Decided to work on Loremaster before Tuesday hits and I must say, I hope these lower level quests are indicative of how the rest of the expansion will be.
Phasing
Blizzard has taken the phase mechanic and ran with it, with fairly good results. For example, while questing in Stonard, I would pick up the quest from the quest giver, only to run around and find the place suddenly under attack. This was a slick move and was almost seamless.
Notice, I say almost. Phasing isn't a perfect system. Just ask one of my guildies who was unable to complete a quest during a phased portion. But there is ample use of it that I can see being of great use to transition the characters through phases of the quest lines.
Epic Battles
In almost all the zones, there is a culmination of the quests which lead to an epic-style battle of some kind. Be it a huge elemental or some dastardly villian, as I player, I feel like there is a sense of done-ness with these fights. As a level appropriate player, you may not actually wait to see how these stories are fleshed out, but there are often blue quality rewards attached to these fights which gives a little incentive to stay for the fight.
What I also enjoyed about these fights is the fact that the zones often have beginning, middles, and endings. This speaks to the RPG-er in me and keeps me invested in the world of the game. As with anything, the novelty of this can easily wear off by the end of the expansion, but I look forward to what kind of fights they present us as we head towards 85.
Cutscenes
Most people would agree that the Wrathgate cut scene is one of their favorite things about WOTLK. Blizzard recognized that and sprinkled a little of it in many of the revamped zones. Luckily, instead of the high drama, several minutes long scenes, they are really short but help move the quest story along.
What makes it work is that it's dynamic. You aren't just looking at the same pixels, but for a moment taken to a different level of the game.
Humor
Blizzard has a reputation to maintain for it's ability to not take itself too seriously. However, this expansion has a lot of dark undertones and following after Shakespear, Blizz made sure to add characters which offer a lighter side of things. Dwarven congo lines, bragging NPCs, a ghost who asks about Mankrik's wife and a Don Quixote-type are some examples. Some are pretty cool, some are cheesy as heck, but it is well needed when there is so much war and chaos going around.
Bombing runs
When they added bombing runs in BC, it was kind of cool, but often required more than one run though to complete. This time around, they made sure that you are in the air as long as it takes and offer a quick (usually painless) way of getting back to the start. It also seems like the cooldown for whatever explosive/plague/destruction of choice has lowered a bit, making it a quick and dirty method of blowing stuff up. Well needed and I enjoy those quests a lot more. Of course, I am also usually the only one doing them at the time, and my opinion may sour in a couple days.
Some bad news
You didn't think that beloved NPCs wouldn't go unscathed did you? Some grew darker. Some didn't make it through the shattering (which, I recommend visiting a certain grave in U Crator). There is a lot of sorrow, pain and tragedy in Azeroth these days.
The other bad news is there are a lot of changes to how rep is acquired. Some quests and zones which normally gave a certain rep have been replaced, leaving folks who are trying to catch up suddenly lost. If you are one of those who are trying to bring up some rep in the lower zones may have to do some research and digging.
I have lots of screenshots, but will publish them in a separate post. In the meantime...
See you around Azeroth!
Showing posts with label pre-Cata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pre-Cata. Show all posts
Sunday, December 5
Wednesday, November 24
Things to do after the Shattering
Now that the world has changed, there is certainly a fair number of things to work on before "Cattakissem", like getting pets, finishing up titles, etc.
Companion Pets
Warcraftpets.com has the latest on the pets they added with this patch, including one they squeeked in called Tiny Flamefly. Perks N Peeves has recent information on this pet. I will add that once I was done in the Thorium Bros area, I had to head to Flame Crest to pick up the rest of the chain. I didn't get a breadcrumb to go there, so it could easily be missed.
Somehow, this was a convincing disguise for the Blackrock folks.
Fans of Plants verses Zombies may already be prepared to get their Sunflower pet. Guildies who had never played the game before had a bit more of a learning curve for these quests, much to some frustration. Still, kinda neat and a chance to get "Zombies on your Lawn" song stuck in your head.
Fiona in Eastern Plaguelands has a few quests to offer as a set up to get her Lucky Charm buff from the Caravan. Your mileage may vary, as they say, but expect to take a bit of time to get Mr. Grubbs. Interesting sidenote: Slime covered bags from the grubs dropped a new plant: Dragon's Teeth. Well, really it's an old plant called Wintersbite. Not sure why the name change.
Finally, in Darkshore (which looks killer now!) there is a Forsaken in a cave which sells Withers. He shrinks then grows when near water. How cool is that?
Not just Stayin' Alive, but also causing havoc in Darkshore.
