A month later....

....and I basically don't play endgame Classic that much, I do have the opportunity to do so, but I don't think I like to play two endgames. I do however like levelling alts, levelling professions, running around for hours on one level just doing quests. So I am slowly levelling multiple alts on classic, while sometimes healing an endgame dungeon.

On retail, I finally managed to do tw Mechagon runs... and I apparently need 6 more, although that may change with the next patch. The essence from there will be BiS after that patch, not using it at the moment.

Innovation definately has the whole Eternal Palace on farm, although some silly wipes still happen. There is some talk about mythic between now and the new patch, which I would feel fine about.. loot-wise I may want one ring from Azshara, but that is it. And the raid it self feels really done now, especially because we can clear it in one night if we really want.

About Blizzcon, my Tankadin heart is jumpy, return of the Auras, now we only need the return of the Blessings... Pally Power FTW. For Druids, I would really like the return of Mark of the Wild. It does goes against 'Bring the Player, not the Class', but well.. I never really believed in that anyway...

No news about sending the forced Personal Loot to the very depths of the Shadowlands. And that other horrible thing, Titanforging, is going away in the next patch...somehow..not sure what to think about that yet.

Shadowlands looks nice, but I am going to withold any real thoughts about that till we now more about Covenants and stuff.... one thing though....Level-squish, I like where they are going..

From level 1-10 you have a decidated starter zone (newly developed???), for all non-allied races. At level 10 you can choose any expansion to fully level to 50 (except if you are a new player, then it will be BFA) and then level to 60 in Shadowlands. I feel like I will be alting much more like that.

It also has the potential to be re-used over and over... think about it.. let's say Patch 10 comes around.. Blizzard can easily squish levels again and we can level from 50-60 in Rise of the Lich Queen (or something), and new players have to level 10-50 in the Shadowlands...

..and someone somewhere in one of the panels said that levelling should be rewarding again... is that a hint to ye ole talentsystem?

No 400 : Azshara and Level 60

Two things happened this week.

Innovation took down Azshara down on Heroic, and my Priest Ezrila turned 60.

I have a very strange sense about the Eternal Palace. The raid was released just before summer vacation. I think I did up to Azshara on Normal before the vacation started. And then, for six weeks I was not online that often. So when I got back from vacation, I had mostly no idea what the bosses did. It took me till 2 weeks ago to find out how the second boss works.

It was not till after that, that the bosses finally 'clicked' for me. And that also meant I started again to throw heavier punches around, it is all about knowing where to be at the right time for Boomers. The kill on Sunday was a typical Innovation-kill. 10 minutes left on the flask, last pull of the evening, and although at the end only the tanks, healers and one or two dps where alive, she did went down.

I also am not a fan of the current gearing-system. I just want to be done with gearing, and the last two expansions, the artifact and neck stuff isn't working for me. And now these essences, I am just 'meh' whatever. I do have three 3-essences, but they are not the best, but I can not be bothered to really farm others, the whole system isn't really working for me.

But, we have our target, Ahead of the Curve, now, when is the next raid?

Ezrila grinding some Furlborgs to 60

On Hydraxian Waterlords, Ezrila dinged 60 on Wednesday. The last 40% I was just killing Felwood Satyrs for Felcoth or Winterspring Furlborgs. Till level 40, I levelled as Spirit-tapping Discipline, after that it was of course 31 points to get Shadowform, and than back to Discipline. I healed a lot of dungeons like that.

There is a big shortage of tanks. LookingForGroup is continuously filled with LF Tank. And most of the time, groups are under-level for the last bosses of a dungeon. Atlasloot e.g. gives a level-range from 12-17 for Ragefire Chasm, my little Rogue actually had all the quests on level 11. But last boss is 15, can be hard on lvl12 tanks.

