KDR in FPS's

   I was talking to some buddies about Call of Duty: Black Ops the other day. One common question that kept coming up was, "What is your KDR?" For those of you who don't know, KDR is short for Kill Death Ratio, or the amount of kills you get per each of your own deaths. For example, if you get 15 kills, and die 5 times in a match, your KDR for that match was 3.0, as 15 divided by 5 equals 3.
   This stat has kind of become the "end all" stat. This stat has become the sole stat in showing how good of a player you are at a certain game. (At least in deathmatch modes. In objective based modes it's not as important.) However, I have come to find out differently.
   Now, the KDR is an important stat. If you have a positive (greater than 1.0) KDR, then you are helping out the team. Negative KDR means that you actually hurt the team. I would much rather have a guy with a 2.0 KDR on my team than a guy with a .95, for instance.
   Here is where it gets hairy. When looking solely at the KDR stat, it would appear that a person with a 3.0 KDR is 2 times as good a player as the person with a 1.5. But there are so many variables to look at. It's possible that the person with a 3.0 KDR killed 3 people, and died 1 time, earning the team 3points, but losing it 1point for a net gain of 2 points. And the 1.5 KDR person could have 10 kills and 4 deaths, earning the team 10points, and losing 4points for a net gain of 6points. So, who is the better player?
   This is why I like HALO's score keeping better than COD's. In HALO, it shows you your K/D spread, instead of ratio.
   On a side note, I hate when I go my usual 1.25 KDR (normally about 10/8) in COD, and then there is someone who does something like 20/20 and then he calls me bad, because he has a higher score, when in reality he didn't help the team out at all in net gains. But that is a whole different rant for a different time.
   Back to KDR. My idea is to no longer ask people, "What is your KDR?", but rather ask them, "What is your Kill Spread?" This will give a much better picture of how much they will help out your team in each game. I have a lot more anecdotal evidence and number crunching, but I think I've made my point.

   - Sapper Woody

My Hunter Solo'd Molten Core

So, I decided that my level 85 hunter should solo as much content as possible. Well, anyone can solo the level 15-60 5man dungeons, so I skipped those. I decided to start at Molten Core, the first level 60 40man raid.

I am Beastmaster specced, and used two different pets to tank for me. I used a Gorilla for most bosses, but used a Spirit Beast on a couple, so that it could heal me.

I went in and started the clock. Killed some trash, and made it to Gehennas without any problem. I sent my Gorilla in and downed him with minimal damage to myself. I had about 75k health left at the end of the fight.

Next came Garr, with all his adds. This was simple. I sent in my Gorilla, used Bestial Wrath, Misdirected to my pet, then Multishotted as much as possible. I didn't get a scratch.

After Garr, I tried Barron Geddon. And died. So I tried again. And died. And again. And died. So I went to Lucifron. I used my cat, killed his adds, no problem.

After that, I went to Magmadar. Should've cleared the room first. While I was fighting him, I got feared into two packs of core hounds, who wouldn't die unless they all died together. This fight took forever, and about seven feign deaths. After I killed him, I looted and skinned him. Then remembered to take a picture. So here is a picture of the empty space he used to occupy.

After Magmadar, I went back to Baron Geddon. This time, I used my gorilla and cleared almost the whole room where the boss patrolled. Then I switched to my cat, pulled the boss with a serpent sting, and then got out of the area entirely. I couldn't hit the boss anymore, but he couldn't hit me either. So my cat killed him for me.

After Baron Geddon, Shazzrah was no problem. I simply stayed out of her AoE range and shot her.

Then came Sulfuron harbinger. This guy wasn't too hard, but he took forever. I didn't start off by focusing the healers, so they kept healing him. Also, mid-fight I pulled two core hounds. I also pulled three firelords, who split into about 30 little fire elementals when they died. The fight took a while, but I eventually won out.

I went to Golemagg the Incinerator. He was easy, just had to focus him and forget about his adds. They can't die if he's alive.



Once he was dead, Majordomo appeared. he wasn't too hard. You don't actually kill him, you kill the adds around him and he surrenders. There are four healers, and four casters. As long as I focused on the healers first, I was good. Since you don't actually kill him, here is a pic of him surrendering.

So we get to Ragnaros. I took a picture of him before and after. He was actually pretty easy. At this level, it was a simple "tank and spank" method.

All in all, it took me 1hr 25mins, and would have taken me less if I hadn't died three times. I left with 400 gold, and some fun items, like some pieces of my tier 1 set. Also got some blues to sell on the auction house. My plan is to do this every so often, maybe farm for Thunderfury to get my guild the achievement.

   - Sapper Woody