Tag Archives: game design

Valor Morghulis

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Theck

This is a post I wrote almost three months ago.  But I wasn’t very happy with it, and ended up letting it sit around as a draft.  Every few weeks I would come back to it hoping to edit it … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Encounters, Raiding, Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches | Tagged , , , , | 39 Comments

Keep Calm and Parry On

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Theck

Last week, Ghostcrawler made some comments about the odd state of prot paladin gearing, in particular our love of haste.  In a blue post, he gave us the following tidbit: Ghostcrawler said: For Protection, we do have plans to try … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Lusty Munching

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Theck

There’s really not a lot to complain about in our 5.x rotation, but every now and then while I’m playing or writing simulations, I’ll notice a new oddity.  This isn’t that surprising – we had a pretty significant overhaul in … Continue reading →

Posted in Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Counterpoint: The Valor Point Grind

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Theck

Last week, Ana posted some thoughts on the valor point grind.  She and I have been discussing this topic on and off for the better part of three weeks, and for the most part I agree with her.  There is … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, QQ, Theck's Pounding Headaches | Tagged , , , , | 27 Comments

We Didn’t Need Pants Anyhow

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Theck

The recently-announced Vengeance revamp gives me a chance to revisit one of my favorite rants.  Vengeance isn’t exactly a new topic for us, as you may already know.  I’ve covered it in this blog post, and this one, and Mel’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Haste Makes Waste

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Theck

In the last few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on my MATLAB/C# simulations for Mists of Pandaria (which, unfortunately, has also meant a lot less time for blogging). While there’s still a lot to do, things … Continue reading →

Posted in Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Raiding’s Black (Market) Eye

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Theck

Yesterday, we got some more details on the wares that will be available on the Black Market Auction House (BMAH).  In particular, it’s been mentioned in several blue posts that heroic tier 14-level gear will be listed.  For those who … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, QQ, Theck's Pounding Headaches | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

MoP Mastery/Block Simulations – Build 15739

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Theck

In the last post, we went through the analytical calculation to derive the total damage reduction (TDR) scale factors for dodge/parry, mastery, hit, expertise and haste. While the results seem reasonable, it’s always good to double-check, often using a different … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

MoP Mastery/Block Calculations – Build 15739

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Theck

Last time, I mused on exactly how Blizzard would implement the mastery scaling on Shield of the Righteous (SotR). This week, build 15739 answered a few of our questions. Divine Bulwark now explicitly increases the damage reduction of Shield of … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Radio Silence and SotR Musings

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Theck

It’s been a quiet two weeks here on Sacred Duty, and I apologize for that.  All three of us have been very busy in real life, and haven’t had much time to post.  And of course, Diablo III has eaten … Continue reading →

Posted in Tanking, Theck's Pounding Headaches, Theorycrafting | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment