There’s Fireflint, off helping Kul Tirans as he levels up. He took some time to partake in a hunting party, and moments later I was literally having flashbacks to Hellfire Penninsula and the characters I took through there…probably Tum the most. Back then, that early entry into Outland, it was quest away and kill boars. You had to, because the bastards just kept showing up. Sometimes you’d get real lucky and end up with a few of them at once. All the healing in the world couldn’t save me. And it only got worse because Illidan forbid you were on a quest for a drop item (or multiples), because half the time the stuff wouldn’t drop. This place? SAME DAMN THING. Six expansions later and I have to suffer like this again? Is this the thanks I get for coming back? Ugh. Thank Illidan Fireflint has some durability and damage output otherwise I’d have probably lost my mind. Suffice to say I doubt any of the other Alliance toons will be visiting these yahoos. For shame Blizzard, for shame.
I’ve been waiting with breath held for this one. Unfortunately it isn’t World of Warcraft related. Instead, I’m going to use this time on my own blog to promote my own venture. Along with several friends, we’ve decided to run our new Dungeons & Dragons campaign (with yours truly as the Dungeon Master) as a podcast! If you have the time, please give a listen and let me know what you think. Admittedly there were a few audio hiccups in the first episode but hopefully that doesn’t deter you. If you have a podcast service, just look up Echoes of Ages!
As the title suggests, a very happy holidays to you! It’s been a busy time around the Amateur household, to the point even Azeroth has not been seen much. I did hope on Zarahi in the hope that for once Blizzard would surprise me with something new from Greatfather Winter. Imagine my surprise when not only was there a new pet (see raptor in picture) but also a new toy as well! I don’t know if these are new to this year, or just new in my absence but they’re long overdue to me. Not because I am greedy by any stretch but because I feel like $100 a year per player (minimum) deserves a little something in return, more so than what the game generally offers.
To the topic at hand once more, though, I truly hope you and your family have had a nice holiday and I wish you the best in 2021. Illidan knows it can’t be as trying as this past year was.
One of the characters I was happiest to create was Semblance, my Gnome Warrior. I did the Gnome area so that as a Warrior I got my 2H Very Light Saber. Yep, it’s exactly what you think it is. And it fit her with her Leia buns and Engineering goggles. Imagine my surprise when I logged in and saw this:
I first saw this when I was at the character select screen. I thought perhaps it was just a glitch until I logged in. As I just mentioned that was not the case. Instead of a lightsaber, all I have is a hilt. And it’s not just a glitch with her, I tried my Tauren Paladin and Worgen Death Knight and neither of them showed the sword either. Just the hilt.
I’m disappointed this happened, and hopefully can find a resolution that fixes it but I’m not holding my breath. Nor do I want to find Teebu’s Blazing Longsword because the price on that bad boy is off the charts. I know there’s an Outland one, but unfortunately it’s only a 1H weapon. Not sure what I will do with her in the meantime, but there will definitely be disappointment if the Very Light Saber no longer…well, lightsabers.
When Wrath of the Lich King came out, had I not taken a break I would have had a very good chance at world first level 80 Rogue. I don’t say that as a means of bragging, because well…what’s there to brag about? I didn’t get the achievement. So why bring it up? Well, to illustrate just what I thought of the rogue class at one point. Siori was my main. I loved Combat and then its evolution into Outlaw. So after Saintvache hit 50, I decided she was the next out of the chute.
With the druid and paladin, I fell right back into old habits and rotations and took care of business. Imagine my surprise when that was not the case with my rogue. I got Slice ‘N’ Dice going and made sure poison was equipped and the other usual things. But overall it felt flat. I was incredibly underwhelmed and while I can’t quite put my finger on why, I do think the current state of combo finishers plays a large part. There were more to choose from when I last played. And I found them more affective. Now hitting your rotation is just as easy, but there’s no DoT’s anymore (that I can really see). Dispatch is there for dealing damage and Cheap Shot of course for stunning the target (when Kick just doesn’t do the trick). But overall I just felt I wasn’t putting out as much damage as I used to. It made me really keep an eye on what felt like a depleted survivability.
I did end up getting her to 50 though. How much play she’ll see from here out is up in the air at best. I feel like my Feral Druid does rogue better than rogue does, if that makes sense. Her biggest asset at this point is probably making Enchanting scrolls and opening lock boxes. Not exactly where I expected to be with my rogue if you had asked me a few years back. And if you’re curious, I did look at the other specs. While they might be more optimal, I wasn’t really feeling them all that much more than Outlaw. So, I suppose it is what it is. Perhaps at some point I dust her off again and suddenly the class clicks for me again, I don’t know. But for the short term, the boss is going to be doing her work from behind the desk instead of out in the field.
For a return to the Top 5, I wanted to look at the in-game cinematics. To be clear, this list does not include any patch trailers or expansion cinematics. And for today’s list I’m looking at pre-Shadowlands content. Heck, Shadowlands could have a top 5 all their own with how many there are. Moving on to the list.
5. Immortal No More This one is on the list not out of any enjoyment on my part. I found this to be part of the Mary Sue that we call Thrall after all these years and I’m honestly done with it. It’s why Garrosh’s death didn’t make the list. Players did all the work just to have that moment taken from us. Thrall at this point is no better, but it’s the impact of the scene. The dragons gave up their immortality (which, again, I find silly) for the people of Azeroth. That was huge, no matter how one feels about it.
4. There Must Always Be A Lich King This video was the culmination of a fantastic story. Arthas succumbing to defeat was the closing chapter, and I don’t think any of us expected to see Bolvar show up and take the mantle. He made for an interesting, lesser version of the Lich King over the years. Being able to watch this cinematic by viewing the statue in Dalaran was a nice little touch as well. My only issue is how “human” Arthas was at the end…given if you read the books he deliberately kills Ner’zhul in his mind to be the one true Lich King.
3. The Hour of Blood Approaches Going through the Zandalari quests was an enjoyable story. The betrayal of Rastakhan was well told. What came as a complete surprise was the full scope of Zul’s power play. My draw dropped watching this scene as a player you are literally looking at an “ohhhhh no” type of moment.
2. Rejecting The Gift Say what you want about Illidan’s return and redemption, this was powerful. Part of me actually expected Illidan to have his demon side expunged. This showed not only how powerful Illidan is, but how controlling the Light can be. “I am my scars!”
1. Wrathgate This one probably does not come as much of a surprise. It had so much going for it at the time. It was a fantastic reward for a lengthy questline. It was really the first of its kind, and held so much lore and storylines. The Forsaken “splinter group,” Saurfang the Younger, Bolvar’s death…I can’t think of any in-game cinematic that came close to what the Wrathgate was and meant.
There you have it, my top five in-game cinematics. For what it’s worth, there were a couple of other’s I strongly considered. “Thorn Removal” where Aysa and Ji went their separate ways was close. It was short but showed so much. Also up there was Maev’s capturing and release of the Demon Hunters. What about you? Which have been your favourites?
Nothing quite like exploratory ding sneaking up on you. After getting in good with Highmountain, I had Saintvache visit Suramar, since I wouldn’t mind a Nightborne. Once again failing to look up what is required bit me in the rump. I figured it would work the same as the Highmountain in that I needed to complete the initial group of quests. As you likely know, that’s not the case. But at this point, I’d now done two of the factions for “Uniting the Isles.” So it was off to Val’Ashar for some more samaritan work. It was while wandering about there the 50 happened. At this point, I’ll probably keep him up in that area to continue to unite the isles. That’s now the Paladin and Druid that are level capped for me. I think up next is someone on the Alliance side. The who is still up for debate.
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