Well, it's been a long while since I hit 80. I began to push to get geared and started to run a few heroics and then things changed. I decided that I really wanted to have an undead rogue. Since I already had an alliance rogue that was at level 72, I did a faction change and wah-lah now I have an undead rogue. That was in mid september, by mid October the rogue was level 80. A week later this rogue was running heroics like they were going out of style and grinding rep like the mad woman she really was. A week or so after that she was on her first raid and all the rest is history so to say.
Well, that may be so, but the history is still being written and thus my dear Zuluki is on the back burner for the time being. :(
More to come soon, hopefully
Zuluki
Monday, November 16, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Ever So Closer
Half way to 80 and all I can think of is "wow" I'm actually almost there. I've taken it so slow in getting here for a number of reason (for most of which is leveling alts) that it's become somewhat realistic. Hopefully by the weekend after next I'll be 80 and getting my first pieces of epics on so that I begin pushing my numbers and stats ever upwards. Doing quests in Icecrown has also shown me how well I'm already geared. Blue quests rewards in Icecrown are not matching what I am already wearing in the blues and crafted blues. I could not be happier about where I am. :D
On a side note. Yrkoon is now in Western Plaguelands and level 50. What a nice little jump for him in just a minimal amount of time played.
So now I need to turn on the gold making machines as I'm going to soon be needing 6K gold for epic flight training and mount (or more if I buy one of the non-standard mounts.) I also need to buy a ton of Frozen Orbs for my crafting needs and I am eyeing a number of epics. If there were a way for 50 to 100 thousand gold to miracously appear on my account horde side, (alliance as well for that matter) I'd be very grateful and in hog heaven.
Happy Hunting!
Zulu
On a side note. Yrkoon is now in Western Plaguelands and level 50. What a nice little jump for him in just a minimal amount of time played.
So now I need to turn on the gold making machines as I'm going to soon be needing 6K gold for epic flight training and mount (or more if I buy one of the non-standard mounts.) I also need to buy a ton of Frozen Orbs for my crafting needs and I am eyeing a number of epics. If there were a way for 50 to 100 thousand gold to miracously appear on my account horde side, (alliance as well for that matter) I'd be very grateful and in hog heaven.
Happy Hunting!
Zulu
Saturday, July 18, 2009
One More Level
So, I finally hit level 79 while farming for leather in Sholozar (my new favorite pastime).
This has allowed me to finally get to 440+ LW so I can now start crafting my epic gear. I'm really hoping this pans out well for me so I can get geared fairly fast. All I have to do now is finish my questing run to 80 and finish getting cold weather flying and my epic flying mount. :D Then I'll be set for getting into the grind of being 80 and developing towards the endgame.
More to come soon! I promise. :D
Zuluki
This has allowed me to finally get to 440+ LW so I can now start crafting my epic gear. I'm really hoping this pans out well for me so I can get geared fairly fast. All I have to do now is finish my questing run to 80 and finish getting cold weather flying and my epic flying mount. :D Then I'll be set for getting into the grind of being 80 and developing towards the endgame.
More to come soon! I promise. :D
Zuluki
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Light is at the End of the Tunnel
4 Bubbles away from 79 and then my final push for 80.
I'm so stoked that I'm finally getting to this spot. Had RL not interfered I would have been here long ago. It's all good, I've never been in a real hurry. Especially considering I'm taking 3 toons through Northrend right now. I am also once again regaining the money I spent on my flying mount and I have set myself up nicely to generate even more money. This is good as I'll need it once I hit 80. Time and money is what is going to get me geared, so I'm getting prepared now. My only wish here is finding Frozen Orbs for cheap (that's not going to happen though). Either way, things are setting up nicely for me to really start plugging in and seeing what I can accomplish when 80 arrives.
The other nice factor here is that I have a ton of quests I can go back and do in several of the different zones. As well as there's a few zones I haven't even touched. :D
See everyone soon,
Zuluki
I'm so stoked that I'm finally getting to this spot. Had RL not interfered I would have been here long ago. It's all good, I've never been in a real hurry. Especially considering I'm taking 3 toons through Northrend right now. I am also once again regaining the money I spent on my flying mount and I have set myself up nicely to generate even more money. This is good as I'll need it once I hit 80. Time and money is what is going to get me geared, so I'm getting prepared now. My only wish here is finding Frozen Orbs for cheap (that's not going to happen though). Either way, things are setting up nicely for me to really start plugging in and seeing what I can accomplish when 80 arrives.
The other nice factor here is that I have a ton of quests I can go back and do in several of the different zones. As well as there's a few zones I haven't even touched. :D
See everyone soon,
Zuluki
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Getting Closer!
So I spent several hours in the last couple of days grinding for leather and working towards the inevitable point of hitting 80. I'm only 5 bubbles away from 79 now and I've upgraded a lot of my gear. It's unbelievable to see that my health is 15k+ and mana is 10k+. I'm so okay with hitting a lot harder now. I am also now only 1 point away from 440 LW so I can start making my epic gear as well. The Oracle Rep grind is coming along, I need to complete one, maybe two, more quests to hit honored and I will probably have that finished next time I play.
