Kallifornia writes in her diary. That she's allowing others to read these entries implies she might share other pages, but don't hold your breath.
I found myself joined with another rag-tag group, this time adventuring into Scholomance. This was a place I had seen a map of, once. That's about all the whims of the Elements bothered to inform me of my fate. I was curious how patient this band might be and got my first clue as some charged off before I managed to talk to Weldon Barov and someone else that might have been helpful.
Well, that's how it is somedays and Karma will be a bitch. I wasn't the one to make with the negative thoughts, so I tried to catch up. That's how the whole trip was. I was always playing catch up, even when I'd ask for time to drink. While on occasion, the party would wait for me, more often they didn't. I'd rarely get halfway through my Moonberry Juice before I'd be on my feet again. I used a whole stack of juice in the adventure! I suppose I'll be needing to make a bigger deal in my unhappiness over such treatment, but I didn't be wanting to make waves.
I should make a bigger deal about how sometimes my actions as a healer attracted more notice than the flashy show put on by the tank. Why was I being seen as such a threat? But it didn't happen often enough and when it did, most of the time the tank would notice. Unfortunately, not all the time. Let *that* be a lesson to our tank! What good is a healer that's lying dead on the floor, eh?
I concluded our tank is a slow learner. After he lost the roll for some fancy pants, he whined and begged to the pants holder so badly, and wouldn't continue the fight, that the poor beggee had enough of it and left!
The final battle was with the Darkmaster Gandling. I was not prepared for being banished to a side cell and healing from there while these skeletons nibbled on me. Closing down the school gave me a reward, as did a satchel, but neither were improvements. That's when I realized my greed failed to ever reward me. Somebody else had also needed our trophies.
While I've learned my skills will keep our party alive, I'll need to speak about what will make me happy.
Showing posts with label 40-49. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 40-49. Show all posts
Low level dailies, part 4
Low level dailies experiment
You can read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Low level dailies experiment.
Around 6 weeks ago, Aldonza was level 42. She has been travelling between the Alliance capitals, cooking and fishing the dailies and gloating over how much gold she squeezes from the Auction House. Her progress has slowed down as these quests make a smaller contribution to the XP she needs for a new level. She is now level 46. Achievements are not being directly pursued, but rather signposts of her journey.
Winter Veil arrived in a cacophany of a crowd in Ironforge. They spilled forth, surrounding Grandfather Winter and otherwise providing an obstacle course, occluding her path between the bank and the auction house. As happened the year before, a frown donned Aldonza's face for the season, "Bah! What are they expecting? Something different?"
As she shuffled through her mail, sorting and comparing to her notes, her own words echoed in her head: something different, something different. She looked up from her work, preparing to return to the auction house, and felt her frustration fire up again. -It isn't going to be different. And they don't want anything different. They'd pay good gold to keep it the same.- Her jog falters as she negotiates the bridge. Thoughts of gold and how to gather more always burn brighter in her mind. "Bah! I blame the noise for forgetting this is another good opportunity for profit."
Aldonza's notes remindes her that eggs for cookies were especially good last year. Her instincts also lead her to check for new opportunities. What might have changed? Well, she was an improved cook this year. In fact, there were some other cookies that had excellent potential. And she had working diligently developing a perfect source for the cocoa beans!
There was another skill that had recently been showing slow yet steady improvement. Her fishing hadn't had any easy boosts, but had been rising frequently as she found opportunity fulfilling the daily needs of one or another capital.
You can read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Low level dailies experiment.
Around 6 weeks ago, Aldonza was level 42. She has been travelling between the Alliance capitals, cooking and fishing the dailies and gloating over how much gold she squeezes from the Auction House. Her progress has slowed down as these quests make a smaller contribution to the XP she needs for a new level. She is now level 46. Achievements are not being directly pursued, but rather signposts of her journey.
