Wow, how time flies. I haven't posted since dinging 70... Better do something about that, don't you think? So let's see what we have for today.
Alierah
Since dinging Alierah's been keeping busy doing dailies, some BGs and a few instances when she can find them. I got her some epics - 2 rings from the headless horseman and 2 pieces of armor from the Argent Dawn for helping to stop the scourge invasion. Other than that, I'm slowly working on getting the Primal Mooncloth set (I somehow forgot about the 4-day cooldown on making Primal Mooncloth, so I only have the belt for now) and leveling up Enchanting. Tailoring is at 374, but should "ding" 375 once I make the shoulders, and Enchanting is currently at 340 waiting for some mats from my bank alt. One very nice potential upgrade I found is a PvP staff, but I need too many AV marks and honor to get it, so I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. Still, nice to have something to strive for.
Confessions
I have some confessions to make. First, I'm cheating. Please don't tell WoW - I don't want to hurt it's feelings, but I just got LittleBigPlanet and Eternal Sonata, and they're managing to take up ridiculous amounts of my time.
Second, I've gone and done it again - I started a new alt. Cawti (yes, I sometimes recycle names, deal with it) is a Human rogue on Moonglade. It feels really good being back in Moonglade after so long - even just listening to General and Trade channels feels so much more RP and I donno... Mature? than other servers, so it's really nice. Of course, I started out practically broke there (just had enough money to get 2 Netherweave Bags), so I'm working on getting some money with Mining and Skinning*.
The last one is a little embarassing. Cawti finished up all her business in Elwynn Forest at level 11, and I decided to take her to Bloodmyst Isle to get her up to 20. So I headed to Ironforge, took care of business (like banking all my armor) and ran out to Menethil. So far, so good. When I got there, I decided I might as well get the Theramore flight point, so I did that too. But then I sort of got "stuck". I couldn't find the boat to Auberdine. I've been playing for almost 3 years, rode that boat countless times, and now I couldn't do something as simple as getting to Kalimdor. I went to the dock it was always at, and waited for 10 minutes, but the boat didn't show. Talking to the NPC standing there, he said something about getting the boat to Northrend from there. Obviously, that's not going to happen until Wrath hits, but it left me with an even bigger question - How on Azeroth do I get to Kalimdor? So I looked in the official site, but it seems it wasn't updated yet. Good thing we have WoWWiki to tell us that the boat was moved to Stormwind. So, yeah. That was a waste of time, running all the way to Menethil. /sigh
Dailies
Doing the dailies with Alierah got me thinking about several things. First, I was thinking about making a guide not so much on which quests are available or how to do them, but what order to do them in to save time. Not sure it's worth it, though, since most people (myself included) probably won't be doing them once Wrath hits.
The other thing is, it reminded me of a friend of mine. He doesn't play WoW, and every time the subject comes up he says something along the lines of "I already have a job, I don't need another one". Up until now, I could easily say that WoW wasn't work, but with dailies that's exactly what it is. Not only that, but it's work for virtual money**... So, I don't know. I'm not sure if I'll keep doing them or not.
Little Touches
The 3.0 patch notes were around the length of a regular novel, but still they did not include all the changes. Most of the things that didn't make it into the patch notes are things that don't really have much effect on most people, but are still nice. For example, boats and zeppelins now have crews. Some have vendors (or vending machines), and you can even repair there. I never liked the old "ghost ships", so personally I think that's just cool. And there are other small things like that. I don't remember them right now, but they're there, and I applaud Blizzard for taking time to put in these little touches even though they don't actually matter to 99.9% of the players.
* Yes, I know that with Inscription, herb prices should be really high right now. Still, I think I prefer Mining.
** I suppose you could say that all money is virtual. After all, the paper that bills are printed on isn't worth that much - its worth is determined by what you can obtain with it. In that sense, WoW gold does have value in that I can buy things in-game to (hopefully) make me happy. Still, it's not the same as real money.
Showing posts with label Happy Birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Happy Birthday. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
So what have I been up to?
Ooh, how time flies... It's been almost a week since my last post, which is bad. So here I am, with a brand new post.
