The son that bought Warcraft and then went on to other things, received a Beta key to WoD.
Of course.
He might be playing Hearthstone, Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm, but he still can't play WoW for more than two consecutive days. He passed the key on to my younger boy, who has spent a few days playing level 90s in classes he didn't have before and is loving his new Shaman.
Saturday I needed consolation after my meatloaf failed. The ground turkey meatloaf needed another egg to hold it together. Meatloaf isn't supposed to crumble like that.
So I was feeling a bit bummed and rewarded myself with an hour of WoW.
Six hours later, it was well after midnight and I was kicked out of my son's room to go to bed. Ha. Turnabout, I say!
I spent a bunch of Sunday playing, too. My 90 on this account is Martuska, my old gnome mage. I haven't really adjusted to the class changes. I'm missing Living Bomb and haven't figured out what to do instead, so my DPS is down, but not unworkable. It's fine for questing, but too embarrassing for a dungeon yet.
I quickly got through the opening, established my initial garrison and worked a couple quest hubs that first night. I dinged level 91 all with bags mostly filled. So early Sunday was spent exploring the bank and its new "Reagents" tabs, which was sweet, and coping with bags that were reorganized on me automatically. I forgot to check out my toybox.
Sunday I worked though less than half the quests in Shadowmoon when I dinged 92 and realized I had the breadcrumb for Gorgrond. I've been reminded myself I'm a tester, not a completionist, so I headed north.
Now about the garrison. There are quests asking for a group of 3 and I haven't bothered yet. I got one follower quickly as part of the familiarity sequence, I presume. A second follower was a reward for a completed mission. I think that was a random reward. I earned another as a quest reward outside my garrison and yet another quest allowed me to select one follower from 3 choices.
Suddenly I noticed that missing safety net. How can I make a choice if I can't research my options on wowhead or something? There isn't a guide! I might make a ... suboptimal choice!
Another thing happened late Sunday, I received a rare mission. Until then I hadn't noticed that my missions had been uncommon. "Free Labor" wants three followers of level 91. Well, I can get that by sending one of my lvl90s on another mission first. I had also just noticed the whole "follower abilities" and "counters" thing. I could counter one of the specials of the rare mission, but none of my current followers could counter the other.
Now that I'm in Gorgrond, I'll need to see how I build an Outpost for my garrison there. Oh, and I discovered this thing called Bonus Objective I think I like the mechanic, although it does lead to players fighting over some mobs that don't respawn very quick.
I think I won't miss the pink boxes that say "Delete Me".
Showing posts with label Martuska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martuska. Show all posts
Who are you, little Gnome?
The family was back from Gencon and I was busy with new books and games and organizing them into the older books and games. There were new autographed books and nearby were all those Mercedes Lackey books still sitting on a shelf that I didn't take to Indianapolis because I didn't know she was going to be there!
The time came that I once would get online and play WoW and it occurred to me that I didn't mind being offline. For certain I missed the people, but not necessarily the game. I decided I might try turning off one subscription, but didn't get around to it yet. Still, there had been a tentative decision made.
Then my daughter proudly showed me her pet team she had leveled to 25. It was apparent she'd paid some attention to my suggestions months earlier, but it also was more revealing about what she liked when playing Pokémon! She and her brothers and, well the whole family really, started playing on a pre-color Gameboy. Her team consisted of:
Do you remember how hard it was to level up your first team to 25? She wasn't discouraged, exactly, but certainly wasn't enjoying it like I had. As I tried to explain how it would get better and what her next pets should be... She challenged me to use Martuska, my character on her account, and we would share the team.
Now I still felt guilty about abandoning Martuska for Kallixta and Aldonza. She was my first to level 85, but she was still sitting at 85! When I played Warcraft with my son, Kallixta and Aldonza were on the same account as his favorite character, so he could play with his sister. He would prefer if I could brush the dust off Marty so we'd have a better match.
Martuska and Aldonza are both Mages. Aldonza had overcome much of her cowardice, but I was the one avoiding Marty. Hm.
I concluded that before I stopped entirely, I owed Martuska some attention. With that miniscule commitment, I decided to send Martuska to Pandaria. Someone had mentioned levelling a low level in Pandaria, battling those wild pets. I could at least do that for Syylia's team. Martuska ran like a little child, or more accurately a small gnome, all the way to Half-Hill, set her hearthstone and started battling.
And I've been playing World of Warcraft ever since. I remembered the fun I had with my little gnome!
Marty needed to discard those Cataclysm blues and purples and her shiny new Zen Tailoring gave her a set of Windwool greens. That led to visits of the Silk Fields and confirming that playing a level 85 Gnome Mage really isn't that different from a level 90 Human Mage, provided you bother to set up the GUI! And the Macros! Oh, and choose your talents and glyphs. Good grief!
Martuska is already level 87, almost all from Pet Battles, but she's reminded me of things that should have been apparent on Aldonza. Can you guess what I learned?
How often do you apply lessons learned on one character to another? Apparently I haven't been liberal enough in that reapplication!
The time came that I once would get online and play WoW and it occurred to me that I didn't mind being offline. For certain I missed the people, but not necessarily the game. I decided I might try turning off one subscription, but didn't get around to it yet. Still, there had been a tentative decision made.
Then my daughter proudly showed me her pet team she had leveled to 25. It was apparent she'd paid some attention to my suggestions months earlier, but it also was more revealing about what she liked when playing Pokémon! She and her brothers and, well the whole family really, started playing on a pre-color Gameboy. Her team consisted of:
Do you remember how hard it was to level up your first team to 25? She wasn't discouraged, exactly, but certainly wasn't enjoying it like I had. As I tried to explain how it would get better and what her next pets should be... She challenged me to use Martuska, my character on her account, and we would share the team.
Now I still felt guilty about abandoning Martuska for Kallixta and Aldonza. She was my first to level 85, but she was still sitting at 85! When I played Warcraft with my son, Kallixta and Aldonza were on the same account as his favorite character, so he could play with his sister. He would prefer if I could brush the dust off Marty so we'd have a better match.
Martuska and Aldonza are both Mages. Aldonza had overcome much of her cowardice, but I was the one avoiding Marty. Hm.
I concluded that before I stopped entirely, I owed Martuska some attention. With that miniscule commitment, I decided to send Martuska to Pandaria. Someone had mentioned levelling a low level in Pandaria, battling those wild pets. I could at least do that for Syylia's team. Martuska ran like a little child, or more accurately a small gnome, all the way to Half-Hill, set her hearthstone and started battling.
And I've been playing World of Warcraft ever since. I remembered the fun I had with my little gnome!
