"It is time, friends, for the world to shatter."

A quote from Zarhym on the official forums.

The shattering is happening now, as I write this. The servers are down for maintenance, the elemental invasion has finally wound down, and MMO-Champ had called it at least a week ago. Finally, FINALLY, the world of Azeroth as we know it is coming to an end.

I, for one, am stoked. I mean, really excited. The only reason why I will be able to sit still at work today is because I know for a fact that the maintenance is going on till at least 3 pm my time, and I'm even somewhat expecting extended maintenance so the servers may not even come up 'till I get off work anyway at five.

I didn't have any real goals or things I wanted to do before the world fractured. I did get Tripping the Rifts on my main, which was the really important thing. I sort of wish I had been more diligent in getting the event quests and such done on all my 80s, but maybe this is the start of a new, less-altoholic me. Which would be nice, considering that I really want to focus on Seona for the upcoming expansion and treat alts as ALTS, not secondary mains or major time-sinks.

I didn't do any of the boss fights, unfortunately. Unlike right before Wrath, where my then-main, Yrovi, got the full set of purple gear from the Argent Dawn for a boost into the expansion, Seona will be moving forward in the same gear she's wearing currently. Not that it's a real issue. The PvP gear I'm in will be easily replaced and won't make me *sadface* when I exchange epics for greens and blues. Besides, it's entirely possible I'll be moving forward with a much larger emphasis on healing, instead of DPS, and may attempt some of my leveling as Holy rather than Retribution to get a feel for the other spec.

As for my other 80s, I fear they'll just have to go up on the shelf and gather a bit of dust for awhile. I can honestly say that, for the first time since playing this game, I have a character that I want to really stick with, not just so that she levels to 85 quickly, but because the people I play with, the server in general, and the play-style are just awesome and interesting. It's these things that make someone stick with a character, not the character itself, and I'm sad to admit that it's taken me this long to come to that realization.

As much as I hate for Yrovi and Purah to do nothing, Seona and the Emerald Dream server will be coming first in this next xpac. I want to level, I want to gear up, and I want to eventually see some of the content I always think I'll never see: Endgame. I re-rolled in the middle of Wrath, creating Seona and discovering the amazing joy that is roleplay, slowly realizing that this was the game experience that I had been craving all along. Now is the time to really enjoy it.

So, as Seona would say: May the Light keep you safe and bless you in these troubled times.

It's Alive and Well

After a new, clean install of the game client and subsequent patch, World of Warcraft was alive again on my computer. I've been eagerly logging into my characters to redo their talent points and glyphs, and see what's missing and what's needed.

Seona was the first to get looked at. With the talent trees the way they are, now, I'm heavily debating whether my second spec should still be Retribution. Before 4.0, I had one Ret spec that emphasized PvE and another Ret spec that emphasized PvP. It seems a little silly now to do the same thing. For the time being, until I decide if I'd rather be able to tank or heal, or really min-max (which I've never been any good at) for the two environments, my second spec will remain blank. She is, naturally, still mainly Retribution.

In fact, just last night, the Kingship of the East and her allies stormed Orgrimmar and had an epic battle in the streets, all the way through the Drag to Thrall's chamber. It was both awesome and amazing. I'm honestly surprised we didn't crash the server, because it was already on it's knees just with that many players in one spot. Too many abilities going off, too much server lag. In fact, even with the settings turned to Low, all of them, my fps hovered just around 10 or so. Still, most fun I've had in ages. The only unfortunate thing? We were more than one raid, and mine didn't tag Thrall, so I STILL don't have that damn bear. *QQ*

Purah is now a Blood/Frost Death Knight, although since Blood is now a tanking tree and I've never, ever played Frost, I'm feeling a little lost. What little research I've do for various rotations and such just has me more confused, because there's no telling how dated the information is most of the time. With Blood, there are some who say it is effective to run disease-less, but that is so out of the norm... wouldn't the diseases aid in generating threat? Maybe threat generation is easy enough with out them. I'm also still getting used to the idea of dual-wielding for Frost (hello Tankard 'o' Terror and Eternally Folded Blade! What? *shifty-eyes* They were the only one-handed weapons I had... *blush*). He'll need the most work in the upcoming days, because if I thought I had to relearn Retribution, it's nothing compared to learning not one, but TWO new specs.

A bright note is that the Cradle of Filth guild is coming back to life. I have several alts in the guild, and as a (nearly) founding member, it's fun to see some old, friendly faces. Speaking of alts, my troll priest, Eruza, who I haven't touched in ages, is actually up to level 20 now. I specced her as Discipline and couldn't be happier. I might have to seriously look at leveling a healer now, because Disc priest is actually fun.

As for Yrovi, I haven't had a great deal of time to play with her, yet, although I have at least set her Protection spec back in place. Next up will be fury, as I'll remain a dual-wielding, whirl-winding, unstoppable DPS machine (haha, yeah, right... in my gear? ;-p ) for the expansion.