I'm also half way towards having Cold Weather Flying and then I'll be saving for my epic flying mount as well as for the cost of dual speccing my paladin. So much to do and I sometimes feel like I just don't have the time to keep grinding for money to get everything I need. All in all though, I'm stoked with my progress.
I am also curious to see how patch 3.2 is going to affect the game so that is something to look forward to as well.
Happy Hunting all.....
I'm also half way towards having Cold Weather Flying and then I'll be saving for my epic flying mount as well as for the cost of dual speccing my paladin. So much to do and I sometimes feel like I just don't have the time to keep grinding for money to get everything I need. All in all though, I'm stoked with my progress.
I am also curious to see how patch 3.2 is going to affect the game so that is something to look forward to as well.
Happy Hunting all.....
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July
Have a great Independence Day everyone and stay safe as you have fun this weekend.
As I've been slowly getting back into the swing of playing again and reviewing all the new info out there regarding hunters especially in reference to Marksman hunters and Survival hunters I have to say I'm intrigued. I don't think I'll ever walk away from BM as this build really suits my play style much better than the other two, it is neat to see what the other builds are able to accomplish. I was reading some interesting posts regarding the different specs and how if your a serious raider you really need to be Survival. One person made an enlightning comment, "All the specs are viable, but only one right now is hitting the best numbers." I won't get into a discussion of the theorycrafting on the differences at this time as I'm still working on coming up to speed on it all, but I will talk a little on just my thoughts.
Lich King, unlike BC, doesn't seem to rely on CC very much. Given the buffs most of the classes have received since the release of LK in doing AoE damage, there tends to be a minimal need for CC and the players that I've talked to or seen in instances really don't use it much. I see a whole lot of running into groups and then everyone just pounding the tar out of that area in beat down the mobs. While Volley is definitely powerful, given that I usually only need to use it twice against non-Elite mobs, it is not really an efficient use of my skills. I have to admit though, I'm not the best chain trapper out there so not having to rely on doing this is helpful, but I also have to wonder about the overall impact this has in a group setting. Has speed and AoE replaced strategy all together?
I am seeing that Ulduar has changed this to an extent, but from reading various posts about it, the skill level for Ulduar is still lower then the harder content in BC. I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. While I do like raiding, having the time to dedicate to it is something in seriously short supply. So I spend most of my time reading about it and doing most everything that is Solo-able. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, what is the specific role that hunters now play. We're not suited currently for hardcore PVP and it's seems the same can also be said of raiding. Sharing in the ranged DPS department is definitely suited to us and it seems as if hunters do hover near the top of the charts at times, but does having our few buffs really doing what other classes can't?
I'm asking a lot of this due to lack of experience since LK released in instances and with raiding in general so I'm really working to get an idea of the roles that we fill in these situations. Anyways, more ranting laters. Off to enjoy the 4th.
As I've been slowly getting back into the swing of playing again and reviewing all the new info out there regarding hunters especially in reference to Marksman hunters and Survival hunters I have to say I'm intrigued. I don't think I'll ever walk away from BM as this build really suits my play style much better than the other two, it is neat to see what the other builds are able to accomplish. I was reading some interesting posts regarding the different specs and how if your a serious raider you really need to be Survival. One person made an enlightning comment, "All the specs are viable, but only one right now is hitting the best numbers." I won't get into a discussion of the theorycrafting on the differences at this time as I'm still working on coming up to speed on it all, but I will talk a little on just my thoughts.
Lich King, unlike BC, doesn't seem to rely on CC very much. Given the buffs most of the classes have received since the release of LK in doing AoE damage, there tends to be a minimal need for CC and the players that I've talked to or seen in instances really don't use it much. I see a whole lot of running into groups and then everyone just pounding the tar out of that area in beat down the mobs. While Volley is definitely powerful, given that I usually only need to use it twice against non-Elite mobs, it is not really an efficient use of my skills. I have to admit though, I'm not the best chain trapper out there so not having to rely on doing this is helpful, but I also have to wonder about the overall impact this has in a group setting. Has speed and AoE replaced strategy all together?
I am seeing that Ulduar has changed this to an extent, but from reading various posts about it, the skill level for Ulduar is still lower then the harder content in BC. I'm not sure how I feel about all of this. While I do like raiding, having the time to dedicate to it is something in seriously short supply. So I spend most of my time reading about it and doing most everything that is Solo-able. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, what is the specific role that hunters now play. We're not suited currently for hardcore PVP and it's seems the same can also be said of raiding. Sharing in the ranged DPS department is definitely suited to us and it seems as if hunters do hover near the top of the charts at times, but does having our few buffs really doing what other classes can't?
