Blog Archives
One Month Later
I know life can get pretty hectic, but not updates in over a month? Unacceptable. It’s not like I haven’t been playing. Tell you what, I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been doing. At the end, I’ll add a cool Demon Hunter tip that I discovered. Sound fair? Groovy.
Okay, so, updates in the past month:
- I dinged 110 on my Pandaren Hunter. That’s my third character at level cap. This one was more out of frustration because Blizzard decided to change the prerequisites for the guild achievement “Stay Classy.” My guild is pretty small, so any race/class combo we can get checked off was an accomplishment. Prior to patch 7.1, you just needed a character at level 85 (90 for Pandarens – racists), and Honored rep with the guild. We had that for a number of combos, and only needed about eight more to unlock the guild bank tab we’ve been working toward for quite some time. However, after the patch, you needed classes at “Max Level.” To make matters worse, many of the combos we’d already completed were reset. So instead of needing about eight more characters leveled up, we now needed 25 or so. Pandaren Hunter was one I had been working on, so I took him to cap. Not sure if I’ll run through with my Dwarf Warrior, or take another DK through.
- My Demon Hunter twink has been tearing up everything in front of him. He’s been great for gold making, gathering up herbs and skins and so on. Now that I’ve got some raid food recipes unlocked, he’s gathering up mats for that as well. Plus, I had him tanking for my guild (LOVE the content adjusting to levels, so a 101 can group with 110’s). He didn’t even have his tanking artifact weapons, and he tore it up like a boss. Say what you will, DH’s are not #SAWFT.
- My Death Knight? Yeah, I’ve given him a bit of love too. But honestly, other than grinding rep so he’s ready to unlock flight when the time comes, I’m not sure how much further he’ll go. I do have to run through his profession quests, so that’ll probably be my focus with him. There’s gold to be had there, and I do loves me some gold.
That’s been my month. Now, about that tip…
How to Demon Hunter on ANY Server
Demon Hunters, being the new Hero Class, are currently locked behind restrictions. Those restrictions being:
- Only one DH per server.
- You must have a Level 70 character on that server before you can start a new DH.
But what if you want to start a Demon Hunter on a new server? Do you have to transfer a Level 70 character over, just to start a DH? Or do you start a DK, grind him up to 70, then park him so you can get your DH groove on?
Turns out, nah to both.
- Create a new character. Doesn’t matter what, you won’t be playing it.
- At the top of the screen where it says “Character Type”, select “Class Trial”. Select any race and class. Again, doesn’t matter what you pick because you won’t be playing it.
- Once the character is made and the boost is applied, you now have a temporary Level 100 character on that server. If you don’t log it in, it’ll sit there indefinitely.
- After that, you are free to create your Demon Hunter.
Hope this helps! Rokk out!
Alpha to Omega – Burning Crusade
Time to conquer another planet, says the Super Villain-looking dude.
It has been eighteen hours of /play-time, and Odingreen has dinged 61. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad number. It’s like almost four levels per hour, which while abysmal at lower levels, by the mid 50’s or so that seems like some good pacing.
I’ve used one Elixir of the Rapid Mind for that 300% xp buff. These are best used in dungeons, sometime around boss kills and the time you hand in the dungeon quests. It persists through death, but as long as you don’t have a completely idiotic group you should be fine and maybe even squeeze off a level or two during a single run.
How has the experience been, asked no one but I’m suggesting it as a valid question anyway?
There have been some definite pros and cons, which I will now discuss.
Pro:
- I’ve revisited many old zones, some I haven’t been to in ages. Usually not for very long, since questing with heirlooms makes things move along much quicker. But it was nice to see Westfall again, especially since so few of my characters are Alliance.
- It’s been time away from Draenor, a planet I have spent 99% of my gametime in since the damn expansion started. Time away from garrisons, from Tanaan Jungle, from the entire endgame. It has been a reminder that there is more to World of Warcraft than a few zones.