With Hallow's End up and running as well, there is plenty to do each day in between figuring out my toons. I may even have to take a few other alts off the shelf to check them out, dust them off, and see if leveling is less painful now that the talent trees and abilities are good to go.

See you in the world... of warcraft.

Hooray 80!

Seona just dinged 80!

It's exciting. I have a screenshot for momento, kept Ronin's letter in Gryphonheart Items, and am totally ready to become a true retribution paladin. That means gear.

Unfortunately, I haven't found a gear guide for fresh level 80 retribution paladins. When Yrovi dinged 80, there were tons of places I could go to see a list of crafted/easy to get gear to get to the defense minimum. For dps, though, it appears the only criteria is get hit capped. :/

So, I guess I'll be doing some research and figuring out just what kind of gear I need and can get easily for a Retribution paladin with a focus on PvE.

----------

Okay, info goes here:

According to this post by Svirve on the Wowhead forums...

Retribution specific "caps"
Hit: 8% or 263 hit rating
Hit(PVP): 5% or 164 hit rating
32.79 hit rating per 1%

Spell hit: 17% or 446 hit rating
Spell hit (PVP): 4% or 105 hit rating
26.23 hit rating per 1%

Spell Penetration: 0%

Armor Penetration: 100% or 1340 armor penetration rating
13.99 armor penetration rating per 1%

Expertise(PARRY): 60 expertise skill or 492 expertise rating
Expertise(DODGE): 26 expertise skill or 214 expertise rating
32.79 expertise rating per 1% | 8.2 expertise rating per expertise skill | 1 expertise skill per 0.25%

That's a decent start. I absolutely must have my hit at 8% so I can perhaps find some gear that has sockets and gem for it.

One To Go and Plus One

Seona is at level 79. I'm actually really excited because this will be my second toon to level cap, and this time I know for a fact I won't get burned out. Seona's guild is big enough to keep me busy regardless of what I'm doing. On top of that, the roleplay opportunities abound, always, so each time I log in it's something fresh and new.

For example, a member of the guild did a very moving and interesting "sermon" for the guild on Sunday, followed by a pilgrimage to Uther's Tomb. I was actually touched, emotionally, by the words, especially since other members of the guild also got up and spoke (from their character's point of view, of course) which gave the whole thing a very "kumbaya" feeling. Seona listened intently, and so did I, as the whole thing gave me just one more way to understand the other characters in the group, along with the people behind the characters.

Real life has been interesting as well, with a new addition to my little family: Conner. He's a border collie mix I adopted today from a city pound. He had been running around my neighborhood for a couple days and was crashing for the night on front doorsteps; he's a real vagabond. When he crashed on my doorstep, though, we brought him inside, but ended up taking him to the city shelter in the hopes that any worried family that might be looking for him would finally be able to get him back.

Unfortunately, his family didn't come looking for him, or, if they did, they weren't really trying that hard, because he stayed in the pound for a week. I had checked in on him occasionally, as I didn't want him put to sleep, and decided that I'd adopt him. Yesterday was the initial visit, and the time when I told them I was interested in adopting. They got him ready for me by getting him to a vet for vaccinations, altering, and a heartworm test, and I was able to pick him up today.

He'll still need to go see my veterinarian, especially since my other dog is up for a vet visit as well, for a checkup, but all-in-all he's a sweet dog. I'm glad I got him out of the shelter before they euthanized him.

Remember to spay and neuter your pets to help keep pet population down so fewer animals have to be put to sleep in your city shelters and Adopt, Don't Shop! Buying puppies from pet stores only keeps puppy mills in business!

Dalaran

Seona, finally level 74, has made it to Dalaran. On Yrovi, it was this amazing, beautiful city that was entirely new and shiny and convenient. On Seona, however, it's laggy, crowded, and slow, though still pretty convenient, thanks to all those portals. The reason? I don't play on my parent's iMac anymore, just my 3-year-old MacBook Pro. On top of that, I recently upgraded to Mac OS 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, and I'm now getting some nasty graphics issues.

At first I thought my graphics problems were due to the upgrade, of course, since before installing Snow Leopard I was fine. Did a search on the official forums, in the Mac Troubleshooting area and found out that my problem was probably heat/hardware related. Totally true story, since my MacBook Pro runs crazy hot, always has. The small strip of metal right above the keyboard on my laptop gets hot enough to burn my fingers sometimes. So, after reading a few blue replies I downloaded some free software to control the fans inside my machine. It made an immediate difference of about 20 degrees and I can literally feel the difference. If my graphics issues were truly due only to heat, then this may have fixed it.

Obviously I won't know until later today, as it's Tuesday, and we all know that Tuesday means maintenance day. I'm glad for the break, actually, as I feel like I need to resort out my priorities and get some stuff done in RL, like updating my resume, doing some laundry, etc. On top of that, a couple of days ago, while visiting my parents, we were sort of "chosen" by a stray dog in the neighborhood. My mom is a total animal lover, so she brought him in the house and let him hang out with our dogs. We couldn't keep him at the time, plus his owners might be looking for him, so I took him to the shelter down the street. I checked their website and today is the day he becomes "available", I'm assuming for adoption, so I need to find out how long the city keeps a dog up for adoption before euthanizing. He was too sweet to allow something like that to happen, and I have plenty of room here, though my dog may get a bit jealous.