So what's new this past week? Well, first my WoW instability issues seem to have been solved. I still had a crash after I finished downloading the patch data, but a quick "repair" seems to have done the trick. So now I can, once again, actually play the game.
Melting Faces
Most of my time in-game was spent on Alierah - she's 33 now, has a purple chicken, and is at around 210 enchanting. She's also been doing some BGs and Brewfest dailies, and having quite a lot of fun all in all - I think I'm starting to dig this whole Shadow Priest thing. I also wanted to get some SM done, but managed to end up in a group with a shaman and 3 other priests twice. Needless to say, not having a tank was painful*. Oh, and I managed to get the Gurubashi Arena chest one time - it was 6AM server time and I was the only one in there. Surprisingly enough, it's the first time I've opened the chest and it didn't have bracers of any kind in it.
Let The Experiment Begin
Other than that, I've started my "no pet hunter" experiment. Nopet the Tauren Survival Hunter has actually done the pet taming quests, but hasn't tamed a permanent pet for traveling through Azeroth. I really wonder how it will go with him - can he make it out there, how hard will it be, and what does it mean if he can? For now, things haven't been that difficult, but then he's only 13 and just finishing up with Mulgore. For most of that you can't have a pet yet, so it's not surprising that things are still going well. We'll see how he feels in 10 levels or so.
But even in the little time I've had with him I've already had some insights into technique, gear, talents, etc. While I originally thought I'd have to stack up on Strength for melee, it seems that Strength and Agility both add 1AP per point, while Agility also adds RAP and dodge, so it still seems much better all-around. I would, of course, have to stack more Stamina than usual since I have no pet to tank for me, and using cloth is out of the question but that's not unexpected.
The other "big" insight was about shot order. While it's not usually much of a concern, since you usually get over the get-as-many-shots-as-you-can-before-mob-get-in-melee-range at level 10, but since I won't have a pet it becomes quite important.
Most hunters I've seen around, start the fight with Concussive Shot, to slow down the mob and buy them some time. That's obviously a good idea, but I have a couple of problems with it. First, it starts off with an instant ability. Of course, I don't have Aimed Shot or Steady Shot or anything that takes time to cast, but the way it works is if you start with an "ability" the first Auto Shot happens a "shot" after the ability. But since the ability is instant anyway, there's no reason not to start with Auto Shot and stick the ability right on top of it, gaining an extra Auto Shot in.
The next thing I've noticed was that if you do the Concussive Shot - Arcane Shot - Serpent Sting sequence, the mob gets in melee range just before that second Arcane Shot goes off CD. That's a shame, as an extra Arcane Shot would be a nice bonus to the ranged damage, so I tried to see if I could do anything about that. As it turns out, if you start with an Arcane Shot, and then fire off the Concussive Shot, you can still squeeze in the same number of Auto Shots (at least with my current gun - might be different with other weapon speeds) and have Arcane Shot off CD just in time to fire another one before introducing the mob to the business side of your axe.
Of course, there are also some things I'm still undecided about, too. Should I, in fact, be going down the Survival tree (which is the most melee-oriented of the three), or should I go with MM so I can do the most damage up front**? Is it worth the mana to start the fight with Aspect of the Hawk and switch to Monkey when the mob gets in melee range? Or maybe Monkey isn't worth it at all, who knows? So, yeah, I've got plenty of things to check and to play around with, so it looks like it'll be a fun experience.
* For other people, mostly, as I made sure I generated less threat than everyone else and ran out when it was obvious we were going to wipe.
** BRK would probably have a fit if he saw an MM hunter with no pet. =)
So what's new this past week? Well, first my WoW instability issues seem to have been solved. I still had a crash after I finished downloading the patch data, but a quick "repair" seems to have done the trick. So now I can, once again, actually play the game.
Melting Faces
Most of my time in-game was spent on Alierah - she's 33 now, has a purple chicken, and is at around 210 enchanting. She's also been doing some BGs and Brewfest dailies, and having quite a lot of fun all in all - I think I'm starting to dig this whole Shadow Priest thing. I also wanted to get some SM done, but managed to end up in a group with a shaman and 3 other priests twice. Needless to say, not having a tank was painful*. Oh, and I managed to get the Gurubashi Arena chest one time - it was 6AM server time and I was the only one in there. Surprisingly enough, it's the first time I've opened the chest and it didn't have bracers of any kind in it.