- Playing a completely new class that I’ve never played before has been a distraction. It’s put me in a different mindset – while I’ve played range DPS classes before (ie Hunters) there’s something about just sitting back and blasting away. Getting aggro as a glass cannon is a new sensation, as is getting one-shot from a boss that the tank decided to train on me just before he died. Dude! Do I look like a fucking priest to you?
If he had one of those captain hats, he’d look like Baron Von Strucker or someone equally Hydra-esque. Hail Marvel!
- Odingreen looks straight-up pimpin’. Not like a pimp, of course, but he definitely puts off that muscular super-villain vibe. He’s wearing a uniform, has a spectacle covering one eye, and is blonde and muscular and powerful. He’s douchie in a way that is different, yet fun. He casts judgement over no one, and not just because he’s a mage rather than a paladin (Ah, spell-casting humor. Is there anything more nerdy? Because if so, I’m not aware of it.)
Con:
- Maybe crushing 90-100 has spoiled me, but the level grinding is starting to wear on me. The goal is to get him to 100, and he’s already halfway there. With a few more hours of playtime he’ll probably be able to jump into Northrend. I don’t know how I’ll handle that, and I’m already dreading leveling through Pandaria. When it was current content, MoP questing gave me stress anxiety headaches. What increases the potential stress is…
- I don’t know how I feel about the Mage class. By level 61, I can honestly say that I’ve given it a good go. I’ve quested, grouped, leveled both in Frost and Arcane spec. There’s not a whole lot to it, and while I know I’m not playing it to the absolute max I’m not at the bottom of the recount charts. I’m in the middle, but that’ll happen when you’re not using weapons to buff your damage.
- I’m also used to more of a steady stream of damage coming out, rather than having to wait for a spell to cast, then another, with nothing in between unless he procs something. Groups have cleared entire dungeon trash packs while I wait for a single spell to refresh. I’ll get one cast before they move on. Luckily, the fact that I’m a good 100-200 dps behind the next character hasn’t gotten me kicked out of groups yet. I hear Shadow Priests have more insta-cast spells at their disposal.
Observations:
- The mage is currently at the same level (give or take a level or two) of a pandaren warrior, a human monk, and a worgen hunter that I had leveled, then abandoned. Do I want to continue taking the Mage to the end game? Or do I want to take a left or right at this crossroad and advance another character? One I’m both familiar and comfortable with?
- The leveling thing. Now regardless of who I move forward with, I have taken each of the three from level one to their current level. So there’s no invalidating the spirit of the A2O mission. But do I sock away a few bucks and boost this character? Or do I grind through the next thirty levels?
Much to consider. Until then, keep flexing!
#FlexFriday #BigPoppaPump
Ding 100 Yet Again
While World of Warcraft players are fleeing the game like rats from a sinking ship, I can’t seem to stop leveling characters. At last count, I have now taken one Monk, two Warriors, two Hunters, and three Death Knights to level cap. I have one more DK who is tucked away in his bare bones garrison, gathering resources to buy xp potions should he get the leveling nod.
Damn, that’s a lot of Death Knights. That probably reflects on a whole post of other issues, ones I won’t get into here because content. (Stay on target — Editor)
Unlike Mists of Pandaria, which twists my guts into a knot so profound that it would prompt a sailor to give a thumbs up with his obvious erection at the sight of it, I have no problem with the leveling process in WoD. It’s faster this time around because there are so many ways to earn experience – treasures and bonus missions are the bomb-diggity. In fact, this may be the most number of characters I have at level cap since I started playing World of Warcraft.
Speaking of the physical distress I get from leveling through MoP, I have two characters currently sitting in Pandaria. I have no idea what I’m going to do with them, if and when I decide to take my final DK to the “promised land” that is Level 100ville. Will I boost them to avoid questing through MoP? Will I bother leveling yet another Warrior and Hunter up to 100 at all? Should I start a new class from scratch and see what life is like there?
It’s just too bad I’ve got nothing to do with them once they reach level cap. Guess there’s always transmog runs through old content.
Garrison Follower Guide
Some of you may have noticed a bit of a lapse in my blogging lately. No health tips, gaming videos, or rants about the latest World of Warcraft catastrophes (RIP WoW Insider).
