WoW's Legion Pre-Expansion 7.0 live

Pre-Expansion is live.

Time to learn how to play again with new abilities, builds and rotations, etc.

Time to reload or stop using the add ons that are broke until they're updated..

Time to explore the changes!

As my bank and bags are a mess - I can't remember the last time I used the default bags - and I need to learn all new everything.  I thought a better use of time today (to avoid the moaning in the chat channels!), take a tour and see how the "View" distance actually looks.

It's pretty amazing, to be able to see so much.  As the game was a bit laggy, I only snapped a few pics.


Looking out over the North Barrens and towards Orgimmar

The Stormwind Park is finally repaired (slow workers).

Blackrock Mountain can now be seen from Stormwind, smoldering in the distance.

You can see all the way to Westfall from Stormwind.

Found this pic too - the original Demonhunter!  Just a remind of what's coming.....

Disc of the Flying Red Cloud

I'm sure most of you that are more informed all things have probably already done this, but for those that haven't here's an easy to get, Panderian mount the Disc of Flying Red Cloud. I just found out how to get it a couple days ago from a good friend (thanks for that!).

You've seen it, the disc you fly around on (belves look like they're going to die holding on but oh well!).

Anyway, it's the mount you get from becoming EXALTED with the Lorewalkers. You know Lorewalker Cho that's everywhere questing through Panderia. Well if you collect all the lore in the different zones you will be exalted. So an easy to get Rep (not weeks of grinding anything!!!). Added bonus, if you're going for one of the get so many Rep's achievements this is quick.

It's fairly simple to complete flying (a few hours with a flying mount max speed) or you can ground mount run through and collect all the lore, but will take longer as it will require killing mobs around some of the lore pieces.

I have been picking these up (you know shiny something must click on it!) and reading them over the past year, but didn't realize they added up to a mount!!! Nor did I know where they were stored! Well once you collect all of one series it goes into a lore book that Lorewalker Cho will give you - he tells the story and it's kept in the "Seat of Knowlege" with all the other Panderian info you collect. So you can go back and read them or talk to Cho and he'll tell you the story again. (I keep seeing hints of what's coming with the Garrison housing!)

So, did this last night - it's really quite easy, I did use the info below to finish, although had quite a few already done, as there were about five that were only missing one piece of lore.

If you have TomTom, you can make macros for each zone (see the ones below Mannheim4631 shared on WoWHead) as it makes finding these very painless.  It will put markers on your map too.


Mannheim4631 over on WoWHead: posted the TomTom waypoints.

By Mannheim4631 (128 – 1) on 2013/08/11

(Patch 5.3.0)

Out of Date | Report

Using tomtom

Valley of The Four Winds
Macro 1

/way valley of the four winds 55.06, 47.25
/way valley of the four winds 20.27, 55.84
/way valley of the four winds 34.64, 64.00

Macro 2

/way valley of the four winds 61.16, 34.62
/way valley of the four winds 83.16, 21.22
/way valley of the four winds 18.80, 31.79

Vale of Eternal Blossoms

Macro 1

/way Vale of Eternal Blossoms 40.11, 77.51
/way Vale of Eternal Blossoms 68.79, 44.20
/way Vale of Eternal Blossoms 52.87, 68.52
/way Vale of Eternal Blossoms 26.65, 21.56

Kun-Lai Summit

Macro 1

/way Kun-Lai Summit 74.46, 83.53
/way Kun-Lai Summit 45.72, 61.87
/way Kun-Lai Summit 44.70, 52.40
/way Kun-Lai Summit 53.02, 46.49 Entrance, down stairs near table.

Macro 2

/way Kun-Lai Summit 43.80, 51.18
/way Kun-Lai Summit 67.78, 48.32
/way Kun-Lai Summit 41.00, 42.37
/way Kun-Lai Summit 71.70, 62.03
/way Kun-Lai Summit 50.35, 79.25
/way Kun-Lai Summit 63.03, 40.83

Jade Forest
Macro 1

/way Jade Forest 67.72, 29.38
/way Jade Forest 66.03, 87.54
/way Jade Forest 26.42, 28.34
/way Jade Forest 37.30, 30.10
/way Jade Forest 42.27, 17.43
/way Jade Forest 47.05, 45.12
/way Jade Forest 55.89, 56.77
/way Jade Forest 35.73, 30.50

The Veiled Stair
Macro 1

/way The Veiled Stair 57.73, 13.75 Enter Cave Here. Then Take First Right (Hole In Wall). Keep Right. Back of Cave

Note - This is in the cave between The Veiled Stair and Kun-Lai Summit ** Inside the river cave **

Townlong Steppes
Macro 1

/way Townlong Steppes 37.74, 62.87
/way Townlong Steppes 65.35, 50.05
/way Townlong Steppes 84.01, 72.80

Dread Wastes
Macro 1

/way Dread Wastes 67.44, 60.75
/way Dread Wastes 53.60, 15.46 Entrance, back of cave ** past the mantid, you'll have to fight a few if you can't stealth **
/way Dread Wastes 48.37, 32.97
/way Dread Wastes 59.92, 55.02
/way Dread Wastes 35.53, 32.60

Krasarang Wilds
Macro 1

/way Krasarang Wilds 72.19, 30.05
/way Krasarang Wilds 32.81, 29.45 Underneath Cliff
/way Krasarang Wilds 30.56, 38.55 in Building

Macro 2

/way Krasarang Wilds 52.41, 87.66 in Cave
/way Krasarang Wilds 81.41, 11.48
/way Krasarang Wilds 50.99, 31.64
/way Krasarang Wilds 40.46, 56.59 in Building Upstairs

World of Warcraft recruiting

It's been a bit of a dilemma taking over team lead of our WoW team, as at times it feels like it's on a respiratory and just needs the plug pulled!   The team members that are playing seem fine with how things are, but it is an MMO and I'd like to see more people ingame.

