Gomorra - Level 85 Demon Lock

I took a couple hours today and got Gomorra to level 85. I was going back and forth on whether I should finish my Hunter Brieanna first or not. I finally decided to just finish him off and get it out of the way.

I got the final half level I needed done in Twilight Highlands, that is the 84 to 85 area. There are a bunch of good quests there and a couple pretty funny ones. One of them was the dwarf's wedding you have to help set up. You help a song writer make a song for the wedding and then walk the blushing bride down the isle. To top if off you get to kill the minister who turns out to be a twilight guy and transforms trying to kill everyone.

I got no sense of completion when I finished Gomorra though, and I think that is because I still have 3 more to go so I am not really done, just a little closer to being done.

Why Can't I Fly In Azeroth?

Everything was going pretty good, I got Breeonna to 85 and started working on Brieanna. Everything was fine for a little while, then I lost the ability to fly in Azeroth. I can fly on all my other toons, just not Brieanna. Needless to say, that is putting a damper on my ability to quest. Brieanna is 82 and should be questing in Deepholm. I did all the quests there that I can from the ground but you need to be able to fly to get up on the shelfs for the other quests.

I have had a ticket in for 2 days now with no end in sight. This is keeping me questing in Hyjal and Vashj'ir where you don't need to fly too much although it is very helpful. I deleted my WTF, Cache and Interface folders but that didn't help so now I wait...

450 Mining

I got Breeonna's mining skill up to 450 yesterday. I finished up in Sholazar Basin mining Saronite Ore. That gives her 2 maxed professions, Mining and Skinning on the eve of the Cataclysm release.

I had mining on a couple other toons but never got it too high, I think 326 on Gomorra was as high as I ever got. Other characters I think I deleted it before I got to 50. I made a lot of gold leveling up my mining and as I was 80 I wasn't too worried about the mobs that can be a real pain when leveling. I made over 1,000 gold leveling mining up. That is already spent on 300 riding skill on my Priest Brieonna.

Lets see what Cata brings tonight.

Mining...

First off I would like to state I hate mining. It is one of Breeonna's primary professions. Why would I make a primary profession that I hate? Because there is a lot of gold in mining. If you don't have another profession that uses ore then it is a gathering skill and pure profit.

A couple days ago I looked at Breeonna's mining skill and saw it was at 91. That is because I hate mining and could never bring myself to do it. I decided I would either have to get rid of mining or level it up. I decided to try and level it up. In the course of a couple days I have brought my mining from 91 to 425. I am now mining Cobalt Ore in Northrend and making a lot of gold in the process. I have made about 1,000 gold so far. I just got my 425th point and now I am heading over to Sholazar Basin to mine Saronite Ore. From what I have read online, Sholazar Basin is the best place to mine for it. I have mined some Saronite Ore in some of the dungeons I have been through, but not enough to get a full stack to sell yet.

4 Years Playing World of Warcraft - 12/1/10

It was 4 years ago today that I loaded up WoW on my laptop and found Azeroth. A lot has changed in the last 4 years.

My first character was a Warrior named Durgan. I leveled him to 19, then saw a Warlock on a Felsteed and decided I had to have one of those. The Felsteed that is. I put the Warrior aside and made Gomorra, my Demon Lock. It took me until April 2007 to level Gomorra to 70. I was 56 when Burning Crusades came out and reached 70 in 49 days /played.

As 70 was the cap, and I was there, I decided to make a Feral Druid which I named Wranngar. I leveled this with another player, Axeelina, and reached 70 in 23 days /played. Wranngar was my first level 80, beating out Gomorra.

When Wranngar and Gomorra were both 80 I started playing a Beastmaster Hunter again that I had made a year and a half before. Brieanna was 27 when I stopped playing her. I got her to 80 pretty quick, a total of 15 days /played. That was when I started wondering how fast I could get a character from 1-80.

I started Breeonna, an Elemental Shaman, and decided to see if I could level a character from 1-80 in less than 10 days /played. I did a combination of dungeons and questing to level this character up. I never sat around and if I was going to be away from the keyboard for more than a minute I would log out. During this time I started another character, completely throwing out my rule of only leveling one character at a time, and made Brieonna a Holy Priest. Both the Shaman and Priest were wearing 5 pieces of BoA gear. They were wearing shoulders, chest, weapon and 2 trinkets. I only had one set of trinkets so I would send them back and forth depending which character I was playing.

I ended up getting Brieonna to 80 first in 12 days /played. Then I got Breeonna to 80 in 8 days 14 hours /played satisfying myself that I could get a character to 80 in less than 10 days played.