If nothing else, I'll get him into a non-kill shelter. Hooray for my good deed of the day, right?

Northrend, At Last

Seona has finally made her way into Northrend.

The best part: she ding'd level 68 on the quest from Toshley's station that flings you over the terrain. It was both fun and productive! As soon as she hit 68 I hearthed to Shattrath, then took the portal to Stormwind. Seona emptied her bags and her quest log, ready for a totally new start in the cold North.

It's funny, how excited I was, even though I've seen Northrend before on Yrovi. I've even taken a quick jump up there on Seona for profession training. The Alliance quest-lines are totally different from the Horde ones, and on top of that, I did Howling Fjord the first time around on Yrovi, so Seona did well landing in the Borean Tundra. She's already uncovered the work of the Cult of the Damned, is helping a woman find her brother, and feels like a total hero. I mean, the people here know my name! It's exciting!

As great as it is, though, I've got to set aside some time to level up my professions. My skinning is fine, as it has to be the easiest gathering profession to level, but my mining, cooking and fishing are all in desperate need of an update. I managed to get First Aid leveled up as well, and used up the rest of my Netherweave to create heavy bandages to sell for the little bit of extra gold. It'll take a great deal of time to level these professions, though, so I better look for some guides.

Mining will take the longest, unfortunately, but there are tons of guides out there for it, complete with maps. It really just requires tons of patience and the willingness to run around the same zone a few times ad nauseam. Much as that sucks, it has to be done. I went through all of Outlands without being able to mine, and that's just stupid.

Cooking and Fishing go hand in hand, and El's Anglin' has a great guide to level them both together. Plus, fishing is much less terrible to level now than it used to be. It's still not what I'd call "fun" but I have some lures stashed somewhere that'll help. Cooking is just a good skill to have, for the buff food more than anything else. I remember leveling it up on Yrovi, and it's doable.

Still, leveling mining, cooking and fishing will take hours, and some of it may have to wait until she's 80. Mining takes priority, for the gold-making aspect. I mean, I eventually want her to have epic flying and she'll need to buy cold-weather flying when she hits level 77. Doable, but the more gold I have, the better it is.

Oh, one other thing... Seona got a brand new weapon from one of the first quests she did. The only problem? It's a sword. Great! You're probably saying. Sword's are cool. Yes, they are, but I hadn't had Seona use a two-handed sword since her 20's. Her skill was so low, it was embarrassing. Lucky for me, paladins are so damn hard to kill and powerful against the undead, because for a while she was straight up missing her target. I think she'll be okay now, since I finally stuck with it and got her 2H Sword skill up over 300 points, but, man that sucked.

I hope Blizzard looks at the way we level up our weapon skills after they finish messing with fishing. It needs something to make it suck less. Maybe let us level our skill up on a training dummy... that would make logical sense, right? *sigh*

Extended Maintenance

Emerald Dream (RP-PvP), Seona's server, has extended maintenance today. Supposedly, it will help with the "Additional instances cannot be launched" issue that I know plagues us, as the Kingship has actually had characters RP'ing the fact they can't get into dungeons. I realized that I've had this issue only once, for Shadowfang Keep.

It was back when Seona was working on getting Verigan's Fist. Part of that is going into various old-world dungeons for materials. Shadowfang Keep was one of these and I ran Seona all the way there. This was months ago, mind, and I was ready to go in there and kick butt solo to get to the stables, and sure enough I jumped into the instance only to get that error. It was the first time I had ever seen it, I was in enemy territory, and I was only about level 27 or something. Maybe level 30. It wasn't a huge deal, though, because one or two jumps later and I was in and I didn't give it another thought.

I can't imagine what people are doing now. I guess it's just as well that I don't bother to run older instances for gear since I level fast anyway and the greens are perfectly acceptable for what I do. Questing is serious business, amirite? Exactly. Northrend Greens will blow what I've got on right now out of the water anyway. I intend to slow down just a bit in Northrend, but not by much. Part of it will be sightseeing, but the other part will be for the story. I haven't seen the Alliance side of it, yet, and supposedly we get to witness Arthas's change in all its glory. It's something I want to savor.

And, in true altoholic form, as soon as Seona is level 80, I'll be working on another toon: Leodry. If you check my other blog (Ink & Blood, my fanfic site) soon, you'll see the beginning of his story, along with another toon that will premier after Cataclysm goes live. I revamped his history, changed it up a bit, making Leodry the younger of two brothers whose story starts during the Second War.

I figure I have just over a year to get Leo to 80. Should be cake, especially with Seona eventually at 80 and getting badges for heirloom gear. Hopefully I'll be able to deck Leo out in both the shoulders and the chest. Each part (for PvE) is 40 emblems or 60 champion seals. That's interesting. It means that I could just deck them out without having to begrudge Seona her own badge gear. She'll definitely be jousting for seals, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Look at me, all excited again. God, I love this game.