Besides, I still enjoy WoW, and if you overlook trade/general chat, it has ALOT to offer!  So, I'm going to see if I can breathe a bit of life into the team by trying to recruit.  As I hate being deceived/lied to, I don't want to misrepresent our team, so put together a very non-recruiting, recruiting thread.

 
================

Here's what I put on the WA forum and on the main guild recruiting thread (it's long!):

Greetings Accordians.

Sassi here from HFC (Hammerfist Clan). We're kind of recruiting, in a round-about-way.

As, I'd rather be upfront about what our guild is and what we're looking for than misleading, this may be a tad long. For one we're not looking for guild hopper types, but adult gamers that play WoW and would like to help form our WoW team into a wonderful gaming experience, but are also not the "50DKP-" types either.

WoW Pet Battles: The System

World of Warcrafts, pet battle system is truly a fun mini-game.  There are some great sites out there with information on the pets, how-to's, and even addons for pet management.

According to WarcraftPets there are 497 companion pets available from all sources. I'm currently standing at 163 of 497. 

Further down is a discussion on building teams, which is going to be a learning process.  You have to consider the abilities of your individuals and what the opposite team is bringing.

So far though, it's been great fun.

Here's a compilantion of them from WarcraftPets, Wiki, WoWhead, TenTonhammer, etc.

WoW Pet Battles: The System
The new WoW pet battle system will be accessible to all players from a low level. There will be both PvE battles against Wild Pets (see below) and PvP battles against other players and their battle-ready companions:

• The battle system will be simple turn-based combat and is intended to allow battle with almost every existing pet.
• All new pets introduced in MoP will be able to battle.
• Entering into a Pet Battle, you will see your opponent and the three pets you will be fighting against, but you will NOT see your opponent's name or be able to communicate with them.
• While in a Pet Battle, you will be able to switch between the three pets you've chosen to fight, and they will dutifully run up to your opponent's pet to attack it.
• Challenging another player in the open world will switch you into a unique zoomed in view. Once combat is over it will return you to a normal gameplay camera view.
• No one will ever have a significant advantage based simply on the rarity of a pet.
• You can battle with your pets in solo matches or teams of up to three pets that you can create and perfect.
• There will be a queuing system (like PvP battlegrounds) so that you will be able to find a match relatively quickly. You will also be able to duel with nearby players.
• In addition to being able to queue into a queuing system and duel other players in the open world, there will be NPCs and critters that you can enter combat with to help level your mini-pets.
• Unlike PVP, your Pet Battles stats will only show you how many games you've won. Information on losses will not be available.

Pet Leveling and Abilities
Every pet can use up to three abilities in a given battle with a total of six abilities to swap around in between battles. Here are some additional hightlights:

• The pets that you own will have a corresponding "pet card" that will show all the information about said pet. Such information includes mini-pet health, level, attack, defense and movement speed values.
• Winning pet battles will earn experience for your pets and help them level up.
• Each mini-pet will have 6 abilities that players can choose pre-battle. Much like player leveling, as your companion levels up it will unlock more abilities. Also like a player talent tree, you can only choose one ability per row of talents for your pet.
• The intended pet level cap is 25.
• Every time you level your pet, you will also increase its stats.
• There will be Pet Masters throughout the world who will let you earn Master abilities when you defeat them. These abilities can be taught to any pet.
• You'll be able to manage your teams and battle abilities using a new UI widget known as the Pet Journal.

Pet Collecting Improvements and Customization
Your Pet Journal will display info on all your pets, including stats, skills, drop locations and lore. Through your journal, you'll be able to further customize your pets:

• The pet UI will be updated to show you a list of all the pets you currently have and the pets that you don't have. In the case of the companions that you're missing, it will show you where to find those pets.
• Account wide pets have been confirmed. All your characters will have access to all of your pets. This will cut down on switching between characters to level up a certain pet.
• Developers are considering allowing players to grow their own mini-pets on personal farms within the Valley of the Four Winds.
• Most pets will become tradable (even after being leveled).
• You will be able to customize the name of each of your pets. This name will appear in battle.
• You can obtain vanity items for your pets. Some of these items may offer combat bonuses.

Wild Pets
Wild Pets are discovered throughout the game world, some being more rare than others. To collect one, you'll need to engage it in battle (with one of your current pets) and defeat it.