Winter Veil arrived in a cacophany of a crowd in Ironforge. They spilled forth, surrounding Grandfather Winter and otherwise providing an obstacle course, occluding her path between the bank and the auction house. As happened the year before, a frown donned Aldonza's face for the season, "Bah! What are they expecting? Something different?"
As she shuffled through her mail, sorting and comparing to her notes, her own words echoed in her head: something different, something different. She looked up from her work, preparing to return to the auction house, and felt her frustration fire up again. -It isn't going to be different. And they don't want anything different. They'd pay good gold to keep it the same.- Her jog falters as she negotiates the bridge. Thoughts of gold and how to gather more always burn brighter in her mind. "Bah! I blame the noise for forgetting this is another good opportunity for profit."
Aldonza's notes remindes her that eggs for cookies were especially good last year. Her instincts also lead her to check for new opportunities. What might have changed? Well, she was an improved cook this year. In fact, there were some other cookies that had excellent potential. And she had working diligently developing a perfect source for the cocoa beans!
- Illustrious Grand Master Cook 12/26/2011
There was another skill that had recently been showing slow yet steady improvement. Her fishing hadn't had any easy boosts, but had been rising frequently as she found opportunity fulfilling the daily needs of one or another capital.
- Master Fisherman 12/27/2011
Low level dailies, part 3
You might want to read Part 1 and Part 2
When last I updated news of my test subject, Aldonza was level 34 and I'd found a comfortable groove popping between capitals, running the cooking and fishing dailies and making gold from the Auction House. My time on WoW can be haphazard. I was only visiting Aldonza a couple times each week, typically, but she was making steady progress.
When last I updated news of my test subject, Aldonza was level 34 and I'd found a comfortable groove popping between capitals, running the cooking and fishing dailies and making gold from the Auction House. My time on WoW can be haphazard. I was only visiting Aldonza a couple times each week, typically, but she was making steady progress.
Regular progress yielded some achievements just due to their accumulative nature:
- Professional Artisan 9/17/2011
- Artisan Fisherman 9/30/2011
- 100 Cooking Awards 10/22/2011
- Lunch Lady 11/20/2011
- Artisan Cook 11/22/2011
- Level 40 11/25/2011
- Master Cook 11/25/2011
- 1000 Fish 11/26/2011
- 200 Daily Quests Complete 12/4/2011
- Journeyman in First Aid 12/4/2011
- Grand Master Cook 12/4/2011
- One That Didn't Get Away 12/4/2011
- Now We're Cookin' 11/20/2011
- Pilgrim's Paunch 11/20/2011
- Pilgrim's Progress 11/22/2011
- Come One, Come All! 12/4/2011
- Quick Shot 12/4/2011
- I Was Promised a Pony 12/4/2011
- Taking the Show on the Road 12/4/2011
- Step Right Up 12/4/2011
Day Forty Four - 15 Jan 2011
Searing Gorge
Kallixta found plenty of time to play on Saturday, flying to Thorium Point to start some quests. Martuska never spent much time in the Plaguelands questing, but I could still remember running around Searing Gorge. I would be able to compare the changes from the Shattering. One of those changes was the added fun of Lunk's search for adventure!
While silly, it didn't really make the quests easier or harder, just more fun. I noticed that while terrain and random mobs were mostly familiar, the quests were vastly changed. I managed 22 / 35 towards Searing Gorge Quests before deciding I wanted to follow Ding85's quest guide in Tanaris. So I finished what I needed for Explore Searing Gorge and moved on.
Tanaris
This was another location where I still had memory of questing, so I could see the minor differences in all those pirate quests. The layout was enjoyable it is seemed to take little time to complete both Tanaris Quests and Explore Tanaris! Again there were some quests that were just fun!
Before I logged off for the day, I had the Level 50 achievement, level 52 without any achievement, and settled in at the new Marshal's Stand camp in Un'Goro Crater.