One More Season to Northrend

Seona hit level 67 yesterday, plus a couple bubbles more. At this rate, I'll get to Northrend early this week. Although the leveling is still going quickly, I've definitely felt the steeper slope to get to the next level. I was blazing through levels while in Zangarmarsh and Terrokar Forest. I thought for sure Nagrand would take me to level 68, or at least very close, but it only just got me to level 67 on quests I could solo.

Seona did manage to finish the Nesingwary quests, including the Ultimate Bloodsport, earning the Hills Like White Elekk achievement. Hopefully all those skins and leather will sell for a pretty penny... uh... copper, I mean. While I had to burn some cooldowns, as a ret paladin I was able to take out all the elite beasts required solo. Some good luck happened, too, as I got a Sheath of Light proc on a Lay on Hands, healing me for tons afterwards on the Elekk. I'm pretty sure that alone let me solo her. Still, managed okay, and got my first libram. While not terribly helpful for me as retribution, if I ever have to do some quick healing it'll come in handy. I'll replace it quickly enough in Grizzly Hills with the Venture Coin reward.

She also did the Ogre quests that deal with that half Draenei, half orc Blademaster. Thanks to that quest chain, she got a new polearm. And, believe it or not, Seona's racial made finding the armaments and such things really easy. I know people scoff at that dwarf racial, but I wonder just how many people bother to use it? Probably no one, since it's so obviously terrible. I mean, it's not amazing, but it's helped me several times now. In Zangarmarsh, in Nagrand, and now in Blade's Edge. Great all the time? No. Situationally helpful. Definitely. Hopefully it'll come into bigger play with Catatclysm and the new Archeology secondary profession. It makes sense to do so, but Blizz sometimes doesn't make sense. Plus, I found some chests for extra silver and food. There are a couple scattered thinly in Nagrand.

So, new loot, new achievements, new area, and less than a level to go till 68. While I really should be worrying about some real life issues, this is fun. And, honestly, fun is good.

Got My Groove Back

Yep, I'm definitely back in the leveling groove. After taking a week and a half off from WoW, getting back into the leveling grind is going really smoothly. It's been awhile since I've done many of the Outland quests I'm doing now, so, while not "fresh" per se, it isn't terribly stale, either. I'm keeping Seona in Zangarmarsh for as long as possible, now, after taking some time to work in Terrokar for a bit. Honestly, the forest itself isn't awful, but the Bone Wastes are just boring.

That being said, I am nearly finished with the quests in Zangarmarsh, I think. Not every single one, of course, because I'm not stopping for instances, but all of the other quest lines are just about done, I think. I've picked up the breadcrumb quest to get me to Nagrand, though, so it's okay. I avoided the breadcrumb quest for the Bladed Mountains, as I'd like to ignore that entire part of Outlands, if possible.

With Nagrand on the horizon, and Zangarmarsh fully explored, Seona is blasting through levels. While it may have completely depleted my gold supply at the time, buying her flying training and a gryphon was the best investment so far. She can skip tons of mobs if necessary, fly straight from point to point - more efficient travel is always good - and just get stuff done faster. It's fantastic. And as for gold... she's already earned back a nice bit from quests alone. Nearly every quest she's doing now rewards a few gold. She went from having no gold left at all (just a handful of silvers and coppers) to well over 150 gold in a few hours of questing. That's not amazing by any stretch, but she can take care of the basics, like training, without any worries.

Completely avoiding instances may have been a mistake, but I'm trying not to worry about it. Getting groups is hard, and apparently Blizzard still hasn't fixed the whole "More Instances cannot be launched at this time" problem, yet. I have faith that they'll take care of it, in due time. Seona may not have the best gear, but what she does have takes care of quest mobs without any issue. And it isn't like I'm a newbie... I know how to act in a group, what my duties are as a hybrid class, and how to take over different roles if needed. The only thing I haven't done, yet, is heal.

I have a pseudo healing set, one that doubles my mana bar, but I don't have dual spec. I understand that healing as Retribution is perfectly possible, even viable, especially at lower levels in regular dungeons... but I've never done it before. I've managed to pick up plenty of spell power gear through quests and probably have a decent healing set, I guess, but I haven't put it to the test. I guess my next goal should be to save up 1000 Gold for dual spec, though. Holy Pallies are great healers, and I'd love to really give healing an honest try. What's the point in carrying all this healing gear if I never use it?

My plan for Seona is, once she hits level 68 (only three levels to go...), to head to Northrend. From there, I'll plan to do instances again for good gear, hopefully as Retribution, but I'll heal if that's what's needed, especially if the group I'm in agrees to allow me to roll on DPS gear instead of healing stuff. From there, it's a straight shot to 80. Fame, fortune, and phat lootz and purps await!

Renewed Vigor

Although I've been feeling under the weather (yuck, Bronchitis), I've still managed to spend some time in game (sick days ftw?). Seona has finally scraped together enough gold to purchase flight training, and has bought a beautiful golden gryphon to carry her all over Outlands. She's named him Zephyr. Caliburn is a little jealous, I think. She also hit level 64, which means only four levels to go until Northrend.