• There will be about 100 wild pets all over Azeroth you can collect.
• There is likely to be at least one unique wild pet per zone.
• Wild Pets will have random stats.
• Many wild pets will be good at filling a specific role on your battle team, such as tanking or crowd control.
• Some wild pets will only be found under certain conditions. For example, some of them will only spawn in the spring, or while it's raining, or during the nighttime.

http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pet-battles/


List of all Companion Pets

WoW-Wiki on Pet Battles

Trainers: *** Cost to Train 95 gold ***

Location	Battle Pet Trainers
Razor Hill, Durotar	Narzak
Bloodhoof Village, Mulgore	Naleen
Brill, Tirisfal Glades	Ansel Fincap
Falconwing Square, Eversong Woods	Jarson Everlong
Goblin Slums, Orgrimmar	Matty
Orgrimmar	Varzok
The Golden Terrace, Vale of Eternal Blossoms	Gentle Sanω

Quests
Once a player visits a Battle Pet Trainer and learns Pet Battle Training, they learn how to battle, level, heal and capture pets with a short questline.

1. [85] Learning the Ropes
2. [85] On The Mend
3. [85] Level Up!
4. [85] Got One!

Notes
Although classified as one of the above types, companions such as humans, orcs, kites, and balloons will not fight. Those that will not fight are:

• Argent Gruntling and Squire
• Guild Page and Herald
• Alliance, Horde, Darkmoon, Green, and Yellow Balloons
• Chi-ji, Dragon, Tuskarr, and Yu'lon Kites

-------------------
***** Extra companion pets can be caged and traded or sold on the Auction House.

 Wowhead now has a map of locations:

Capturing wild battle pets is a new way to obtain companion pets in Mists of Pandaria, and it is one of the primary ways of acquiring pets for your pet battle team.

Wild battle pets can be tracked on your minimap: you can have your team fight them for experience, or capture one at low health to add it to your collection. Pet families have strengths and weaknesses against other types, so choose your opponents wisely. There are different versions of each pet--some with more stats than others--so you could get lucky and end up capturing a really strong version! There's also many achievements for capturing wild battle pets.

We've made tables below of all the wild battle pets, organized by continent and color-coded by type. With this chart, you can see what pets are unique to various zones, and also which pet types are pretty scarce--Dragonkin and Mechanical especially. All the data was taken from our interactive battle pet map and our visual battle pet database, so be sure to check them out for more information!

Pet Battles: Wild Battle Pets by Zone - Wowhead News


======================

WarcraftPets (best place for all things companion pets!).


Recent article adds info on the dailies available.

Pet Battles Dailies and Strong Traps Investigation

October 09, 2012
Two notable Pet Battles bugs have been stubbornly sticking around for some time now, but developers are currently investigating both.

Players are reporting that the dailies that should be offered (from every Tamer on a continent) after defeating the Grand Master Tamer are either not being offered or are not resetting properly.

In addition to this, the Strong Trap is not being awarded to eligible players. Instead of an updated trap model and trap icon with a new tooltip, many are still seeing the original ones, despite having completed the achievement Going to Need More Traps.

Pet Battles Dailies
If you're not seeing the daily quests for a continent, have you earned the Taming achievement to unlock them for that continent? Did they show up once and then never come back? (not resetting) Are any working at all, and if so, which ones?

Note: Taming Kalimdor is Horde only, and Taming Eastern Kingdoms is Alliance only. This was done via hotfix so the UI in-game will not update until 5.1, which is why you may see completion swap between the two. Not to worry though, the data is all there and will be resolved with the 5.1 patch. [source]

Strong Traps
We applied a hotfix to attempt to resolve issues of not properly receiving the upgraded Strong and Pristine traps. Please let us know if you're still having the issue, what character and realm is seeing the issue, and once you received the achievement, did your trap art, tooltip or icon change to reflect an upgraded trap? [source]

If you have additional information or details regarding Pet Battles dailies not resetting or not being offered, and Strong Traps not being awarded, leave a response on the appropriate threads linked above.

Let's help developers squish these bugs!

============================
 Top 5 World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Pet Battle Addons

One of the things I was most looking forward to with the launch of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria was the addition of Pet Battles. I was already fond of my vanity pets and the fact that they would now be more than just showpieces almost made me jump up and down and squeal like a schoolgirl. I fully anticipated that when the expansion launched I would dive headfirst into Pet Battles and become a master in no time at all.Sadly, that is not quite how things worked out. I haven't given much time to Pet Battles and have instead spent most of my days happily leveling up my Pandaren Monk. I have decided that now is the time to change that. However, I refused to dive into the world of Pet Battles totally unprepared. To help me along the way I wanted to seek out some handy dandy addons that would make my Pet Battle experience in Mists of Pandaria just a little bit easier.To do this I searched various sites around the web for suggestions and then loaded them up into my game to try for myself as I embarked on my Pet Battle journey. After much trial and error, I have discovered what I believe to be some of the most useful Pet Battle addons currently available. Below you will find the fruits of my labors with a listing of my top 5 Pet Battle addon finds. Hopefully these addons will prove to be as useful to you as they have been to me.Top 5 World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Pet Battle Addons

BattlePet Count

While Blizzard has a knack for getting things right, sometimes things don't turn out quite as we may have dreamed. The Pet Journal is inevitably one of those things. Somewhat difficult to navigate and rather unwieldy, I can say with certainly that I am not alone in my wishing for a simpler way to find the information I need. The addon BattlePet Count provides us with exactly that.BattlePet Count ignores the Pet Journal totally and instead provides all pertinent information in the form of a simple tooltip. When the player hovers over a pet, it not only lets you know if you already own that particular pet, but also what level it is, and what quality it is. BattlePet Count also works with vendors who sell pets, as well as the Auction House, letting you know if you are currently the owner of any pets available.Pokemon Trainer