Marty needed to discard those Cataclysm blues and purples and her shiny new Zen Tailoring gave her a set of Windwool greens. That led to visits of the Silk Fields and confirming that playing a level 85 Gnome Mage really isn't that different from a level 90 Human Mage, provided you bother to set up the GUI! And the Macros! Oh, and choose your talents and glyphs. Good grief!
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| Marty's first new level since a month after Cataclysm came out! |
Martuska is already level 87, almost all from Pet Battles, but she's reminded me of things that should have been apparent on Aldonza. Can you guess what I learned?
How often do you apply lessons learned on one character to another? Apparently I haven't been liberal enough in that reapplication!
The End of Cowardice
Cowardice happens to be something I'm deeply familiar with. It was a topic among my friends when I was in the service. I once knew how to surrender in 5 languages. I still remember "Nye Streelya!" and "Nicht Schiessen!" We figured that was more important than "Which way to the bathroom?" Pantomime would typically get the answer for that, but knowing the other might keep bullets from flying.
So as Aldonza explored her experiment, it was easy to understand her preference for staying out of trouble. As of last week, she'd already hit level 86 and I spend more time with her than any other character. And I enjoy my time with her more than any other character. However, should she be my "Main"?
For the years before Cataclysm, Martuska, a Gnome Frost Mage, was my Main. I didn't need another Mage, so Aldonza was idle and put to work dealing with the Auction House. The DPS wait times for the LFD went a long way towards convincing me to start Kallixta. She never tried the Retribution Spec until last year. If I was going to be DPS, I could be a Mage.
A complication is that Martuska is actually on a different account. This is solvable with the application of dollars, but I've become very happy with Aldonza. She's got much more personality and character than Martuska. She also has more height and weight, but that's because she's human. -rimshot!-
I'm a hindsight role-player. I don't plan much ahead, but discover a character's past as I play. When looking at Aldonza's avoidance of violence, I concluded "She's a Coward". If I decide I want Aldonza to become my main, it'll happen and I'll come up with the justification after. "She's working through her fears by confronting them." It really is that simple.
What isn't so simple is she has a big personal guild-bank full of glyphs and herbs, inks and enchantments, et cetera, et cetera. If she were to become my main, she'd need to give that up and join my "Real Guild" with Kallixta. I like my guildies and time spent on Aldonza is lonely. She's on a chat channel with them, but when it becomes filled with gratz over an achievement, I don't see that Achievement Spam. When they decided on an Amani Bear Run last night, it was inconvenient to swap over to Kallixta.
As I write this, it's clear to me that by the time Aldonza is level 90, she'll be my main. The only question is "Why Delay?" Why continue only levelling by Pet Battles and non-violent dailies. The experiment has been proven, right? Shouldn't I just push the button?
So as Aldonza explored her experiment, it was easy to understand her preference for staying out of trouble. As of last week, she'd already hit level 86 and I spend more time with her than any other character. And I enjoy my time with her more than any other character. However, should she be my "Main"?
For the years before Cataclysm, Martuska, a Gnome Frost Mage, was my Main. I didn't need another Mage, so Aldonza was idle and put to work dealing with the Auction House. The DPS wait times for the LFD went a long way towards convincing me to start Kallixta. She never tried the Retribution Spec until last year. If I was going to be DPS, I could be a Mage.
A complication is that Martuska is actually on a different account. This is solvable with the application of dollars, but I've become very happy with Aldonza. She's got much more personality and character than Martuska. She also has more height and weight, but that's because she's human. -rimshot!-
I'm a hindsight role-player. I don't plan much ahead, but discover a character's past as I play. When looking at Aldonza's avoidance of violence, I concluded "She's a Coward". If I decide I want Aldonza to become my main, it'll happen and I'll come up with the justification after. "She's working through her fears by confronting them." It really is that simple.
What isn't so simple is she has a big personal guild-bank full of glyphs and herbs, inks and enchantments, et cetera, et cetera. If she were to become my main, she'd need to give that up and join my "Real Guild" with Kallixta. I like my guildies and time spent on Aldonza is lonely. She's on a chat channel with them, but when it becomes filled with gratz over an achievement, I don't see that Achievement Spam. When they decided on an Amani Bear Run last night, it was inconvenient to swap over to Kallixta.
As I write this, it's clear to me that by the time Aldonza is level 90, she'll be my main. The only question is "Why Delay?" Why continue only levelling by Pet Battles and non-violent dailies. The experiment has been proven, right? Shouldn't I just push the button?
No Green Thumb
I'm casual. That's never been a secret. I only have a few hours a week to escape to Azeroth, which is not enough to be a raider. With Mists, my time has gotten even tighter and when I get an hour to play, I'd rather do a Pet Battle than level. All this is just a reminder why Kallixta is still level 87.
When I play, Kallixta often gets a few minutes to tend her farm at Half Hill, but without being level 90, she can't improve her standing with the Tillers and thus she's still stuck with 4 plots. She's worked those 4 spots hard enough that she recently picked up Till the Break of Dawn, which tells me Kallixta did her farming 25 times. Or did I get my math wrong?
I'm sure most folks have forgotten what a farm looks like when you're stuck at 4 plots. Here is a reminder:
An old friend came back to the game. Part of their enjoyment includes rerunning old content. This weekend they were off to solo Sarth 3D again when I sent Kallixta to join in the fun and she picked up her Black Drake! I'd forgotten but back when we were running Sarth, Martuska was still my main and that was a different account.
The next day, we were in guild chat, recalling life back in 2009. I said, "Gee. It seems like just yesterday we were running Sarth." I don't think others thought that was as funny as I did!
When I play, Kallixta often gets a few minutes to tend her farm at Half Hill, but without being level 90, she can't improve her standing with the Tillers and thus she's still stuck with 4 plots. She's worked those 4 spots hard enough that she recently picked up Till the Break of Dawn, which tells me Kallixta did her farming 25 times. Or did I get my math wrong?
I'm sure most folks have forgotten what a farm looks like when you're stuck at 4 plots. Here is a reminder:
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| Dwarves are short! |
An old friend came back to the game. Part of their enjoyment includes rerunning old content. This weekend they were off to solo Sarth 3D again when I sent Kallixta to join in the fun and she picked up her Black Drake! I'd forgotten but back when we were running Sarth, Martuska was still my main and that was a different account.
The next day, we were in guild chat, recalling life back in 2009. I said, "Gee. It seems like just yesterday we were running Sarth." I don't think others thought that was as funny as I did!