Having a flying mount at level 60+ instead of 70 has completely changed the leveling dynamic in Outlands. Several of the quests can be easily completed just by flying to the point, especially if it is a quest that requires you to go find an item and bring it back to the quest-giver. What? You need me to go get the eyes of the Skettis? Sure, no problem, let me just fly on over and pick those up for you... It makes it almost too easy, and I begin to see what some of the purists complain about. Still, I find it nice, seeing as my only goal at this point is to reach level cap and begin joining the guild in even more events.

She's also firmly out of Hellfire Peninsula. Most of her current quests are located in Zangarmarsh, which is fine by me, as it's got to be one of my favorite zones in the game. It's calm, and beautiful, and serene. The music (when I have it playing) is also quite nice. The little Spore people are also adorable and I don't mind helping them in the least. It's just a great place to level and explore in general for me. Nagrand is next and it's my second favorite in Outlands. The sky is what makes Nagrand so pretty. All-in-all, I think what makes leveling through Outlands so terrible for people - and why they complain about it so loudly - is Hellfire Peninsula. if you can just get through that Orange place, you'll be fine. The rest just... flows.

With the increased speed to leveling, a flying mount, and rested experience, Seona should make level 68 in no time. Northrend is waiting, and since I did it once already, albeit with a Horde character, I think I'll be fine.

3 Down 1 To Go

Last night, after deciding that I'd only get on for about an hour or so do do a bit of questing before going to bed, I somehow ended up with several new achievements. And they're achievements I never thought I'd get on Seona at this point in her existence. The Kingship decided to retaliate against the terrible Horde last night, and made a run on their leaders.

Seona was able to tag along (and trust me, at only level 62, that's all I was able to do) and the group (more or less full raid of 40) managed to get three of the four bosses down. Lady Sylvanas fell first in Undercity, then Lor'themar was taken out, and finally Cairne was downed. By this time, however, the Horde was able to regroup and it made killing Thrall impossible. To be fair, we did leave the hardest boss for last, and it showed. Naturally they carried me all the way, but I did what I could to help, stomping totems for example and helping summon people. Of the three achievements, I got two of them while dead. Still, it was a great fight and a ton of fun. Even better, I upped my Honorable Kill count, earning the achievement for 100 HKs.

What I love about the Kingship is their honor and compassion. We were unwilling to leave anyone behind after the wipe. I felt real kinship and strength with them. What's even more exciting is the fact that I know we'll go after Thrall again in the near future. There's always an excuse to get retribution on the Horde, and killing Thrall is a great way to do so. Hopefully next time they go for him, I won't be a level 62 just along for the ride. I mean, I hope to at least be level 70. ;)

99th Post... Onyxia and a Confession

Wow. I've actually talked about stuff nearly 100 times on this blog? Crazy. Honestly, I didn't even think I'd go past maybe a month or two writing, yet here we are. It's because no one reads and it's like leaving an open journal sitting on my desk. If someone came by, they'd see it and maybe read it, but no one does so.

Still, I never did this for others, only for myself. ;)

There's news regarding WoW's 5th anniversary. Onyxia, raid boss known so well for providing the experience that lead to the "DPS VERY, VERY SLOWLY... AND BY SLOW, I MEAN F#*@ING SLOW" video known so well among WoWers, is making a comeback. Blizzard is revamping her raid to be 10/25 man and will drop updated loot, including updated T2 helms and a new flying mount that will look like the queen dragon herself. In addition, anyone who logs on during that time will get a special Onyxia broodling whelp pet (I'm excited about this, actually. Last year it was a baby polar bear, which I love, too.) that may or may not be account bound. The bear last year was account bound, so we'll see.

I have never seen Onyxia, personally. I know that it's currently possible for a decently-geared level 80 to go in a solo her, especially paladins. Interesting, considering she was once a very difficult 40 man boss (Vanilla WoW). Still, it just proves how powerful we've all become in the many years we've traveled the World... of Warcraft. I'd like to go up against her, but Yrovi is not exactly raid-ready. Sure, she's uncrittable, but I've more or less shelved her (obvious, I'd guess, since I haven't written about her, at all, for weeks now), not run anything with her, and her health pool is, thus, still quite low. Plus, I've more or less come to the conclusion that, while tanking can be fun (especially at the lower-levels), the extra responsibility required of a tank makes the game less fun for me. I don't want to lead a group, usually because I have no idea of what's really going on.

Seona, on the other hand, while a completely new character and one that takes time to build up, is tons of fun. DPS is so much more carefree. That's not to say there isn't responsibility involved... I still have to be good at my class to not be carried. And I don't want to be carried. That's, honestly, the last thing I want. But I don't want to have to constantly ensure that every mob is on me, that I have things positioned well, that... well... that I'm the leader.