When it comes to Pet Battle addons in Mists of Pandaria Pokemon Trainer really takes the cake. This addon single-handedly adds a ton of useful features that will be sure to aid every Pet Battle enthusiast. You won't believe it till you try it yourself!For the first of its tricks, Pokemon Trainer delivers upon you a handy tooltip when you hover over any opponent. This tooltip informs you whether your current team has any pets in it that are stronger than the opponent's. The tooltip appears no matter what type of pet you hover your mouse over.Battling against teams of pets? No problem! Pokemon Trainer provides a similar tooltip whether you are battling NPCs or other players. Pokemon Trainer also accounts for those of us who lose our heads in battle and forget which pets do well against others and provides a handy tooltip when the Switch Pet button is used showing your team and when you mouse over each of them shows their viability against the current opponent(s).For its final trick, the Pokemon Trainer addon also shows the possible abilities of your enemies which means you can easily prepare for and possibly counter attacks even before they happen. This addon is in development stages and while I did not personally encounter any glitches or bugs, don't get discouraged if you stumble across some. With even more useful features planned in the future, when Pokemon Trainer is released in all its glory it will be even more magnificent than we can imagine. This mod is a must have for any Pet Battle lover in Mists of Pandaria.PetJournal Enhanced

Have I mentioned that I feel the Pet Journal could use some improvement? Pet Journal Enhanced is another addon that improves the rather awkward feeling journal. This addon adds several additional filtering options to the journal that make life in Mists of Pandaria run a little bit smoother. Pet Journal Enhanced also shows each individual pet's specialization as an icon that shows that pet's highest stat as well as that pet's rarity (works on non-wild pets only). This addon is also in a beta stage, so once again, some bugs and glitches are to be expected.PetBattle Teams

While I am not quite ready for creating any serious teams, since I've only recently focused on Pet Battles, that doesn't mean that I can't prepare for the future. The addon Pet Battle Teams is for the player who has more than a few teams at their disposal and wishes for an easy way to load them up. With a single click a team can be loaded and ready for your next Pet Battle. My only complaint with this addon is that it seems you can easily overwrite any saved team, however, the benefits of this mod make this slight downfall easy to overlook.BattlePetsList

While actually battling our pets is what most of us focus on, it stands to reason that to battle we actually need to get out there and collect pets. No matter if you are a newbie like me or an old hat, we each need to get out there and expand our pet collection to create the best teams possible. Wild Pets are one of the major sources we have to turn to in our efforts to "collect 'em all"BattlePetsList makes this process just a little bit simpler. 

 

This simple addon allows the player to use a slash command to determine what pets are available in the area your character is in. When used this slash command (/bpl) BattlePetsList brings up a listing of the battle pets in the area, and goes an extra step by coloring the pets you have already collected a delightful red color.This addon can also check other zones for battle pets, however, there is a slight pitfall. BattlePetsLists requires you to be amazingly accurate in your spelling of the zone name and is also case sensitive. 

 

Thankfully this will hopefully not always be the case as this addon is currently in the development process and hopefully this issue will be resolved in the near future.That is it for my selections for top 5 Pet Battle addons. What addons have you found particularly helpful for Pet Battles? Have you discovered any that are duds? Help increase the knowledge of our community by sharing your experiences with various Pet Battle addons in the comment section below!

http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/feat...m_medium=email

Hammerfist Clan adds WoW

Hammerfist Clan, the guild I'm a member of, has added a World of Warcraft team to go along with the other sponsored games in the HFC lineup.  I know I'm biased, regarding HFC, but it really is great to be able to go game to game with people you already know and have built friendships with over the years versus having to start over each game trying to find a guild that works.



Currently HFC has teams in six MMOs:


LoTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) our oldest branch were we recently celebrated HFC's 11th Anniversary, LoTRO style - complete with fireworks, parade and freezetag. The LoTRO team has a ton of experience as many have played since beta and have a variety of max level characters. (Brandywine server)

 LoTRO team and other HFC members that came to celebrate

RIFT.  One of my personal favorites.  The RIFT team is pure awesome!  We're casual but do raid Mondays/Tuesday, and have other team activities throughout the week, including Crifting, Instance runs, pick up raids and PvP. (Faeblight, Defiant side)

RIFT team, Greenscale Blight Raid

TOR (Star Wars:The Old Republic).  HFC has two teams, one Republic and one Empire. Both are very active and have raid schedules.  I'm not playing TOR at this time but I believe they raid on Fri/Sat/Sun. (Canderous Ordo for the Republic & The Shadowlands for the Empire)

TOR Republic beating SOA

 
TSW (The Secret World).  With the recent launch of TSW, the team is still leveling, but we're all enjoying this game. It definitely is one of the different ones, but many of us have opted for lifetime subs, so the TSW team should be around for many years.  Currently the offiers are working on setting up days for Guild Instance Runs and team PvP. (Arcadia dimension)

 TSW in Fusang pvp

GW2 (Guild Wars 2).  The GW2 has been playing the beta weekends, while we impatiently wait for launch in August.  It will be a fantastic team, blending the PvPers (w00t), along with the team-mates that are all about PvE and the crafters. (Server selection is still being discussed, but we've been on Eternal Grove for beta)

HFC team, Borderlands PvP

Newest addition, WoW (World of Warcraft), to the mix is fantastic for the polygamerous, like me, that play a variety of games. WoW is still going strong and with the Mist of Panderia expansion out in the next few months, it will continue to be one of the foundation MMOs. I'll be relocating one (or more) of my toons there and likely rerolling a few to experience all things WoW! (Bealgun server, Alliance).