Days Sixty Eight to Sixty Nine - 29-30 May 2011
The Memorial Day Weekend did see a lot of activity, but it was split betwixt multiple characters and this blog is concentrating on Kallixta. A lot of the other recent activity has been leveling professions and making gold. Martuska reached Professional Illustrious Grand Master in Enchanting and, when the Dreamcloth cooldown is up, in Tailoring too.
Kallixta managed to ding level 73 on Sunday. As I was deciding how to spend the new talent point, it struck me that I hadn't been keeping up on her Holy off-spec, despite trying to accumulate some Plate with Intellect. So I gave it full attention for awhile. After working on her talents and glyphs, I reviewed her armor and made a complete set. I added gems and some simple enchants, although not a huge investment. The guild had plenty of leftover Wrath gems and a guildie helped cut some for me. It wasn't until the evening of Memorial Day that the Holy Paladin made her debut. That same guildie has a Death Knight that was given a new second spec and we jumped into the queue together as Tank and Healer.
The LFD gave us Old Kingdom and the puggies had a plethora of Heirlooms and were patient with us. It went poorly at first until I got the hang of Judging, then I merely spent the rest of the time overhealing as I spammed Judgement and Holy Light. I picked up two Blues out of the dungeon: Slasher's Amulet and Volazj's Sabatons. We didn't bother with Jedoga, so Kallixta didn't finish the achievement. At least I remembered that this character isn't really about the achievements.
My guildie friend then gave me a patient tutorial on improving my performance. It was obvious that spamming two spells wasn't sufficient. Among the tips including a review of my talent selections and glyph choices. I swapped a prime and major glyph and may yet re-spec.
The big lesson was on use of Holy Shock and getting the Holy Power train rolling. Infusion of Light should also generate some efficiency, allowing Kallixta to be a real help and not just do a lot of overhealing. I wanted a chance to let these lessons sink in before I jump into the queue again.
Kallixta managed to ding level 73 on Sunday. As I was deciding how to spend the new talent point, it struck me that I hadn't been keeping up on her Holy off-spec, despite trying to accumulate some Plate with Intellect. So I gave it full attention for awhile. After working on her talents and glyphs, I reviewed her armor and made a complete set. I added gems and some simple enchants, although not a huge investment. The guild had plenty of leftover Wrath gems and a guildie helped cut some for me. It wasn't until the evening of Memorial Day that the Holy Paladin made her debut. That same guildie has a Death Knight that was given a new second spec and we jumped into the queue together as Tank and Healer.
The LFD gave us Old Kingdom and the puggies had a plethora of Heirlooms and were patient with us. It went poorly at first until I got the hang of Judging, then I merely spent the rest of the time overhealing as I spammed Judgement and Holy Light. I picked up two Blues out of the dungeon: Slasher's Amulet and Volazj's Sabatons. We didn't bother with Jedoga, so Kallixta didn't finish the achievement. At least I remembered that this character isn't really about the achievements.
My guildie friend then gave me a patient tutorial on improving my performance. It was obvious that spamming two spells wasn't sufficient. Among the tips including a review of my talent selections and glyph choices. I swapped a prime and major glyph and may yet re-spec.
The big lesson was on use of Holy Shock and getting the Holy Power train rolling. Infusion of Light should also generate some efficiency, allowing Kallixta to be a real help and not just do a lot of overhealing. I wanted a chance to let these lessons sink in before I jump into the queue again.
Day Fifty-Eight - 27 March 2011
First I must confess how much I HATE the helm I earned in Nagrand. I loved my Underworld Helm. It didn't match my Fel Iron Plate, like the Jade Warrior Pauldrons, but it made me smile. Then in Nagrand, I got the Clefthoof Helm. It had better stats and I tell myself that look is not more important to me than function, right? But damn if I didn't feel a twinge ever time I saw how UGLY that helmet was. I really was hoping to get a better helmet soon.
Anyway, Kallixta spent part of Sunday finishing up some quests in Nagrand and earning a bunch of nice blues that I barely bothered to look at. I had the bag space and didn't need to sell right away nor was my gear a problem that I needed to upgrade. So I postponed making any decisions. I got my Ding 68 and decided I would immediately leave Outland and run for Northrend.
Well, I hopped on the flight path to the Dark Portal, minimized and stepped away from the computer. A few hours later, I followed up. I finally remembered I wanted some screen shots. The first one I made was me, on my griffon, in front of the Dark Portal saying goodbye to Outland. Sounds like a good idea, right? Except I didn't take into account all the changes on the screen. I have a much bigger screen on the new computer and I happened to have things zoomed out to see the whole portal better. And the result is you can't see Kallixta! Well, I sorta can, but seriously?
Next, I clear out my bags and select what loot to keep. I decide not to break the Fel Iron Plate set. Nothing was a clear upgrade and damnit I LIKE how Kallixta looks. She's got a new shield and cool sword and I remembered to use my blacksmithing to add sockets and gem a few things. However, nobody is bothering to make simple Outland gems. Obviously I don't really need them and will upgrade these things soon with, hopefully, new Northrend items, but there's a bit of me that wants to plug something in my new slots. It took a while to find something useful that wasn't too expensive. Seriously, it took a LOT LONGER to find anything. Finally I found somebody had put up some Champion's Huge Citrine for just over 1g each and I grabbed them. What have others done? It's not like I have a Jewelcrafting alt on this server. I suppose I might have bought a raw gem and begged a guildie to make something useful, but I didn't bother. These will do.
So since I was at the Auction House, grabbing gems, I also looked at BOE Helmets. That's right, I spent 5g on a helmet that isn't much of an upgrade, but that doesn't annoy me to look at. I'm certain my impatience will be rewarded appropriately. If I could wait two more levels, I could make my own Cobalt Helm! I don't have a jewelcrafter, but Martuska is an enchanter, so it was no trouble sending a chest enchantment, but the weapon enchant she makes is Fiery, and I make too much profit to waste one on myself! After all that, here is how Kallixta now looks at level 68
I'd like to mention a few changes I've noticed since Wrath first opened and Martuska journeyed her way north. First on arriving at Howling Fjord, the flight path already has Dalaran. I didn't have to buy a port or explore anything. I just hopped on the griffon and flew. Do y'all remember the difficulties at first?
Next thing is on arriving at the Dalaran landing, I bought my Cold Weather Flying for 500g and Flight Master's License for another 250g. I'd only recently upgraded from Burning Crusade, remember. When I realized I was getting close to needing WOTLK, I found it cheaper to purchase both Wrath and Cata for $68 and be done with it. Consequently, I only needed to spend 750g compared to all the agony of prior purchases. Martuska (on my kids' account) had purchased Tome of Cold Weather Flight a year ago to make things easier on that account. At least she had a good discount with Kirin Tor before spending all that money.