Let The Experiment Begin
Other than that, I've started my "no pet hunter" experiment. Nopet the Tauren Survival Hunter has actually done the pet taming quests, but hasn't tamed a permanent pet for traveling through Azeroth. I really wonder how it will go with him - can he make it out there, how hard will it be, and what does it mean if he can? For now, things haven't been that difficult, but then he's only 13 and just finishing up with Mulgore. For most of that you can't have a pet yet, so it's not surprising that things are still going well. We'll see how he feels in 10 levels or so.
But even in the little time I've had with him I've already had some insights into technique, gear, talents, etc. While I originally thought I'd have to stack up on Strength for melee, it seems that Strength and Agility both add 1AP per point, while Agility also adds RAP and dodge, so it still seems much better all-around. I would, of course, have to stack more Stamina than usual since I have no pet to tank for me, and using cloth is out of the question but that's not unexpected.
The other "big" insight was about shot order. While it's not usually much of a concern, since you usually get over the get-as-many-shots-as-you-can-before-mob-get-in-melee-range at level 10, but since I won't have a pet it becomes quite important.
Most hunters I've seen around, start the fight with Concussive Shot, to slow down the mob and buy them some time. That's obviously a good idea, but I have a couple of problems with it. First, it starts off with an instant ability. Of course, I don't have Aimed Shot or Steady Shot or anything that takes time to cast, but the way it works is if you start with an "ability" the first Auto Shot happens a "shot" after the ability. But since the ability is instant anyway, there's no reason not to start with Auto Shot and stick the ability right on top of it, gaining an extra Auto Shot in.
The next thing I've noticed was that if you do the Concussive Shot - Arcane Shot - Serpent Sting sequence, the mob gets in melee range just before that second Arcane Shot goes off CD. That's a shame, as an extra Arcane Shot would be a nice bonus to the ranged damage, so I tried to see if I could do anything about that. As it turns out, if you start with an Arcane Shot, and then fire off the Concussive Shot, you can still squeeze in the same number of Auto Shots (at least with my current gun - might be different with other weapon speeds) and have Arcane Shot off CD just in time to fire another one before introducing the mob to the business side of your axe.
Of course, there are also some things I'm still undecided about, too. Should I, in fact, be going down the Survival tree (which is the most melee-oriented of the three), or should I go with MM so I can do the most damage up front**? Is it worth the mana to start the fight with Aspect of the Hawk and switch to Monkey when the mob gets in melee range? Or maybe Monkey isn't worth it at all, who knows? So, yeah, I've got plenty of things to check and to play around with, so it looks like it'll be a fun experience.
* For other people, mostly, as I made sure I generated less threat than everyone else and ran out when it was obvious we were going to wipe.
** BRK would probably have a fit if he saw an MM hunter with no pet. =)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Oops, I did it again
Had a long weekend here in Japan, which is just perfect for starting a new alt... So in comes Alierah, my new Blood Elf Priest. She's also a tailor and enchanter, although I still haven't gotten any advantages out of either of them.
As expected, I'm going down the Shadow tree for now, trying to find a good way to manage more than 1 mob. Single mobs are a piece of cake, and I practically don't have any downtime, but 2 mobs or more are a little problematic. Not that I die or anything, it just feels a little "random" - I don't have a plan for casting and killing more than 1 mob, and just go with whatever's off CD, so that's obviously not the best I could do. Well, guess it's time to hit the books.
Also, despite her shadowy take on life, I really had no problem healing anything from RFC to SFK even when I was a little low for the instances. That's good, at least. And with all the instance running, I have gear that should last me for quite some time (in case I have trouble finding decent PUGs) - Robes of Arugal (no belt, though), Feline Mantle and Slime-Encrusted Pads to name a few.