Fishing and Cooking
The dailies for these are open and so are the Cata cooking recipes bought with the daily rewards. What I didn't know before was that each daily also rewards skill ups on their corresponding profession. Very handy later.
Debated on working on Limnologist and Oceanographer. It's a lot of fish to catch, which could be be used toward the guild progress in Cata. However, I didn't want to be bogged down by having to back track to Northrend and Outlands. In addition, as a friend pointed out, I would kick myself for not getting Winter Squid now. Would be too easy to skip it until it is too late. Check out El's page for more information on where to catch your fish (link is on the right hand side of the page).
Quests and Loremaster
It is so much easier to see progress now. But oh my, I didn't realize how depressing it would be to see so many zones drop to zero. To start over seems like a drag but I was just too far away from completely finishing it before the patch.
Some of the quests are a bit of a pain to do at max level, like letting a level 6 hit you to poison you for example.
Other things
Don't forget to do take a Joy Ride in Azshera (it's recommended to go North to South) for an easy achievement.
You can't fly in Azeroth, but you can in Dalaran, now.
The new Trollish Cat forms look rather neat! I would seriously consider a race change if I wasn't broke.
The new tabards don't seem to be working properly, but you can get the new Goblin tabard in Org at the Darkspear area. Just look for Frizzo Villamar. (Sorry Alliance, not caught up on my info for you guys. It's exhausting enough to figure out the Horde!)
What are you working on as we head toward the 7th?
Companion Pets
Warcraftpets.com has the latest on the pets they added with this patch, including one they squeeked in called Tiny Flamefly. Perks N Peeves has recent information on this pet. I will add that once I was done in the Thorium Bros area, I had to head to Flame Crest to pick up the rest of the chain. I didn't get a breadcrumb to go there, so it could easily be missed.
Somehow, this was a convincing disguise for the Blackrock folks.Fans of Plants verses Zombies may already be prepared to get their Sunflower pet. Guildies who had never played the game before had a bit more of a learning curve for these quests, much to some frustration. Still, kinda neat and a chance to get "Zombies on your Lawn" song stuck in your head.
Fiona in Eastern Plaguelands has a few quests to offer as a set up to get her Lucky Charm buff from the Caravan. Your mileage may vary, as they say, but expect to take a bit of time to get Mr. Grubbs. Interesting sidenote: Slime covered bags from the grubs dropped a new plant: Dragon's Teeth. Well, really it's an old plant called Wintersbite. Not sure why the name change.
Finally, in Darkshore (which looks killer now!) there is a Forsaken in a cave which sells Withers. He shrinks then grows when near water. How cool is that?
Not just Stayin' Alive, but also causing havoc in Darkshore.Fishing and Cooking
The dailies for these are open and so are the Cata cooking recipes bought with the daily rewards. What I didn't know before was that each daily also rewards skill ups on their corresponding profession. Very handy later.
Debated on working on Limnologist and Oceanographer. It's a lot of fish to catch, which could be be used toward the guild progress in Cata. However, I didn't want to be bogged down by having to back track to Northrend and Outlands. In addition, as a friend pointed out, I would kick myself for not getting Winter Squid now. Would be too easy to skip it until it is too late. Check out El's page for more information on where to catch your fish (link is on the right hand side of the page).
Quests and Loremaster
It is so much easier to see progress now. But oh my, I didn't realize how depressing it would be to see so many zones drop to zero. To start over seems like a drag but I was just too far away from completely finishing it before the patch.
Some of the quests are a bit of a pain to do at max level, like letting a level 6 hit you to poison you for example.
Other things
Don't forget to do take a Joy Ride in Azshera (it's recommended to go North to South) for an easy achievement.
You can't fly in Azeroth, but you can in Dalaran, now.
The new Trollish Cat forms look rather neat! I would seriously consider a race change if I wasn't broke.
The new tabards don't seem to be working properly, but you can get the new Goblin tabard in Org at the Darkspear area. Just look for Frizzo Villamar. (Sorry Alliance, not caught up on my info for you guys. It's exhausting enough to figure out the Horde!)
What are you working on as we head toward the 7th?
Friday, October 29
Checklist
One thing we have learned from past expansions is the significance of preparation. This could mean stockpiling supplies or cleaning out the bank of crap.
Tradeskills
So Kir is a JCer, miner, fisher and chef. Now, if I didn't have mining, I would be stock piling epic gems like crazy. However, knowing that I will be stopping at every node I come across, finding gems won't be a problem. Same with cooking, since fishing and killing things for materials go hand in hand with making food. I can't bring myself to do the dailies so I will just level cooking and fishing together.
