WoW

First Epics

stargrace May 25, 2010 2 Comments

Finally, yesterday I managed to reach level 70 with my very first WoW character, my priest. I had saved up quite a collection of gear to wear once I had hit the level, so I eagerly put it all on – including my very first three ‘epic’ pieces of gear, the Primal Mooncloth set that I crafted myself with the help of some massive farming from Manos. It felt really good to be wearing gear that was an enormous upgrade that I had crafted myself, instead of something I bought from the broker or was handed to me in a dungeon.

Once I hit 70 I was pretty tired, so I didn’t really do too much. I picked up my new spells (which cost a grand total of 100g, ouch) and put a bunch of items on broker. One thing I’ve noticed is that items from 60-70 barely sell unless it’s food. Lower level items sell very well (and always have) but it’s typically better for me just to disenchant an item instead of trying to sell it. I also managed to inch my shaman up to level 47, and part way through. I went to Sunken Temple which was my first time in the zone. Well, not exactly my first time in the zone, I had tried to solo it once before but that didn’t go too well. It was probably for the best, as I would have never known what to do to begin with. I’ve also been trying to get my enchanting up there. It’s slow, I haven’t quite reached the 400 mark yet but I’m hoping to before too long. My cooking is now capped at 450, my first skill to what is the current max level.

That’s where things stand for now! Only 10 more levels to go and I’ll be at the current cap – this is the closest I’ve ever been, and it’s quite an odd feeling. Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!

Within Arms Reach of 70

stargrace May 23, 2010 2 Comments

I think World of Warcraft has some incredibly beautiful views, especially if you’re a fan of the art style (I realize not everyone is). This holiday weekend was spent divided between a few games (as usual) and I made some nice progress in them all. My priest managed to inch her way through level 68, and is part way through level 69 at the time of this post. I’m incredibly excited about this. No, I can’t afford one of the new flying mounts, and no, I don’t expect the game will change that much for me once I’ve reached 70 – but it’s a step in the right direction. As I’ve said numerous times before I’ve played WoW off and on since release (mostly when I wanted to escape to a game that didn’t require my full attention, as Tipa puts it in her latest post) and I’ve never been close to ‘end game’ or the level cap. Reaching level 70 is the first step towards that goal.

Yesterday also marked the completion of some nice pieces of gear that I crafted. I realize that WotLK will probably void any gear that I make that was from Burning Crusade (this stuff is primal mooncloth) but I really like the set bonus, and I’m still very excited about having made them all myself. The pieces (there are three) took a lot of farming, I needed 19 primal life, 11 primal water, and 12 primal mana, plus 33 netherweave bolts and 22 arcane dusts (I’m an enchanter and a tailor so those were not difficult). These pieces will be my first three pieces of ‘purple’ gear – and the fact that I crafted them myself just makes it even more sweet to me.

For once I actually looked up some information on talent trees, and then instantly wished I had done so a long time ago. I changed the heal spec I had on my priest, as well as her dps spec, and instantly noticed how much easier the new specs were on my mana. I also changed around the spec to my Deathknight, to an ‘all blood’ spec for now, which means it plays almost exactly like a shadowknight from EQ2 with life taps. Being able to heal myself is a great deal and that spec is apparently going to be the ‘tank spec’ once Cataclysm comes out.

I’ve been contemplating who to work on ‘next’ as the priest continues to level. Torn between my 46 shaman and my level 8 druid – I’ve had a level 45 alliance druid before, but I must have deleted her quite some time ago. The DK also happens to be my alchemist, and requires level 68 in order to specialize. I inched her way to level 60 over this weekend and purchased her flying mount, so at least that’s taken care of.

I hope everyone else has had a fantastic weekend so far, no matter where you find yourself. Happy gaming!

Putting the Vote Up

stargrace May 19, 2010 3 Comments

As I’ve already said before, I’m not a huge fan of the LFD tool. Don’t get me wrong, I actually think it’s an amazing tool, and I am thankful players have the option to make use of it. Personally, I can only do so many instances before I need a break. Perhaps this is because I play a priest (I almost wish I were a paladin) and I find learning 10+ new instances in a single evening very stressful to me. Once I’ve gone through a zone at least I know what to expect, and what I should be on the look out for. Entering a new instance can be incredibly frustrating, and then to follow that up with another (new) frustrating instance is something that I can’t do too many times in a row.

