The Weekend in Warcraft

Just puttered around on various toons for the past few days.

On Steamwheedle cartel, my troll death knight Rickenbacker continues to make progress through the instances. She got a nice epic 2-hander axe that was a minor upgrade.  She did Trial of the Champion and Heroic Forge of Souls, so she's getting into the upper level 5-mans now.  She's working on her badge gear and getting her gearscore up - she's got the 245 headpiece and shoulders, with some nice gems and enchants.

Someone had rankwatch running, and it pointed out that Rickenbacker was using the first rank of a few of her abilities.  I realized I've been handicapping myself for the past week, having not trained when I switched specs. DOH!  She's starting to make a dent in her damage output now.

Over on Archimonde, Julep became a male again.  He began life as a male gnome, moved to Archimonde to play with my son on the horde side and morphed into an Orc female.  After a few weeks, my son followed some friends to another server, leaving me alone on a PvP realm where I don't know anyone.  I wasn't happy with the ender, so I did the cosmetic change, and he's a big male orc warlock now.  Not bad.  I ran a few heroics and got a little more gear, but I want to move him back to a normal realm as soon as I find a good place.  I'm in no hurry, but he's on the lookout for new friends on an alternate server.  Playing as a lone wolf on a PvP realm is just a continual invitation to be ganked repeatedly.

Rickenbacker Gears Up

While my new warrior pauses to gather some rested XP bonuses, I'm running my Troll Death Knight, Rickenbacker, through some heroic dungeons.  She's done them all except for 2 of the optional bosses in Halls of Stone, and has Trial of the Champion and Forge of Souls available to her now.

She went from a fresh 80 in mostly greens to full blues and some purples in two days.  I already got the Triumph badge helmet, and soon I'll get her the shoulders, followed by the rest.  Her DPS output is still pretty far behind some of the almost 6000 Gearscore rated toons she's grouped with, but she's come up quite a bit.  I think she still needs a few more days of instance running before she's doing a respectable amount of damage.

I probably won't tank with her, though.  I had gotten this toon to 80 and shelved it, so I figured it would be nice to remember how to play a death knight.

Dusting off the Death Knight

I've had a great time leveling my warrior, but as I get ready to head into the 70s and approach 80, I'm realizing how gear-intensive this guy is going to be, and I need to make some more gold!  So, I paused for a bit, and am running a few of my 80s through heroics.  My warlock, Skulfrak, is no problem, as he's well geared, enchanted and gemmed.  My paladin, shaman and death knight are not so good, though.  I'm not pleased at all with the performance I've gotten out of them.

My troll death knight, Rickenbacker, was the worst of the bunch.  She had never even been in an instance, let alone a heroic.  She was still wearing mostly greens from questing.  A few trips later, and she's moved up to mostly item level 200 blues, which has helped.  It's not been a smooth ride, though.  Last night, in the Nexus, the healer began yelling at me right off the bat.

Douche Healer: "Oh my god, you're not even gearscore of 3000, what are you doing in a heroic?"
Me: "Um, getting gear and badges.  How can I raise my gearscore if I don't get gear?"
Douche Healer: "You should be questing before you even set foot in a heroic!  Did you even do Icecrown?  You still have [Random Green item] - that's pitiful! Why do you even bother?"
During this exchange, which is about the third pull, one of the DPSers dies, because he wasn't getting heals, because the healer was too busy looking at my gear.  The DPSer leaves the group.
Me: "Nice heals, Ace."
Douche Healer has left the group.
We promptly queue up for two more members, and blast through the place without another word.

Rickenbacker now has a gearscore of over 3000.  Not impressive, but it's a start, which is all I needed.  Going Emo-crybaby over a 30 minute heroic run is just stupid.  I put him on ignore so I won't have to see him disgrace himself again.

Ding! 45

So, today is my birthday (dinged level 45) and I spent the morning running a few heroics on Skulfrak.

His gear is coming along, and I'm not sure what to do next. I could dust off my tanking skills and gear up my 80 paladin, Carrara, on Steamwheedle Cartel.  I could finish leveling my 72 shaman, Portobello, also of SWC, but I'm kind of into running the heroics right now.  My death knight, Rickenbacker (SWC) is also 80, but there are so many DKs running, I don't have much interest in that.  I've been doing some on my Orc warlock, Julep (archimonde-PvP), but it's kid of just duplicating Skulfrak.

I'm kind of hoping to find someone who wants to start fresh and speed level a few new toons on a fresh server and make a go of things.  I'll be doing that with Cataclysm in a few months, but I'd love to start over and make one last run through the old world before it's changed forever.

A bunch of toons

For Tuesday's maintenance downtime, here's a list of all my toons and what they're doing.

Steamwheedle Cartel US
Skulfrak - level 80 undead warlock
Currently working through Sons of Hodir and Kalu'ak reputation grinds. This is my best geared toon.  My main man. Tailor/enchanter


Carrara - level 80 blood elf paladin
Currently sitting in Dalaran. Jewelcrafter/miner


Rickenbacker - level 80 troll death knight
Currently sitting in Dalaran.


Portobello - level 71 troll shaman
Currently leveling in Dragonblight. Inscription/Herbs.


Skulfrost - level 20 priest
Currently leveling in the Barrens. Mining.


Fairchild - level 72 human warlock
Currently sitting in Dalaran. Tailor/enchanter.


Tempus - level 62 night elf warrior
Currently parked in Shattrath. Alchemy/herbs.


Archimonde US
Julep - level 80 orc warlock
Starting Sons of Hodir rep. This toon used to be a male gnome warlock on Proudmoore. My buddy there quit playing for good, so I moved it to Runetotem to play with a guild made of podcast listeners.  I didn't do much there, so I moved to Archimonde and got a faction/race change so I could play with my son, who moved his toons here. It's a PvP server, which I'm not real confident about. Mining/jewelcrafting.


