Hunter Time!

I'm pretty sure my time in WoW for the next few months is limited. I've pre-ordered Old Republic, it's paid for, and I'm just waiting for a beta invite.  I'm fairly certain I'll spend quite a bit of time establishing myself over there.

A week from today is Blizzcon, and they'll almost certainly announce the next expansion.  But it won't be out in December.  I'd guess at least 6 months - more likely a year - is the time we'll have to wait for the next major content patch for WoW.  Until then, we have only one patch to hold us over until then, and the big thing in that is the Deathwing raid.  I'm not a raider.  Leveling alts is about all I have left to do in the game until the next expansion.  Blizzard knows TOR is coming out, and they're entering the between expansion lull, so will they just let things slide, or will they announce something big and surprising?  I still love the game, but two years between expansions is just too long.  I'm sure I'll be back in WoW when they add some new content, but they need to step up development cycles, in my humble opinion, so I'm betting TOR will be my new gaming home.

So, until I get that beta invite, I've started leveling a hunter alt on Steamwheedle Cartel.  Tholian (with her pet named Webb) used to be my bank alt, but I dusted her off, gave her some heirlooms, and got her from level 28 to 32 last night and this morning. Totally re-learning how to play this class!

Skulfrak Goes to War - Outland Dungeon Hero Complete

Skulfrak polished off the last two dungeons he needed for the Outland Dungeon Hero achievement this morning. Both were a breeze for a well-geared 85.  I didn't get the mount from Magister's Terrace, but I did get the Orb that turns him into a Blood Elf for 10 minutes at a time.

I already have all of the Northrend heroics done, so at this point, I don't have any new goals for Skul.  There are some fishing and archaeology things I want to do, but that's about as much fun as watching paint dry.  Not a good predicament to be in with Old Republic on the Horizon.

Skulfrak Goes to War - Two to Go!

I knocked off solo runs of heroic Botanica and Mechannar this morning, and that leaves only Arcatraz and Magister's Terrace for the Outand Dungeon hero achievement.

Skulfrak Goes to War - Closer to Outland Dungeon hero

This morning, I finished off the Outland Caverns of Time instances and ran heroic Steamvaults. That only leaves me with the Tempus Keep heroics and Magister's Terrace.  Escape from Durnhold turned Skul from a Forsaken into a human (complete with 70s pornstache).  Every time I see this, I think about who he was and what he looked like before the undead plague led to the creation of the Forsaken as a race.

I already have all of the Wrath heroics in the bag, so I need to start thinking about what I'll do with him next!

Skulfrak Goes to War - Outland Dungeon Hero

Last night, I completed the classic dungeonmaster achievement on Skulfrak, polishing off the last of the vanilla instances.  Then, I started working on the Outland heroics.  I've finished all the Hellfire dungeons, all the Auchindon, and all but one of the Steamvault ones.

This morning, I got back to some crafting and posted a lot of new auctions. Time to replenish my financial coffers!

Outland Dungeon Hero (heroics) needed for Skulfrak

• Heroic: The Escape From Durnholde
• Heroic: Opening of the Dark Portal
• Heroic: The Steamvault
• Heroic: The Mechanar
• Heroic: The Botanica
• Heroic: The Arcatraz
• Heroic: Magister's Terrace

Skulfrak Goes to War - Classic Dungeonmaster

Last night and this morning, I knocked out a bunch of the classic dungeons Skul needed for the classic Dungeonmaster achievement. There are only two left at this point - Zul'Farrak and Shadowfang Keep.  I'll probably do the heroic version of SFK over the weekend and kill two birds for that one.

These were cake, especially with the new, smaller versions of a lot of them. For these, I used Demonology spec with the Felguard.  I put him on defensive posture, ran straight through without stopping, hitting Hellfire when I had a big crowd around me.  Just running straight for the boss made them very short runs.  I just had to make sure I tagged them before my pet did, so I was sure to get credit.  I didn't bother with loot, as most of the disenchanting mats at that level are selling for very small amounts on my realm.

Outland Heroics will be next!  I'll probably have to pay a bit of attention for those.

Classic Dungeonmaster achievement for Skulfrak

• Shadowfang Keep
• Zul’Farrak

Outland Dungeon Hero (heroics) for Skulfrak

• Heroic: Hellfire Ramparts
• Heroic: The Blood Furnace
• Heroic: The Slave Pens
• Heroic: Underbog
• Heroic: Mana-Tombs
• Heroic: The Escape From Durnholde
• Heroic: Sethekk Halls
• Heroic: Shadow Labyrinth
• Heroic: Opening of the Dark Portal
• Heroic: The Steamvault
• Heroic: The Mechanar
• Heroic: The Botanica
• Heroic: The Arcatraz
• Heroic: Magister's Terrace
• Heroic: Auchenai Crypts

Skulfrak Goes to War - Next up!

Not planning on going back to the Firelands for a while, now that Skulfrak has made it through the daily grinds. I actually ran a battleground this morning for the first time in a long while! It was a pretty humbling loss.