Kallixta found plenty of time to play on Saturday, flying to Thorium Point to start some quests. Martuska never spent much time in the Plaguelands questing, but I could still remember running around Searing Gorge. I would be able to compare the changes from the Shattering. One of those changes was the added fun of Lunk's search for adventure!
While silly, it didn't really make the quests easier or harder, just more fun. I noticed that while terrain and random mobs were mostly familiar, the quests were vastly changed. I managed 22 / 35 towards Searing Gorge Quests before deciding I wanted to follow Ding85's quest guide in Tanaris. So I finished what I needed for Explore Searing Gorge and moved on.
Tanaris
This was another location where I still had memory of questing, so I could see the minor differences in all those pirate quests. The layout was enjoyable it is seemed to take little time to complete both Tanaris Quests and Explore Tanaris! Again there were some quests that were just fun!
Before I logged off for the day, I had the Level 50 achievement, level 52 without any achievement, and settled in at the new Marshal's Stand camp in Un'Goro Crater.
Day Forty Three - 14 Jan 2011
I measured my interests in pursuing Classic Dungeonmaster at level versus just leveling asap. I'd already missed Maraudon and I discovered that leveling by LFD just isn't as quick anymore. The revamped quest story lines from Cataclysm made fast leveling fun and it was all still new to me. It doesn't preclude visits to the LFD queue in future, but I thought I'd give PvE a stronger try. This weekend sure was an eye-opener!
Eastern Plaguelands
It really didn't take long to finish Eastern Plaguelands Quests and I was a bit puzzled why Full Caravan didn't pop. I ensured I got Beezil, the last missing caravan member and looking saw that all characters were checked off. Consulting wowhead's comments showed there were bugs. As of now, I'm missing Fiona despite having her earlier! There is an outstanding known issue, so I won't worry about it. It's not like Kallixta is that worried about Achievements. Where to next?
Badlands
Kallixta had earlier followed the call quest that gave her a rocket ride to the initial Badlands questing hub. She ran through a few, including the hilarious Goat Nudging quest! I didn't notice the timed achievement before moving on. I was already out-leveling the badlands and wanted to move on. I managed to finish Explore Badlands before continuing west.
Searing Gorge
Kallixta didn't bother completing any of the quests at the initial hub on the Badlands border, but just hurried on to Thorium Point. She had leveled to 48 and I wanted to fly to Ironforge and do a bit of administration, like training. I actually continued on to Stormwind and did the fishing and cooking quests, picking up 5 Daily Quests by accident. It all made for a good stopping point for a Friday Night.
Eastern Plaguelands
It really didn't take long to finish Eastern Plaguelands Quests and I was a bit puzzled why Full Caravan didn't pop. I ensured I got Beezil, the last missing caravan member and looking saw that all characters were checked off. Consulting wowhead's comments showed there were bugs. As of now, I'm missing Fiona despite having her earlier! There is an outstanding known issue, so I won't worry about it. It's not like Kallixta is that worried about Achievements. Where to next?
Badlands
Kallixta had earlier followed the call quest that gave her a rocket ride to the initial Badlands questing hub. She ran through a few, including the hilarious Goat Nudging quest! I didn't notice the timed achievement before moving on. I was already out-leveling the badlands and wanted to move on. I managed to finish Explore Badlands before continuing west.
Searing Gorge
Kallixta didn't bother completing any of the quests at the initial hub on the Badlands border, but just hurried on to Thorium Point. She had leveled to 48 and I wanted to fly to Ironforge and do a bit of administration, like training. I actually continued on to Stormwind and did the fishing and cooking quests, picking up 5 Daily Quests by accident. It all made for a good stopping point for a Friday Night.
Day Forty Two - 8 Jan 2011
Dire Maul - East
I was still trying to find the Imp, Pusillin, but it was clear nobody else had bothered to research the dungeon. They were all set to go on and already complaining about how long the dungeon was taking! We got to the dead end of the Hidden Reach without finding the Imp, as I tried to explain how we should have been following him. Nobody remembers talking to him. I led the group back to Hydrospawn and the other middle bosses, who all seemed to fall quickly enough to me, but not quickly enough for some puggers that dropped group.