Same I had with the Sunken Temple, Ezrila healed it twice with a mostly underlevel group, didn't work on last boss. I am also not keen on starting tanking, I have healed enough to see that Aggro is a bitch. Shamans opening with Earth Shock, Multi-Shotting Hunters at pull, or the silly DPS-warrior in my last BRD run (when I already was 60), who actually made sure to NOT attack the tanks target, and then starting complaining that the shaman didn't drop WF-totem.

After hitting 60, after 10 days played, Ezrilla respecced 21/30/0, getting Divine Spirit in Disco. The 31-Holy option is going Death Angel and Lightwell... which I clearly remember being shite. Most people have no idea how to use that. As I said, I did a BRD run as Healer after that. It went ok for most of the time. I just have to make sure that I don't forget to heal myself.

Also, down-ranked spells... I have down-ranked bot Heal and Greater Heal on hotkeys, so I Have 4 different slow-heals. Around 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 Health-points. I also have a down-ranked Reju...rr..Renew on hotkeys. No down-ranking for Flash Heal, if I have to use that, it is already shit hitting the fan. And as last, a down-rank for Prayer of Healing, very efficient spell if everyone is damaged.

I am now basically waiting till our tank hits ST/BRD range. And hope for some better gear. Also.. time for Classic Alts

And lastly... this is my 400th blog-post... hurray?

The Mallet of Zul'Farrak

Somewhere Sunday morning, Ezrila had gathered up all seven Zul'Farrak Quests. Three of them are easy to pick up, just head to Gadzetzan and pick up the quests to gather scarab thingies, troll temper and a divine rod. In Steamwheelde port you can pick up a quests that sends you to Feralas, and is important for later on, it gives you the ability to summon Hakkar in The Temple of Atal'Hakkar.

One quests is picked up from the middle of Dustwallow Marsh. One was already in my questlist, the quest for the Carrot on a Stick, that you pick up on the Mirage Raceway. The last one, is a chain that starts with a green bottle from the Hinterlands...and ends with a lvl52Elite.... which is a little bit to high for my 45Priest.

After I gathered them all up, I noticed someone was looking for a DPS to ZF. I can do that, so I whispered. But I got a whisper back they needed 46+ dps... ah well...30 minutes later they where still looking for one, but at that point I was set to heal, 2 rogues, a DPS-warrior..and no Tank...

That took almost 50 minutes to find one, and it took a good 20 minutes for everybody to get to ZF, typical Classic experience... we had no problems, I got a nice staff, and 20 Troll Tempers...that will take another run... which I have to do anyway.

After the 2nd Boss, the one in a Cave, we found out that none of us actually had the Hammer of Zul'Farrak to summon the Hydra Boss. So I jokingly said, well, we know what to do after. 2 Hours later, with the same group, we ended up at the Altar of Zul in the Hinterlands.

After that, and after finding out that the quests for Jintha'Alor are not for level45, we stormed the Troll City, killing lots of Troll for the people that had the quests, and Finished the Hammer of Zul'Farrak, and pick up an Ancient Egg.

And mistakes where made later. Ezrila, being a Tailor/Enchanter, basically did not disenchant anything from about level 25 up. All to get money for the mount, which I got at 42. That however meant that I was short on enchanting materials between lvl20-40. So to the AH we went... which ended up with having only 60c... barely enough to fly between Orgrimmar and Thunderbluff....

Zhevra Hooves

Yes, I found them all, much faster than I thought at first, but I did completed it.

Strange how things go, a week ago I logged into Hydraxian Waterlords, and I started to level a Tauren Druid. 2 levels later my partner came entered, also on a Tauren Druid. I then try to log in onto my Tauren Warrior, which took a while, but we both leveled up to six.

The next day, I didn't really feel to level the warrior, and I saw that we didn't had any priests in Innovation, yes, Innovation now has a Classic Horde guild, so I started to level a priest, and Undead Priest called Ezrila, and she is now level 27 29.

Not something I was planning to do, but it happened, and Priest levelling is pretty fast, if you have a good wand. I healed everry dungeon so far, and I am now in Limbo beteween Blackfathom Deeps and Gnomeregan, so Ezrila is collecting some human skulls in the Hillsbrad Foothills killing taurens in 1K Needles.

