After a few delays and time away from Azeroth, Zarahi became the first of the Amateur Army to hit the new cap of 100. With much rejoicing I stopped to consider things thus far. As such, here’s 100 random thoughts about the new expansion: Continue reading
I made good on my promise to take Lioux to the Isle of Thunder. Unfortunately I didn’t consider how undergeared he still would be. The third scenario clearly illustrated that for me, though, and so I decided to putter elsewhere. I realized I didn’t have any of the Tempest Keep pets as of yet so that seemed like a logical choice. As I was talking to Tome at the time, I asked her if she wanted to go and so off the two of us went.
Four bosses in Tempest Keep and three of them have the chance to drop a pet. Well, none of them did. I had this great theory that Kael’thas was just in a really good move and was saving our luck for the Ashes of A’lar. Yeah, theories aren’t always that practical. I followed Tome’s notion that we should then head into Molten Core. I hadn’t been there in a little while, probably once ever on Liouxpold, so I was game. Once again we had pet opportunities…and one managed to drop. We both happen to have the Ashstone Core, so even that wasn’t a huge victory.
But, can you measure fun by the RNG? If you could, I would probably be miserable playing this game. No, the fun was had when just two friends on a whim decided to go bounding off into some old content. We didn’t find any pets or great drops that either of us needed, but we did find a good time together. Just the way it should be.
Having decided Liouxpold needed a new look, I began puttering around with MogIt to see what I could come up with. Unfortunately I wasn’t having much luck, so I went off in search of some new Hunter pets for him which I found in the form of Vexxus, Gabriel, and Yrra. I then focused back on a transmog outfit and decided to start with a bow. Yes he has Black Bow of the Betrayer, but I was looking for something different. I settled on the Skyfire Hawk-Bow, figuring I could work on the rest as I go. I headed off to Shattered Halls and it actually dropped on the first run. A nice white cloak, Mantle of Vivification, also dropped so I decided these two pieces would be my starting point.
When I previewed the two pieces in MogIt I accidentally had “current gear” in the view and realized the Barrel Stacker’s Mitts that he was wearing fit as well. Now it was a matter of off-setting all the vibrancy with a core that was darker. Initially I wanted blue, but that was before deciding on the gloves. So I just started previewing shirts to see what would come up within my current means. Shirts that required honor were most certainly out for now, as was anything 85 or 90 level raids. What can I say, I’m impatient and don’t like chance. I’d prefer to be able to build the outfit in the moment. I settled in on Savage Gladiator’s Chain Armor. I looked through the leg slot, but admittedly ended up cheating and going with the matching Chain Leggings.
Most of the time I don’t use existing set combinations, but once in a while it’s ok. Plus, in this build I stopped at two pieces. The shoulders and feet are both crafted, Vicious Dragonscale Shoulders and Tsunami Boots (yes, I could’ve cheated a second time and used the boots from the shoulder set but I specifically avoided doing that). All that was left was the belt. The one I ended up choosing had four versions and all of them were quest rewards in Twilight Highlands. I chose the Waistguard of Salvaged Happiness because it was a quest you could just fly into the zone and do. You need not have completed anything else first…and as an added bonus, it’s dirt simple to do.
At the start, I wanted the bow to be the focal point of the outfit. Having the gold in the gloves helps pull it in, and the cloak completes the accent pretty well. The core green managed to achieve the contrast I was looking for. Though I just realized the colour scheme is not that far off from Siori, I’m still happy with the end result.
There are benefits to a doctor telling you to be a couch potato for 2-3 days following surgery. I had decided I’d try to make Liouxpold my third 90, and figured I could get there this weekend. However, I went from 88 to 89 in just a few hours yesterday and thus the push was on. Clearly I made it, or you wouldn’t be reading this. During the last level I managed to pick up three Flawless Pet Stones (Aquatic, Beast, Dragonkin) without even noticing. From a rare I also acquired my first Blood Soaked Invitation. I’m looking forward to trying that out, as I was smart enough not to begin that one right before bed time. It’s one of those things I had long considered buying, but I just wasn’t keen on heading into “Fight Club” with a Holy Priest and just had not gotten around to it with Saintvache. I think because I have less gold on his server.
So between the trip to the Tram and a destination upon the Isle of Thunder, Lioux will be blazing some new Amateur territory for certain. However, I really need to clean up his look. A transmogging we must go…after maintenance ends. *sigh*
Hard to believe it’s already the end of March. It really flew by. At the start, of course, I put together a small list of things I wanted to try to accomplish. For what it’s worth, after two weeks I looked like I was going to blow through things with the greatest of ease. I had no problem getting Paramita to 45, or a Pandarian level for Liouxpold (he’s now 86). Even Semblance. I wanted to get her to 35 and ended up with a level 40 Warrior. My successful attempt at cleaning up the Claws of Nature Guild Bank is also well documented. Unfortunately, that’s where my accomplishments end. Sure, I did get other things done unexpectedly, but not the other items on the list.
