Gift of the Ox Healing Spheres - Picking them up

[Shinchib]

First of all, I tried to search the forums/ the googles for the answer without much luck.

My OS is BrM (i leveled BrM) and I'm looking to become an active 3rd tank for some encounters. Been tweaking my WAs etc and ran LFR for practice and gear but I'm having trouble not moving the boss while picking up my gift of the Ox healing spheres that are basically surrounding me.

I use WASD for strafing and so I quickly press A+D (by about 1-2 feet in each direction) to pick them up but I always seem to move the boss when I do that!

I really realized this during Empress while tanking on the stairs.

How do you do it? *edit* I don't think I'm strafing to far left and right because if I don't move the full 2 feet, I won't be in range to pick them up still.

[Dero]

First of all, I tried to search the forums/ the googles for the answer without much luck.

My OS is BrM (i leveled BrM) and I'm looking to become an active 3rd tank for some encounters. Been tweaking my WAs etc and ran LFR for practice and gear but I'm having trouble not moving the boss while picking up my gift of the Ox healing spheres that are basically surrounding me.

I use WASD for strafing and so I quickly press A+D (by about 1-2 feet in each direction) to pick them up but I always seem to move the boss when I do that!

I really realized this during Empress while tanking on the stairs.

How do you do it? *edit* I don't think I'm strafing to far left and right because if I don't move the full 2 feet, I won't be in range to pick them up still.

I try to ignore them my hardest as bad as it sounds cause all your doing is messing up the raids dps and stuff by moving the boss for the few extra heals unless there is a massive clump. So i just chi wave on cd and always use guard.

[Kaleid]

Strafing performs quite awkwardly in this game. When you strafe, the mob will try and predict where you will end up, that is why they move so much. This is also why you can reset some bosses by strafing into a doorway. The boss will (incorrectly) predict you will end up on the other side of the door after your strafe and move outside the area, resetting itself.

The only way to avoid this is to not strafe.

[Shinchib]

Kinda funny and disappointing at the same time. In other words, I will only be using it while OT during raid damage.

*edit* any other feedback?

[Endom]

Honestly, I ignore them until I hit Guard. Once it's up, i'll try my hardest to sweep in whatever is readily close. If the boss starts shifting, I stop. They don't heal for anything considerable in singles, but when you've got 5-7 stacked up next to you, and you're in desperate need of a pinch heal, toss up Guard (if it's available) and tap "A" and "D" quickly to pick them up. If you're sitting still for most of the tanking session, they should spawn to your direct left and right.

If you're looking to be pro, my best suggestion is instead of strafing, try moving around the boss ever-so-slightly in a semi-circle. The boss should turn with you rather than relocate itself. One of the inherit struggles with this is determining where the Boss's collision box is located in relation to the actual model. Don't confuse hit-box with collision box either, they are separate things.

I wouldn't worry too much about it once your haste is really high (around 7k-ish), because Expel Harm will keep you topped off during emergencies along with Chi Wave or Zen Sphere (don't ever spec Chi Burst as Brewmaster). During fights with lots of movement, or if you're off-tanking, try and run/roll thru any stragglers just to get a little extra HP. They are awfully low on my priority list though, my main thing is keeping up Shuffle and Elusive Brew as much as possible.

[squid]

Stand still until you get a bunch of them, if you arent moving they will spawn very close and can all be picked up after a hit. Usually the boss movement isnt too damaging to the raid, but I suppose it depends on the boss.

[Kisho]

Really? I've never had an issue with this. Hm. I mean, I'm strafing just like you, but the boss never moves: only turns slightly.

I'm a female Pandaren, maybe if you're a small model character it'll make a difference? Or large model, dunno.

[Alucin]

yeah, the boss wiggles a little bit, but anyone behind will still be behind. no-one is going to get hit by a breath because of it. just do it.

[Ampere]

It's generally still worth moving to get them. On Windlord with the high vengeance I get, and the plethora of orbs from Spinning Crane Kick on all of the mobs, moving into a pile of orbs will heal me from ~30% to full. It's a very powerful mechanic to take advantage of, you just have to be careful with how you move the boss. In challenge modes fuck the melee, just make sure you stay alive, and sometime that means moving stuff a lot to grab orbs.