The long weekend even gave me time to go into some BGs, with a roughly 50-50 ratio, so it wasn't too despairing. I guess my biggest problem with it was that although I tried to do my part and heal the people around me, they hardly ever took the time to actually help me stay alive. I also got a chance to do a Mana Tap jump-shot on a hunter that was chasing me* one time - I just love the irony. /grin
So last night, I parked her back in Tarren Mill, after going through some of the quests there and training my level 26 skills. I guess next stop is SM. And that's about it - I have some other random stuff that happened this weekend, but I can't remember them right now, so they'll have to wait for tomorrow.
Ha, tricked you. You though I was done, didn't you? That'll teach you not to trust me. Anyway, I had this crazy idea to try and level a hunter without a pet. Why? Well, why not? Call it an experiment. Not sure if I'll actually go through with it, but if I do you can be sure you'll hear about it.
* That didn't change the fact that he killed me, but I did manage to last long enough to bring him back to the farm to die, and cleared the lumber mill for someone else to take. Then again, no one actually took it, so it just means I died so some other people could get an HK. Hmph.
As expected, I'm going down the Shadow tree for now, trying to find a good way to manage more than 1 mob. Single mobs are a piece of cake, and I practically don't have any downtime, but 2 mobs or more are a little problematic. Not that I die or anything, it just feels a little "random" - I don't have a plan for casting and killing more than 1 mob, and just go with whatever's off CD, so that's obviously not the best I could do. Well, guess it's time to hit the books.
Also, despite her shadowy take on life, I really had no problem healing anything from RFC to SFK even when I was a little low for the instances. That's good, at least. And with all the instance running, I have gear that should last me for quite some time (in case I have trouble finding decent PUGs) - Robes of Arugal (no belt, though), Feline Mantle and Slime-Encrusted Pads to name a few.
The long weekend even gave me time to go into some BGs, with a roughly 50-50 ratio, so it wasn't too despairing. I guess my biggest problem with it was that although I tried to do my part and heal the people around me, they hardly ever took the time to actually help me stay alive. I also got a chance to do a Mana Tap jump-shot on a hunter that was chasing me* one time - I just love the irony. /grin
So last night, I parked her back in Tarren Mill, after going through some of the quests there and training my level 26 skills. I guess next stop is SM. And that's about it - I have some other random stuff that happened this weekend, but I can't remember them right now, so they'll have to wait for tomorrow.
Ha, tricked you. You though I was done, didn't you? That'll teach you not to trust me. Anyway, I had this crazy idea to try and level a hunter without a pet. Why? Well, why not? Call it an experiment. Not sure if I'll actually go through with it, but if I do you can be sure you'll hear about it.
* That didn't change the fact that he killed me, but I did manage to last long enough to bring him back to the farm to die, and cleared the lumber mill for someone else to take. Then again, no one actually took it, so it just means I died so some other people could get an HK. Hmph.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Happy Birthday, Cawti
Short post today, since I'm going on a business trip to Korea. Sorry 'bout that.
This weekend I was wondering how the Nostromo would work with a Paladin, and I guess it's pretty obvious what happened next - Say hello to Cawti, the Blood Elf Paladin. So far I got her up to 19 going down the Protection tree, which is kinda fun. First time I've taken a Paladin down this road so I've got some reading ahead of me, but I'm enjoying it so far. Another thing I realized is that I like leveling in the Ghostlands so much more than all the other starting zones. I'm not sure why, maybe it's the Tranquilien rep, but the quest chains and rewards are really well-designed there.
I've also power-leveled her Blacksmithing to 150 (can't get past that until 20, but that shouldn't take long) - there still isn't too much there worth my time, but I should start finding interesting stuff there soon enough.
And, of course, this means I'll also have a Paladin post for my Nostromo series. Yay, me.
This weekend I was wondering how the Nostromo would work with a Paladin, and I guess it's pretty obvious what happened next - Say hello to Cawti, the Blood Elf Paladin. So far I got her up to 19 going down the Protection tree, which is kinda fun. First time I've taken a Paladin down this road so I've got some reading ahead of me, but I'm enjoying it so far. Another thing I realized is that I like leveling in the Ghostlands so much more than all the other starting zones. I'm not sure why, maybe it's the Tranquilien rep, but the quest chains and rewards are really well-designed there.