I'm asking a lot of this due to lack of experience since LK released in instances and with raiding in general so I'm really working to get an idea of the roles that we fill in these situations. Anyways, more ranting laters. Off to enjoy the 4th.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
All for Trolls
I love playing a troll, and especially a troll hunter. I've said this before, I wish there were more troll type things in the game. Blizz continually makes a whole lot of bad troll stuff for us to kill, but what about a new home for the trolls. Can Senjin Isle finally be a new major city? Or can we create one somewhere else? Off the eastern coast of STV might be interesting given how closely that region ties in to the troll history in the game. The new model changes for a lot of the bad guy trolls is interesting, but I wonder if Blizz will give us a some new player options regarding how trolls look?
Given all the new troll content in Northrend has made me wonder a bit more on this subject and I feel it's something that is often shared by players who play trolls. It is also a little disappointing that there is a real lack of continuity in the trolls story line in game, and the same is true for all the races. I would love to see the histories of all the races and history more accurately potrayed in game, as well as tied in better to the quests and such. I know this will never happen and that's unfortunate, especially since we now have the achievement system which it would tie into so well. Ah well, more musings later, after I dream more of what a real Troll City would look like.
Given all the new troll content in Northrend has made me wonder a bit more on this subject and I feel it's something that is often shared by players who play trolls. It is also a little disappointing that there is a real lack of continuity in the trolls story line in game, and the same is true for all the races. I would love to see the histories of all the races and history more accurately potrayed in game, as well as tied in better to the quests and such. I know this will never happen and that's unfortunate, especially since we now have the achievement system which it would tie into so well. Ah well, more musings later, after I dream more of what a real Troll City would look like.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Blogging and Playing in Earnest Again
Level 78!!!!! Yah, baby!
So it's done. I've completed a lot of the Midsummer quests and a few achievements and finally reached level 78. I have also finally purchased my first flying mount and I'm currently raising the cash for cold weather flying (1/4th of the way there already). I really hoping that I'll have it paid for by the end of next week so I can start on saving for my epic flying mount and lvl 80 epic gear.
My plan for now is to stay in Sholozar for much of this time for two reasons. Leather, of which I still need a ton, and Oracle rep. I really want the trinket from the Oracle's. Since beginning to get set up for having Oracle rep, I've found it's kind of riduculus to have to complete so many quests for Frenzyheart rep. It kinda works out as it does give you xp as you work towards the quest which opens up the Oracle side of things. From there it should just be a fairly quick grind to get what I want. And hopefully I'll hit 79 or even 80 while grinding rep and leather there.
So it's done. I've completed a lot of the Midsummer quests and a few achievements and finally reached level 78. I have also finally purchased my first flying mount and I'm currently raising the cash for cold weather flying (1/4th of the way there already). I really hoping that I'll have it paid for by the end of next week so I can start on saving for my epic flying mount and lvl 80 epic gear.
My plan for now is to stay in Sholozar for much of this time for two reasons. Leather, of which I still need a ton, and Oracle rep. I really want the trinket from the Oracle's. Since beginning to get set up for having Oracle rep, I've found it's kind of riduculus to have to complete so many quests for Frenzyheart rep. It kinda works out as it does give you xp as you work towards the quest which opens up the Oracle side of things. From there it should just be a fairly quick grind to get what I want. And hopefully I'll hit 79 or even 80 while grinding rep and leather there.
Monday, June 22, 2009
In the Mean Time
So Zuluki has been in a form of stasis and now as I'm able to start to begin to catch up on playing and blogging I'm finding the blogasphere that I'd become accustom to has changed. NO MORE BRK!!!!!!!! Seriously? This is a shocker, I have to wonder if he still plays WoW. From looking at other blogs I used to regularly follow it seems a lot of people, whom still play their hunters, have expanded their horizons on other alts of different classes.
I can't say I haven't been on that train as well. This spring I've brought my rogue alt to 70 and into Northrend, I'm still slowly leveling my Ally shaman and I have also been pushing to get my BE pally up in levels, he's finally wearing plate armor. I have also been experimenting with the DK's. All of this in between changing careers, work schedules, potty training and many other activities. Zuluki has been somewhat relegated to a farming toon for leather and money. This is okay atm as I need the money for flying mounts and training, as well as the massive quantities of leather to finish out leveling my LW.
I feel that currently there's been a lack of purpose or goals for Zulu and thus the reason's she hasn't seen as much play and for my lack of blogging. So here we go. My goals for the rest of the summer!
I can't say I haven't been on that train as well. This spring I've brought my rogue alt to 70 and into Northrend, I'm still slowly leveling my Ally shaman and I have also been pushing to get my BE pally up in levels, he's finally wearing plate armor. I have also been experimenting with the DK's. All of this in between changing careers, work schedules, potty training and many other activities. Zuluki has been somewhat relegated to a farming toon for leather and money. This is okay atm as I need the money for flying mounts and training, as well as the massive quantities of leather to finish out leveling my LW.