I’ve got a limited play schedule, so it’s not like I’ve got more than a few hours a day to get my WoW on and then write about it. Not with World of Garrisoncraft and the various checkboxes I need to tick for every character, every day, before I get to anything not involved with the garrison. That takes time, and time comes in a finite quantity in my house.
Over the past few days, my game time had solely been devoted to Her – my Blood Elf Hunter.
I posted about Her a few days ago. She was just an alt that I wanted to level up to get some use out of her professions. I wasn’t looking for anything serious. She was just a fling, someone to kill time with and have a little fun.
Who knew She would become so high maintenance? Blood Elf stereotypes exist for a reason.
I was really having fun with Her. About halfway to 100 I decided that She was going to be my main bank alt. Her job would be threefold:
1) Earn gold daily by sending Her followers on Treasure Hunter missions.
2) Create enchants, glyphs, and Darkmoon Faire cards to generate income for the remainder of the expansion.
3) Hearth to Ashran for AH duties once per day.
This led to a few issues.
Treasure Hunter missions were unlocked after obtaining a Level 3 Inn/Tavern. To get the Level 3 blueprint, the achievement “Stay Awhile and Listen” has to be completed. This involves completing a number of dungeon quests. Some of the quests can be done on Normal, some on Heroic. I wasn’t looking forward to living through dungeon queues so I went to Wowhead to see if there was a less painful way to get this done.
My research showed that only half of the quests needed to be completed. It also showed that the missions rewarded between 50-100 gold. Was that worth the effort of spending 30-45 minutes in a queue? I could sell the green drops from the War Mill and make coin quicker. Therefore, Treasure Missions (and the Level 3 Inn) were taken off the books.
Another alternative for making gold “in-house” would be by using the Pet Menagerie, as I discussed in a previous post. If my Belf was going to be a shut-in, She was damn well going to be a profitable one.
This left the matter of garrison followers. She really didn’t have many. The curse of leveling up so damn fast. Not only did She need a full roster of twenty (or twenty-five with an upgraded bunker), but She would also need some to work the Mine, Herb Garden, and Inscription hut to improve production.
It was time to head back out into Draenor to find more followers. Luckily, Bellular would have plenty of Follower advice to give.
Looks like my Lady and I will be out killing and maiming for a little while longer.
I just can’t quit Her.
One-Button Macro for MM Hunter
I don’t know when it happened exactly, but one day I decided that I wanted to level up one of my alts. But not even in a significant way. Like, maybe just a couple of levels. Just the tip of the leveling iceberg, but enough to unlock one of the garrison slots so I could set up a profession building and then just leave them there. They’d grind away on that one profession, run the occasional follower mission (for the four followers that somehow stumbled into the garrison and were pressed into service), and alt nature would take its course.
My Hunter got the nod. She’d already been hanging out in her garrison, because like a smart person I leveled my alt to the point where they had a garrison and then left them there. This meant she had resources, which meant she could buy XP potions.
Now it had been a long time since I’d done anything with a hunter. Yes, I got her into her garrison but I had no idea what I was doing. I recalled a few things from a long time ago, and fumbled through the storyline without getting her killed. But for a serious xp push I was going to have to be able to put a rotation together.
As luck (and laziness) would have it, TheKephas had posted this video a little while ago. I was all over it like stink on a fish.
What makes this macro even more impressive is that with the Glyph of Misdirection, I found that my hunter was casting it all the time. She NEVER got aggro! This meant she was free to knock back an XP potion and I’d see what I could do in the potion’s hour-long duration.
What I did was pick up just over one level. Naturally I was following the Horde 90-100 Fast Leveling guide that was posted on Elvine’s forum board.
I may level her a bit more in the future. But for now, she’s got her Inscription business set up and my other toons are sending her herbs from their garden. Maybe I’ll level her up to the point where she’ll get her own garden. Maybe she’ll gather a few more followers. Maybe she’ll upgrade her buildings. Maybe she’ll set up…
Maybe I’ve just talked myself into leveling this alt to 100. So much for just the tip.
That’s what she said!
Get it?
Tough crowd.
Rokk Talk 