I've also power-leveled her Blacksmithing to 150 (can't get past that until 20, but that shouldn't take long) - there still isn't too much there worth my time, but I should start finding interesting stuff there soon enough.
And, of course, this means I'll also have a Paladin post for my Nostromo series. Yay, me.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Gee, what a surprise - it's another alt
As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to wait with leveling Mokla until the patch hits. So what else is there to do? You got it, start a new alt.
So let's welcome Enara to the fold. Enara is an Undead Mage, currently staying at the Fairbreeze Village inn at level 12, and for now I'm taking her down the fire tree. My other mages, although abandoned around their late 20s - early 30s, are all chilly and this time I think I just want to blow things up. Worst case, I can always respec...
I do however have 1 compaint (as if we didn't see that coming). Everyone says mages have an easy life with an endless supply of food and water. Bullshit! Mages, as we all know, drink like camels. Food isn't that important, since you shouldn't get hure that much (and usually a quick bandage fixes you right up), but water... Mages need water, and lots of it. So let's look a little closer at our free water.
Conjure Water - Rank 1 is obtained at level 4, creating Conjured Water that refill 151 mana. At level 4 I had almost 250 mana, and at 6 slightly over 300. Is this some kind of joke? It's not enough I have to sit down to drink so often, I also have to drink 2 drinks just to fill up my mana? That's ridiculous. The only "real" option here (for those of us who don't like watching their alt sit around drinking fake water), is to buy some Ice Cold Milk at level 5 and laugh at all the other mages who have 3 times your downtime. If you're waiting for Conjured Fresh Water, which are the equivalent you'll be waiting all the way to level 10, where you can get by with it, but does anyone really think it'll be enough when you're 19? I doubt it. So it's back to the vendor at 15, for some yummy Melon Juice. And it'll be like that throughout the leveling process. New conjure water ranks are learned at 20, 30, 40, etc. while vendor drinks are available at 15, 25, 35, etc., always 5 levels ahead* - and when you're talking about mages (or priests or warlocks) with huge mana pools they can't actually wait so long.
The one exception to this rule is that as far as I know, there is no easily obtainable water for level 55 - you can only get Star's Lament from BGs or Hyjal Nectar from drops. Then again, Conjure Water - Rank 7 is only available at level 60, when you can already get Filtered Draenic Water. And in fact, since you can then get Purified Draenic Water at 65, it pretty much makes conjured water entirely useless once you hit 60.
So I'm starting a protest. Until Blizzard fixes the cojured water situation, I am not training any more ranks of Conjure Water on any of my mages (too bad I can't untrain the ones I already have). That'll show 'em.
So let's welcome Enara to the fold. Enara is an Undead Mage, currently staying at the Fairbreeze Village inn at level 12, and for now I'm taking her down the fire tree. My other mages, although abandoned around their late 20s - early 30s, are all chilly and this time I think I just want to blow things up. Worst case, I can always respec...
I do however have 1 compaint (as if we didn't see that coming). Everyone says mages have an easy life with an endless supply of food and water. Bullshit! Mages, as we all know, drink like camels. Food isn't that important, since you shouldn't get hure that much (and usually a quick bandage fixes you right up), but water... Mages need water, and lots of it. So let's look a little closer at our free water.
Conjure Water - Rank 1 is obtained at level 4, creating Conjured Water that refill 151 mana. At level 4 I had almost 250 mana, and at 6 slightly over 300. Is this some kind of joke? It's not enough I have to sit down to drink so often, I also have to drink 2 drinks just to fill up my mana? That's ridiculous. The only "real" option here (for those of us who don't like watching their alt sit around drinking fake water), is to buy some Ice Cold Milk at level 5 and laugh at all the other mages who have 3 times your downtime. If you're waiting for Conjured Fresh Water, which are the equivalent you'll be waiting all the way to level 10, where you can get by with it, but does anyone really think it'll be enough when you're 19? I doubt it. So it's back to the vendor at 15, for some yummy Melon Juice. And it'll be like that throughout the leveling process. New conjure water ranks are learned at 20, 30, 40, etc. while vendor drinks are available at 15, 25, 35, etc., always 5 levels ahead* - and when you're talking about mages (or priests or warlocks) with huge mana pools they can't actually wait so long.