A third change, sitting on Krasus' Landing is Jean Pierre Poulain
I first flew to Dalaran, quickly picking up Explore Crystalsong Forest before remembering Kallixta isn't about achievement completion, and so I tried to stay practical. I grabbed a few FPs in Dragonblight, Amberpine Lodge in Grizzly Hills, and Westguard Keep before getting back into the business of quests.
While I didn't earned much XP in this session, I certainly had fun looking around my new home. I even remembered to re-hearth while in Valgarde.
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| Kallixta and the Ugly Helmet |
Anyway, Kallixta spent part of Sunday finishing up some quests in Nagrand and earning a bunch of nice blues that I barely bothered to look at. I had the bag space and didn't need to sell right away nor was my gear a problem that I needed to upgrade. So I postponed making any decisions. I got my Ding 68 and decided I would immediately leave Outland and run for Northrend.
Well, I hopped on the flight path to the Dark Portal, minimized and stepped away from the computer. A few hours later, I followed up. I finally remembered I wanted some screen shots. The first one I made was me, on my griffon, in front of the Dark Portal saying goodbye to Outland. Sounds like a good idea, right? Except I didn't take into account all the changes on the screen. I have a much bigger screen on the new computer and I happened to have things zoomed out to see the whole portal better. And the result is you can't see Kallixta! Well, I sorta can, but seriously?
 |
| Can you spot the Paladin? |
Next, I clear out my bags and select what loot to keep. I decide not to break the Fel Iron Plate set. Nothing was a clear upgrade and damnit I LIKE how Kallixta looks. She's got a new shield and cool sword and I remembered to use my blacksmithing to add sockets and gem a few things. However, nobody is bothering to make simple Outland gems. Obviously I don't really need them and will upgrade these things soon with, hopefully, new Northrend items, but there's a bit of me that wants to plug something in my new slots. It took a while to find something useful that wasn't too expensive. Seriously, it took a LOT LONGER to find anything. Finally I found somebody had put up some Champion's Huge Citrine for just over 1g each and I grabbed them. What have others done? It's not like I have a Jewelcrafting alt on this server. I suppose I might have bought a raw gem and begged a guildie to make something useful, but I didn't bother. These will do.
So since I was at the Auction House, grabbing gems, I also looked at BOE Helmets. That's right, I spent 5g on a helmet that isn't much of an upgrade, but that doesn't annoy me to look at. I'm certain my impatience will be rewarded appropriately. If I could wait two more levels, I could make my own Cobalt Helm! I don't have a jewelcrafter, but Martuska is an enchanter, so it was no trouble sending a chest enchantment, but the weapon enchant she makes is Fiery, and I make too much profit to waste one on myself! After all that, here is how Kallixta now looks at level 68
I'd like to mention a few changes I've noticed since Wrath first opened and Martuska journeyed her way north. First on arriving at Howling Fjord, the flight path already has Dalaran. I didn't have to buy a port or explore anything. I just hopped on the griffon and flew. Do y'all remember the difficulties at first?
Next thing is on arriving at the Dalaran landing, I bought my Cold Weather Flying for 500g and Flight Master's License for another 250g. I'd only recently upgraded from Burning Crusade, remember. When I realized I was getting close to needing WOTLK, I found it cheaper to purchase both Wrath and Cata for $68 and be done with it. Consequently, I only needed to spend 750g compared to all the agony of prior purchases. Martuska (on my kids' account) had purchased Tome of Cold Weather Flight a year ago to make things easier on that account. At least she had a good discount with Kirin Tor before spending all that money.
A third change, sitting on Krasus' Landing is Jean Pierre Poulain
I first flew to Dalaran, quickly picking up Explore Crystalsong Forest before remembering Kallixta isn't about achievement completion, and so I tried to stay practical. I grabbed a few FPs in Dragonblight, Amberpine Lodge in Grizzly Hills, and Westguard Keep before getting back into the business of quests.
While I didn't earned much XP in this session, I certainly had fun looking around my new home. I even remembered to re-hearth while in Valgarde.
Guild Friendship
I think I've been reading Gevlon too much and been too quick to measure everything. I was reminded of how much I'll pay for FUN! There are some intangibles that could be measured, but I won't. Doing a favor for a friend only cost me a small bit of time and when he did the reverse, I got paid back much more than my contribution. How much did it cost him? Some time, for sure, but he's also taught me and trained me, so when I end up in a Guild Run with him, I'll be a better player. I suppose he could measure the return in value, but I doubt he does. He just did a Guildie a favor and shrugs. But it really means a lot to me.
I had spent Sunday working through the Love Fool requirements, including a trip to Arathi Basin. I mentioned before I wanted to actually contribute and maybe finally manage an Arathi Basin Victory. The starting strategy while awaiting the gates to open suggested an early Blacksmith grab, which was fine with me. So I followed the few that went that direction. There was a short battle and suddenly we had it! In the lull that followed I dropped my fool, ran my pity macro and I Pitied The Fool was mine! Alliance still lost in the end. Still, I don't think I embarassed myself too badly. I did manage my share of HKs.
Now all that was left was to get the Red Roses. A fresh 85 fellow guildie also had a few bits left to finish. I made a couple level 1 Hordies for him to shower with rose petals, but I couldn't easily make the Orc Death Knight he needed to finish. Then we grouped up to run a dungeon. We got another guildie to join us to Grim Batol where we saw the Roses drop. I lost on the roll. We had a gogogo Hunter with us who would annoying as all heck, but we kept good practice of using crowd control even where we might not have needed it. We might have been a little slow, but we were methodical and made it to the final boss without too much trouble. First try on Erudax was a wipe though. I didn't get to the safe zone of the vortex quickly enough. The hunter dropped and we noticed despite instructions, he wasn't hitting the Faceless Guardian adds. We got another guildie to finish for us and this time I managed to find the right places and I did focus damage on the adds. With all the movement, I'm sure my DPS was lousy, but still, we completed Grim Batol.
My Guildie was willing to help me finish my run for the roses before returning to complete his holiday achievements and switched to an alt. I hadn't realized until then just who his alt was. Well, I knew, but wasn't really reminded until the switch. He was one of the tanks in the prior day's Black Temple run and when he joined a queue, there was zero wait for anything to pop! I thought healers were the critical link in Cata dungeons, but not on Sunday. While Grim Batol had been slow and methodical, we zipped through Lost City of Tol'Vir.