Times have changed since I made that first Warrior, Durgan, who I ended up deleting. I have seen new worlds come, twice, and I have witnessed The Shattering. I am now looking forward to Cataclysm and flying in Azeroth. Let's see what the next year brings.

Black Temple

I had the opportunity to run the Black Temple the other night. It is a level 70, 25 man raid located in Shadowmoon Valley, that I had never done before. We had a group of 21 players with about 35% level 75+. There is a lot of nice scenery in Black Temple as in most the dungeons/raids. From what I understand a lot of the older dungeons/raids are going to be changing in Cataclysm.

Here's a little history on the Black Temple:

The Black Temple is the fortress of Illidan Stormrage, the lord of the Outlands. It was once known as the Temple of Karabor and has changed hands many times over the years. This raid drops Teir 6 and also drops the legendary Twin Blades of Azzinoth. The entrance to Black Temple is not at the gates but through a breech in the southern wall.

You used to have to be attuned to run this raid but attunement is no longer required.

Before the shattering of Draenor the Black Temple was once called the Temple of Karabor which was a sacred site of the Draenei. Shortly after the formation of the Horde, Gul'dan ordered the temple to be taken and made it into the headquarters for the Shadow Council. They also named it the Black Temple in the process.

Following his defeat to Arthas Menethil, Illidan returned to the Black Temple where he resides today. Neither his activities or mental state are known at this time. While Malfurion has stated that Illidan has become mad and delusional, believing that he killed Arthas and accomplished the mission Kil'jaeden had sent him on. If Illidan has descended into madness and believes he accomplished his mission it would make no sense for him to worry about Arthas or Kil'jaeden coming after him; he would believe the former dead, and the latter appeased. But then again, those afflicted by madness rarely make sense.
**Source: WoWWiki

So that is what we walked into. Overall we didn't really have a problem and moved through it quickly and smoothly. A few of the lower level players died a couple times but we really didn't have that many deaths and no wipes. Due to the higher levels present we were able to pull whole rooms at a time. I can see how this would be a pretty tough raid if everyone was level 70, it sure wouldn't have went as fast and smooth as it did I am sure. Unfortunately the Twin Blades of Azzinoth did not drop. I have been playing WoW for 4 years (December 1st) and have yet to see a legendary drop. Here are some screen shots I took during the Campaign.

310% Flight Speed

I have been looking into this 310% flight speed you can now purchase. Previously the only way to get 310% flight speed was to have a 310% mount. Now anyone can purchase 310% for a mere 5,000 gold. Yeah.... It just keeps getting better.

According to MMO-Champion, people that already have a 310% flying mount will not be required to pay for this new skill. So if you don’t have a 310% mount, there's still time to get one. Here are some of the mounts available:

• Reins of the Violet Proto-Drake — If you didn’t finish What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been for the achievement points, then you can do it for the guaranteed mount. Big time investment, but big reward.

• Reins of the Rusted Proto-Drake — Your reward for completing Glory of the Ulduar Raider (10-man). Still in-game, but may eventually be removed like the original Glory of the Raider mounts. Blue Posts indicate that if it is removed, players will be given a 1-month notice.

• Reins of the Ironbound Proto-Drake — Same as above, but for the 25-man version of Glory of the Ulduar Raider.

• Reins of the Onyxian Drake — About a 1% drop rate off 10/25 man Onyxia – if you can get the groups together, that means you have two shots per week. It’s the rarest item yours truly has ever won in a roll, and I can testify to her beauty.

• Ashes of Al’ar — Another rare mount, but perhaps THE coolest looking one currently in-game. About a 1.7% drop rate of Kael’thas Sunstrider in The Eye of Tempest Keep, and you can only farm once per week. Good luck on this one, it’ll be a tough ride.

• Invincible’s Reins — For the hardcore raiders, get your 25M heroic Lich King on. Defeat him, and get a guaranteed mount drop per week.

• Mimiron’s Head — Not quite up for LK? Go for Yogg-Saron on 25M, with no keepers, for a shot at a flying head, instead.

• Reins of the Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher — Your reward for completing Glory of the Icecrown Raider (10-man).

• Reins of the Icebound Frostbrood Vanquisher — Same as above, but for the 25-man version of Glory of the Icecrown Raider.

This list doesn’t include mounts that scale to 310% — since you already have to have a 310% mount for it to scale that high. If you already have a 310% mount that isn’t listed, you’re still ok.

There is still time, about 3 weeks, to get out there and get a 310% mount and save yourself 5,000 gold. Another option is to just stay with the 280% flight speed that already cost you 5,000 gold. I think that is what I am going to do, the extra 30% speed while flying just doesn't mean that much to me, certainly not enough to pay 5,000 gold for it.