I feel that currently there's been a lack of purpose or goals for Zulu and thus the reason's she hasn't seen as much play and for my lack of blogging. So here we go. My goals for the rest of the summer!
- Finish farming enough leather to hit 450 LW, then use leather for generating more money.
- Continue to farm gold so that I can get flying mounts and all my flight training for Northrend.
- Hit LVL 80!!!!!! At half way through 77, this really shouldn't be a monumental task. I just need to start playing regularly again and quest!
- Have fun! :D
Another reason I need to get his done, my guild Malice, is very near to be raiding atm We have enough lvl 80's to start tackling the end game content, but we do need a little more diversity in our group make up. Plus I want to get my feet wet. Anyways, stay tooned. I'll be posting more regularly again. :D
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
RL and WoW
Well, several things have again kept me from blogging like I should. I am still slowly leveling, playing around 4 to 8 hours a week on Zulu and the same on another alt right now. I've had to change jobs like so many out there and that has really thrown off my play times and blogging times.
I've finished Sholazar Basin, I'm mostly done with Dragon Blight and I've entered Zul'Drak. I've found with all the changes BM is still hot and I love how well my kitty works. I use Jujukitty way more than my gorilla unless I know I'm going to be pulling and handling more than 3 mobs at a time.
In my new RL job training is over and I should be settling into a rhythm soon so hopefully I'll be playing more this summer.
I've finished Sholazar Basin, I'm mostly done with Dragon Blight and I've entered Zul'Drak. I've found with all the changes BM is still hot and I love how well my kitty works. I use Jujukitty way more than my gorilla unless I know I'm going to be pulling and handling more than 3 mobs at a time.
In my new RL job training is over and I should be settling into a rhythm soon so hopefully I'll be playing more this summer.
Monday, April 20, 2009
It's Spring and the Inevitable.
Just so everyone know's I've not forgotten my fans out there. Real Life is happening everyday and the weekends are nearly as busy too. I spend what little time I get to play leveling up another alt and then I go and grind for leather. It takes a riduculous amount of Borean Leather to get enough Heavy Borean Leather to finish leveling my Leatherworking. Three hours in Sholozar Basin turned into enough Borean Leather to make 34 Heavy Borean Leather. So back to the basin I will go and I'll probably level another level there just on farming leather. Ah well, life is good though and my new guild Malice is turning out to have been the right choice. There's more than 30 of us now making the final push to 80 and the new end game content.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Lost Time
Wow, I turn around and blink a couple of times and what has happened?
Two whole months.....
Wow.....
Okay, I haven't done much lately as my alliance guild has been pushing for heroic runs and preparing for our first shot at raiding there. So I've been on that side of the server for a while doing what I can to help out. When I have been on Zulu, I've been farming leather like a crazed woman in Sholozar (which now has my nomination for the best ever in game music). I'm a bit stunned at how much Heavy Borean Leather I am going to need to finish out the remaining 20 or so points of leatherworking that I need but it could be worse. I could be level 80 and doing this for little benefit. At least I'm gaining XP for this and I have nearly cleared another level just doing this.
Anyways, I'll be back soon with more.
Two whole months.....
Wow.....
Okay, I haven't done much lately as my alliance guild has been pushing for heroic runs and preparing for our first shot at raiding there. So I've been on that side of the server for a while doing what I can to help out. When I have been on Zulu, I've been farming leather like a crazed woman in Sholozar (which now has my nomination for the best ever in game music). I'm a bit stunned at how much Heavy Borean Leather I am going to need to finish out the remaining 20 or so points of leatherworking that I need but it could be worse. I could be level 80 and doing this for little benefit. At least I'm gaining XP for this and I have nearly cleared another level just doing this.
Anyways, I'll be back soon with more.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Ka-Ching Ding.....
High Fives for all, I hit 75!!!
So, last night, right before I logged off and went to bed I hit level 75. I finished turning in my quests in Venomspite and the hearthed to Dalaran. Unloaded my bags, mailed AH items to my bank alt and then ported to Orgrimmar for training. After that I equiped a my Dark Frostscale pants, added the Jormunger Leg Reinforcement and took a quick look in the AH. There I found Helm of the Broken Ram, bought that. So what does this all mean?
Well, my AP went down a little, but about 20 pts, but I increased my hit by almost 40 points and increased my crit rating by about 2.5 percentage points. So the marginal loss in top end damage is covered by hitting more often for a little more base damage and an increase in the number of crits I will have. 1/6 chance to Crit is a lot better than the 1/7 or 1/8 chance that I did have. Morale of all of this is. As I get access to more and more blue and better gear I am learning how to balance my stats appropriately to hit as hard as I can and to allow my pets to shred their opponents.
