2016

AddOns – Are there Others I need?

stargrace September 6, 2016 0Comment

I love World of Warcraft AddOns. I think the Curse Client makes them easy to install (and even those not on curse are pretty easy to install) and they offer a whole lot of function to the game. My basic UI is ElvUI, a popular all-in-one UI replacement. I know there are lots of pros and cons to using it, some people adore it and others hate it, but it does what I need it to do, so for now that’s what I use. The other AddOns I’ve picked up along the way are as follows:

• _NPCScan (This tells me when named are up by announcing them, and lets me target them so I can get to them faster and know when they’re almost dead before I get there)
• Auctionator (A semi-replacement for auctioneer which hasn’t been updated in ages)
• Can I Mog It? (Tells me whether or not I have the transmog for a specific item, across characters)
• Deadly Boss Mods (Dungeon / raid timers across all expansions)
• GTFO (A really loud obnoxious sound plays any time I step in anything bad)
• HandyNotes (Map notes on anything from Panadria treasures to field photographer, this is an amazing addon)
• Master Plan (Garrison organization, hoping they come out with a Legion version)
• PetBattle Teams (Lets me organize my pets into saved teams and name them all)
• PetTracker (Lets me see on each map which pets I have from the area and which are missing)
• Recount (DPS / Heal meter, I use this for myself, not to judge others. I like improving my character)
• World Quest Tracker (I haven’t used this, but I believe it lets me track the new world quests from Legion)

I don’t want a whole lot of addons since eventually they end up creating lag and other problems with one another in-game, but the ones I have picked up all seem to get along well with one another and don’t create any noticeable issues with my system. I was using an inventory mod for a little while, but found that it lagged pretty badly and when I was moving items around and they wouldn’t show up in the right places until I opened and closed the container again. I decided inventory organization wasn’t that much of a priority in the end.

My priest managed to hit 110 over the weekend, and now I’m deciding on an alliance member to level up. Most of my “fun” characters are horde, and alliance are ones I’ve fallen out of love with over the class changes. I’m wishing I had a mage, or a warrior, or an alliance monk or hunter. Instead I’ll have to choose between priest, druid, shaman, paladin, and warlock. Decisions decisions!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Leveling up As a Discipline Priest

stargrace September 3, 2016 3Comments

When the class changes first came out my priest was in a shadow / disc spec. Discipline for healing. I had been disc for a few expansions now, I didn’t enjoy the holy spec at all. That completely changed as did my taste about a lot of classes when the revamps came. Fast forward to now: I’m level 106 and I’ve finally found the “perfect” spot for me to play as a discipline priest, and it’s something I wouldn’t have ever expected if it wasn’t for the fact that I was collecting all three artifact weapons.

I’m now using my discipline spec to level, and I love it. I found that while shadow is nice, it wasn’t quite what I wanted any more. Trying to manage my insanity and push out DPS while surviving was getting difficult and shadow spec doesn’t have any real nice heals that I could make use of. Since I was collecting artifacts anyway I decided on a whim to swap over to discipline, arrange my hotbars, and play through a few quests, just to get a feel.

I’m really glad that I did.

My DPS is slightly lower than it was in shadow but my survival has gone WAY up. I barely ever take damage any more, and I can take on huge groups at once. Instead of managing insanity I’m managing atonement, a much easier buff to manage because there’s just one person it’s usually on (or two, if I have my combat ally with me). I don’t notice an enormous drag in DPS at all, and I’m getting used to my rotations for leveling. It’s also nice not to be a shadow figure all the time – I can see my gear, and my character. I can do pretty good DPS or heal on a whim when needed. I don’t think it’s something I want to use in raids or groups, but for leveling up it has quickly become my new favourite.