[SurrealNight]

I mostly let them pile up a little and use them to heal a spike in damage all in one shot and not as a steady small heal. If your gentle about it the boss shouldn't get to crazy but he can do weird stuff. As mentioned you should be able to pick them up without causing movement sever enough to mess up classes that require being behind the boss.

On movement heavy fights you are going to be leaving them behind but other fights like Wind Lord you can easily generate piles that heal 50%+ of your fight. Between Guard and GotO I'm usually ~35k HPS on that fight getting annoyed tells from healers for making them look bad =P

[Shinchib]

Thank you for all the feedback everyone. I ran a couple more LFRs and tried to not move as much with some success. With some more practice, I'll get the exact range down better without making the boss go crazy.

[Callimonk]

Strafing performs quite awkwardly in this game. When you strafe, the mob will try and predict where you will end up, that is why they move so much. This is also why you can reset some bosses by strafing into a doorway. The boss will (incorrectly) predict you will end up on the other side of the door after your strafe and move outside the area, resetting itself.

The only way to avoid this is to not strafe.

Oh, wow, I feel like a terrible because I actually didn't realize this. I've always strafed as a tank in order to avoid turning my back to what I am tanking (additional movement speed vs. backing up, but not getting crit).

Generally speaking, when I played BrM as my mainspec, I always volunteered to OT so that I could A) get higher stacks of shuffle before taking the boss (meaning, I can place more emphasis early on on using my Chi to have a longer shuffle time without having to worry about purifying brew/Guard) and B) use Gift of the Ox. In addition, I was tanking with a bear, so it was easier for me to pick up adds at the time (I believe they've buffed Swipe since then).

[-aiko-]

Don't run, sidestep. Hold down the right mouse button, and Tap A and D to move left or right. You should never actually physically move the bosses location, he should just ever so slightly change his direction. Practice makes perfect. It is worth it to grab those orbs.

[Nikkaszal]

Try also standing further away from the boss - a lot of bosses this tier have stupidly large hitboxes and you don't need to be right up in their face.

Being a little further away reduces the facing angle if you sidestep. Combine it with circle-strafing rather than regular side-to-side and you should find bosses just neatly pivoting to keep you in sight

[Shinchib]

I'll give those suggestions a try as well. Thanks

[Yorgl]

It's worth noting that, given her reallly tiny hitbox, the Empress is one of the most (if not the most) annoying boss to pick up our GotO orbs. :-/
Usually, on her I just don't bother cause it's really annoynig for the melees. On other bosses, as people said above, if you're careful it should be alright. (Or at least not as dramatic as with the Empress ^^)

[Shinchib]

It's worth noting that, given her reallly tiny hitbox, the Empress is one of the most (if not the most) annoying boss to pick up our GotO orbs. :-/
Usually, on her I just don't bother cause it's really annoynig for the melees. On other bosses, as people said above, if you're careful it should be alright. (Or at least not as dramatic as with the Empress ^^)

That may explain it. Empress was the only real fight that I noticed this issue with right away and immediately afterwards went to searching for answers.

I may run Feng/Spiritbinder/Spirit Kings again just to see if it is just Empress that I'm having a huge issue with.

[Deleted]

Apart from Gara'jal who is completely retarded all the other bosses move minimally for orb pickups, never had anyone complain about those movements.

Gara'jal will run to the other side of me when I move one step....

[SurrealNight]

I may run Feng/Spiritbinder/Spirit Kings again just to see if it is just Empress that I'm having a huge issue with.

All three of those are a bit on the smaller size of hitboxes as well. Only one where I'd suggest being careful about adjusting boss is the first Spirit King's boss as you don't want the shared slash being off and only clipping part of the raid. Feng/Gara can dish a decent amount of damage out (at least in Heroic) so I pick up my orbs raid be damned if I'm missing a chunk of health. Even then it shouldn't cause any big issues for the raid if you are gentle about your strafing.