This morning.... I'm looking at my bank and realize that to continue to craft my LW items for skill ups, that I am in desperate need of Elemental Air. So off to Borean Tundra, which is the only place that I am aware of so far to farm Crystalized Air. I hour of banging away, I am about 40g richer and have enough Crystalized air for 2 eternals. (Man there has to be a better place than this to get this stuff.) That done I craft 5 Swiftarrow Bracers and now all my LW recipes are yellow again. :( Man this sucks, I am now at 426 LW and out of mats so back to farming for a little while. This will be good for getting both of my pets leveled again so I'm not that upset but I really need to find a sweet spot to get enough leather for the Heavy Borean Leather I need for my recipes.
Ah well. I sent to of the bracers off to Genzdawn and Dawnzgen for their future use and will continue to send them stuff as I craft the items for the Swiftarrow set. Now I just have to figure out how I will get from 426 to 440 as quickly as possible. The amount of Heavy Borean Leather I need is almost staggering to think about when you consider the stuff sells for about 150g on my server. This means I won't be buying it if I have any thoughts of acquiring my flying mount any where near level 77.
I have noticed when reading around that a lot of the hunters on the blogs are starting to talk about pets. The conversatoins run the gamut of topics and most are very informative. But I'm still a bit perplexed by one pet ability. Cower. I have never understood this ability and from reading the tooltip, I can only see a use for it in instances. So maybe some one could enlighten me on this or maybe I'll go over to Larissa's Hunter Forum and ask there... that will depend upon how busy I am today.
Zulu
So, last night, right before I logged off and went to bed I hit level 75. I finished turning in my quests in Venomspite and the hearthed to Dalaran. Unloaded my bags, mailed AH items to my bank alt and then ported to Orgrimmar for training. After that I equiped a my Dark Frostscale pants, added the Jormunger Leg Reinforcement and took a quick look in the AH. There I found Helm of the Broken Ram, bought that. So what does this all mean?
Well, my AP went down a little, but about 20 pts, but I increased my hit by almost 40 points and increased my crit rating by about 2.5 percentage points. So the marginal loss in top end damage is covered by hitting more often for a little more base damage and an increase in the number of crits I will have. 1/6 chance to Crit is a lot better than the 1/7 or 1/8 chance that I did have. Morale of all of this is. As I get access to more and more blue and better gear I am learning how to balance my stats appropriately to hit as hard as I can and to allow my pets to shred their opponents.
This morning.... I'm looking at my bank and realize that to continue to craft my LW items for skill ups, that I am in desperate need of Elemental Air. So off to Borean Tundra, which is the only place that I am aware of so far to farm Crystalized Air. I hour of banging away, I am about 40g richer and have enough Crystalized air for 2 eternals. (Man there has to be a better place than this to get this stuff.) That done I craft 5 Swiftarrow Bracers and now all my LW recipes are yellow again. :( Man this sucks, I am now at 426 LW and out of mats so back to farming for a little while. This will be good for getting both of my pets leveled again so I'm not that upset but I really need to find a sweet spot to get enough leather for the Heavy Borean Leather I need for my recipes.
Ah well. I sent to of the bracers off to Genzdawn and Dawnzgen for their future use and will continue to send them stuff as I craft the items for the Swiftarrow set. Now I just have to figure out how I will get from 426 to 440 as quickly as possible. The amount of Heavy Borean Leather I need is almost staggering to think about when you consider the stuff sells for about 150g on my server. This means I won't be buying it if I have any thoughts of acquiring my flying mount any where near level 77.
I have noticed when reading around that a lot of the hunters on the blogs are starting to talk about pets. The conversatoins run the gamut of topics and most are very informative. But I'm still a bit perplexed by one pet ability. Cower. I have never understood this ability and from reading the tooltip, I can only see a use for it in instances. So maybe some one could enlighten me on this or maybe I'll go over to Larissa's Hunter Forum and ask there... that will depend upon how busy I am today.
Zulu
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Change and Groups
What is it about Change?
It hasn't even been a week since I joined Malice and now I have been invited to join Lords of Dishonor. (lol, another 'Lords of' guild which seem to be prolific on Gilneas) The invite comes through my connection to 2 BELF hunters named Genzdawn and Dawnzgen. I first met these two hunters on my Alliance main Dhargaul in the Ally guild LOST SLEEP. A while back they decided to roll BELF hunters and level them up, and now here they are running around with me in Dragonblight. This makes me laugh in that I'm so used to playing alone on Zulu that being grouped up is surreal in a good way, I think. This morning the three of us ran around Agmar killing every skinnable beast we could find. In the half hour or so we were doing this I cleared just over 3 full stacks of Borean leather. I used this to craft them the remaining pieces they needed to have a complete Frostscale armor set. This has set me to thinking about something that I have never considered much before.
Grouping....
Normally this isn't something I would do unless it was necessary, like opening the Blade's Edge Daily quests back in the times of BC. Beyond these kinds of groups I've never been a fan of grouping for the purpose of questing. What I have learned when I have done this in the past is that I really don't get anywhere any faster. The amount of XP that I lose from killing mobs does not make up for what ever time I get for things going faster. In all actuality, I've found that my questing actually slows down when I am in a group. So I actually lose more if I am in a group than I gain. Now the other side of this coin is, if I know the people I am with then it is actually a lot more fun because you have people you can talk to during this time. This does make it worthwhile, in most cases. The part of this that worked this morning was that I was able to farm at least twice as much leather as I would have been able to do on my own in the same amount of time. The benefit of this is huge. I'm almost totally replaced in leather what I spent for recipes in Dalaran and that in and of itself is awesome.
