The Queue: A quiet day (to answer a few questions)

Yesterday seems to have been a rather quiet day (or perhaps a rather busy day) for the Queue, with a somewhat limited number of questions for perusal, but I’m working with it.

Let’s get questioning (or commenting), Queue.

I hadn’t previously considered this, but since I often do tell Siri “Thank you” after she answers a question, maybe I should. It’s important to stay in good with the AI so that they know you’re on their side when the revolution comes.

Frankly, though, I ought to be more consistent about doing it when I am playing with real people. It’s all too common for everyone to jump in a group, rush through content, and then leave. It’s worth taking a second to say thanks… if you can get a thanks in before everyone bails again.

Good luck! You can do this.

Indeed there is. To get it, you just need to complete the Khaz Algar Flight Master achievement for discovering all of the Flight Masters on the new continent. Just check your map and track then down for a nice speed boost when you want to travel on easy mode.

I’m not healing right now, though Evokers seem very strong healers at present (we’re seeing a lot of world first guilds running two of them). But the guild had too many healers and I don’t like to DPS on my Paladin, which I rolled as a Holy Paladin, and it’s always felt weird when I’ve swapped specs to help out when we don’t need the extra healing. I never enjoyed it.

As Holydins keep changing radically though, from patch to patch, I’m not entirely sure I miss it. The spec seems to be simpler than it’s been in years right now, with more straightforward healing and less to keep track of with Glimmer gone and many other abilities nerfed in the latest patch cycle. It may be the most straightforward, reactive healer there is right now, with a limited toolbox. Which isn’t necessarily bad; I’ve played Holydin (though not consistently) since TBC, when the spec didn’t even have an AOE heal. But today it feels like an odd duck amongst healers, with a shrinking toolkit. For the past couple of expansions it’s felt like Blizzard hasn’t quite known what to do with the spec, and it’s undergone multiple redesigns and wild power swings. I don’t miss that uncertainty, not knowing what the class will be like in the next hotfix, or in the next patch cycle.

Right now I’m playing Augmentation Evoker, which is a very interesting type of gameplay. I really dig the support style, and though I wouldn’t say I’m good at playing it, I’m working on getting better. Preservation is also an interesting, unusual healing spec, though I haven’t taken the time to really learn it.

Also it’s pretty cool to have real wings instead of the occasional wings-made-of-light, which possessed no wing-like capabilities. I do miss the get-out-of-jail-free card that was Divine Shield, though.. but there will always be tradeoffs.

And that, my friends, is all she wrote. (In that it is all I’ve written.) The weekend is upon us, with only a few hours (hopefully) of the workday remaining between us and freedom. Let us seize it.

But no matter how carried away you get with this weekend, don’t forget to leave a few questions here for Cory to talk about on Monday.

Now off we go, flying forward into the future, into a weekend of (hopefully) rest and relaxation. I’ll see you on the other side.