The Queue: Friday Queueday

It’s the first Friday of 2022, and I hope you are all having a good one. I plan to celebrate the day with a nice nap in a sunbeam, like a cat. Except it’s supposed to be overcast, so there might not be any sunbeams. So maybe just a nap under a nice blanket. Naps are great, and I hope all of us have had a nice nap in 2022.

But let’s take a break from napping to answer some questions.

I’m imagining this as a pet transmog contest, and Kel’Thuzad always shows up with Mr. Bigglesworth. There would be an adoption clinic and someone selling tiny hats for pets (with matching hats for you because of course you would want a matching hat).

And, yeah, I’m all for that. Who wouldn’t be all for that?!

I don’t think any of us are actively playing. I’m interested — TBC was a really good time in my gaming life, and I have a lot of fond memories — but I can’t find the time I’d need to commit to get leveled up and playing. And since I don’t have a group of friends playing over there, it doesn’t seem like a much fun. Not nearly as much fun as when I was playing through it originally, surrounded by friends who were always up for running dungeons or doing stupid stuff.

As to coverage, we actually do get a lot of readers for Classic content, but it’s almost universally for SEO posts, reference content. The posts we have listing enchants and gems are, perhaps surprisingly, some of our best performing content because people search for that and wind up at our posts. But we haven’t had a lot of luck with other Classic content, so we don’t run much of it. It’s about resources: we have to focus on the stuff people read most, so we don’t spend a lot of time on things that a lot of people don’t seem to read about. I have the thought to do try doing lore content tied into Classic, as phases come out — I’m planning to do that when we know more when phase 3 is coming out and people are hyped about the next round of raids. It will have Black Temple and Mount Hyjal, so there’s some good lore to talk about. And actually phase 3 has to be coming soon.

So I’m glad you’re enjoying it! I think TBC was a great time and WoW Classic is a playground of nostalgia. We’re going to stay a little light on Classic coverage, but I’m always looking for good content, so we’ll see.

This is common ground we can build on and perhaps use to form a future of teamwork and cooperation. Years from now we’ll look back and marvel that Whitemane’s Chapeau, this pinnacle of hats, was the start to it all, ushering a new golden age of tranquility in Azeroth.

Easy. All dogs are heck’ cute dogs.

When I’m healing, which I haven’t gotten to do in a while, I run a pretty standard Kyrian Glimmer build with the Shock Barrier legendary. Really your only required talents are Crusader’s Might and Glimmer of Light, but this is what I’m running right now. Rule of Law is technically better than Unbreakable Spirit, but I’ve had so many survivability problems working on Sylvanas that I want the lower Divine Shield cooldown. Awakening could easily be swapped for Sanctified Wrath, which would give you stronger burst. But really the build is all about busting out Holy Shock as much as possible. You use Crusader Strike to lower your Holy Shock cooldown, Divine Toll to throw out more Holy Shocks, and all the while you’re tossing out shields with Shock Barrier and light AOE with Glimmer, and the Holy Power you generate along the way goes into Word of Glory — because this build sticks you with the melee, you’re in the right place to shower them with heals.

I think this build — or something like it — has the best sustained HPS.

When you swap to Venthyr, the build loses a lot of power. Sure, you can still run it, but without Divine Toll giving you those extra Holy Shocks for Glimmer and Shock Barrier, you lose a fair amount of healing and that easy once-a-minute burst of both healing and Holy Power generation. But I think that provides Venthyr an opportunity to do something different. When you’re Kyrian this build is so good that it’s ridiculous to even think about doing something else. Venthyr can broaden their horizons.

And that’s where this Light of the Martyr build comes in. You can abandon every last trapping of the business as usual Glimmer build that’s been a mainstay for two expansions to do something different. And that’s really interesting. Venthyr Holydins can do amazing burst healing, leaning heavily into the instant-cast Light of the Martyr, which can put out a lot of HPS very quickly. Ashen Hallow is an amazing raid healing cooldown. Using Beacon of Faith to put out two Beacons and Saved by the Light which gives Beacons a shield if they fall under 30% health means it can stop tank kills. This is a build designed for burst, for stopping death in its tracks with big, fast — but unsustainable — heals. With the right spec, playstyle, and gear, you will be a champion healer who turns the tide with emergency heals. I think it’s a harder build to play, because you have to be very mindful of timing cooldowns and you have to be very careful of your own health when you’re using Light of the Martyr so much.

I’m not very good at it, myself, and I don’t have the gear for it, but I think it’s a fascinating build — and it seems to be the build world first Holydins favor. I don’t think I’d recommend it for dungeons, though.

As a blood elf myself, I’m partial to blood elf inns. When they first showed up in the world in Burning Crusade they were just so different from other inns in the world. Bright colors, soft pillows, draping curtains… they seem pleasant places to while away the day, without worries for the troubles of Azeroth just outside the door. Waiter! More wine!!

And that’s all for now, friends. Have a good day, a good weekend, and hopefully a nice nap. I’ll see you back here next week… unless I’m napping, of course. If I’m late next week, just assume I’m napping.