 Sithi on one of her many mounts

Overall, I'm very excited by all the new things happening with HFC. Recent additions to our already busy forum is a member article section were news and reviews will be featured, along with a new area of non-gamer topics, including interesting discussions on food, sports, books, movies and music.

So, if you're looking to connect with casual-core gamers that honor real life over gaming, but take our gaming serious - in a fun way of course -  check out the amazing community - Hammerfist Clan.

HFC is an 18+ age drama free guild. Currently using Mumble.


Team application

Code of Conduct for HFC teams

How HFC began - Gaming is theraputic.

SWTOR & beyond

It's a little over a month until the launch for SWTOR, one of the most anticipated MMO's.  I did get a chance to spend some time in the weekend beta (11-13th) and found it to be quite fun.


Because of the NDA I can't share many details, but I will say if you're a fan of BioWare games, and/or Star Wars - you'll love this game.  I did test both side Empire and Republic and liked them both.  Surprisingly the class I thought I'd like the least is the Jedi Knight and it was one of my favorites.  I guess all the lightsaber fighting was so Star Warsy!  Definitely fun.


The guild I'm in Hammerfist Clan is hitting launch with two teams Republic and Empire and we're excited with the opportunity.  HFC already has great teams in STO, LoTRO, Rift and a few other games, so two TOR teams will be awesome.  A team is also forming for GW2, Diablo 3 and TSW. So if you're looking for a great multi-gaming community - check out HFC. 

The HFC Empire team has been in the works for almost two years, and has built up a wonderful store of information, and is ready to go!  While the Republic team just formed up a month ago and has been recruiting, so we should have an excellent group to match the Empire gang at launch.

I'm planning to hit launch with characters on both sides of the war, fortunately we'll be on different servers so I won't have to fight guildmates on purpose in PvP - which I haven't tried yet but definitely looking forward to.


Sadly with the advent of TOR, I'm finding I'll have to let go one of my old favorites - WoW.  My sub is up in December and as I rarely play now as I'm thoroughly enjoying Rift and LoTRO, the time isn't there for it.  So, I'm going to work on the few things I still wanted to accomplish, take a ton more screenshots, then take a farewell flight or two around Azeroth before my subs up.  I may resub when Panda-mania breaks out to try being a Panda monk, considering my first and favorite character in EQ2 was a Kerran Monk.  A WoW monk should be fun.

Some people think the Panda's look lame, but I think it will be fun.  Definitely a light-hearted fun class to add to the mix.  I was hoping they'd add the Ramkhan (from Uldum) would be a playable class - they just look so fun!



2012 is going to be the test for MMO gamers though, as not only will the old favorites be around but with TOR we'll also have GW2, Diablo 3 and The Secret World as big launches and a great group of other games such as Tera and ArcheAge.  So it's going to be a wonderful MMO buffet out there.  Now to figure out how to justify and juggle the variety of games.

WoW Call to Arms Weekend AV

This past weekend was Alteric Valley - Call to Arms weekend.  I try to hit as many CtA weekends as possible for the added XP, honor plus I love PvP.

So, I played Thursday night through Monday on the Rogue, Warlock and Hunter.  I don't think I'm that great of a player, really.  I toon jump around toooo much and would say average on most classes, but I try.  Generally when I'm up against someone that really knows their class, I watch what they're doing as they kill me - learning in a strange way.  I almost want to applaud their ability.


My warlock just bought her level 70 PvP set, and is gemmed/enchanted. Some could be better but between my gold and the AH, well beggars can't be choosers at times.  Warlocks still feel a bit OP to me in BG's, but I do like her survivability, I just wish I'd put the time in on her Engineering/Tailoring too.  The Hunter bought a few pieces too, but is still missing a couple of items, but is getting there, and I've been testing different pets (raptor, bird of prey, spider, hyena, cat, so far).  The Rogue is saving honor for level 60 or 70 PvP gear (she's at 50 right now), but they're so awesome.


This past weekend's AV went from extremely great to OMG when will it end as so many of these CtA weekends go.  The group makeup from one to the next can make you crazy.  I know when I start typing comments in the BG, other than calling out incoming, etc., it's time for me to stop BG's for awhile.


A few things I noticed this past weekend:

1. Why do DK's always want to defend Bel when no one else does?  Every AV it's always a DK that wants to defend her.  I wouldn't be against that strat if half the team was on D and actually defended the bunkers and graveyards, but as that seems such a novel concept for most, I'll pass on defending her too.

2. Sitting on your mount next to a graveyard flag is a lovely invitation to a rogue.  I thoroughly adore that free kill.

3. Hunters - traps and flares are there for a reason.  Feel free to use them. Often they're really helpful. Really.

4.  Death Knights - you have Death Grip which you love to use, but griping that warrior into a group of DPS is just so appreciated.  Thanks for bringing him into melee range.  Just where I wanted him....