Partial Achievements:
Professions
Besides the levelling, Kallixta also did a bunch of crafting. Aldonza managed to pick up a bunch of very cheap mithril ore and with the level change, I knew I could improve some of my crafted armor. After smelting the mithril, and with Aldonza help, I also grabbed some cheap Thorium and Truesilver. This resulted in my Mining improving up to 288 / 300. As a reminder, Kallixta is currently on a vanilla WoW account and can't train Master Mining until I buy Burning Crusade.
I had hopes that my research had prepared me for Dire Maul - East, aka Warpwood Quarter. The group wasn't much for talking as we gathered all those initial quests. The second quest giver was far enough over that someone drew a mob and before I was really ready, we were off and running. I think that must have been how we missed the imp.
Just as we rounded the next corner, the healer stated he needed to go AFK for a few minutes, but I didn't notice and I don't know that anybody else did, until the next mob pack hit us and I died faster than I could hit 'lay on hands'. The healer was far enough behind that he survived the wipe. Since I had missed the message, I didn't want to complain too much. I hadn't finished recovering my mana before we were back to fighting mobs. This and the time since my last dungeon are my excuses for forgetting about Righteous Defense for the next couple mob groups. That was even more embarassing than the death.I was still trying to find the Imp, Pusillin, but it was clear nobody else had bothered to research the dungeon. They were all set to go on and already complaining about how long the dungeon was taking! We got to the dead end of the Hidden Reach without finding the Imp, as I tried to explain how we should have been following him. Nobody remembers talking to him. I led the group back to Hydrospawn and the other middle bosses, who all seemed to fall quickly enough to me, but not quickly enough for some puggers that dropped group.
Nobody else knew that we needed to chat with Old Ironbark to get him to break down the door. We backtracked to the courtyard, somehow missing the stairs that led there. We dropped down into the courtyard and I found the old Ancient and got him pointed in the right direction. It didn't take long after that before Alzzin fell. I had gotten Waveslicer from Hydrospawn, which will help with my PvE questing, but nothing dropped for a tank.
I was trying to run back to the quest givers, but the route wasn't obvious. Luckily the last party member hadn't dropped group before reminding me that I could just "Leave Dungeon" and return back at the beginning! Doh!
Hopefully, I'm learning from all these little mistakes. And finally, I didn't get an achievement for this run, merely one step in the King of Dire Maul achievement.
Eastern Plaguelands Questing
With the dust cleared off and the reminder of the importance of a tank to research a dungeon before I queued for something else, I decided to do a bit of questing. I ran through the first half of the Eastern Plaguelands storyline, getting to Light's Hope Chapel and level 46! It's much, much faster to level by questing now. I need to dungeon to ensure my tanking skills stay current, but my interest in running to 85 is by most any means right now.Partial Achievements:
Professions
Besides the levelling, Kallixta also did a bunch of crafting. Aldonza managed to pick up a bunch of very cheap mithril ore and with the level change, I knew I could improve some of my crafted armor. After smelting the mithril, and with Aldonza help, I also grabbed some cheap Thorium and Truesilver. This resulted in my Mining improving up to 288 / 300. As a reminder, Kallixta is currently on a vanilla WoW account and can't train Master Mining until I buy Burning Crusade.
With all this mithril and thorium, I also improved my Blacksmithing. I knocked off a bunch of inexpensive mithril plate items that I don't expect to get full return on the investment. Aldonza did pay 200 gold for the Mithril Shield Spike plans and I pumped out a few of those, albeit not for skill leveling. I wanted at least one spike for myself foremost and I think I can probably pay back the investment in the recipe. With the Truesilver bars, I produced a bunch of enchater's rods. I expect a profit there as I post one or two at a time. Finally, I've started making some of the Thorium items. I equipped the belt and chest piece already and have another piece crafted, but banked until I ding again. This all led me to level Blacksmithing up to 265 / 300. I shouldn't need to tinker with this much more until after I upgrade the account.