A real blizzard moved in and while we didn't lose power, we did have a few flickers to the lights. Unfortunately, my laptop has ZERO battery support, so the least flicker meant I was rebooting. I'm glad my Guildie was patient with me and the pugs were patient, too. Then I realized part of that when one puggie asks "So what's such a well geared tank doing slumming in the normal dungeons?" He was there helping me, thank you, thank you! OMG, average equipped gear score of 351? I guess I can understand the PUGs patience better.
While he didn't need it, he reminded the Pug about teamwork, assigning CC duties and teaching us what we'll need to do. He often admitted he knew the heroic version of bosses and politely asked for information from others about differences. When items dropped, folks asked and received permission to need on off-spec items. It was a good experience all around.
After a Halls of Origination run, we were told that the roses don't drop from all cataclysm dungeons, but only Grim Batol and Stonecore. So we next went to Stonecore. We actually had a wipe on trash when we aggro'd three patrolling packs together, but that settled us down to take the dungeon seriously. My experience said everything else flowed pretty smoothly after that. Even when we had one other accidently pull, we were never in danger. It just was a little messy.
By this time, I was way late for getting to bed. I worried my friend wouldn't have the time to finish his own holiday, but he managed some how. Not only did I get my Red Roses and Fool For Love achievements, but a couple new dungeons and some good drops! Excellent!
I had spent Sunday working through the Love Fool requirements, including a trip to Arathi Basin. I mentioned before I wanted to actually contribute and maybe finally manage an Arathi Basin Victory. The starting strategy while awaiting the gates to open suggested an early Blacksmith grab, which was fine with me. So I followed the few that went that direction. There was a short battle and suddenly we had it! In the lull that followed I dropped my fool, ran my pity macro and I Pitied The Fool was mine! Alliance still lost in the end. Still, I don't think I embarassed myself too badly. I did manage my share of HKs.
Now all that was left was to get the Red Roses. A fresh 85 fellow guildie also had a few bits left to finish. I made a couple level 1 Hordies for him to shower with rose petals, but I couldn't easily make the Orc Death Knight he needed to finish. Then we grouped up to run a dungeon. We got another guildie to join us to Grim Batol where we saw the Roses drop. I lost on the roll. We had a gogogo Hunter with us who would annoying as all heck, but we kept good practice of using crowd control even where we might not have needed it. We might have been a little slow, but we were methodical and made it to the final boss without too much trouble. First try on Erudax was a wipe though. I didn't get to the safe zone of the vortex quickly enough. The hunter dropped and we noticed despite instructions, he wasn't hitting the Faceless Guardian adds. We got another guildie to finish for us and this time I managed to find the right places and I did focus damage on the adds. With all the movement, I'm sure my DPS was lousy, but still, we completed Grim Batol.
My Guildie was willing to help me finish my run for the roses before returning to complete his holiday achievements and switched to an alt. I hadn't realized until then just who his alt was. Well, I knew, but wasn't really reminded until the switch. He was one of the tanks in the prior day's Black Temple run and when he joined a queue, there was zero wait for anything to pop! I thought healers were the critical link in Cata dungeons, but not on Sunday. While Grim Batol had been slow and methodical, we zipped through Lost City of Tol'Vir.
A real blizzard moved in and while we didn't lose power, we did have a few flickers to the lights. Unfortunately, my laptop has ZERO battery support, so the least flicker meant I was rebooting. I'm glad my Guildie was patient with me and the pugs were patient, too. Then I realized part of that when one puggie asks "So what's such a well geared tank doing slumming in the normal dungeons?" He was there helping me, thank you, thank you! OMG, average equipped gear score of 351? I guess I can understand the PUGs patience better.
While he didn't need it, he reminded the Pug about teamwork, assigning CC duties and teaching us what we'll need to do. He often admitted he knew the heroic version of bosses and politely asked for information from others about differences. When items dropped, folks asked and received permission to need on off-spec items. It was a good experience all around.
After a Halls of Origination run, we were told that the roses don't drop from all cataclysm dungeons, but only Grim Batol and Stonecore. So we next went to Stonecore. We actually had a wipe on trash when we aggro'd three patrolling packs together, but that settled us down to take the dungeon seriously. My experience said everything else flowed pretty smoothly after that. Even when we had one other accidently pull, we were never in danger. It just was a little messy.
By this time, I was way late for getting to bed. I worried my friend wouldn't have the time to finish his own holiday, but he managed some how. Not only did I get my Red Roses and Fool For Love achievements, but a couple new dungeons and some good drops! Excellent!
Martuska, Laptops and Foolish Love
I've mentioned my family computer situation before in Communal Laptops. At that time, we had 3 laptops and 2 desktops. 5 computers? We didn't know how good we had it. Now I dream of 5 computers in the house. Luxury!
The newest laptop went with Syylia to Korea. My older boy's laptop died. It was only a couple years old, but a bad video card burned out the motherboard and the thing is totaled. The remaining laptop is ancient and decrepid, but it's the only thing running WOW right now! Actually, I could probably installed WOW on my older boy's desktop, but he needs that for his college classes and it's inconvenient. The other desktop is even older and needs a video card upgrade to run WOW. It ran fine before 4.0.1, but won't now.
Meanwhile, the hinge on the remaining laptop is broken and the battery won't hold a charge. It also has a hard drive with a loud and annoying whine, but it works. I haven't installed all the addons I had before, but (and this is the important part) it works.
Obviously I should just get a new laptop, but we've a few other expenses with higher priority. I can live with it. All this has resulted in my neglect in playing and I was resigning myself to failing to finish the Fool For Love holiday achievements on Martuska and thus flunking Strange Trip completely this year. I know Syylia was resigned to that. Mentally I knew it would happen, but then this weekend arrived and I had some time. Could I do it? Let's see what I had left... I only needed two achievements: Red, Red Rose and Pity the Fool. How hard can that be? That's one dungeon run and some dips into PvP, right?
Saturday morning I ran some quests and realized the critical path was collecting enough Love Tokens to purchase the Love Fools. Granted, if I ran short, I might be able to find someone else with one, but that's where I started. A few quick dailies and I had the Love Tokens to buy two and a half Love Fools. Good enough. I could finish it tomorrow. I went ahead and pitied my two purchased in Wintergrasp and Gurubashi Arena. Nobody was around for these, but that wouldn't be the case for Arathi Basin. I needed to check out my PvP set.
I only dabble in PvP. I've more experience with it on Kallixta, but I was doing this on my mage. I'm still horrible, but I wanted to contribute, not just join the BG, run my pity macro and get out and to do that, I wanted something other than my PVE gear. Luckily for me, Psynister and Cynwise recently wrote pieces on Planning for PvP. Cynwise's Gearing Strategy outline was perfectly applicable for any class and for my purposes, I only needed to look at step one "Get the crafted pieces made as soon as you can"
Well, I'm a tailor and I already had most of the Frostsavage Battlegear and could craft a few Fireweave/Emberfire pieces, too. One visit to the Auction House later and I had over 400 resilience without hurting my other stats too much. This should mean that I could NOT excuse excretable performance on my gear.