Anyways, what to do next? Classic Dungeonmaster, followed by Outland Dungeon Hero - by myself! There are a long list of places Skul doesn't have credit for, so I'll go back and wipe them out single-handedly.  The vanilla instances will be easy-sauce, but the Outland heroics may force me to pay attention, as I've only solo'd one so far, but I think I can do it.  Here's my hit-list of places to conquer -

Classic Dungeonmaster achievement - needed places for Skulfrak

• Wailing Caverns 
• Shadowfang Keep 
• Blackfathom Deeps 
• Razorfen Kraul 
• Razorfen Downs 
• Uldaman 
• Zul’Farrak 
• Sunken Temple 

Outland Dungeon Hero (heroics) - needed places for Skulfrak

• Heroic: Hellfire Ramparts 
• Heroic: The Blood Furnace 
• Heroic: The Slave Pens 
• Heroic: Underbog 
• Heroic: Mana-Tombs 
• Heroic: The Escape From Durnholde 
• Heroic: Sethekk Halls 
• Heroic: Shadow Labyrinth 
• Heroic: Opening of the Dark Portal 
• Heroic: The Steamvault 
• Heroic: The Mechanar 
• Heroic: The Botanica 
• Heroic: The Arcatraz 
• Heroic: Magister's Terrace 
• Heroic: Auchenai Crypts

Skulfrak Goes to War - Done with Firelands dailies!

I finally did the last quest I need to finish the Firelands grind. I got a cool mount, a few pets, a few pieces of gear and some random trinkets and had a lot of fun with the lore of the area. Very neat the way they unfolded the area!

Skulfrak Goes to War - Another Firelands Phase

Just been continuing through the Firelands dailies lately, and I'm still getting one or two I haven't done before here and there. Tomorrow I should have enough marks to open the next vendor, and that will leave just one more before the big finish.  I haven't done anything with Brewfest yet, as I've just been working on building my main toon up as best as I can.  I hit revered with the guild, and finally topped 100 non-combat pets and got Nuts in the mail.

Skulfrak Goes to War - Filling the Moonwell

The Firelands dailies are still progressing, and this morning, Skulfrak completed the Filling the Moonwell phase, and also finished the Legacy of Leyara. I get the Smoke-filled locket, which turns me into a Druid fo the Flame for five minutes, the Crimson Lasher pet, and the Mushroom chair, as well as a new trinket and a tailoring pattern for a new gem bag.  I only have a few more phases to go!  I also went back to Hyjal and completed the questlines up to rescuing Jarod Shadowsong, so he appeared in the Firelands and I finished the Fireside Chat achievement.

Father-Son Cross-Realm Goodness

I made use of the new RealID cross-realm grouping to run a few dungeons with my son last night, who is a different server than I am. He wanted to do some leveling, and had some toons around 60-ish, so I dusted off my old Night Elf warrior, Tempus, and tanked a few.  I had to re-do all my talents and buy some glyphs, but our tank/healer combo got us instant queues, and we burned through everything at a very fast pace.

Is that boss planking?

Skulfrak Goes to War - Growing the Tree

I reached the next level of the Firelands dailies this morning, and Malfurion's tree is getting much bigger. I can see more things I'll be able to purchase once I raise a few more marks. The storyline is great, and adding content like this for personal progression, instead of just for raiders was a great idea.

Skulfrak Goes to War - Deeper into the Firelands

Continued with my Firelands dailies this morning on Skulfrak. I may be able to unlock the next area tomorrow, but probably the next day.

Skulfrak Goes to War - Firelands Update

Still working through the Firelands progression. It's taking longer as I unlock more of it. Got to do the bombing run on a fiery bird this morning. Would love one of those for a mount! I'm about 50 World Tree marks away from unlocking the next part.  And I keep finding rare creatures that are obviously meant for hunters to tame. Where are the rare demons for us warlocks to enslave?

Skulfrak Goes to War - More Skills to Pay the Bills

Working my way through the Firelands dailies with Skul, and managed to top off my First Aid skill this morning. About a week or two to go, and I should top out and see what I get from all this. I also did the Thrall quest on my human warlock, Fairchild on SWC-US.

Screenshot Slideshow - Warcraft

Here's a slideshow of screenshots from my time in WoW -

Skulfrak Goes to War - Firelands Dailies

I'm making progress with Skulfrak through the Firelands daily quests.  I've unlocked the Druids of the Talon, and he's died a bunch of times trying to get through the flames each morning to reach the Molten Flow. I'm hoping all of this is worth it!  That's been keeping me pretty busy, so I've not been doing much in the way of battlegrounds this week, but I'll be back to that soon enough.

Battlegrounds in the Morning

I ran a bunch of back-to-back random battlegrounds on Skulfrak this morning, and made enough honor to get a few new pieces of gear. He's starting to become hard to kill, and is doing pretty well. Here's a video I put together from some random sessions -

Warcraft - Recession hits Azeroth

Haven't been able to move much in the way of crafted goods lately. I keep re-listing things, and they're just not selling. I had heard Truegold was going to go through the roof after about a month of Firelands dailies, when players started getting new patterns, but that hasn't happened.  There's not much I want to buy right now, but with Transmogrification coming, and the prices it will be, I want to save up some.

Skulfrak Goes to War - more video

Here's another short clip of Skulfrak, my undead warlock on Steamwheedle Cartel-US.