I suggest taking a look at your own person time and energy. Since information is still slow to come in for various tradeskills, it may be hard to map out a good leveling plan.
If you fish, save fishing hooks and water walking potions. Since I am not in beta, I don't know how annoying it will be to try reaching certain pools, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
If you don't fish but still cook, it may be worth it to do the cooking dailies if you stopped. Things like Hearty Rhino and Mega Mammoth Meals look to be good until 450 skill but still need spices.
If you use ores, the prices aren't super low yet (at least on my server) so it may be worth it to mine several stacks if you are able. Otherwise, wait for the clearance sale at your local auction house as Cata gets closer.
Herbs are probably still at crazy prices, like they are for my server. Again, if you can get your own flowers, great. Otherwise, bribe a friend or watch the AH.
Books of Glyph Mastery seem to be a hot item as well. I wish I understood inscription better to give any insight.
Bank
Most people have a bank alt for dumping stuff in. Now is a great time to go through it and get rid of things have become obsolete recently to make room for the new stuff. Clear your main bank of outdated things (like any idols you were hanging on to because of their now defunct perks) and start moving some old tradeskill items to an alt.
It looks like the first new bag will be 22 slots, same as the current Glacial bag. Some folks have the cash and already have larger bags. Others have tailor friends or alts. With all this in mind, you may or may not want to wait on upgrading your bags.
A note on Scrolls
Since they changed scrolls to work as a battle elixir, it may not be a bad idea to stock pile those along side foods and potions. Always helpful when working those early dungeons and questing to have a little boost until the better stuff is available.
Changes!
As you may have noticed, I changed the banner. However, as you may have also noticed, I suck at formating and such. While I tweak with things a bit more on the blog, bear (ha) with me.
In the meantime, what are you doing to get ready for leveling?
Tradeskills
So Kir is a JCer, miner, fisher and chef. Now, if I didn't have mining, I would be stock piling epic gems like crazy. However, knowing that I will be stopping at every node I come across, finding gems won't be a problem. Same with cooking, since fishing and killing things for materials go hand in hand with making food. I can't bring myself to do the dailies so I will just level cooking and fishing together.
I suggest taking a look at your own person time and energy. Since information is still slow to come in for various tradeskills, it may be hard to map out a good leveling plan.
If you fish, save fishing hooks and water walking potions. Since I am not in beta, I don't know how annoying it will be to try reaching certain pools, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
If you don't fish but still cook, it may be worth it to do the cooking dailies if you stopped. Things like Hearty Rhino and Mega Mammoth Meals look to be good until 450 skill but still need spices.
If you use ores, the prices aren't super low yet (at least on my server) so it may be worth it to mine several stacks if you are able. Otherwise, wait for the clearance sale at your local auction house as Cata gets closer.
Herbs are probably still at crazy prices, like they are for my server. Again, if you can get your own flowers, great. Otherwise, bribe a friend or watch the AH.
Books of Glyph Mastery seem to be a hot item as well. I wish I understood inscription better to give any insight.
Bank
Most people have a bank alt for dumping stuff in. Now is a great time to go through it and get rid of things have become obsolete recently to make room for the new stuff. Clear your main bank of outdated things (like any idols you were hanging on to because of their now defunct perks) and start moving some old tradeskill items to an alt.
It looks like the first new bag will be 22 slots, same as the current Glacial bag. Some folks have the cash and already have larger bags. Others have tailor friends or alts. With all this in mind, you may or may not want to wait on upgrading your bags.
A note on Scrolls
Since they changed scrolls to work as a battle elixir, it may not be a bad idea to stock pile those along side foods and potions. Always helpful when working those early dungeons and questing to have a little boost until the better stuff is available.
Changes!
As you may have noticed, I changed the banner. However, as you may have also noticed, I suck at formating and such. While I tweak with things a bit more on the blog, bear (ha) with me.
In the meantime, what are you doing to get ready for leveling?
Wednesday, October 13
4 hours of sleep.
Let me first off say that I normally go to bed at 9:00 pm. Last night I went to bed at 2:00 am (ish). Largely this is due to our friend who came over for dinner with the knowledge that the patch wasn't going to be done until 5 o'clock anyway. Seeing no point of rushing to log in we decided: bitching about the patch over a lovely meal > bitching about the patch while dealing with the whole server at once.
Then I promptly went online and the next thing I know, it's past midnight.
I didn't sleep in and figured I would take a nap later today. So, as I write this, I've had about 4 hours of sleep. You'd think it was expansion day or something!
