Tag: WoW

After reaching level 33 with my troll warrior, I suddenly decided that I wanted to try out a monk instead. See, I have an alliance monk, but it was one of those boosted characters that I rarely played so even though she’s level 92 I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Compared to my other characters she feels like she’s made of tissue paper. I die on practically every WoD quest.

I decided to make a Tauren this time around. Getting to level 12 was pretty easy – and then I had a thought. I wanted to catch up to the other 33 monk I’ve been playing with and I wondered if I could go and solo Ragefire Chasm. Once again my character was wearing heirloom (pants, shirt, shoulders, hat, charms, necklace, cloak, weapon) but would that be enough? I was pretty certain that my warrior would not have been able to solo it at that level, I could barely hold my own at level 33. Maybe monks were different. I decided to go down the tank spec, one I’ve never played before. I’ve always WANTED to tank, I keep saying I am eager to learn and then when it comes time to queue for dungeons I completely freeze.

I was still too low level to pick up the quests, but that was alright. I’d do a run or two to get some levels and then snag them – IF I could complete the zone.

Turns out I could. Easily. I went from 13 to 19 in a matter of minutes, I think I cleared the place twice. I was excited to hit 20 because monks get a daily buff that grats 50% more experience from kills and quests. I filled my bags with some green loot to sell on the AH and by the time I hit 19 I had already fallen in love with the class. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Ragefire Chasm was a breeze – could Wailing Caverns go just as smooth?

It was a bit more difficult, but by then I had a heal that I could use on myself and it was just a matter of spamming some attacks, regenerating some chi, and healing myself if the damage got to be too much. The zone was certainly harder than Ragefire, but just like the first dungeon I was able to solo it with no deaths.

Since I had my 50% bonus buff, I actually went from level 19 to 25 in one run of the dungeon.

Nice.

Now I’m debating Blackfathom Deeps. So far the monk tank is incredibly fun – even though I’m sure it can’t last. Playing through the game this way is exciting, and it’s a break for me from doing the usual garrison runs every single day. It’s exactly what I need to renew my interest.

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

I’ve been playing both alliance and horde for most of WoD, between two servers. Over the weekend I decided to create a brand new horde character on the server where I had no horde, and level up by doing quests and exploring the post-cataclysm world, something I had not done for many years.

My troll warrior, Moglette, is outfitted in heirloom for the slots where I have the gear (I think I’m missing some of the more uncommon items, like rings) and in a duo set out to explore the lands. On a whim we decided to try dungeons, just to see if they could be done as a duo when there was no healer present. My warrior is down the DPS line, with tank as a back up. The duo consists of a monk playing alongside my warrior, and they decided to go tank for now too. So one DPS, one tank, and lots of mean mobs, starting with Ragefire Chasm.

The dungeon was so easy, and so rewarding, that by the time we had completed it we set out for Wailing Caverns. That was completed in a duo pretty easily too and we got some black fang gloves that sold for a whopping 4,000 gold! At level 20 playing a new faction that didn’t have any cash, this was a big huge bonus. I immediately upgraded bags.

After Wailing Caverns it was time to head to Ashenvale, completing quests along the way. Basically I skipped the barrens because I leveled through them too quickly. Ashenvale quests are… frustrating. I didn’t have fun working through this zone at all. I continued my way up the coast and eventually ended up at Blackfathom Deeps. All of these dungeons have been revamped since I was in them last, and so it was as if I was doing them all for the first time. I had fond memories of the old versions, but the new ones are not that bad.

Next up was Scarlet Halls, which is completely different than what I remembered, and the first dungeon where we had a death or two in the duo. Mobs hurt without a healer, and the bosses had mechanics that couldn’t simply be ignored by brute force. I did get a few levels there and my little Moglette is sitting at a pretty respectable level 31. I picked mining and blacksmithing as my professions, along with the usual fishing / first aid / cooking / archaeology.

It has been pretty fun so far and I’m eager to see more of Azeroth this way – without rushing, without power leveling, without buying in to level 90 (or 100).

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

My night elf druid FINALLY made it to level 100 over the weekend, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve had this character for ages now but I just never found the time to level her, instead I would focus on … well, anyone else. The amusing thing is that I LOVE playing druids. It’s the character I originally started out with in EQ2 and then decided to give up because at the time pretty much everyone and their dog was playing a druid. I moved on to other characters, and deep inside continued to long for the heal-over-time way of life.

Now that I’m at the level cap, it’s time to decide what comes next. Since I can already fly in Draenor that cuts down a lot of the grinding that I would normally have to do. I also managed to stock up a nice supply of leather baleful gear, not a huge amount, but enough to get started. What I’m lacking is the garrison resources to upgrade my town hall to rank 3, which is top of my list. Once that’s completed I’ll move towards Tannan jungle and unlocking my docks.

I also completed the Proving Grounds on silver as a healer, eventually I’d like to do them as DPS. I’ve started my legendary but I need to collect all of the cores as well as apex crystals. My professions are slagging behind so that’s also something I’ll want to concentrate on.

New end game characters are exciting. There’s just so much to do that it almost feels like an entire new game for me. Of course, I also want to level someone else up now, so I’ll have to start thinking about alts. I do love my alts.

That brings my total characters at 100 to 5 (one of them being the free one you get when you pre-order Legion). On the horde side I have a priest, paladin, and hunter. The alliance side is my shaman, and druid.

Maybe I’ll level up my rogue next, or even better, my warrior.

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

When World of Warcraft came out with the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera, of course I thought it was one of the weirdest gimmicks added to the game in a long time. Your character poses as though they’re taking a picture of themselves, and you get to choose from a number of filters before taking the shot. There’s even an achievement for doing this in various locations, and that’s what I’ve been working on lately. You get the title “Field Photographer” if you complete them all.

When I talk about “other things to do” in an MMO – this is exactly what I mean. Sure, it’s fun to go around defeating the evil creatures of the world, but sometimes you just want to play the game and relax while doing it. Sometimes that means crafting, harvesting, doing houses (not in WoW), or flying around getting updates for random achievements that offer very little ‘progression’ to your character. These little advancements are what keep me gaming when I’m done my dailies, and they’re essential to my gameplay.

I believe I only have one or two more locations to hit before I’ve completed them all. I’ve posted all of the screenshots in an album over on Google Plus for anyone who wants to take a peek.

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