The one exception to this rule is that as far as I know, there is no easily obtainable water for level 55 - you can only get Star's Lament from BGs or Hyjal Nectar from drops. Then again, Conjure Water - Rank 7 is only available at level 60, when you can already get Filtered Draenic Water. And in fact, since you can then get Purified Draenic Water at 65, it pretty much makes conjured water entirely useless once you hit 60.
So I'm starting a protest. Until Blizzard fixes the cojured water situation, I am not training any more ranks of Conjure Water on any of my mages (too bad I can't untrain the ones I already have). That'll show 'em.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Of all the stupid reasons...
It wasn't that long ago, I said I'd roll me a new hordie. And I meant it. I did. So why didn't I?
This is going to sound really stupid. Hell, it even sounds stupid to me... Auctioneer.
Wait, what? What on earth could that have to do with rolling a new alt? Well, as it is, my "morning routine" already involves scanning 3 auction houses, all of them on "alliance servers". There's a limit to how much time I'm willing to waste while Auctioneer does its thing, and adding yet another server to the list of servers that need to be scanned... That's just too much.
But come on, is that really a good enough reason? Well, I guess not, since last night brought about the birth of a my new Orc warrior, Mokla. I know, I said it would be a mage. So sue me...
I've been doing some reading lately about fury warriors, and figured it might be interesting to see what it's like leveling one (Dorni, bless his heart, was full protection from the day he was born all the way up to 60. Talk about torment). So I created her, started playing and left her logged out at level 18 in Camp Taurajo. Not bad for one evening of play (Having this many alts at least has 1 advantage - you know all the starting zones like the back of your hand). Still haven't gotten to the fun part, but it's only 2 levels away. I have noticed that she dies a lot. Not sure if it's because I suck, or if that's just how warriors are, or maybe they just need a constant supply of health potions (I ran out fairly early in the evening and kept forgetting to buy more... *sigh*). I guess time will tell...
In the meantime, happy birthday Mokla, and good luck finding Mankirk's wife.
* I realize DW/Fury may not be the best/fastest choice for leveling, and that there are a lot of proponents for going 2H/Arms (or even 2H/Fury). However, there's no argument that it's, at the very least, decent for leveling (unlike Protection *cough cough*). In the end it came down to what, in my eyes, fits the character. Mokla is a bloodthirsty berserker, with an axe in each hand eager to kick someone's ass.
This is going to sound really stupid. Hell, it even sounds stupid to me... Auctioneer.
Wait, what? What on earth could that have to do with rolling a new alt? Well, as it is, my "morning routine" already involves scanning 3 auction houses, all of them on "alliance servers". There's a limit to how much time I'm willing to waste while Auctioneer does its thing, and adding yet another server to the list of servers that need to be scanned... That's just too much.
But come on, is that really a good enough reason? Well, I guess not, since last night brought about the birth of a my new Orc warrior, Mokla. I know, I said it would be a mage. So sue me...
I've been doing some reading lately about fury warriors, and figured it might be interesting to see what it's like leveling one (Dorni, bless his heart, was full protection from the day he was born all the way up to 60. Talk about torment). So I created her, started playing and left her logged out at level 18 in Camp Taurajo. Not bad for one evening of play (Having this many alts at least has 1 advantage - you know all the starting zones like the back of your hand). Still haven't gotten to the fun part, but it's only 2 levels away. I have noticed that she dies a lot. Not sure if it's because I suck, or if that's just how warriors are, or maybe they just need a constant supply of health potions (I ran out fairly early in the evening and kept forgetting to buy more... *sigh*). I guess time will tell...
In the meantime, happy birthday Mokla, and good luck finding Mankirk's wife.
* I realize DW/Fury may not be the best/fastest choice for leveling, and that there are a lot of proponents for going 2H/Arms (or even 2H/Fury). However, there's no argument that it's, at the very least, decent for leveling (unlike Protection *cough cough*). In the end it came down to what, in my eyes, fits the character. Mokla is a bloodthirsty berserker, with an axe in each hand eager to kick someone's ass.
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