5.  If you take a graveyard, feel free to babysit it for the next few minutes. Or do not bitch when you're rezzing at the top of the map or in the cave.

6.  The guy that tells you, you only need Relief Hut and NOT to take other graveyards, so you'll rezz there as a strat because PWNSNOOBs told him.  Great once you're south and have taken out the towers on the way or maybe in a premade where everyone knows there job, but a PUG? It's a long ride back down the map or a bloody fight at the bridge.

7.  If you have buff (druids/pallys/priests/mages) feel free to use it when you rez.  Reagents aren't that expensive nor is the mana cost.

8. Warlocks it cost you ZERO to use Ritual of Souls in the cave. It might help someone, so don't be stingy.

9.  Capping and Recapping isn't someone else's job. So yelling 'someone grab...' feel free to go get it.

10.  Yes, you can kill Drek with a tower or two up, but please have Relief Hut first and really good healers and really good tanks.

11. Defense is important as well as a good Offensive in AV.  Otherwise it's a speed run, and losing by a few seconds is not fun.

12.  Taking the mines aren't always critical, but in an a win by attrition, it doesn't hurt either.

13. When you ride past a bunker that is 'red', stop and help out.  Look at you're bloody map if you can't see all the "Horde" in there.

14. People that AFK in the cave or auto-follow out of graveyards -  we should be able to kill them, just like the parasites they are and then they can't re-queue for a few days.

15. Calling people Noobs or Scrubs doesn't motivate them to do anything.  At least not me.

16. Why don't Hunter pets get XP in BGs?  I keep asking that... Why Blizzard?  I really want to go gain 3 levels on the new pet I'm testing.  Warlocks, Mages, Death Knight's their pets level with them?  So, why put us at this disadvantage?

Warsong Gulch Call to Arms weekend, coming up.  That should be fun.

Random thoughts on Cataclysm

I have to say, so far I'm thoroughly enjoying Cataclysm. I love the start areas and the quest lines that while it might still be kill 10 rats, etc., at least seem to have more meaning.  I've not completed the 80-85 zones yet, as I've been enjoying the start areas, and have done the Troll, Goblin, Tauren, Worgen, but still want to do the new Gnome one. I've heard the others are improved but haven't done those either.  Couple years for the next expansion so there's time right?

I like Thrall's new look -but the braids are a bit scary. I did finish all the books prior to Cataclysm's release, and the Shattering tied in nicely with all the transformations that occurred.  Hellscream as a leader, hmm, he's more aggressive, but adds to the tension between the Alliance and Horde now.   I did find Varian Wyrnn referring to himself as Lo'Gosh too interesting and glad to see Anduin has aged too.

Even the changes to the cities are great.  Orgrimmar I've been lost in so many times (no flying on lowbies PiA), but it feels more 'Horde-like' than before.  Stormwind has been changed, but not to the same degree - the park and all is nice, and yeah on multiple Inns, AH and banks in both cities.

My favorite zone so far, definitely the Goblin.  Blizzard went over the top with this one and it's great.  Deathwing torching Kazan, to all the changes in Azshara, just fun.

  The Worgen start area, I love the feel and the story-line, but Worgen themselves - I can't play them!  All that sniffing/snuffling noise I find annoying to the max.  I did roll a female Worgen, but after 10 levels realized I was getting motion sickness with her movement.  Rerolled a male, slightly better, but still no love for the race as it stands. I even made a druid so I could avoid much of the Worgen movement.  He's on the delete list.  Their running reminds me of a dog with rabies or someone with Tourettes - no thanks.  The Darkshore quests are much improved though.


This quest in Silverpine Forest made me laugh.  (spoiler don't read if you haven't done it, just go talk to High Executor Darthalia.), the quest line continues into Hillsbrad - what a zone change there!  Silverpine>Hillsbrad you really get a feel for Sylvanas has lots of ideas, mostly involving everyone joining her as Forsaken.

I hope they have something similar on the Alliance side, but I don't have any low level Alliance at the moment to find out.

I have been consolidating my main characters on one server, both Horde and Alliance, so quickly running out of slots, but once I've done what I want with them they can move elsewhere or /delete!

I have heard healing is awful at the higher levels, so I guess the priest and druid are going to stay DPS only for now.  I'm re-learning the Priest anyway after a year off, so have an excuse. : P

The new server is an RP one, and I've always wanted to try that aspect of the game, so new game new server!  I'm not sure I 'get' RP completely, but going to give it a shot.  A couple of the Horde characters have found a guild, now to find an Alliance one.

It is odd though to be on a non PvP server, it's is a whole 'nother animal.  Kind of odd to see the opposition out in the world and not kill them or be killed.  Although my Hunter did run across a few 'red' Hordies in Ashenvale and felt obliged to end their life.  My Night Elf's, a bit sentimental to the changes in Ashenvale and definitely no love of Trolls or Orcs.

So all in all, I'm loving WoW, I think Blizzard overall did a great job with this expansion.


As my blogging has been sporadic at best, going to wish everyone a wonderful New Year and a great 2011.

It's your UI causing the problem

What annoys the heck out of me and I've been opening a ticket every day with support is the constant d/c in battlegrounds and the feeling that I'm in a beta test that shouldn't be a beta test.

