My battleground diploma is done.
I locked at 85 to avoid the gear grind, focused on it for 6 months, and got it done.
I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen of Mists of Pandaria, but I have no max level alts. I amuse myself hunting rares wearing the best gear possible. I take advantage of long BG queue times by going back to finish those old things I never did before.
I like how the Warlock class is playing in Mists; it’s so very different from Cataclysm. We are far removed from the class which inspired Decline. I really don’t have much to say about it aside from that it’s fun again.
Having a fun class again is a pretty big deal, come to think of it. Don’t take it for granted.
I don’t think I’ll unlock Cynwise anytime soon. I absolutely do not miss grinding gear to remain competitive in PvP. Having to work each and every week to keep up with my opponents isn’t for me anymore, and from the looks of things there’s going a lot of work ahead for endgame characters who want to PvP.
So.
I’d rather just play BGs and have fun with a video game.
Cynwise's Warcraft Manual 
Grats on the title, Cyn.
I like the way warlocks play now too. The changes they introduced work well. I also had a look at endgame pvp and decided to head back to lowbie BGs — this time on a spriest (stupidly OP even without heirlooms but with a nice flow to the play).
Thanks!
Welcome back Cyn and gratz on the title. I’ve been slowly ticking off the achievements for mine too… it’s a large part of what has kept me playing my rogue – if BG wins (Veteran of x) were shared I wonder if I would have had the same sticking power. I still really enjoy Rogue pvp – but the biggest problem for me is been getting 2 daggers to play with – I haven’t been doing arenas and I don’t play enough to have ground out the required CPs from random BGs to get the weapons. I finally got my second dagger from LFR on Monday night… and hoping to get my legendary gem in one this week (need 2 more sigils). Not that I mind the PvE side of rogues, it just felt like a big pain to not have an option purely from PvP – after they dropped the ilevel on PvP gear I think they could have introduced the honor weapons.
Heh – all that you don’t have to worry about 🙂 How bad are the queue times at 85? I’m guessing they’ll be worse for me given the smaller player base in my timezone.
I’m glad you’re finding ‘locks fun again! I took the $5 WoW Battle chest to boost my monk, shammy and lock up to level 80 through RAF so I’m planning on playing my lock again… I don’t suppose you have a 1 paragraph guide to lock pvp to someone that hasn’t played their lock since vanilla (and as affliction back then too)?
Part of the reason I stayed at 85 was because I didn’t want to have to go regrind weapons every season. I’m sorry it’s such a pain. D:
The queue times are fine at 85. Randoms are usually 10-15 minutes Ally side (much faster Horde) and specific BGs can be 20-40 minutes. This has been a boon for me, as it lets me go and accomplish things while waiting in queue. I’m working on Loremaster (finished Outland) and all the Dungeon Hero achievements while sitting in queue, other goals of mine I’ve had for a while.
All I could write these days would be a destro guide, and it’s basically to stick with instant casts, use Fire and Brimstone with Immolate, Havoc when you can, Incinerate is for proc, not for spamming (that’s Fel Flame’s job), Chaos Bolt is a wonderful, wonderful thing – but watch out for LoS and spell reflect.
Good to hear from you again!
I understand liking the waiting time. Its actually made me enjoy playing most dps this expansion – I’m not so fussed about waiting in queues as it gives me a chance to do other things. But yeah – PvP queues are still nice and quick. But I might have a go at locking at 85 and see how it feel and how long the queues are for me!
But thanks for the basics – I’ll give destro a go – Afflication has changed so much since I last played it anyway that I’d have to relearn from scratch. Via armory stalking I saw you were destro so had started looking at that anyway. Double checking again I just answered my other question which was which pet to use… but Grimoire of Sacrifice removes that from the equation – although which pet are you sacrificing – puppy or void walker?
Reading the most recent patch notes from 5.2 gives me cause to hurry up with playing my lock too – I’ve bought a whole bunch of the level 84 MoP gear (green – couldn’t quite bring myself to pay 2k+ for some blues) to give myself the best chance at getting wrecking ball… which won’t be as easy if they actually do introduce up-scaling within level brackets 🙂
I switch pets depending on which special ability I want to use. I usually have the Felpup in PvP for Spell Lock, but switch to the VW when soloing old content.
I still think the best way to get Wrecking Ball is in the 10-14 bracket, honestly. I shouldn’t have deleted all those disposable toons with the achievement. 🙂
I like battlegrounds, but I don’t do RBGs or arenas. Because I also raid, I feel obligated to do so many PVE grinds for the good of the raid team (although we’re only 4 bosses into the tier actually) that I don’t even have time in game for a PVP grind. I stopped sporting any PVP titles because I felt like I was showing off false credentials. There’s no way to explain to the person who killed me while I was doing dailies, “no, really, I used to be decent!”
I really miss just getting to play BGs for fun.
I understand about feeling like it’s a false title on different toons; I’ll wear Battlemaster on an alt around town, but in PvP? Nope.
I also really understand the time constraints. You have to do what you have time for, and raiding eats up a lot of time. Even with the changes they’re talking about for 5.2 it’s still a grind. 😦
Cyn – nice to hear from you again. I like the way you’re playing the game. If you reach a point where you’ve done all you want at 85 then consider soloing raids. Good fun as a lock and you pick up transmog along the way. Keeping me amused. ; )
Mogul.
I am going to try some Wrath Heroics, and if they go well, work my way up through raids! I did a bunch of the Burning Crusade raids but there are some mechanics which are just a PITA to deal with. (Lady Vash’j, I’m looking at YOU.)
Did you say Vashj *twitch* http://wowmogul.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/pets-and-raids.html
Ha! You have more patience than I. I tried it about 10 times one night and then called in some friends.
Did they finally remove the exalted portion of the BGs factions to gain Battlemaster?
Yes. They removed that in patch 3.3, if I remember correctly. I’m working on Justicar, but it’s a long slow grind.
I leveled up my priest and dk from 85-90 via pvp, i did 80 to 85 via pvp in Cata on 4-5 toons alsoand it was a blast.
Twinking was the anti – gear grind
Now all that is left is to choose another toon and level them up via pvp then to 90 where they wont be played again that is until the next expansion!
PS: i’d pay gold cap for a boa tabard that reduced xp by 50%
I’m veeeerrrry slowly leveling up to 90 on some alts. Perhaps I should try twinking them out and PvPing my way there instead. 😀
Grats on the title Cynwise 🙂 It looks sexy on you.
Thank you! /preens