I like doing dungeons but after doing one or two that I’ve never been to before I like to fall back on the dungeons that I know how to prepare for. Ones I know how to adjust my healing for. Examples of this are the bombers in Blood Furnace and the encounter that causes all of your spells to take an exceptionally long time to cast in Mana-Tombs. Sure I could potentially scope out every single instance ahead of time and try to learn all of the encounters before I enter them – but that’s really not my idea of fun.

Last night I wanted to kick back a little, so I set the dungeon tool to Scholomance. Yes, I realize that at level 65 the zone isn’t going to offer up very many goodies, but it was a dungeon that I had never been to before (nor had Manos, warrior from guild) and I really wanted the achievement. The high level 50 characters we were with seemed incredibly excited that they had gotten into the group, and I was happy for that.

The one down side was a rogue in the group. I’ve never actually had to vote anyone OUT of a group before (nor have I been voted out, though I’m sure it will come eventually) but this one player was.. lets call them “special” – special in the way that they thought they were the tank, pulled everything, swore constantly, and were discussing Glee in depth even though no one was answering (because we had an entire room pulled on us). After they pulled the named (and almost died) I said that if they were going to do that again (this was not my first warning) I wouldn’t be healing them. I don’t heal stupidity. Sure that seems cruel but if I waste my mana healing someone who is obviously playing to the detriment of the group, it’s my fault. I discussed in guild whether or not we should consider putting a vote up to remove the player from group (after another room was pulled on us) and before I could come to a conclusion a 3rd member in the party made the decision for me.

Vote was cast, rogue was removed.

A warrior joined up and we completed the zone without further incident, and I got my achievement. I also managed to inch my way to level 66 – which means only four more levels to go before I can focus on Wrath of the Lich King. One thing I find a little odd. I can do the daily cooking quests now for Wrath, but I have to be level 70 before I do them for Burning Crusade. Ah well.

Also – thank you to those who left comments about AddOns yesterday. Anyone have a suggestion for a unit frame AddOn? I really dislike the circular ones (group and target) that we’re given by default. I think I’m set for everything else (so far). I picked up Grid, and Clique, and I’ve got GatherMate (which I adore) and a few others. If you can think of anything else I could benefit from please don’t hesitate to let me know in comments!

Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself.

Lets Talk AddOns

stargrace May 18, 2010 8 Comments

Everyone has their favorite AddOn to use in World of Warcraft, and since I’m still relatively new to the game I don’t really have the faintest idea on which are ‘essential’ to get. So let me start this post off by saying that if you’ve got an addon suggestion for me by all  means leave a comment below so that I can check it out. I play a priest if that makes any difference.

I don’t use too many addons and those I do use don’t really affect the game per say but add to it. I do use recount for my own personal tracking system but it’s not something I ever put into group or brag about to others. I use gearscore but again this is for my own personal knowledge and not because I want to belittle others. I want to improve myself, and these tools allow me to do that. I also use a hotkey mod called dominos just to allow me to cust0mize my UI layout, I like keys in a certain place. For anyone who knows me you’ll know I am a huge fan of lists and keeping track of things both in game and out. Yesterday I installed a mod that allows me to scan my current profession recipes and lists all of the recipes that I do not own, and where they come from. This mod is probably my favorite, and one I’ll end up using the most. I think it’s incredible, and also just a lot of fun. On that same hand I installed fishing buddy, which allows me to track which fish I have obtained, and where they came from. I learned yesterday that fishing is actually a lot more complicated then I would have once thought. It was a refreshing revelation.

Aside from exploring Mana-Tombs for the first time, I also inched my enchanting to 350 – which means I trained for Grand Master enchanting. That’s right, for the first time ever I have enchanting and tailoring at a Grand Master level. I am also fairly close to grand master fishing, although the skill ups are so far and few between it will take a few hours / days to reach the goal. My cooking is already grand master, and I imagine one of these days I’ll work first aid up there just so that I can have all three secondary professions. I love doing daily missions, even though so far I have only found the cooking one in Dalaran. Once I reach level 70 I’ll be able to do other cooking dailies.

I’m still having a lot of fun in game, despite my burn out on EQ2 right now I know I’ll return as soon as that passes. In the mean time, I’m having a lot of fun in WoW, and I’m happy for that. Safe travels, and happy gaming no matter where you find yourself.