tanking bribes.

Apply to Apotheosis at http://www.apotheosis-now.com/main/! Seeking a moonkin, a ret pally, a resto druid, an elemental shaman and more!

Like Blessing of Frost? Rate us up on iTunes!

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Episode 17 – Talking to Tiandrina (the Insane)

Episode 17 arrives with Tiandrina as our guest this week! We gripe about weird heroic lockouts and talk a lot about reputation with the Queen of Rep of Apotheosis!

 
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Remote Guild Chat Announcement

Elections.ca – Canadians, go vote on May 2nd!

Choice of Skywall – Looking for just about anything except warlocks and hunters, Choice is a great group of people who are 11/12 on 25-man (just Al’Akir up) and 12/12 on 10-man. Apply now!

Prior to the show, I asked people to tweet me with their most hated rep grinds and the ones they thought were easiest. Follow these fine people! πŸ™‚

@DPShaw3: Earthen Ring is least favorite right now. Needs dailies!

@TikariOfET: Timbermaw and sporeggar weren’t bad – herbalist rogue made the latter easy. Hate ogrila; aether rays at 80 or 85 suck

@kenakabones: you say that implying any rep doesnt suck… but the most hated would have to be Hydraxian Waterlords just because its so limited

@Bindww: Without question the guild rep. It takes too long of a grind and the random caps it puts on rep makes it nigh impossible to hit Exalted with a new guild. Deters people from leaving their guilds and hurts recruitment as a whole.

@Hulrok: Favorite was the rep grind in Nagrand for the mount. Least favorite was Sons of Hodir, pre relics.

@SerrinneWoW: Switching from Scryer exalted to Aldor exalted was my most hated but gave me an achivement.Β  SOOO many dead spiders! hyjal rep was easy and fun πŸ˜€

@Technophobia: favorites = any Bronze Dragonflight related ones.Β  Most-hated = Duke Wetnap and the Hydraxian Warlords.

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