Of course that also means that now my artifact bonuses are split between three completely different weapons. It’s not a big deal, but I know that means later on I’ll have to do more grinding than if I had of just focused on one (or even just two) weapons. My very casual goal has been to try to get a level a day, some days I surpass that (like yesterday) and others I don’t even come close. I’m still taking my time and enjoying the ride, though I see many of my friends already at 110 and working on alts. The stories have been intense and enjoyable, and I’m really just in no rush at all.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

The End of Blaugust

stargrace August 31, 2016 0Comment

Today is August 31st – and it marks the end of Blaugust (at least for me). I managed to post every single day for the month of August, something I haven’t done in a really long time. In fact I haven’t had 31 posts in a month since August 2014, the last time I participated in Blaugust. My total monthly post count for 2016 has been lacking in a big way, and while I can come up with a handful of real life reasons as to why that is, writing here is something I’ve really missed doing and I’m thankful for the motivation to post (Big thanks to Belghast for once again hosting this leisurely Blaugust). Sure, a handful of posts had no actual text – but the fact that I still kept up with my posting is reason enough for me to celebrate.

Most of those posts were about World of Warcraft, which happens to be where I’m spending most of my time these days. Even before the release of Legion it’s just one of those games that I can dive into easily, without any pressure. Doesn’t take a lot of time for me to get something done, be it a quest, LFR, LFG, or a simple pet battle. With invasions I managed to get all of my characters to 100 before Legion, a feat I wouldn’t have thought possible using “standard” methods.

My priest is now sitting at a comfortable level 103. I’m not in a rush, and I want to experience the lore and stories that come with each quest. I’ve finished my first zone, and it was a lot of fun. I’ve started doing my profession quests and I’ve picked up two out of the three artifacts that I can potentially level. I’ve been splitting my rewards between shadow / holy so they’re both leveling up at the same time. I have zero interest in discipline, even though that’s the spec I was playing exclusively before the class revamp patch. It’s just not a fun (or viable) path for me any more.

I expect it will take me some time to reach 110 and I’m absolutely fine with that. My tentative “goal” (if you can call it that) is a level or so a day. If I don’t reach it, no big deal. I’d also like to continue working up my professions. I expect those will actually take me more time than anything else since I didn’t have them maxed out before Legion (something I sorely regret).

The most important thing is that I’m having fun. There are people everywhere, things are interesting, and I feel renewed. So far I’m having a lot of fun customizing my weapon and just taking in the scenery. I’m a little disappointed in the lack of pet battles that I’ve seen so far (I’ve only done one new open world battle, and earned another pet through a quest) but that’s alright. I’m sure more things will open up as I progress through zones. I hope people stick around, but time will tell. There are already level 110 players out there, and I hope they find enough to do to keep themselves interested in the game.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Smooth

stargrace August 30, 2016 2Comments

I had no intentions of staying up for the launch of Legion last night – but baby had other ideas, and since I couldn’t get to sleep, I decided why not. I was already up with heartburn and other pregnancy related aches and pains and may as well get a little gaming in. It was probably one of the smoothest launches I’ve seen. Servers didn’t crash, or even buckle under the weight. I didn’t have any issues with lag, and my quests all worked. I knew I would be playing my priest, and I decided to start out on my favourite side – Horde.

I’m currently just a smidge shy of level 102. Gear rewards from quests is starting to upgrade the 700-715 that I’ve been wearing. Crafted gear is very nice. I also learned a few things, like pick the artifact that you’re going to use while leveling, first. This is something I neglected to do, even though I level as a shadow priest I picked the holy artifact. Needless to say I have had very few opportunities to use it. I hear that at level 102 you can choose a second artifact for your off spec, and I understand that there’s quite a grind that comes with leveling more than one artifact, but we’ll see how it goes and what I decide in the end. While my leveling is all done in shadow, I know that I’ll be playing holy for LFG / LFR.

I’m really pleased with the expansion so far. I love that the starter areas actually scale with your character, and you get to pick where you begin. Since I didn’t play much of the beta nor did I look into anything I have absolutely no idea if some areas are better than others.

The story throughout the zone I’m doing is fantastic. I love the cinematic, the voice overs, and I feel more involved than previous expansions. Whether or not I get bored a month into it – well, we’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve unlocked my class hall and have a follower from there and have started doing some of the class missions. How it all works I haven’t quite figured out, but it’s explained pretty well as you go along.

What are your thoughts? Are you playing? Enjoying? Wish things were different? Having fun with how things are? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!