I find it all very re-refreshing. No more zerg-mode, thinking about what you are doing. Dungeons need to be done properly again, and crafting matters. And a lot of stuff you can not solo, although I did tried... and failed some. As a friend said, Classic is best enjoyed with two people.

Let's see where this journey takes us.

Heritage, small and big

Last week, patch 8.2 dropped. 

It took me 9 days to get Flying

Before that happened, I also played a little with me Exalted Gnome

And today, I leveled old Cloudcaller to 120

Other things this weeks, included leveling pets for the pet-battles, Innovation getting Ahead of the Curve : Uu'nat. Me dying horrible on the two pulls I was there. Simming that the new Mechagon-Isle-Trinket is actually better as the Incandescent Sliver, which I can now unequip. Not getting the Murlock Cloak yet. And I have started a mount-hunt..that circle-mount looks nice for..well..gnomes.

Also..Essences... I found out that my best essence is from the new dungeon, and it seems upgrading it needs more runs in the same dungeon...oh well.. I can handle that probably.

Secondary is another story. Best apparently is from Island Expeditions, and getting to rank 4 needs more IE's. That is something I'd rather not do. Luckily the differences between the top essences is not that large. Number 2 and 3 on that list are the ones I already have from following the quest-lines. One is linked to neck-level, and the other one to follower-experience in Nazjatar. Stuff that I will likely do anyway.

Lok'tar Ogar! Classic is coming.

I will go Horde

Hopefully on a RP-PVE server.

That was the first decision I made when I knew Classic was coming. Back in TBC I played Alliance two weeks, went Horde with Gowron for 4 years, and when cataclysm hit, I went full Alliance with Mardah. So I have been playing Alliance for almost 9 years now. I really think it is time to return to the Horde.

Next choice is of course, what to play....  a very hard question. This is a question I actually only starting to answer the last couple of weeks. And it took the effort to unlock allied races to get an answer.

A few weeks ago, I went full rep-hunting with Gowron/Gwaednerth, and because the Faire was up, I went there for the rep-buff.... which brings me through a City I really liked.

Back in TBC, playing a Blood Elf Paladin, my first big city was useless. Silvermoon was too big, and to empty. Luckily you get send to Undercity quite fast, which is where Gowron spend most of his time between quests.

But in the long summer after the fall of the Lich King, Gowron found a new home, he even defended it together with Cairne Bloodhoof against the invading elemental forces, and in RP-terms, I would think he became an honorary Bluffwatcher after that...

So Gwaednerth had to go through Thunder Bluff to get to the Darkmoon Faire... and the moment I landed... and jumped down for old times sake, and watched that pool with everything so nicely placed around it... I knew where my journey in Classic would start, I would play a Tauren.

So, now I know the Faction and the Race... next up is Class... luckily, I now only have 4 options left... and all looked nice, Warrior, Druid, Shaman and Hunter. All Classes which I would probably have no problem playing. So which one...

I will not Play a Tauren Hunter. Not that I don't like Hunters, but..well... in my mind a tauren Hunter is reserved for my Brother. I would rather play an Orc or Troll Hunter. Probably Orc so I am not limited to Bows.

So, three remaining. So I have to think about what I actually want to do in Classic, and if  I rather play that class on a different race. Shamans also can be played by Orcs and Trolls, and actually, Troll Shaman sounds much more fun to me. So no Tauren Shaman either.

And now it comes down to Druid and Warrior... Tauren Druid is a must ... no other Race can play Druid, and I would definitely make a Tauren Warrior. They Both have pros and cons. So now it comes down to what I want..  am I going to raid in 6 months in Classic, do I want to play a Tank or a Healer...

Also, again, what is my goal in Classic. Just Leveling/Dungeoning, or actually raiding? Both Classes are actually quite nice for raiding. Warriors are by far the best class in Classic, being the only viable tank in raids, and doing some nice damage, Druids are Healers, although it is said they are Innervate Bots... well... I also still will raid retail..so I don't think full-classic raiding is an option.