I have a poll going in the right hand column of this blog where you can vote on whether or not you will be anteing up 5,000 gold to fly at 310% speed. I know I won't, at least not now. Maybe in the future if I have a lot of gold lying around I might think about it, but how often does that happen?

I will be coughing up the 250 gold for a Flight Masters License so I can fly in Azeroth. I have been waiting a long time to be able to fly in Azeroth and there are a lot of places I want to check out that you can only get to with a flying mount.

Cataclysm - November 1st

I pre-ordered my copy of Cataclysm today at the local Game Stop. It is scheduled to be released on November 1st. As November 1st is a Monday and I will be working that day I will not be there at midnight to pick it up, I will pick it up after work.

This gives me 3 months to get my Mage, Shealin, to level 80, that will not be a problem. I am pretty sure Shealin is the last toon I will make but I am not ruling out a Worgen. I will have to see what they have to offer. It won't be as bad as the Deathknights because the Worgen and Goblin will be starting at level 1, so you won't have a lot of people that can't level a character 1 to 80 in their lifetime making one on their daddy's, or mommy's, account. I am so sick of DK tanks that can't tank. It takes more than plate armor to be a tank.

I am pretty excited about flying in Azeroth, that will be pretty nice. That means they will have to open up the entire map. There are some places you see while you are flying on public transportation that you just can't get to. I want to check some of those places out.

Level 80! 2/17/10

Brieanna hit level 80 today. She reached level 70 in 11 total days played and level 80 in 15 total days played. Days played are just what they sound like, 24 hour days. I think if I didn't bother leveling up professions and secondary skills, and didn't screw around in the battlegrounds, I could have done it in 10 days played or less. I didn't use any type of leveling mods with her.

Gomorra, my first character, hit level 70 in 49 total days played. What a difference in time.

Wranngar, my second character, hit level 70 in 23 days played. Quite a difference between him and Gomorra, and quite a difference between him and Brieanna.

I was able to equip the couple pieces of PvP gear I had been able to get plus the new gun and a cape Wranngar made for her so she is not completely ungeared but is definitely under geared. That's ok, now it's time to spend some time in the battlegrounds. She already has a little under 20,000 honorable kills. I really like fighting in the battlegrounds on her with the ranged weapons she has.

She has her two primary professions, Skinning and Herbalism, at 450. For her secondary professions she has Cooking at 450, First Aid at 450 and her fishing is at 370, need to work on that some more. Her riding skill is 300, she can pilot any type of land or flying mount, with the exception of the Helicopter which requires Engineering and Magic Carpet which requires Tailoring.

Shattrath Daily Cooking - Super Hot Stew 2/6/10

Today when I went to see The Rokk, (61,15) in Shattrath, he had Super Hot Stew for Brieanna.

I grabbed the 2 Mok'Nathal Shortribs and 1 Crunchy Serpent I needed out of the guild bank so all I had to do was fly over to Blades Edge and kill a Abyssal so I could cook it over it's corpse. That was pretty easy and when I had my Demon Broiled Surprise I flew back to Shattrath and handed it over to The Rokk.

Today I picked Barrel of Fish for my reward and got 4 Zangarian Sporefish, 6 Figluster's Mudfish, a Fishbone Toothpick and Recipe: Skullfish Soup. That made it a good haul, the recipes are what I am after from this daily. I have them all on Wranngar and Gomorra.

Restored Items 9/8/09

I spent some time today getting the restored items out of the mail on Wranngar and putting them in the bank, some in the guild bank. It looks like they restored some of the stuff that was taken out of the guild bank too. I finally got it all out of the mail and put away, now I just have to do it on all my other characters. I haven't played in a week and really don't feel like playing. I will get all the other stuff put away before it disappears out of my mail then decide what I want to do. They did not restore the gold that was taken from the guild bank so I am out that 1500 gold.

This whole event has just disgusted me especially the fact that blizzard said I must have a key logger on my system. If I had a key logger on my system they would not have had to have my password reset. Also when they were restoring my account they thanked me for my patience as it was taking a long time due to the number of hacked accounts. You can go on YouTube and there are videos that tell you exactly how to hack an account. You can send a script to their auto-responder password reset bot that will send you the new password for any account, which is what I am sure happened with me, so there is really no way to make your account safe when Blizzard has such poor security measures in place. There is a step by step video that even gives you the script on YouTube. It has really turned me away from the game, I guess it might be time for something else. It's no wonder they are losing players left and right.

New Look

I changed some of the colors and fonts on the blog today. I think it is easier to read the posts with the new text color and easier to identify the different sections with the new module header color.

There is a poll in the left hand column where you can vote your opinion, let me know what you think.

-Wranngar