Equipment
I've already mentioned the Thorium Belt and Armor plus the Wyrmslayer Spaulders before. I recently picked up Omarion's Gift on one of those Eastern Plagueland quests, filling in my second trinket. She qualifies as 'all plate' now, something I hadn't paid close attention to until now. The new Armory tells me she averages equipment level 41 and only 3 items are unenchanted: head, shoulders and 1-hand weapon.
 |
| Kallixta with her new equipment, not that you can see the armor and belt |
Next Steps
I want to complete these and the other two wings of Dire Maul, but I need to remind myself, they are mandatory. Kallixta isn't the completionist! Meanwhile, I'll research the other two wings of Dire Maul, plus Scholomance and Stratholme. I'm looking forward to playing with Kallixta after all this time!
Days Thirty Seven to Forty One - December 2010
Day Thirty Seven - 26 Nov 2010
Kallixta managed a brief appearances for Pilgrim's Bounty. The show was not for the purpose of achievements, although she did manage Sharing is Caring. The purpose was to take advantage of the unique opportunity to increase her cooking skill. Just by bouncing between the capitals, I managed to run her cooking up to 300, the highest she can get at this time. To learn Master level cooking, I'll need to upgrade her account to include Burning Crusade.
A side effect of accomplishing some of those Pilgrim's Bounty quests was to ding level 42!
Day Thirty Eight - 6 Dec 2010
Kayyos cycled through most of our characters to ensure they got the WoW's 6th Anniversary achievement, including Kallixta.
Day Thirty Nine - 21 Dec 2010
I had been researching the new Protection rotation and some macros to support the change. Until these were done and practiced, I'm avoiding Kallixta. With the holiday time, I thought I'd give it some time. While logged on, I realized she's riding slower than needed, so I grabbed Fast and Furious, journeyman riding.
Day Forty - 25 Dec 2010
Merry Christmas! While the kids were playing things like Epic Mickey, noone was on the laptop this afternoon. It gave me a chance to do things like open presents online! He knows If You've Been Naughty.
Day Forty One - 27 Dec 2010
After practicing with the new macros and rotation, I wanted to put it to use. Reviewing Kallixta's equipment and enchants, I realized I still had mail on her Wrist, Waist and Feet! While working at correcting this, I spotted Wyrmslayer Spaulders for cheap on the Auction House.
Ready for adventure, I discovered I've levelled out of Pristine Waters! I needed to research the other dungeons before attempting to tank.
Kallixta managed a brief appearances for Pilgrim's Bounty. The show was not for the purpose of achievements, although she did manage Sharing is Caring. The purpose was to take advantage of the unique opportunity to increase her cooking skill. Just by bouncing between the capitals, I managed to run her cooking up to 300, the highest she can get at this time. To learn Master level cooking, I'll need to upgrade her account to include Burning Crusade.
A side effect of accomplishing some of those Pilgrim's Bounty quests was to ding level 42!
Day Thirty Eight - 6 Dec 2010
Kayyos cycled through most of our characters to ensure they got the WoW's 6th Anniversary achievement, including Kallixta.
Day Thirty Nine - 21 Dec 2010
I had been researching the new Protection rotation and some macros to support the change. Until these were done and practiced, I'm avoiding Kallixta. With the holiday time, I thought I'd give it some time. While logged on, I realized she's riding slower than needed, so I grabbed Fast and Furious, journeyman riding.
Day Forty - 25 Dec 2010
Merry Christmas! While the kids were playing things like Epic Mickey, noone was on the laptop this afternoon. It gave me a chance to do things like open presents online! He knows If You've Been Naughty.