Here's the Confession: I don't want to lead, I want to play. That means I don't want to tank, possibly ever again. I don't know if I want to try healing. There's responsibility there, too, but it's different. But, I don't think I want to tank. After all the work I put into Yrovi, that's a bit of a harsh realization for me. I spent a lot of gold, and my guildmates (especially Tyra) did a bunch for me to get to uncrittable and theoretically raid-ready. I don't know if it's just a phase, or if this is a real, honest feeling, but tanking just may not be for me.

*Deep breath* That being said, my dwarf paladin is coming along really well. Seona is 60, which means a super cool avatar on the forums and potentially flying training (if I can get 650 Gold anytime soon). I'm doing all I can to get my Honor Hold rep up to reduce the price a bit, now that it applies. At this point it's safe to state that Seona will be my new main and I hope to do some raiding with her in the near future. In this case, it'll be the guild helping me along, thanks to lots of members and generally helpful people. Not that we didn't have generally helpful people on the old server, but there are so few of us. *sigh*

I kinda miss my old guildies... :( The Cradle is/was cool. I think I'll have to log on again soon, if nothing else, to say hi. The Kingship is freaking awesome, though, too, and I think I can make some good friends here, especially once I get to level 80. Only 20 levels to go...

3.2 Has Arrived (And a Wedding)

So, anyone who plays knows now that 3.2 is here and ready to go, as soon as Tuesday maintenance is done. Before I go into that, though, Seona attended a beautiful wedding last night between two guildies.

The wedding took place in idyllic Elwynn Forest, high up in the hills, by a waterfall. Even more beautiful, the entire ceremony took place over the water. Thanks to a few water-walking spells and potions, we were able to stand out on the lake, the waterfall cascading down behind, and witness a beautiful ceremony. It was really quite touching and an amazing RP experience. I dressed Seona up in a very nice blue-green robe that matched her eyes and enjoyed the refreshments afterwards. It's just too bad I couldn't stay longer. The ceremony started around 10 pm and didn't finish till nearly 11... and getting up for work was going to be difficult enough as it was.

So, congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Fost! Best wishes to you both!

Okay, so, 3.2...

First thing I'm gonig to do is log onto Ziir and send out some Gold to Seona. She's getting an upgrade to Caliburn. She managed to level to 58 right before the wedding last night and has already reported for duty in Honor Hold. The demons are no problem, so the "old world" is going to become a pretty distant memory, at least for the time being. I'm also very keen on doing all the quests I can for Honor Hold, to get to exalted as quickly as possible.

Flying training was quite expensive and had no discounts. Now, thanks to the trainers moving to Honor Hold/Thrallmar, you can get reputation discounts and they've made it cheaper. The PvP daily you can grind out there gives reputation, plus tokens and 70 silver. I'm also hoping to finally run a few instances, although with all the Death Knights out there, I'm not so sure I'll get any drops as Retribution. More than likely, I'll throw on some spell power/+int gear and keep those undead buggers alive for experience and fun times... although Hellreaver would be really, really nice. *sigh*

I always intended to make Seona dual spec into healing, however, so this might give me good practice. Regardless, any chance of running instances is good for me, and I actually like some of the BC dungeons.

So Close I Can Taste It

Level 58 is now a heartbeat away. Seona managed to solo Araj the Summoner out in the Plaguelands, allowing her to finish the Scholomance key as well as Alas, Andorhal. Those two quests alone got her 14300 and 11900 experience, respectively. Araj is a pushover when he's alone. I pulled and killed his guards (coming from the East, you know, where the bridge is) and then cleaned out a few more mobs around him, then attacked him directly.

Thanks to Chromie, I had an attuned dampener or whatever it is, which damaged him quite a bit and nerfed his damage to me by 25%. Easy. Done and done, and that much closer to the greatly wanted level 58. Unfortunately, the only quests I have left for the Plaguelands are in the dungeons and I don't really think I have time to run an instance. I'd love to do so. I'd love to run Scholomance or Stratholme at the level you're supposed to, as I've never done so before. Except... well... I want to be level 80 ASAP. And tonight Seona needs to attend a wedding (she's going to look so pretty in her dress) so running something time consuming like the Plagueland dungeons is out of the question.

So, I took her to Silithus. God, I didn't think anything could be worse than Desolace, but Silithus does it, hands down. I'm not a fan of bugs and such to begin with, and that's all you see in this desert (plus the buzzing puts me on edge). The good thing is that it's all new to me, so at least I'm not bored (just on edge :/ ). A few more quests there, though, and Seona will be through the gate and in Outlands, especially since the week means I'm occupied during the day and Seona is gaining rested experience while I'm working.

Good gravy, I can't wait. :D

Overflowing Inventory

The Auction House is a treasure trove. Just about anything you need can be bought and sold there. The prices take getting used to, which is why I use Auctioneer, but I can generally make a great deal more selling materials and such there than vendoring stuff. And, really, that's the way it should be.

I have bank alts to take care of my finances. The best bank alt I've got is a Death Knight, Ziir, on ED (which I've talked about before). He takes care of all the day-to-day business for Seona so that she is free to work for the Argent Dawn, or whomever is needing her most right now. Unfortunately, she picks up a great deal of stuff, especially greens and cloth, and Ziir has run out of room.