Otherwise I really have to look at why I need to group up. Group specific quests and intances are one thing, but outside of friendly banter (which can also be had in guild chat) what is the real benefit of grouping? I know that a lot of people prefer this method just because it saves on GY runs, but that is a poor excuse in my book. If a player is dying all the time then their approach to questing is all wrong. Pacing is the key word when it comes to questing, not aggressive speed. This way you keep up your momentum while ensuring you don't die as often and can keep your health and mana near max all the time. So my mantra is, unless your hanging with friends, don't group if your are in any kind of hurry to level or if you are trying to maximize your xp intake.
Zulu
It hasn't even been a week since I joined Malice and now I have been invited to join Lords of Dishonor. (lol, another 'Lords of' guild which seem to be prolific on Gilneas) The invite comes through my connection to 2 BELF hunters named Genzdawn and Dawnzgen. I first met these two hunters on my Alliance main Dhargaul in the Ally guild LOST SLEEP. A while back they decided to roll BELF hunters and level them up, and now here they are running around with me in Dragonblight. This makes me laugh in that I'm so used to playing alone on Zulu that being grouped up is surreal in a good way, I think. This morning the three of us ran around Agmar killing every skinnable beast we could find. In the half hour or so we were doing this I cleared just over 3 full stacks of Borean leather. I used this to craft them the remaining pieces they needed to have a complete Frostscale armor set. This has set me to thinking about something that I have never considered much before.
Grouping....
Normally this isn't something I would do unless it was necessary, like opening the Blade's Edge Daily quests back in the times of BC. Beyond these kinds of groups I've never been a fan of grouping for the purpose of questing. What I have learned when I have done this in the past is that I really don't get anywhere any faster. The amount of XP that I lose from killing mobs does not make up for what ever time I get for things going faster. In all actuality, I've found that my questing actually slows down when I am in a group. So I actually lose more if I am in a group than I gain. Now the other side of this coin is, if I know the people I am with then it is actually a lot more fun because you have people you can talk to during this time. This does make it worthwhile, in most cases. The part of this that worked this morning was that I was able to farm at least twice as much leather as I would have been able to do on my own in the same amount of time. The benefit of this is huge. I'm almost totally replaced in leather what I spent for recipes in Dalaran and that in and of itself is awesome.
Otherwise I really have to look at why I need to group up. Group specific quests and intances are one thing, but outside of friendly banter (which can also be had in guild chat) what is the real benefit of grouping? I know that a lot of people prefer this method just because it saves on GY runs, but that is a poor excuse in my book. If a player is dying all the time then their approach to questing is all wrong. Pacing is the key word when it comes to questing, not aggressive speed. This way you keep up your momentum while ensuring you don't die as often and can keep your health and mana near max all the time. So my mantra is, unless your hanging with friends, don't group if your are in any kind of hurry to level or if you are trying to maximize your xp intake.
Zulu
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dragonblight
So, this morning I begin questing in Dragonblight and ran into a couple of other hunters that I know. They invite me to their group and off we go.... The nice thing was that neither of them are skinners so I got tons of leather from our quests and then we went after a couple of the Wanted: poster mobs. So off we went and found Gigantaur, first time we wipe. Second time he falls nice and easy. Then we took down Dreadtalon without a hitch as well. So why then am I writing of this?
Well, for one, I normally don't group with people for quests, even elite or group ones. The primary reason is that I've had really bad experiences doing this in the past so I tend to shy away from this style of play. What was nice here is that not only did things work out well, though it was kinda weird to see 3 hunters running around together. Both of these hunters are well geared from BC, and what I found was that I was easily on equal footing with them regarding damage and such. I didn't run a damage meter so I cannot say specifically how close we all were. I do know that I was holding my own just on the fact that I pulled aggro more often than they did. To an extent this surprises me as they are so much better geared and both are specced for MM. Either way it was nice to see that I could hold my own.
We are planning to do some instances now in the mornings depending upon who we can find to run with us. I'll keep you posted especially since if these groups make, they will be the first instances I've run on Zulu and I'm sure they will be interesting as well as a huge learning experience.
Zulu
Well, for one, I normally don't group with people for quests, even elite or group ones. The primary reason is that I've had really bad experiences doing this in the past so I tend to shy away from this style of play. What was nice here is that not only did things work out well, though it was kinda weird to see 3 hunters running around together. Both of these hunters are well geared from BC, and what I found was that I was easily on equal footing with them regarding damage and such. I didn't run a damage meter so I cannot say specifically how close we all were. I do know that I was holding my own just on the fact that I pulled aggro more often than they did. To an extent this surprises me as they are so much better geared and both are specced for MM. Either way it was nice to see that I could hold my own.