I get d/c'd at least once a day and come back as a deserter - WTF???  I never leave a BG, ever.  Even the truly terrabad ones, I will stay.  I've left maybe three in three plus years as it was an emergency call, otherwise I will stick it out.  I might be swearing at the PC screen but I stay.

Then there is miscounting the number of people in WSG  - Blizzard's interface or whatever can't recognize 9-11?  That isn't 10-10 sorry!  It might be 20, but it's not the right way to count it!   Not recording stats in the leader board - half the time people are missing or there are surprise 11 in Warsong Gulch on one side or another!

This doesn't happen every WSG (never in EoTS, AB, etc.,) but apparently my UI is the issue. Some how randomly it is.  So, I wasn't surprised with getting the "It's your UI that is causing all the problems" response.

Get stuck in a wall, fall through the earth, d/c, whatever it's always your UI.

To be fair, I'd like to think maybe that is the problem. I do use a number of Add ons, (updated daily with Curse Client); BUT, my UI can't add extra people to either side or not let that 10th person in on either side nor can it boot me out as a deserter! If so, there are some players I'd gladly use that on!

I was going to try a couple of WSG with just the basic Blizzard provided UI and then if I get booted, see what they have to say.  I'm sure it will be "reload the game" or "it's your graphics card" or ?  ARGH!

As excited as I am for Cataclysm, knowing the continual borked game we'll have to play with for next two months with patches, updates and fixes, makes me almost wish it was January and all will be playable... for awhile at least!

Cataclysm is coming

Cataclysm is a little over a month away and the Pre-Orders are available at the various stores. Amazon, Gamestop, Newegg.com, Best buy, Walmart, etc., all have this expansion listed for sale at the standard $39.99.  This seems to be the best price point for new MMO's and relative to a movie out with snacks or a light meal pretty comparable!

Blizzard is offering a digital download which I'm finding very tempting, as the minute servers go live you can play.  No worries about software out of stock, not shipped, etc.  So that may be the route I'll go, but...

Then there is the Collector's Edition.  It's running $79 to upwards of $185 on different sites.  So, the question is do I really NEED the CE?  The soundtrack would be cool, and I do have some of the ToC cards. Lil Deathwing - very cute - the pet collector in me says want him.

Worth an extra $40?

I don't know.  Possible.  It's a want over a need most certainly.

I do consider that the price difference between the standard and CE is close to three months subscription of another MMO or a new game.  So, I guess I'll decide over the weekend.

Blizzard and Real ID

It's been talked to death on Twitter, Facebook and a myriad of gaming forums.  The diverse view I find interesting, as I'm in the Real ID is bad camp, so I'm having a hard time relating to the "it's a good thing" camp, including some of my real life friends.

The premise for Real ID, being able to contact your friends across the different Battle.net games, I don't have a problem with at all.  But what's so wrong with a user name like every other Forum (I don't care what it's about gaming, gardening, politics, etc.,) on the Internet.  In every other instance you have the option of how much of your real identity you CHOSE to share. You can decide if you want your real name, address, photo, whatever, or not.

That's what I have a problem with - no choice.

I want control.

King of the Fire Festival

In general, I'm heartily sick of most of the World Events in World of Warcraft.  The novelty has worn off, as I've done them enough on different characters.  Unless there is a new pet (admitted petaholic), a buff/stat item or PvP involved I generally pass.

A Thief's Reward quest, which involves stealing the flames from each of the oppositions cities is right up my alley!  Death, usually my own, attempting to take a few with me on the way is involved if you try to solo this on less than a max level character!  I have done this with a level 56, so it is doable, but definitely easier for some classes than others.

This year my Druid, Sidthr, is sitting at 71 so what a great opportunity.  Off he went,

First stop Orgrimmar.  This is always the most challenging for me, not because of the guards, but the number of Horde that are around.  First stop the gates.  As usual too many people dueling out front.  To the backgate we go.  Trying to sneak past the level 75 guards was a no go.  Next tactic, the death march.

Buff up, mount up and ride in pulling a train of guards. I wasn't dismounted until right near the back entrance to Ragefire Chasm, which would have been okay. If I could have made it to RC and rebuffed inside, but two level 80 Horde had other ideas.  Ghost run back from Razorhill.  A successful rez and rebuff, time to sneak up on the flame.

Too many Horde. So sneak up on the flame and attempt to escape.  Nope. Take the death and rez sickness while rezzing in Razorhill again. 

Time to head to Thunderbluff. 

The zep  is one of the quickest for Alliance as we have no close flight paths to TB. Either Ratchet or Theramore, but I didn't fancy a cross country ride.  Sneaking on the Zep is easier at max level I found out or with feign death ability (my hunter has done this a couple of times).  Basically if you can't get on the Zep, die as close as possible on the tower and rez on the Zep downstairs. (This an old tactic I've used with hunters chasing pets in far off places at level 11-18).

The Zep lands at the Spirit Bluff, conveniently located next to the Flame.  I just ran around until I lost aggro from the guards.  Waited until the one level 80 left and snuck back get the flame.  I chose to hearth versus de-flaming Mulgore, the goal was the four cities period.

Undercity was incredibly easy. I forget how little attention most people play even on a PvP server. So this was uneventful in the extreme. 