At this point it was Saturday evening and the guild was running a Black Temple raid. This would be a low pressure raid and something I missed during Burning Crusade as I hadn't gotten to level 50, nevermind a raid-worthy 70. I had one disconnect, which punted me back to the beginning and I had to navigate my way back to the group, but we managed to Kill Illidan without much trouble. The whole run reminded me of my real goal, getting Kallixta up and raiding. But this weekend was still keeping an eye on the short-term goal of making a fool of myself for love.
The newest laptop went with Syylia to Korea. My older boy's laptop died. It was only a couple years old, but a bad video card burned out the motherboard and the thing is totaled. The remaining laptop is ancient and decrepid, but it's the only thing running WOW right now! Actually, I could probably installed WOW on my older boy's desktop, but he needs that for his college classes and it's inconvenient. The other desktop is even older and needs a video card upgrade to run WOW. It ran fine before 4.0.1, but won't now.
Meanwhile, the hinge on the remaining laptop is broken and the battery won't hold a charge. It also has a hard drive with a loud and annoying whine, but it works. I haven't installed all the addons I had before, but (and this is the important part) it works.
Obviously I should just get a new laptop, but we've a few other expenses with higher priority. I can live with it. All this has resulted in my neglect in playing and I was resigning myself to failing to finish the Fool For Love holiday achievements on Martuska and thus flunking Strange Trip completely this year. I know Syylia was resigned to that. Mentally I knew it would happen, but then this weekend arrived and I had some time. Could I do it? Let's see what I had left... I only needed two achievements: Red, Red Rose and Pity the Fool. How hard can that be? That's one dungeon run and some dips into PvP, right?
Saturday morning I ran some quests and realized the critical path was collecting enough Love Tokens to purchase the Love Fools. Granted, if I ran short, I might be able to find someone else with one, but that's where I started. A few quick dailies and I had the Love Tokens to buy two and a half Love Fools. Good enough. I could finish it tomorrow. I went ahead and pitied my two purchased in Wintergrasp and Gurubashi Arena. Nobody was around for these, but that wouldn't be the case for Arathi Basin. I needed to check out my PvP set.
I only dabble in PvP. I've more experience with it on Kallixta, but I was doing this on my mage. I'm still horrible, but I wanted to contribute, not just join the BG, run my pity macro and get out and to do that, I wanted something other than my PVE gear. Luckily for me, Psynister and Cynwise recently wrote pieces on Planning for PvP. Cynwise's Gearing Strategy outline was perfectly applicable for any class and for my purposes, I only needed to look at step one "Get the crafted pieces made as soon as you can"
Well, I'm a tailor and I already had most of the Frostsavage Battlegear and could craft a few Fireweave/Emberfire pieces, too. One visit to the Auction House later and I had over 400 resilience without hurting my other stats too much. This should mean that I could NOT excuse excretable performance on my gear.
At this point it was Saturday evening and the guild was running a Black Temple raid. This would be a low pressure raid and something I missed during Burning Crusade as I hadn't gotten to level 50, nevermind a raid-worthy 70. I had one disconnect, which punted me back to the beginning and I had to navigate my way back to the group, but we managed to Kill Illidan without much trouble. The whole run reminded me of my real goal, getting Kallixta up and raiding. But this weekend was still keeping an eye on the short-term goal of making a fool of myself for love.
Flying in Stormwind
This week's BA Shared Topic is Initial Thoughts on Cataclysm
What I've been doing has pretty much been the same as other folks: levelling my level 80 towards 85 and/or levelling a newer toon through the changed Azeroth. There are a few things to note.
I almost squeeled with glee doing the dailies in Stormwind. I wanted a break from questing in Hyjal, so I ported into the Mage's Tower, stopped at the top of the spiral ramp and hopped on my mount. I flew over to Robby Flay to pick up King's Cider and hopped back on my mount. I floated across the canal to grab the fishing daily. Flying between apple trees was just plain fun! I got to see things so differently from above those roof tops. No winding run to get to what-her-name's pond for fishing, just up and over! The distances around SW are familiar but shorter compared to say Icecrown.
I'm still frustrated that I can't learn my Feathered Lure! I bought and paid for it and as far as I can tell, I meet the pre-requisites, but apparently it's bugged.
Another change I'm adjusting to is the new laptop. I shouldn't get too used to it since Syylia is taking it away with her soon, but I got the Identity add-on installed. It's just too convenient to use the nice fast new machine. Cataclysm is up and working on both of the other laptops, but I can't resist the shiny new thing. The problem is my fingers can't seem to find some of the keys. I'm spending far too much time in combat hunting for what should be natural. And I've never taken a screenshot because that key sequence is just wrong for the layout.
I'm glad I have the Find Fish ability. As a Mage, Enchanter/Tailor, I'm not tracking anything else and there hasn't been any competition over fishing pools in Hyjal. I'll grab those [Mountain Trout] at every opportunity. Sometimes it's a bit surreal, quietly fishing in a stream while Elemental Fire is raining down on the other side of the creek. There was one bugged pool in a cave. I kept getting flagged as "In Combat" and it wouldn't allow me to switch back to my fighting clothes.
Syylia experimented with Archaeology first and I only started with it last night. I wasn't ready to jump back into questing and thought it'd be a change of pace. My map showed two sites in Stranglethorn and two in Wetlands. I took the opportunity to pick up new flight paths in Wetlands while finding my first few Dwarven pieces. Cleaning out those two sites gave me a new node in southern Hillsbrad, so I grabbed those too. Instead of heading south, I decided I'd give Kalimdor a try. Supposedly, there's a chance for Tol'vir discoveries. My first two sites were in Felwood and Winterspring. My next two were both in Desolace. All four sites yielded Night Elf pieces and my skill is at 22. It'll be a slow grind, but it made for an interesting break.
All those unusable quest greens have already allowed me to start accumulating some disenchantment action. My skill is still a bit short of the old max 450, so I need to work on that sometime.
I've been selling ten [Netherweave Bags] for around 20g each every day this week. That's about all that's moving on the Auction House.
So how's your experience going?
What I've been doing has pretty much been the same as other folks: levelling my level 80 towards 85 and/or levelling a newer toon through the changed Azeroth. There are a few things to note.