We are planning to do some instances now in the mornings depending upon who we can find to run with us. I'll keep you posted especially since if these groups make, they will be the first instances I've run on Zulu and I'm sure they will be interesting as well as a huge learning experience.
Zulu
Monday, January 12, 2009
Change
How in the heck does someone complete all the quests for the achievements for Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord. In both places I need like 20 quests in each area to earn the achievement and I can only think of or find one or two that I haven't done yet in each area. So what am I missing?
Ah well.....
I'm well into 74 now and have finally completed the quest to get to Dalaran. Wow, this place is sharp. It's well laid out and very pretty. I also think that they provide a lot more in Dalaran to keep people busy there than they did with Shatt. I saw the bear mount and I was like... Awww... and almost bought it. I mean can't you see me now? Troll hunter, kitty or grolla pet, riding a bear? Woot... Well, later that is. First of all, I need my flying mount and I want to make sure that I can get my epic as soon after level 77 as I can. As it stands now I am about 1 10th of the way there. I am going to figure up what the cost will be and then I will make a determination from there as to the best way to raise the money.
On another note, things must truly be boring for players on my server. The number of raids and attacks on lower level horde areas has increased by a suprising amount. When I am on my undead rogue alt, Yrg, in the Barrens there has been some sort of attack somewhere in the Barrens constantly going on. Sadly this has slowed his progression in leveling some as he's had to wait for his quest givers to re-rez. I really find it suprising that so many people will spend their time this way on a PVE server, but then again, I have not seen a strong horde response to these kinds of activities. At one time around the release of BC, you'd see a whole slew of Horde show up to stomp the Alliance kiddies when they did this. Ah well. Everything changes.
A final note on 3.0.8 and Steady Shot. Like many out there I'm not looking forward to this shot getting nerfed. But after much review, I'm not sure if this will change my shot rotations much. While I don't like the overall loss of damage BM will have to deal with, I cannot at this time even think of playing another spec for this class. So, like everyone else, I will learn to adjust.
Meh, change!!
Zulu.
Ah well.....
I'm well into 74 now and have finally completed the quest to get to Dalaran. Wow, this place is sharp. It's well laid out and very pretty. I also think that they provide a lot more in Dalaran to keep people busy there than they did with Shatt. I saw the bear mount and I was like... Awww... and almost bought it. I mean can't you see me now? Troll hunter, kitty or grolla pet, riding a bear? Woot... Well, later that is. First of all, I need my flying mount and I want to make sure that I can get my epic as soon after level 77 as I can. As it stands now I am about 1 10th of the way there. I am going to figure up what the cost will be and then I will make a determination from there as to the best way to raise the money.
On another note, things must truly be boring for players on my server. The number of raids and attacks on lower level horde areas has increased by a suprising amount. When I am on my undead rogue alt, Yrg, in the Barrens there has been some sort of attack somewhere in the Barrens constantly going on. Sadly this has slowed his progression in leveling some as he's had to wait for his quest givers to re-rez. I really find it suprising that so many people will spend their time this way on a PVE server, but then again, I have not seen a strong horde response to these kinds of activities. At one time around the release of BC, you'd see a whole slew of Horde show up to stomp the Alliance kiddies when they did this. Ah well. Everything changes.
A final note on 3.0.8 and Steady Shot. Like many out there I'm not looking forward to this shot getting nerfed. But after much review, I'm not sure if this will change my shot rotations much. While I don't like the overall loss of damage BM will have to deal with, I cannot at this time even think of playing another spec for this class. So, like everyone else, I will learn to adjust.
Meh, change!!
Zulu.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
New Faces and New Friends
Well, if you take a close look at the new title picture, you'll see something different. Yes, that's right, I've changed guilds. I have been with Lords of Chaos since it's inception but the guild has become very quiet. In most cases I am the only one online and every so often I will see one other player. While I love LoC and my friends there, I yearn for company when I'm questing. So I changed. The change followed from me playing on an alt, this alt was invited to the guild Malice. I have spent some time in the guild on my alt and this group of people really seem to be right up my alley play wise.
Malice is a young guild but that's fine by me. I like seeing good things grow and I have a good feeling about this group. Hopefully with a little help from me as well as the efforts of others this guild will eventually become a good sized and active guild. Time will tell, but I've found a new home for a while.
Malice is a young guild but that's fine by me. I like seeing good things grow and I have a good feeling about this group. Hopefully with a little help from me as well as the efforts of others this guild will eventually become a good sized and active guild. Time will tell, but I've found a new home for a while.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Near Future
I finally hit 74 and have re-equipped some. I am now wearing most of the Frostscale armor and a few other blues. I also got a great drop on a blue ring (I'll link it later) to add to the mix and my numbers are really starting to climb. I had forgotten what it was like in BC when you begin to see that drastic curve stat wise and what it does to your DPS and such.