Silvermoon City is generally a ghost town on all but RP servers, getting there is the bigger headache.  The quickest Shattarath City to Sunwell Island and a quick flight to the Ghostlands.  Otherwise, Eastern Plaguelands to Ghostlands (pick up the flight path if you don't have it).

The number of guards is a guarantee of at least one death getting to the flame.  So rez next to the flame and the achievement is complete, all accept for the turnin.

Hearth out and turn in the quests to get the gorgeous level one crown (kidding), but it's a nice in your face to the opposition in BG's (at lower levels) if you're willing to give up your head stats, or if you're rich and you put a decent enchant.

Off the beaten path

While questing in Searing Gorge - one of the zones you either love or hate.  The giant big hole in the middle can be a  real PiA, but I actually enjoyed it this time through.  I didn't like this much on a Horde priest in a heavy Alliance questing zone, and really must have skipped this zone or did only a select few quests on my Alliance characters.

Maybe the stealth feature a druid has made some of the quests that much easier to accomplish, but I really didn't remember many of the quests (and I've leveled three 80s, so go figure!).  Stealing the dwarves pillows for Kill Them with Sleep Deprivation was interesting, even when Chambermaid Pillaclencher popped out!  A bit of a surprise - yea for root, run, heal abilities!!  Or the very easy What the Flux? Love the humor Blizz!

Nothing tickles me more than finding these obscure quests in games.  This one - The Horn of the Beast which involves killing a now non-elite beast - Margol the Rager was great!  I received a key! 

There are two follow ups to this chain, basic delivery quests Loch Modan to Ironforge to Loch Modan, which rewards you with a key.  Specifically the Key to Searing Gorge.  This allows you (for whatever reason you might want it - lol!) to go from Loch Modan directly to Searing Gorge or vice versa. 

I'm not sure how useful this is with shorter hearth times and multitude of flight paths, but it's another key!  I can hear the clinking of keys now!  (Yes, I'll be repeating this quest for keys for the 80's too!)

Noblegarden

 Last night in Warsong Gulch (I know I spend way to much time there!), I was on my pally having fun with the "turn your group in to bunnies blossoming branch" and one of the team stayed in rabbit form and actually ran the flag.  

Good times.

(before anyone asks, no this is not my usual UI setup, but how I have it for classes I don't play often - pally/shammy/rogue.

WoW Warsong Gulch weekend

Battleground weekends aka now known as Call to Arms start Thursday and runs through Tuesday.  Extra honor and experience (leveling) are worth participating in the featured BG.


Thursday night my druid went from level 46 to 50 just in Warsong Gulch (one of my favorites especially with the 20 minute time). Although I did hear someone complain yesterday "not another drawn out 20 minute win".  I had to laugh and asked if he remembered when WSG could literally take 45 minutes to a few hours - he didn't.  I'll take the 20 minutes.

1. Yes turtles exist but they always have.  
2. Yes graveyard campers exist but they always have.  
3. Yes people farming HK midfield exist, but they always have.

I hadn't realized WSG was the Call to Arms, and so surprised when my druid was leveling every two or so wins.  Nice XP gain there!  Dinged 50 Thursday evening, proceeded to level the lock and hunter both to 40 (4 levels each) and the second hunter is sitting at 38 on Friday.  I'm going to try and get her to 40 too.  Then work on the pally and rogue tomorrow.

Death Knight fun

I really love the Death Knight start area. I think I've made/deleted at least half a dozen (that I'll admit too!) DK's as I love the progression changes.

My first DK, named Greaf is/was a gnome on my Alliance server. I leveled her to 65 as she had Inscription, and needed to ding 65 for the recipes. I never intended to level past that. DKs... too dang many of them, OP and why bother, right?

Well I did end up, just for fun playing with the guild on occasion with alts., and she was leveling very slowly. When I moved back to my Horde server I took Greaf, but her name was taken, so she became Biya.

A Blood Elf - yeah a Belf DK - none of those around - lol!!!

So, Biya came along to bring her Inscription skills (which she has maxed level and has ALL recipes including turning into a giant wolf - ftw!), again with no intention of max leveling her. She was quite comfortable at level 71.

My Horde GM, had a DK too, and we did start leveling together a bit. The addition of XP in BG's was a big motivator to continue as I do love PvP, but still with no idea what I planned to do with a DK if she reached 80. She is specced unholy, although people kept 'encouraging' me to go Blood or Frost, I've stuck with unholy.

Current spec is 17/54, but I've been looking on ElitistJerks and the new spec for 3.3 and may switch to that going out of Blood and into Frost. It looks interesting, although if I do, I'm going to find a way to put a point in Lichborne for that ability to give myself an oh shit heal with Death Coil.

So, Biya's been running instances and getting geared. She's in a mix of T8-T9 gear, and more heroic farming should get her better gear as wellas more learn to play time for me! I have thoroughly been enjoying her, more than I thought I would.

I've also been macroing her abilities/spells, working on a better rotation, which has improved my DPS too. That along with a few BG's has been keeping me busy.

Not too busy though as I've been leveling the Druid and the Pally - both fun to play too. More on those two later.

DK resources -

Elitist Jerks.com
DK Wiki
Death Knight Builds
Death Knight Info
Death Knight add-ons at Curse

Blogs -
Death Knight blog
Death Knight Tactics
DeathCoil
Me and My Ghoul
Plagued Candles