Three possible solutions:

1. Buy him bigger bags. I feel like this is a temporary fix. His bags are all 12-slot, aside from one 16-slot. That's quite a bit of space, and I would hate to just get rid of all his soulbound 12-slotters. The investment is doable however, as most 16-slot bags are affordable on Emerald Dream.
2. Buy more bank slots. This is a pretty big investment. I've already purchased the "cheap" slots, so all the rest cost 25 G each. My current cashflow is pretty minimal. If I did this, though, his extra bags wouldn't go to waste, and I'd still have to do number 1, above.
3. Clean out my banks. Both Ziir's and Seona's, preferably. This is the "best" solution, because it doesn't cost any gold, instead it would actually make me some gold. However, this fix is even more temporary than number 1, because what keeps me from just filling them up again?

It all comes down to whether I want to invest Gold right now, or save it for 3.2 so Seona can get better riding. Truthfully, the money is in crafting professions, if you know what to make. I had always planned on Seona dropping skinning at some point for a crafting profession, like blacksmithing, jewelcrafting, or engineering (which is much better now with the new changes coming, and probably the most interesting profession). I can use the 300 Gold I currently have to get her epic ground riding training and invest in a crafting profession OR I can invest it all right now to hopefully get more inventory space.

I'm not sure what I'll do. Power leveling a crafting profession is tough work. It requires a ton of time and, especially with the professions I listed above, a ton of Gold. Time I've got (to a degree) but I don't have much gold. Ziir has herbalism and mining. I might actually have him drop mining and take up skinning. It's much faster to level up (Seona is already over 300), but the profit isn't as high. Getting her epic ground riding training is important, though, as is flying later on. *sigh*

I guess I'll start with Number 3 and go from there. Clean out those banks, getting rid of everything I don't absolutely have to have. Maybe I'll check the patch notes for potential profits. Hopefully I'll find some high-demand items in my banks that will turn me a nice profit.

Another Down, Three to Go

Seona hit level 55 this morning. After spending so much time in the plaguelands, I needed a break from all the dead things, so I headed over the ocean to Kalimdor. After landing in Tanaris, I left from Gagetzan and made my way into Un'goro Crater. Let me just say, I really, really hate Un'goro. It seems like all the quests are "Go kill a bunch of stuff for things that, logically, every single kill should have, but never ever does so you have to kill 5 times more things to get all the junk I need, etc."

I suppose the redeeming factor is the single quest hub. Having pretty much all the quests in one place makes it a little easier to deal with the zone. Still, next time I level a character through their 50s, I think I'll focus on Burning Steppes and such. I've heard bad things about Silithus, too, but I've never been there with any of my toons, so I think the newness will make it acceptable.

As I was questing, I noticed that I consumed all my rested experience while in the Crater, which will slow me down a bit. Not too much, I hope, as I really would like to make Outlands by next week, especially if 3.2 hits live then. The only thing I still need to do is level up my mining skill. Right now I'm woefully behind, only just hitting 166. As I'm questing, I see lots of ores that I can't mine because I'm not skilled enough, which is frustrating, not to mention stupid. My professions are for making gold, and right now I have to pass up all that potential profit. Gevlon would be very disappointed.

So the "to do" list stands thus: mining, mining, mining (need to hit 300 before Outlands); quest, quest, quest (three levels still to go); sell, sell, sell (I'm going to need gold for my next riding speeds, as 3.2 comes with cheaper fees, but still substantial for my reroll); and fun, fun, fun (it is just a game, you know!) ;)

Returning to Routine

I'm back, but it's a bumpy start. Forgetting that today is Tuesday, and thus maintenance day, I spent last night watching my delicious TV instead of playing and catching up (Oh, and it was delicious... my DVR has so much work to do, I swear I'm going to wear it out. I mean, who doesn't love a Deadliest Catch marathon?). I did manage to play a bit yesterday morning and this morning (hooray for minor maintenance!) and ding'd 53 on Seona. Just five more levels to go before leaving the old world behind for good.

My plan to level Seona exclusively in the Plaguelands is falling a bit flat, however. Most of the quests are actually harder than I thought for my level and many of the exclamation marks in Chillwind Camp are still grayed out. Because I hearthed back to Ironforge just after hitting level 53, it's possible a few more have opened up for me and the mobs will be a bit easier to take down. When you get a group of 3 or 4 orange mobs on you, it's tough, even for a paladin. Or, even better, when an elite abomination comes out of nowhere to more or less one-shot you. I was so surprised by him I forgot to bubble. :(

To compensate for the scarce questing, I've been going back to Tanaris and am thinking about hitting Un'Goro for a bit. If the plaguelands are consistently more difficult than I feel is necessary, I'll supplement with stuff from Kalimdor. Still, the plaguelands are kind of fun. Seona definitely has an advantage against the undead (exorcism anyone?) and that's the only mob you'll find out there, just about. She's also smack dab in the center of the Redpath questline, which I've never done before. I hear it's a doozy.