Not-so-big-a-secret: I actually hope to find a relaxed Raiding Guild that wants a Boomkin...  :P.

At the moment I will probably play Druid, because of its versatility while leveling. I will still make an alt-Tauren Warrior, even quit early in case zones are overpopulated. So, now I have a race/class, what professions?

For a Tauren Druid there are only three options IMHO.  Mining/Engineering, which I think is more a Hunters thing. Skinning/Leatherworking and Herbalism/Alchemy. I am leaning towards going full Hippy, Flowerpicking. But...that Wolfshead Helmet is Leatherworking....  so, Skinning/Leatherworking it is, it will also prevent me from following the yellow dots on the map to flowers.

So, probably main-character is set, time for ALTISM, luckily, with the story above I already have some combinations ready. Including their Logical Professions. So my Character-list will be something like:

Tauren Druid // Skinning & Leatherworking
Orc Hunter // Mining & Engineering
Troll Shaman // Herbalism & Alchemy
Tauren Warrior // Mining & Blacksmithing
Undead Priest // Enchanting & Tailoring
Orc Warlock
Undead Mage
Troll Rogue


This is also very optimistic I know, leveling will take a while.... but I now have a Plan.

Also... Specialization... that will take some more thinking....


Lok'Tar Ogar!

(of course, I may end up in a group where a certain role is required, or two skinners are useless...)

Project Heritage Armor

Starting at the end of Legion, Blizzard gave us something new to do, namely Heritage Armors. Which for new (allied) races basically meant leveling them up from 20 when you had the correct reputation, and for existing races having a max level of that race exalted with their home reputation.

Getting the reputation to start the allied races, you basically had to play the game. I remember having enough reputation to start all the allied races in Legion. When the Kul Tirans finally where released I was exalted with them for a while, it did take me about 2-3 weeks to get enough reputation Horde-side for the Zandalari though, haven't played that much Horde this expansion, so that was logical.

Getting to Zandalari I also picked up enough reputation for the Mag'Har, so that was nice. And the Dark Iron Dwarfs where easy enough to get, considering I play Alliance. Now leveling them up from 20, that is another thing....

I managed one so far, a Dark Iron Hunter called Stonetamer. I also have a Dark Iron Paladin at max, but that was my free boosted character. My Void Elf Warlock Stephanus is lvl93 at the moment. A Lightforged paladin made it to 60, but was changed into a warrior, getting to sixty is not that difficult. The rest is all under 60 at the moment.

Dark Iron Heritage armor... yes, I don't like the helmet.

Now the other category of heritage armors is for existing races, where having a max character with correct race-reputation is all you need. Which for most part is no problem for a long-time player like me. Blood Elves? Are you kidding, they could have named a town after my character by now. Stoneheart the Dwarf Warrior got me dwarf set without a problem. Tiramuria, my gnome rogue is set to do the gnome-stuff, and .... oh... Tauren.

For Tauren I had to some searching. Three I found. A long forgotten Tauren Boomkin on my starting server Ghostlands, A Death Knight... good luck with rep there... and Cloudcaller, my first ever character on Argent Dawn, back than when Single Abstract Noun was happening. Cloudcaller, now residing on the server Steamwheedle Cartel (server-linked with Moonglade and The Sha'tar) was level 101, and was halfway exalted with Thunder Bluff, time to get that sorted.

The Shaman with the Doomhammer

Luckily, Cloudcaller is a pre-Cataclysm character, so I flew him to the Tauren starter zone, and in no time he was exalted, even getting him to level 102.4, so doing old quests do give some xp.... and now I am slowly leveling him up. At the moment he is 105, and there are some Legion Assaults to do.

It did got me thinking about future Heritage Armors. Time for a Checklist.

Alliance

Humans, my Paladin Timicin is 110 and exalted.

Nightelves, no problem, Mardah is all set.

