Pets and Guild Levels #WoW

WoWScrnShot_121113_092925Yesterday WoW added a new patch, 5.4.2, that allows players the ability to shop from their store in game. I have no issue with this and think it’s quite neat, not to mention that to kick it off they put almost all of their pets and mounts on sale by 50%. That means I was able to add two pets to my collection guilt free. I already own a small handful of the cute little critters, so deciding which two to purchase wasn’t too hard. I eventually went with Lil’ Ragnaros who can also be used as a cooking fire, and the Cinder kitten because it was just too cute not to pick up.

Dragon Flight also managed to ding level 21 thanks to some alt leveling, I know experience is quite easy to come by these days (you get 60,000 experience per quest no matter what it seems) but considering the guild only has three members, I’m still tickled. We unlocked faster flight paths, and at 22 we’ll unlock greater tradeskill skill ups. I’m looking forward to reaching level 25 and being able to mass resurrect.

I’m hoping to inch my shaman closer to 90 this weekend (maybe even reach 90, dare I hope) as well as work on some pet battles and raids. I should also be able to master pandarian cooking, but we’ll just have to see how many white turnips I can collect.

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

Choices, Choices, and more Choices #WoW

WoWScrnShot_120713_111031A few other bloggers have mentioned just how much stuff there is to do in WoW lately and I completely agree, especially if you have been away for a while like I have. I only have one level 90 character and I would like to get at least a small handful of my alts up to 90 before the next expansion. I’ve slowly been leveling my shaman who just reached 87 yesterday. I also have a 85 paladin, druid, and an 86 warlock not to mention my newly created 15 warrior, a level 2 rogue, and a level 24 monk. Oh, and a horde deathknight that I believe is level 67 or so.

There’s pet battles, collecting new pets, working on crafting, collecting recipes, and achievements just to name a few things I’m interested in. I’ve done timeless isle enough that every alt has a full set of gear – except my main – I can not for the life of me seem to get a cloth robe to drop. I’ve gotten everything to drop, multiples of most of it and not a single chest piece for the priest.

I managed to finish all but one “way of” for cooking, the last one requiring about 250 white turnips before I can complete it, so I’ll be farming for a little while first. I could try to buy them all from the broker but I would rather collect them myself. Once that is completed I can move on to completing my recipes and factions.

I’ve also been working on Shado Pan faction, and I still can’t ride a serpent mount yet (faction required). Faction grinding is the reason I left WoW to begin with, but it hasn’t been bugging me yet since I’ve been back, in fact I quite like the process since it requires no thought (and that’s what I was looking for). Whether or not it will continue to hold my attention has yet to be seen, but in the mean time I’m having a lot of fun.

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

Bring on the Warrior! #WoW

WoWScrnShot_120613_022203I had an urge last night to create a warrior. I’ve played a few low level ones but I always end up deleting for one reason or another. I need a blacksmith, and didn’t feel it would be a good fit for either my monk or rogue, so it was really the perfect excuse to start a new character.

I’m not really a fan of starting out in secluded starter zones (Wargen, Goblins, and Panda all share this fate). I can’t mail myself any heirlooms since there are no mailboxes, and once you’ve gone through the story one time, it gets old. I have a panda monk, rogue, and now the warrior, though the rogue has also not made her way out of the starter zone yet (something to work on today, I suppose). Thankfully the starter zone for this race feels much shorter than the one for the goblins and wargen, you leave on your way to Horde or Alliance by level 11. First thing I did was get situated with some bags and mail my heirloom over (I never realized just how much heirloom I have. There’s a lot of it). I didn’t own the plate pants (I don’t think I could afford them at the time) so I picked those up and decked the little warrior out.

I’m hoping to level this character up as a tank, and try a lot of LFG. I’m sure I’ll get lots of ‘creative comments’ from people and maybe even kicked out of an instance or two. That being said, it’s just a game, and I’m looking forward to it. Tanks are always the one class I tend to stay away from, but in WoW it’s just so easy to get a group, I would like to give it a go. We’ll see.

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

Pet Battles, iLevels, and Pandas – Oh My! #WoW

WoWScrnShot_120113_091555This weekend I spent most of my game time in World of Warcraft – something I had not intended on but seemed to just happen. It began innocently enough, with me working on pet battles. At this moment I have 151 pets in my collection. I joined Warcraftpets.com some time ago and forgot just how much I love the site. I managed to get my first team to level 11, and completed a bunch of quests for pet trainers. I won an item that allowed me to upgrade any beast pet to rare, then learned later you can trade them if you don’t want to upgrade a beast pet. My team (so far) consists of Lil’ XT, Scooter the snail, and the Onyxian Whelpling. The weak link in the team is Scooter but I base that on the fact that he’s weak to the encounters I’ve been facing. When he’s fighting flying creatures he does quite well, and he has a lot of HP in order to survive encounters. Lil’ XT is my tank, as long as the encounter is not something he is weak to, chances are he can solo it. I’m trying to work up to the current pet level cap (25) on at least 15 pets so that I can partake in the celestial battles. I have a ways to go yet.

Speaking of celestials. When I returned to the game I was sitting on an ilevel of about 476, that was back in March. This weekend I spent a lot of time on the Timeless Isle, and am now sitting at 508 ilevel. It’s still no where near where I would like it to be, but it is a start, and I’m having a lot of fun. I really like the fact that I can ‘farm’ loot and gear for my alts by playing my main character. Of course none of my alts are even slightly close to level 90 yet, but one day I hope to get them there, and it’s comforting to know that I won’t necessarily have to grind the exact same quests to gear up that I’m currently doing. I like this process a lot, and to be honest it’s probably also one of the main issues I have with EQ2’s latest expansion, Tears of Veeshan. Unless your alt happens to use the exact same gear as your main character you are forced to complete the exact same quests in the exact same timeline that you just did on your main. When you have as many alts as I do, this makes for a painful experience.

I appreciate the fact that I don’t HAVE to raid in order to earn Valor points. I did partake in the first Siege of Orgrimmar that was unlocked to me, but I didn’t feel like dealing with LFRaid over the weekend, so I did my dailies, some scenario, and earned my valor that way. Choices are great.

All in all it was incredibly relaxing, very fun, and I’m surprised. WoW gets a bad rap from a lot of people that I know but it’s not ALL bad and sometimes it is exactly what you’re looking for.

Back on Argent Dawn #WoW

WoWScrnShot_112913_101654A number of my friends have decided to wander back to World of Warcraft for a while, there’s no telling how long it may last but I decided to join them for at least a month and see how it goes. I’ve been playing WoW for just as long as I have played EQ2, but I tend to take much more frequent breaks because I typically find the content and community lacking. Now it seems like a good portion of my friends all play on Argent Dawn, and this could be the temptation I need to keep me playing for longer than a month straight.

I last played March of this year, so things have changed. My ilevel is well below the current acceptance, and there are many scenario I’ve never completed before (or even seen before). In other words there is LOTS to do. My first course of action (I believe) is to head to the Timeless Isle. I’ll see where I go from there.

I have also missed the pet battles, and lets be honest, playing Hearthstone does install me with a bit of nostalgia. With BlizzCon out of the way and juicy details about the next expansion being released, it just brought about the feeling that maybe I should play again for a while. We’ll just have to see how long it lasts.

For those looking to meet up, please feel free to add me to your friends list, my battletag is Stargrace#1783

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