Day Forty One - 27 Dec 2010
After practicing with the new macros and rotation, I wanted to put it to use. Reviewing Kallixta's equipment and enchants, I realized I still had mail on her Wrist, Waist and Feet! While working at correcting this, I spotted Wyrmslayer Spaulders for cheap on the Auction House.
Ready for adventure, I discovered I've levelled out of Pristine Waters! I needed to research the other dungeons before attempting to tank.
Day Thirty Six - 7 Nov 2010
Maraudon
I first deliberately selected Maraudon Purple. My action bar and macros need improvement as I'm positive I wasn't taking full advantage of the optimal rotation. A warrior DPS kept playing "Off Tank" and pulled or played threat games. It wasn't much fun, but I needed to concentrate on my own duties and let him play his own games. The run was fast, but confusing and nothing fun dropped. I did ding level 41.
I spent a bit of time rewriting macros and redoing the action bars. I had hopes it would be an improvement. This time I allowed RND to determine my dungeon, even if it meant orange or Zul'farak. Instead it returned me to Maraudon Purple. I knew better where to go, but this time I had an overeager and overpowered Rogue that wanted to lead. Things were still confusing although I was doing much better DPS. I wasn't doing any better at managing threat and lost one DPS when he pulled something away from me and I didn't notice until getting ready for the next pull and saw he was dead. The healer was just starting to rez him when I got to him. The rogue was heading on by himself, but survived his solo pull.
In our eagerness, we had passed the boss and needed to backtrack. As an encounter, it went the smoothest since I didn't need to worry much about AoE threat issues. Nothing dropped for me and even the blue bag was a Tumultuous Ring that didn't match my needs.
I first deliberately selected Maraudon Purple. My action bar and macros need improvement as I'm positive I wasn't taking full advantage of the optimal rotation. A warrior DPS kept playing "Off Tank" and pulled or played threat games. It wasn't much fun, but I needed to concentrate on my own duties and let him play his own games. The run was fast, but confusing and nothing fun dropped. I did ding level 41.
I spent a bit of time rewriting macros and redoing the action bars. I had hopes it would be an improvement. This time I allowed RND to determine my dungeon, even if it meant orange or Zul'farak. Instead it returned me to Maraudon Purple. I knew better where to go, but this time I had an overeager and overpowered Rogue that wanted to lead. Things were still confusing although I was doing much better DPS. I wasn't doing any better at managing threat and lost one DPS when he pulled something away from me and I didn't notice until getting ready for the next pull and saw he was dead. The healer was just starting to rez him when I got to him. The rogue was heading on by himself, but survived his solo pull.
In our eagerness, we had passed the boss and needed to backtrack. As an encounter, it went the smoothest since I didn't need to worry much about AoE threat issues. Nothing dropped for me and even the blue bag was a Tumultuous Ring that didn't match my needs.
Day Thirty Five - 2 Nov 2010
Kallixta ran through some of the pre-Cata event quests, including infiltrating the doomsday cultists in Stormwind, stopping just short of level 42. The plan was then to run a dungeon to ding.
But the LFD rolled up Maraudon, which I wasn't ready for. I mentioned in party chat that I probably couldn't navigate it well, and somebody immediately dropped group. I was preparing to consult notes outside of the game (Hots and Dots has excellent dungeon advice), when chat turned negative.
I dropped group. I immediately felt selfish and wanted to apologize. I realized I should have at least said something else before leaving the group. Still, how much guilt is appropriate?
I've since consulted Hots and Dots excellent Maraudon Purple side guide and know it should be a fast run. It's just a single boss. If I'd had a chance to review the page... Oh well. Time moves on.
But the LFD rolled up Maraudon, which I wasn't ready for. I mentioned in party chat that I probably couldn't navigate it well, and somebody immediately dropped group. I was preparing to consult notes outside of the game (Hots and Dots has excellent dungeon advice), when chat turned negative.
I dropped group. I immediately felt selfish and wanted to apologize. I realized I should have at least said something else before leaving the group. Still, how much guilt is appropriate?