Draenai, Verulani is 120, and is 13.666/12k, might need some work

Worgen.... ow... I have no Worgens at all... time to think about making one I guess

Horde

Orcs, Luaran (my third max char ever back in TBC) is 101 and Exalted

Undead, Old Faithful Lurge is level 101 and only 4k into revered, but, pre-cata char.

Trolls, Morshando, boosted in Legion, which apparently makes you exalted? 103

Goblins... yeah, I made a new one, Gess, lvl20..  no way close to exalted

And than we have the Panda's, which is as hopeless for me as Worgens and Goblins are, also made a new one, Yekatarina...trying to get of of the Wandering Isles

So, I was a little bit surprised by the fact that Morshando is exalted, I guess I missed the memo that specifies that you boosted char also will be exalted, or wait, this was my free character actually, not boosted. So I guess that is a thing.

Time to level some stuff.

Two Months Behind... even more now

Disclaimer: This was written a while ago, but somehow not published. Still publishing it because I did write it. I wrote this in October 3rd apparently. Blog does not seem to be complete (no pictures/ending), but.. I am still Alive  :)


No, I didn't joined that guild. And for the uninformed, it was the guild Lore used to raid in, back in the day when he was just making the Weekly Marmot, or showing up on Legendary.tv.

It has more to do with the fact that I actually want to write so much, but also want to play sooo much, and as I stated before, I can only allot that much time to WoW. Time blogging normally is subtracted from time playing.

We are now almost two months in the Battle for Azeroth, and what follows is a quick recap on what I did the last 6-8 weeks (I have no idea when I am publishing this, it is now the 3rd of October, so technically 6 weeks in?)

BfA arrived in the middle of my vacation (I work in education), which actually meant that I couldn't play that much. I Have vacation, I visit things, climb mountains, walk 30 km's, that sort of thing. I did manage to sneak 2-3 hours in a day at least.

I levelled with Warmode ON, the 15% XP is very nice, and before I knew it Mardah hit 120, and I found out that I still had to do most of Stormsong Valley to get enough reputation with Storm's Wake (also the only one I am not exalted with now) to ge acces to world quests and the whistle.

I remember doing some dungeons, doing some Island Expeditions, even doing some Mythics+. And about 3 weeks in, Innovation started raiding again. At this moment we have downed all of normal, and are progressing on Vectis HC. We downed the robot at the start, MOTHER, the three-headed thing and something else, Zekvoz, so 4/8

One of the thing I am not doing is hunting Azerite Power, I'll get it when it comes along, but I am not actively upgrading my necklace, It will come when it will come. This does however means I have not fully upgraded Azerite gear.

One of the things I am doing is alting. At this moment I have 3 other characters on 120. My Shaman Verulani. The original Gowron, now called Gwaednerth, and another Paladin, Meddwyn the Dark Iron Dwarf. Yes, I levelled two paladins...

Mardah changed professions from Skinning/Leatherworking to Jewelcrafter/Enchanter. Although I am getting so much Sanguicelss that I may change her to Leatherworker for a week to make some stuff in a month or two.

So far my idea of BfA:

The Pro's are Levelling and Raiding. The thing I like to do, are still good. I do not care much about th rest of the stuff offered, although I may sometimes do them.

The Meh... Island Expeditions and Warfronts. I guess some people find them fun, but I find them mostly boring. IE's are nice for Azerite, but I ain't hunting that. Warfronts are nice for gear on new characters.

The Irritating stuff... like Azerite Gear, where I have to do have third/fourth and fifth party programs to figure out what it does, and what is better..

The BAD... Personal Loot, what a mess. I am so happy I got Warforged 1H, which I can't use because no OH, and also can't trade because it is my highest Ilvl.... or that I couldn't trade the 380 ring because it is my highest Ilvl..while I have the same ring on 370 with a gemslot. There is more rant about that in my head....

Also not very likeable, Mythic+ and PvP-stuff. Apparantly that is where the gear is now, but I don't like the rushing of timed dungeons, and PvP, never was a real fan of that.