I almost squeeled with glee doing the dailies in Stormwind. I wanted a break from questing in Hyjal, so I ported into the Mage's Tower, stopped at the top of the spiral ramp and hopped on my mount. I flew over to Robby Flay to pick up King's Cider and hopped back on my mount. I floated across the canal to grab the fishing daily. Flying between apple trees was just plain fun! I got to see things so differently from above those roof tops. No winding run to get to what-her-name's pond for fishing, just up and over! The distances around SW are familiar but shorter compared to say Icecrown.
I'm still frustrated that I can't learn my Feathered Lure! I bought and paid for it and as far as I can tell, I meet the pre-requisites, but apparently it's bugged.
Another change I'm adjusting to is the new laptop. I shouldn't get too used to it since Syylia is taking it away with her soon, but I got the Identity add-on installed. It's just too convenient to use the nice fast new machine. Cataclysm is up and working on both of the other laptops, but I can't resist the shiny new thing. The problem is my fingers can't seem to find some of the keys. I'm spending far too much time in combat hunting for what should be natural. And I've never taken a screenshot because that key sequence is just wrong for the layout.
I'm glad I have the Find Fish ability. As a Mage, Enchanter/Tailor, I'm not tracking anything else and there hasn't been any competition over fishing pools in Hyjal. I'll grab those [Mountain Trout] at every opportunity. Sometimes it's a bit surreal, quietly fishing in a stream while Elemental Fire is raining down on the other side of the creek. There was one bugged pool in a cave. I kept getting flagged as "In Combat" and it wouldn't allow me to switch back to my fighting clothes.
Syylia experimented with Archaeology first and I only started with it last night. I wasn't ready to jump back into questing and thought it'd be a change of pace. My map showed two sites in Stranglethorn and two in Wetlands. I took the opportunity to pick up new flight paths in Wetlands while finding my first few Dwarven pieces. Cleaning out those two sites gave me a new node in southern Hillsbrad, so I grabbed those too. Instead of heading south, I decided I'd give Kalimdor a try. Supposedly, there's a chance for Tol'vir discoveries. My first two sites were in Felwood and Winterspring. My next two were both in Desolace. All four sites yielded Night Elf pieces and my skill is at 22. It'll be a slow grind, but it made for an interesting break.
All those unusable quest greens have already allowed me to start accumulating some disenchantment action. My skill is still a bit short of the old max 450, so I need to work on that sometime.
I've been selling ten [Netherweave Bags] for around 20g each every day this week. That's about all that's moving on the Auction House.
So how's your experience going?
Razuvious - 27 Oct 2010
I'm still enjoying Martuska instead of Kallixta. I managed to select talent points for the Paladin and practice the new rotation with a dummy, but Hallow's End gave me the excuse to concentrate on Achievements with the Mage.
Martuska has been playing Treat or Treat since the holiday started and last night the Headless Horseman kill dropped the Hallowed Helm, allowing completion of Hallowed By Thy Name. My excuse is gone and I need to return to Kallixta soon.
Meanwhile, I got to join the weekly raid last night, Razuvious in Naxxramas. We were overpowered, even me despite never having entered Naxx before, and it was as straight-forward as anything I'd seen. It was difficult for me to see who was doing the mind-control. My job was just burning down the boss. I was a little surprised to see how much damage came my way and my Ice Barrier was quickly burned away, but the heals kept me up. The run went so quick, I wish I asked if we could complete the quarter, but I stayed quiet.
We followed the raid with a quick 5-man heroic guild run. The RNG sent us to Utgarde Pinnacle for my third visit. I knew better, but didn't get out of Skadi's whirlwind quick enough. I hestitated in blinking away and didn't do my share in earning the achievements that came my way: Lodi Dodi We Loves the Skadi and My Girl Loves to Skadi All the Time.
The wealth of Justice Points meant a visit to Rueben and my second Tier 10 piece, legs this time. I remembered to enchant them and bought some gems (still concentrating on Hit Rating), but I forgot to enchant my new ring I got from the Headless Horseman earlier. I only noticed this morning and it has reminded me I need to send Syylia enchantments for all her new Iceborne gear.
Martuska has been playing Treat or Treat since the holiday started and last night the Headless Horseman kill dropped the Hallowed Helm, allowing completion of Hallowed By Thy Name. My excuse is gone and I need to return to Kallixta soon.
Meanwhile, I got to join the weekly raid last night, Razuvious in Naxxramas. We were overpowered, even me despite never having entered Naxx before, and it was as straight-forward as anything I'd seen. It was difficult for me to see who was doing the mind-control. My job was just burning down the boss. I was a little surprised to see how much damage came my way and my Ice Barrier was quickly burned away, but the heals kept me up. The run went so quick, I wish I asked if we could complete the quarter, but I stayed quiet.
We followed the raid with a quick 5-man heroic guild run. The RNG sent us to Utgarde Pinnacle for my third visit. I knew better, but didn't get out of Skadi's whirlwind quick enough. I hestitated in blinking away and didn't do my share in earning the achievements that came my way: Lodi Dodi We Loves the Skadi and My Girl Loves to Skadi All the Time.
The wealth of Justice Points meant a visit to Rueben and my second Tier 10 piece, legs this time. I remembered to enchant them and bought some gems (still concentrating on Hit Rating), but I forgot to enchant my new ring I got from the Headless Horseman earlier. I only noticed this morning and it has reminded me I need to send Syylia enchantments for all her new Iceborne gear.
Adjusting to 4.0.1 - 12 Oct 2010
Only half of the Add-ons were available, but I was yearning to experiment and start the adjustments, at least with Martuska.
Mana Obscura supplied a reasonable guide for the first night. The talent tree as designed by Blizzard means the theorycrafters aren't ready to declare a single perfect talent. Instead I could relay on my own judgement! I'm frost and I concentrated on Single Target DPS. I'll need to redo, but it's not horrible.
I fixed my action bars and reviewed my macros and then I wanted to test it out. I grabbed the Tournament Dailies and tested the new build on some bad guys. Up until yesterday Recount was telling me I was getting between 1300 and 1500 DPS. Recount was now showing occasional bursts over 3000!? I was burning mobs too quick to see if they were hitting much harder. The new Poweraura looks are distracting, but I don't expect that to last.
I even burned Chillmaw very quick. I had an issue equiping the correct lance, but eventually I got the Commanders and turned in 4 quests and it was time to visit a city.
I trained Mastery and Wizardy, confirmed my equipment and enchants was still in order. I found I need to either load Auctionator or avoid the AH for a bit. Thus I'm not touching my Glyphs today. I found how cheap it is to reforged any spirit. I next tested myself on the Dummies and confirmed that while the numbers were spikey, I was often doing over 3000 DPS.