A couple of those I might’ve come closer to completing if not for coming down with something this past weekend. All three of us in the Amateur household are suffering from it, though I think Mrs. Amateur has it the worst. But the key is focusing on the things that did get done and moving forward and building upon. So a quick to do list for April and then a little blogging exercise.
We’ll see how things go this time around. I already know a good chunk of the coming weekend is a write off, so I expect to be a touch behind the 8-ball. Either way the important thing will be to once again focus on what I do manage to accomplish.
So now the blogging exercise. I really don’t know where Mrs. Amateur found this, but it’s one I can definitely handle doing. It’s another 30 days type of exercise, but the questions (to me) are pretty straight forward with good odds of being easy to answer. How much elaboration comes with the answer is entirely up to the writer. I know AmerPriest plans on doing it as well, and I would love to know if anyone else decides they’re up for it.
See you in April!
My efforts thus far to get where I want to be for Warlords has been met with limited results. It’s entirely my own fault as I’ve been spending my time Hearthstoning when free, usually in an effort to complete a daily each day. Yes, reader, that one has its teeth sunk in but good. Fortunately with some free time last night I finally got in some actually WoW time and took to my Gnome Warrior. The Mrs. and I did some puttering around but actually got into a dungeon pretty quickly(!) and I picked up a couple of levels in Blackfathom Deeps. After that she was kind enough to run me through Stocks before calling it a night. Another Gnomeregan run this morning and she’s now 27, on her way to 28. Go figure, as soon as I lament queue times, I have two occasions where it was less than 20 minutes. But, now that I’ve actually been productive to some degree, I figure I can increase said productivity and give myself a proverbial kick in the rear to do so…by jotting down some goals for the month.
Not a vast list by any stretch, and many of the goals are pretty simple to obtain. I average about an hour and a half of free time a day, so I can’t be shooting for the moon. If I get all of these accomplished then it will feel like I’ve done something and will push me on towards the next ones in April. Let’s face it, many little things can add up to one big thing and in this case that one thing can be momentum. It wouldn’t hurt for me to have some of that the closer we get to Draenor.
It’s a well known fact that when Mists of Pandaria launched, my interest in it added up to zero. It did nothing for me. Then some folks bought it for me, “just in case.” Well, as it turned out, I really love the female Pandaren. I have two, and I can see eventually having another. But all in due time. Right now, it’s all about getting some of my many faces ready to go back in time. The problem is that I have to go through Pandaria to do it.
Let me start off by saying that the opening of the gates chain, the idea of the Sha, and faffing about on the Timeless Isle are all things I don’t mind. There’s the occasional quest here and there as well. But on the whole I just cannot get into this continent. I hate the fact that I have to go there to level, let alone five levels…and coincidentally the last five levels of the game. I’ve hit 90 once, and have two more toons currently there (Liouxpold and Saintvache). Try as I may, the interest in the stories and such just isn’t happening and I absolutely love the lore of Warcraft.
I can’t even put my finger on what it is. Whether it’s Kun Lai Summit or Krasarang it doesn’t matter. When I’m going along leveling, it’s like I’m crawling at a snail’s pace and am just completely disinterested in what’s going on for the people I’m helping. Yes, as I mentioned, there are the occasional exceptions. I do mean occasional. I can’t figure out why it is, either. So many people absolutely love Pandaria and everything about it. I find it visually amazing and then lacking substance despite the developers clearly putting in a sound effort. The Pandaren start zone was incredibly enjoyable, so what is it that makes this so much more painstakingly difficult?
Sure, it’s my own fault having a love of alts. Many players racked their way to 90 once and don’t have to suffer through it again. Those of us with more than one (okay, twenty) toon to entertain us means having to do things a little more often. But it never bothered me in Wrath or even Cataclysm (and let’s face it, Cataclysm leveling could be a pain in the butt). This time, I can’t get through it fast enough.
Perhaps that’s the problem. It’s a “watched pot never boils” type of syndrome. That blue/purple bar seems to barely move at times, which is a detriment to the fact I want out of there in the first place. It’s why Saintvache isn’t 90 yet, or why Liouxpold hasn’t done much in the Jade Forest (well, that and the fact I barely recall how to play him). I can only take so much of the place at a time. I want Warlords of Draenor to take it’s time being released so that I have several crew members ready to go there, but at the same time I don’t know how many times I can bring myself to go through Pandaria before that happens.
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