Countdown to Outland

Seona is rolling right along, achieving level 52 plus a little extra over the weekend. The only real drawback is that a great deal of that experience came from killing mobs, so her rested experience was depleted. Hopefully with some rest in Ironforge, she'll get that back this week in between me working and dealing with the house.

Getting to 52 just means that I only have seven levels to go until Outlands, which is exciting. All my gear consists of quest rewards, meaning I'm mostly in lower-level greens. I mean, I bought some new shoulders because she was still wearing chainmail ones that a very kind warrior had made for her in Lakeshire. Since level 25 or so! Way too long. Thankfully I got them for a really good deal, only a few gold. I hate to get any really good gear, simply because I know I'll replace it within a few hours of hitting Outlands.

She also finally replaced Verigan's Fist with the Ice Barbed Spear. It was way past time. The best part? I only had to do the battleground one time, and the whole time I was in the harpy cave, attempting the opening quest for the trinket. The rest of the raid sitting at level 59-60 did most of the work for me. Thanks, you guys, for my new polearm!

Otherwise not much to report. I'm a little sad that Seona hasn't stepped foot in an instance since the Deadmines. She got a random whisper yesterday asking to heal something or other, but dinner was on its way, and I wasn't going to start an instance right before dinner. Plus, Sunday nights are Merlin nights, so she politely declined. She did wish them luck, though.

Oh! Speaking of the house and new loot, I got a Roomba as a housewarming gift! I named it Dirti. Yes, named after that Dirti. I think I'll find a picture of the little guy, print it out, and tape it to my vaccum robot. I think it would be cute. And adorably annoying because no one else I know would get the reference.

Whoa... Level 51 Already?

Yep. Seona is at level 51 already. I can't imagine how fast I would have leveled if she would have heirloom shoulders. Can you imagine? It's no wonder you can level an alt in no time, especially with Recruit-a-Friend, if you have access to it.

The Thorium Brotherhood got her very close to 50. With a shipment of silk cloth from her Estate Manager (read: Bank Alt), she was able to help a dwarf who was stuck in an outhouse in the Burning Steppes. Also, at some point in her travels, she had looted a key from one of the Dark Iron Dwarves' corpses. The key just happened to be for the outhouse, thus, she was able to free the poor dwarf from the little shack, earning her level 50.

Yep, that's right. Seona got to level 50 from an Outhouse quest. I feel dirty. D:

Still, level 50 meant a trip to the Plaguelands. So, off she went (after killing some spiders for their legs... some goblin wanted them, and she was there, you know?). The gryphon landed in Chillwind Camp and her first tasks for the Argent Dawn were started.

She's equipped with her Commision trinket, now, and killing undead goes quickly, provided they're only 2 or 3 levels above her. I've quickly come to realize that anything over that, with a red number, takes forever to kill due to missing. Regardless, she was able to knock out several quests, including the first two cauldron quests, which managed to bump her all the way to the next level. So, sitting pretty at level 51, she's well on her way to getting ready for Outlands.

Oh, and yes, she's picked up the Redpath questline. I've heard it's a bit of a tearjerker, so I'm ready for that. The other thing I've noticed? Now that I'm over that hump and in an area so steeped in Paladin lore (Uther's Tomb, anyone?), I've slowed down again. I read the quest text (most of the time) and do my best to be all "Paladiny" and glowy.

One last little note: Patch 3.2 is still on the PTR, and they appear to be having a few issues with it. Since that's the case, Seona will probably hit level 59/60 before it goes live. Because of the mount changes, any new Paladins will never do the quest for their epic mount, but, luckily, I think I'll be able to do so with Seona. In fact, it'll probably be one of those instances where I'll just be squeaking by before the patch hits live. How cool that my RP pally will be able to do the quest as was intended? It'll be worth it, I think, for the Feat of Strength alone.

Of course, if I don't get to 60 before the patch then it's all moot. The questline requires expensive, rare mats, and at least 350 gold. If the patch hits first then it's 50G for the training and maybe 20G for the spell. RP opportunity or no, I'm not going to spend the 350 if I can get it for 70.

Quick Post: Bloody Gauntlet

Just a real quick post for today, as I haven't been playing much due to moving into my house, you know, for realz now.

Last night, Seona joined the Kingship in watching a dueling contest lovingly called "The Bloody Gauntlet." Honestly, there are some great PvPers amongst the citizens of the Kingship, as I was fascinated by the skills portrayed during the duels.

While one on one isn't usually terribly balanced, it was fun to watch. In fact, I'm thoroughly impressed with a certain priest in the guild who was able to make it very far in the competition. I've never seen a discipline priest do things like that before, and it was amazing. The final fight ended up being between a Paladin and a Warlock.

The Warlock used the terrain to his advantage (Fray Island was the setting, if you're interested, right off the coast from Ratchet) and gave it a good go, but in the end, the paladin won.

Congratulations Heimdel! Very well done indeed, surviving all the rounds and coming out on top!