Addon Pain
As with every major patch of this scale, your add ons will suck.
Of course, I totally forgot to fix a major one before doing some heroics and was not happy!
If you can't find the latest Grid you can download it here. It is Ace3 dependent which you can download here.
(Last night the other places like Curse and WoWinterface were not up to date. This probably has changed since this morning)
The new raid UI works very similarly to Grid and is found in the interface options. I sadly am so used to a third party raid window that the only way I would move away from Grid is to get Vuhdo.
I realized this morning that I miss Lifebloomer. I have dot timer but it's not the same as having things in one clean window. If someone knows of a replacement, I would love to know.
Had to update x-perl in order to get that eclipse bar to show on my screen.
WoWInterface posted a list of their updated add ons but there are still some issues.
Ahh remember Vanilla? I do and am amazed at how dependant on mods I have become. For perspective, I am reminded of Dark Legacy Comics. I'm a good healer!
Alts
Ciras enjoyed her new Barrier goodie but I haven't had the time or chance to really flesh out the new stuff like Archangel. Figure the time will eventually come but she is low on the priority list.
Helaina, my lock, however is semi raiding with some other alts from the guild and so I really worked on her late last night. I am disappointed with my Affliction numbers and begrudgingly went to Destro. On the test dummy, it pulled higher numbers for sure. Just when affliction looked like it was holding it's own, things go back down again for them. We shall see; I've been affliction for four years (even when it sucked, I refused to balk) and watching dots is like watching hots for me.
Could very well be gear since she is rather new to 80 and still has some blues (I know!)
Please be kind to your tanks (or Faceroll vs Finesse)
I know it will be hard to keep all those crits and new toys at bay, but if you want to keep tanks around for Cata, for the love of Elune please remember they will have a learning curve. Lum was struggling to keep his threat up and hold all the mobs like he used to in a five man. In his words regarding our up and coming raid tonight "Dps are going to die. Lots." I really don't want to have the dps feel like the healers are just going to save them when they pull agro. Even though we probably can and will, that is not the point and never has been. Wrath has made a lot of things one big faceroll and I would like to see a bit more finesse.
Hmm, getting tired. Maybe it's nap time now?
Then I promptly went online and the next thing I know, it's past midnight.
I didn't sleep in and figured I would take a nap later today. So, as I write this, I've had about 4 hours of sleep. You'd think it was expansion day or something!
Addon Pain
As with every major patch of this scale, your add ons will suck.
Of course, I totally forgot to fix a major one before doing some heroics and was not happy!
If you can't find the latest Grid you can download it here. It is Ace3 dependent which you can download here.
(Last night the other places like Curse and WoWinterface were not up to date. This probably has changed since this morning)
The new raid UI works very similarly to Grid and is found in the interface options. I sadly am so used to a third party raid window that the only way I would move away from Grid is to get Vuhdo.
I realized this morning that I miss Lifebloomer. I have dot timer but it's not the same as having things in one clean window. If someone knows of a replacement, I would love to know.
Had to update x-perl in order to get that eclipse bar to show on my screen.
WoWInterface posted a list of their updated add ons but there are still some issues.
Ahh remember Vanilla? I do and am amazed at how dependant on mods I have become. For perspective, I am reminded of Dark Legacy Comics. I'm a good healer!
Alts
Ciras enjoyed her new Barrier goodie but I haven't had the time or chance to really flesh out the new stuff like Archangel. Figure the time will eventually come but she is low on the priority list.
Helaina, my lock, however is semi raiding with some other alts from the guild and so I really worked on her late last night. I am disappointed with my Affliction numbers and begrudgingly went to Destro. On the test dummy, it pulled higher numbers for sure. Just when affliction looked like it was holding it's own, things go back down again for them. We shall see; I've been affliction for four years (even when it sucked, I refused to balk) and watching dots is like watching hots for me.
Could very well be gear since she is rather new to 80 and still has some blues (I know!)
Please be kind to your tanks (or Faceroll vs Finesse)
I know it will be hard to keep all those crits and new toys at bay, but if you want to keep tanks around for Cata, for the love of Elune please remember they will have a learning curve. Lum was struggling to keep his threat up and hold all the mobs like he used to in a five man. In his words regarding our up and coming raid tonight "Dps are going to die. Lots." I really don't want to have the dps feel like the healers are just going to save them when they pull agro. Even though we probably can and will, that is not the point and never has been. Wrath has made a lot of things one big faceroll and I would like to see a bit more finesse.
Hmm, getting tired. Maybe it's nap time now?
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