I've since consulted Hots and Dots excellent Maraudon Purple side guide and know it should be a fast run. It's just a single boss. If I'd had a chance to review the page... Oh well. Time moves on.
Day Thirty Four - 31 Oct 2010
Macros and Rotation
I had been so overwhelmed the last time I visited Kallixta, that it was easier to enjoy Martuska and let her seek Hallow's End achievements then spend the effort of getting Kallixta back up to speed. I finally tried it last night.
I knew the theory behind the new 3X rotation and found some useful macros at Maintankadin, so I hoped I could brush her off and get levelling again.
Something was wrong, but it wasn't until late that I discovered my real problem. I hadn't correctly specced! I selected Grand Crusader instead of Shield of the Righteous! Argh! I wouldn't fix that until after I'd jumped into the queue for a random dungeon. Most dungeons were SM, so what would the chances be that I'd end up in either Uldaman or Maraudon?
Uldaman
I could run us through the beginning easily enough. And my attempts at rotation put me way on top of the DPS recount. I wasn't losing threat. All good, except I had the suspicion that while I was overpowered, others weren't doing their job.
We got passed Baelog and had Revelosh in our sights when two folks dropped from the group, including whoever had the gem! We weren't going to be doing Ironaya. I got a nice bracer drop from Revelosh and one of the newly joined was a little gnome warrior that could really pack a punch. She knew the path better, so we let he lead a bit. She'd still let me tank the bosses, but proved she didn't need my help on trash. The rest of the run was wonderfully smooth. I didn't need to check my map and we were done in short time. I did discover how big a consumer of mana Consecration is. I'll be leaving that off unless I really need it!
Level 41
Somewhere underground I dinged, but didn't notice. All that rested XP zipped me along nicely, so as I looked at spending my talent point, I discovered the speccing error I had made before. I spent less than 2 gold and started over. That was the best money spent recently! I didn't try rewriting my "Nines" macro yet, but I think I'll enjoy a much better rotation when I return, which will be much sooner!
With the level bump, I could equip the Heavy Mithril Breastplate. I visited the Auction House and picked up a few Rugged Armor Kits cheap and pasted those on anything that qualified. I definately boosted my armor with these changes.
I had been so overwhelmed the last time I visited Kallixta, that it was easier to enjoy Martuska and let her seek Hallow's End achievements then spend the effort of getting Kallixta back up to speed. I finally tried it last night.
I knew the theory behind the new 3X rotation and found some useful macros at Maintankadin, so I hoped I could brush her off and get levelling again.
Something was wrong, but it wasn't until late that I discovered my real problem. I hadn't correctly specced! I selected Grand Crusader instead of Shield of the Righteous! Argh! I wouldn't fix that until after I'd jumped into the queue for a random dungeon. Most dungeons were SM, so what would the chances be that I'd end up in either Uldaman or Maraudon?
Uldaman
I could run us through the beginning easily enough. And my attempts at rotation put me way on top of the DPS recount. I wasn't losing threat. All good, except I had the suspicion that while I was overpowered, others weren't doing their job.
We got passed Baelog and had Revelosh in our sights when two folks dropped from the group, including whoever had the gem! We weren't going to be doing Ironaya. I got a nice bracer drop from Revelosh and one of the newly joined was a little gnome warrior that could really pack a punch. She knew the path better, so we let he lead a bit. She'd still let me tank the bosses, but proved she didn't need my help on trash. The rest of the run was wonderfully smooth. I didn't need to check my map and we were done in short time. I did discover how big a consumer of mana Consecration is. I'll be leaving that off unless I really need it!
Level 41
Somewhere underground I dinged, but didn't notice. All that rested XP zipped me along nicely, so as I looked at spending my talent point, I discovered the speccing error I had made before. I spent less than 2 gold and started over. That was the best money spent recently! I didn't try rewriting my "Nines" macro yet, but I think I'll enjoy a much better rotation when I return, which will be much sooner!