I have also decided to pause a little to see what is really going to happen with patch 3.0.8. If the nerf is as expected then I will have some thinking to do as this could be pretty detrimental to my current spec. I'm hoping for the best (and yes, expecting the worst) and that the nerf won't be so bad once it goes live. Until then I think I will slow down some and work on some of my other characters.
Happy Hunting
Zulu
I have also decided to pause a little to see what is really going to happen with patch 3.0.8. If the nerf is as expected then I will have some thinking to do as this could be pretty detrimental to my current spec. I'm hoping for the best (and yes, expecting the worst) and that the nerf won't be so bad once it goes live. Until then I think I will slow down some and work on some of my other characters.
Happy Hunting
Zulu
Saturday, January 3, 2009
A New Year, New Directions?
Well here we are in 2009. RL is hopefully going to abate a little and allow for some more game time soon. Currently with my limited time I try to do a coule of quests per day and then farm for leather. I really want to be at 450 before I hit 80. The nice thing about this that I still have only just scratched the surface in the Grizzly Hills and Dragonblight. At my current level, this should mean that I will be somewhere around 67 or 68 before I leave these areas.
I find it somewhat ironic that hunters everywhere are starting the year on a low note. We are awaiting the hit coming on the next patch. All of us wonder if this will be as big of a nerf as it 'could' be, or water it down a little so it's not a huge hit. As I've talked to other players over the holidays an interesting thought came up. Does Blizz ever adjust something back up if they nerf it? The short answer on this is, "No, not really."
Ghostcrawler seems to think that if steady shot is nerfed down too far that Blizz will go back and adjust things back up. I have not seen this happen very much in the time that I have been playing. In fact it seems that after a major nerf, Blizz seems to forget about what they were doing on that class and spec. Hopefully I'm wrong and what Ghostcrawler says is right, but I am really doubting it. As I troll around the net reading it really seems that Ghostcrawler has lost a lot of respect amongst the players. And I have to say, when GC made the comment that the Blizz tester were more professoinal and better players than the community, I was more than a little disappointed in his comment. Looking at the most prolific posters on sites like Elitist Jerks, and the fact that there are players in the community that the Dev's will go to to talk about things leads me to believe that Ghostcrawler takes his postion 'way too serioiusly' and now seems to think he has a license to show the community how much 'better' he is than us. Sadly this has back fired on him and I think that the best of the best in the live community really are not paying much heed to his rhetoric any more.
We'll see when the patch hits and we can evaluate the overall numbers live. If it happens that this proposed 20% Steady Shot nerf does equate into an overall 25% or more overall DPS nerf when added to the other pet and talent nerf we are getting then I think our community will have some hard decisions to make, and I think the number of hunters live on the servers will be reduced fairly significantly. I personally would hate to see this, but it may be the end result. Either way, I think we are at an interesting juncture where Blizz is seeminly favoring the Plate wearing classes over all the others. If what I read is any indication then this may continue to happen for a while leaving everyone else out in the cold so to say.
Happy Hunting
Zulu
I find it somewhat ironic that hunters everywhere are starting the year on a low note. We are awaiting the hit coming on the next patch. All of us wonder if this will be as big of a nerf as it 'could' be, or water it down a little so it's not a huge hit. As I've talked to other players over the holidays an interesting thought came up. Does Blizz ever adjust something back up if they nerf it? The short answer on this is, "No, not really."
Ghostcrawler seems to think that if steady shot is nerfed down too far that Blizz will go back and adjust things back up. I have not seen this happen very much in the time that I have been playing. In fact it seems that after a major nerf, Blizz seems to forget about what they were doing on that class and spec. Hopefully I'm wrong and what Ghostcrawler says is right, but I am really doubting it. As I troll around the net reading it really seems that Ghostcrawler has lost a lot of respect amongst the players. And I have to say, when GC made the comment that the Blizz tester were more professoinal and better players than the community, I was more than a little disappointed in his comment. Looking at the most prolific posters on sites like Elitist Jerks, and the fact that there are players in the community that the Dev's will go to to talk about things leads me to believe that Ghostcrawler takes his postion 'way too serioiusly' and now seems to think he has a license to show the community how much 'better' he is than us. Sadly this has back fired on him and I think that the best of the best in the live community really are not paying much heed to his rhetoric any more.
We'll see when the patch hits and we can evaluate the overall numbers live. If it happens that this proposed 20% Steady Shot nerf does equate into an overall 25% or more overall DPS nerf when added to the other pet and talent nerf we are getting then I think our community will have some hard decisions to make, and I think the number of hunters live on the servers will be reduced fairly significantly. I personally would hate to see this, but it may be the end result. Either way, I think we are at an interesting juncture where Blizz is seeminly favoring the Plate wearing classes over all the others. If what I read is any indication then this may continue to happen for a while leaving everyone else out in the cold so to say.
Happy Hunting
Zulu
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