Thus it came that I decided to try a random non-heroic. Wow! Insta-queue as DPS? Uh oh, I got an unfamiliar loading screen! Pit of Saron? Well, everybody else was still adjusting right? I'm sure I wouldn't be the poorest. We had somebody d/c every other minute for a bit, but it was never the tank or healer. I stuck just behind the tank and felt I was doing my part. Two bosses went down quick. We'd been stable for a bit and then the healer d/c'd. The paladin tank decided to try tackling trash and he managed fine until the healer returned. We had some nasty lag, but everybody was feeling pretty good. I was very happy to be doing this well and comforted by my recount numbers that I was doing my job. My AoE DPS on trash was nothing exciting though. And a few minutes later, Pit of Saron was complete!
I had not won much and missed on my greed on the cloak. The healer commiserated on my loss and the tank and healer invited me to continue. The insta-queue next dropped us in the Forge of Souls. At least I had a better idea of what I was doing. When I found myself standing in Bronjahm's Soulstorm, I blinked into the center, happily. Another few minutes and the Devourer went down. I still missed winning anything, but I'd been on long enough and stopped there for the night.
After some shopping with my new justice points weighing in my pocket, I was convinced to buy a T10 piece, since it wasn't that much more than a T9 piece. I got the shoulders as being a cheaper piece that was a significant upgrade. I grabbed a gem, but further research hints I should swap. I need to push towards hitcap a bit more.
The guild moved their raid on the weekly to tonight and they seem willing to let me come. It's Razorscale and I'm not quite geared for Ulduar. I don't want to be carried, but I spent time today understanding the tactics, just in case.
Mana Obscura supplied a reasonable guide for the first night. The talent tree as designed by Blizzard means the theorycrafters aren't ready to declare a single perfect talent. Instead I could relay on my own judgement! I'm frost and I concentrated on Single Target DPS. I'll need to redo, but it's not horrible.
I fixed my action bars and reviewed my macros and then I wanted to test it out. I grabbed the Tournament Dailies and tested the new build on some bad guys. Up until yesterday Recount was telling me I was getting between 1300 and 1500 DPS. Recount was now showing occasional bursts over 3000!? I was burning mobs too quick to see if they were hitting much harder. The new Poweraura looks are distracting, but I don't expect that to last.
I even burned Chillmaw very quick. I had an issue equiping the correct lance, but eventually I got the Commanders and turned in 4 quests and it was time to visit a city.
I trained Mastery and Wizardy, confirmed my equipment and enchants was still in order. I found I need to either load Auctionator or avoid the AH for a bit. Thus I'm not touching my Glyphs today. I found how cheap it is to reforged any spirit. I next tested myself on the Dummies and confirmed that while the numbers were spikey, I was often doing over 3000 DPS.
Thus it came that I decided to try a random non-heroic. Wow! Insta-queue as DPS? Uh oh, I got an unfamiliar loading screen! Pit of Saron? Well, everybody else was still adjusting right? I'm sure I wouldn't be the poorest. We had somebody d/c every other minute for a bit, but it was never the tank or healer. I stuck just behind the tank and felt I was doing my part. Two bosses went down quick. We'd been stable for a bit and then the healer d/c'd. The paladin tank decided to try tackling trash and he managed fine until the healer returned. We had some nasty lag, but everybody was feeling pretty good. I was very happy to be doing this well and comforted by my recount numbers that I was doing my job. My AoE DPS on trash was nothing exciting though. And a few minutes later, Pit of Saron was complete!
I had not won much and missed on my greed on the cloak. The healer commiserated on my loss and the tank and healer invited me to continue. The insta-queue next dropped us in the Forge of Souls. At least I had a better idea of what I was doing. When I found myself standing in Bronjahm's Soulstorm, I blinked into the center, happily. Another few minutes and the Devourer went down. I still missed winning anything, but I'd been on long enough and stopped there for the night.
After some shopping with my new justice points weighing in my pocket, I was convinced to buy a T10 piece, since it wasn't that much more than a T9 piece. I got the shoulders as being a cheaper piece that was a significant upgrade. I grabbed a gem, but further research hints I should swap. I need to push towards hitcap a bit more.
The guild moved their raid on the weekly to tonight and they seem willing to let me come. It's Razorscale and I'm not quite geared for Ulduar. I don't want to be carried, but I spent time today understanding the tactics, just in case.
Sidestep for Brewfest
Kallixta is about leveling, not achievements. She is about exploring different things. I already have one character that has been collecting mounts, pets and achievements, especially holidays. So when Brewfest 2010 started, I started playing Martuska for all those lovely Brewfest Achievements. When I discovered the advantages of daily visiting Corin, however, something else happened. Not only was I grinding Brewfest Tokens, but I was picking up 2 Emblems of Frost a day, and unlike Larísa, I was smiling.
The thing about this Emblem giveaway, it enticed me to relearn Martuska and enjoy her. I got her to level 80, but she stopped being fun. So while visiting her daily, I also spent some brain sweat figuring out how to upgrade her. I skill leveled her Tailoring and made myself Ebonweave Robes and Gloves and a Hat of Wintry Doom. I spent some Stone Keeper Shards before they disappear. Her Gear Number at Wowhead went from 1469 last month to 1802 now. I improved her Hit Rating to something respectable, at least for Heroic 5-mans. In fact, wow-heroes thinks she's ready of Naxx and OS.
Last night Martuska officially joined Saga and with 2 guild mates, we joined the random queue and ended up doing Heroic AN. I spent way too much time trying to target the desired mob and of course was low on DPS, but I don't think I did horribly.
Now with patch 4.0.1 due soon, I'll probably continue exercising Martuska until after I adjust to those changes.
The thing about this Emblem giveaway, it enticed me to relearn Martuska and enjoy her. I got her to level 80, but she stopped being fun. So while visiting her daily, I also spent some brain sweat figuring out how to upgrade her. I skill leveled her Tailoring and made myself Ebonweave Robes and Gloves and a Hat of Wintry Doom. I spent some Stone Keeper Shards before they disappear. Her Gear Number at Wowhead went from 1469 last month to 1802 now. I improved her Hit Rating to something respectable, at least for Heroic 5-mans. In fact, wow-heroes thinks she's ready of Naxx and OS.
Last night Martuska officially joined Saga and with 2 guild mates, we joined the random queue and ended up doing Heroic AN. I spent way too much time trying to target the desired mob and of course was low on DPS, but I don't think I did horribly.
Now with patch 4.0.1 due soon, I'll probably continue exercising Martuska until after I adjust to those changes.
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