With the level bump, I could equip the Heavy Mithril Breastplate. I visited the Auction House and picked up a few Rugged Armor Kits cheap and pasted those on anything that qualified. I definately boosted my armor with these changes.
Day Thirty Three - 24 Oct 2010
Adjusting to 4.0.1
Everybody already knows what a big change this patch was. I had the difficulty that most attention on adapting was focussed upon level 80 characters, not folks halfway. I trained and specced something in the Protection Talent Tree. I tried putting my spells on my action bar, but discovered way too many, and I didn't understand the new ones.
I did buy Dual Talent, since it is so much cheaper. I'd love to explore healing and the Holy Tree, but that has different gearing and I'll need to train how to mash those buttons. This was an impulse purchase because of the price change and I needed to respec Protection anyway.
I wasn't going to count this day as "Real", because it was just a visit, but I did Trick or Treat, and gained a Sparkling Smile and Experience. Therefore it counts despite the short visit and being intimidated by the changes.
Everybody already knows what a big change this patch was. I had the difficulty that most attention on adapting was focussed upon level 80 characters, not folks halfway. I trained and specced something in the Protection Talent Tree. I tried putting my spells on my action bar, but discovered way too many, and I didn't understand the new ones.
I did buy Dual Talent, since it is so much cheaper. I'd love to explore healing and the Holy Tree, but that has different gearing and I'll need to train how to mash those buttons. This was an impulse purchase because of the price change and I needed to respec Protection anyway.
I wasn't going to count this day as "Real", because it was just a visit, but I did Trick or Treat, and gained a Sparkling Smile and Experience. Therefore it counts despite the short visit and being intimidated by the changes.
Day Thirty Two - 19 Sept 2010
I jumped into the queue and was pulled into the Armory immediately. There was an annoying rogue that would pull and otherwise go,go,go but it was never too large and although I had to work to grab threat back, but it all meant the run went quicker. I wanted to get it over with and we did! Herod's Shoulders dropped yet again. Time for a different SM instance.
To finish the Into the Light quest, I ran the Library instance. This group was much better and we zipped through with happiness. Boom, done.
I spent the next bit of time finishing some quests in Desolace, turning up Combatant Claymore, which was an improvement to the old hammer. When I finally got to Southshore, that quest turn in allowed me to ding 40!
My next step was to Ironforge for the Harvest Festival. I flew back to Southshore and started the hike to Uthor's Tomb. The run to Aerie's Peak was easy enough. There I met fellow guildmember and fellow Dwarf Paladin, Harkalst. He had a special Level 40 Present for me, the full collection of Heavy Mithril armor, which provided me an immediate upgrade. We made a quick dash up the plague mist trail to the back entrance to Uther's Tomb. It made for an interesting role play opportunity, including action with his squire! When I returned to Ironforge to finish the journey, I got my 250th Quest! The day allowed me to get a lot done in a short amount of time. I wish I could have played Sunday, too.
To finish the Into the Light quest, I ran the Library instance. This group was much better and we zipped through with happiness. Boom, done.
I spent the next bit of time finishing some quests in Desolace, turning up Combatant Claymore, which was an improvement to the old hammer. When I finally got to Southshore, that quest turn in allowed me to ding 40!
My next step was to Ironforge for the Harvest Festival. I flew back to Southshore and started the hike to Uthor's Tomb. The run to Aerie's Peak was easy enough. There I met fellow guildmember and fellow Dwarf Paladin, Harkalst. He had a special Level 40 Present for me, the full collection of Heavy Mithril armor, which provided me an immediate upgrade. We made a quick dash up the plague mist trail to the back entrance to Uther's Tomb. It made for an interesting role play opportunity, including action with his squire! When I returned to Ironforge to finish the journey, I got my 250th Quest! The day allowed me to get a lot done in a short amount of time. I wish I could have played Sunday, too.
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