I'm going to be starting a new goblin warlock when Cataclysm arrives. Not sure yet if I'll make him on SWC or start fresh on a new server.  Open to suggestions if anyone else will be re-rolling.

Skulfrost Log 7 - Enough of this running crap

I have achieved the 20th circle of combat as a new shadow priest, and gained a bunch of new spells, including Mind Flay.

I also picked up the very cool raptor mount, so I can get around the Barrens quicker.  Northern Barrens is about cleaned up, and I'm heading south.  I ran into some trouble at Northwatch Hold, but I plan on returning soon and putting those Alliance dogs down.  I've been asked to go over near Undercity, but it seems kind of gross, so I've not gone yet.  I'm starting to get my nerve up to ask for a portal to Dalaran.  I'd really like to see that city - it sounds very clean.

Skulfrost Log 6 - Ragefire Chasm

We went deep below Orgrimmar into Ragefire Chasm last night.  Now, I'm only a new little priest, but my friend is very advanced, and I hardly raised a hand.  She obliterated everything in sight, and just picked stuff up.  I didn't get much in the way of new gear, but my quests are done, and I'm moving on.

I got my first glyph, and am getting a few more new shadow talents.  This morning I reached the 16th circle of combat.  I worked in the northern Barrens, tangling with some more Quillboars and the Venture Company.  I've been asked to go to the Stonetalon Mountains, so I'll head over that way soon.

I learned a better healing spell, and my mana usage is improving.

Skulfrost Log 5

Ping and I left Orgrimmar and made our way to the Barrens.  We covered a lot of ground, and ended up at the Crossroads.  There was a lot of work for us there, and I soon reached the 14th circle of combat.  My priest spells are getting more powerful and I'm stretching my mana out a bit more.  I've learned Spirit Tap and I can cast fear on up to 2 enemies.  The first things I tried it on were immune - Burning Blade Orcs. Not fair.

I'm looking forward to picking up a nice little raptor mount I've had my eye on, as the Barrens is huge.

I'm ready to delve into Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar.  A nice high level priest has offered to run me through if she gets to feeling better, so I'm looking forward to that.

Skulfrost Log 4

I departed Razor Hill this morning, and took care of some Quillboar infestations nearby.  After that, I was asked to swim out to some Alliance shipwrecks and collect a few gnomish toolboxes.  My mentor sent me some of his old shoulder armor to use - an heirloom item, he called it.  I think some of his past battles must still reside in them, because I can feel some of his power while I wear them.  

I figured I should at least make an attempt at collecting the mucas and eyeballs for the folks over in Sen'jin Village since I was in the area, as gross as it may be.

While getting my nerve up, I made a new friend.  A little Pandaren Brewmaster named Ping was wandering Durotar in search of fortune and glory.  I had always thought Pandarens were a myth, but evidently, they're quite real.  He offered me some ale, and I soon found the fortitude to finish my task.  A few hours later, I showed up at Sen'jin Village, half naked, and ranting about snot and eyeballs.  Ping serves some wicked beverages.

After a bit of rest, we made our way back over to the Echo Isles, and I took care of the voodoo trolls that were giving me trouble yesterday.  Disgusting creatures.

We said farewell to Sen'jin and finally made our way toward Orgrimmar.  We delivered some Alliance attack plans we recovered to Thrall himself, and I made the 10th circle of combat, and was taught Mind Blast by the new priest trainer I met there.  I also learned my first talent in the shadow arts!

Ping was very popular in Orgrimmar.  He showed off quite a bit and served some more brew.  I like him.

Skulfrost Log 3

I only spent a short bit of time in Durotar this evening.  The folks in Razor Hill sent me over to negotiate with some humans who built a small keep up the road.  What were they thinking, trying to build a settlement in the shadow of Orgrimmar?  They're gone now.  They were terrible housekeepers.  The place was falling apart around them. Filthy.  The entire place should be burned.

I reached the 8th circle of combat, and was taught a Renew spell, which heals over time.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get some shadow abilities.

Skulfrost Log 2

Lunch time in Durotar.

I left Razor Hill and went over to Sen'jin Village.  My people there gave me some jobs, and I swam over to the Echo Isles.  I killed a few tigers for pelts, and took a peek at some trolls that were way too tough for me.  I started swimming back, and looked at the list of materials I was asked to collect.

Mucus and eyeballs.  Seriously, why do you guys want to keep this crap?  This is why we trolls don't have our own capital city.  Nobody wants to visit people who collect mucus and eyeballs.  I didn't feel like getting all slimy, so I went and found some centaurs that were causing trouble.

I still has having a lot of trouble with mana.  I'd have to stop and drink milk in between every fight, and I had to run if I attracted more that one at a time.  I went through a lot of milk.  I had to pee every few minutes,

BUT - When I reached the 7th circle of combat, things changed.  Now I have a WAND.  Free fireballs!

I burned all the centaur plans, and hearthed back to Razor Hill.  Maybe later, I'll venture up to Orgrimmar and see the big city for myself.

Skulfrost

So, here he is, the latest addition - Skulfrost

A brand new baby troll shadow priest on Steamwheedle Cartel US.

I deleted an old toon to free up a space and added him to my stable to horde toons on SWC.  Right off the bat, he got a full set of bags, some gear for his next few levels, and a pile of gold.  I need to do Wintergrasp one more time with my warlock, and I can get the heirloom shoulders for him, which will get him a 10% experience boost, and they can also be handed down to my goblin warlock when he arrives next year.
Here is his story:

I left the den and headed into the valley of trials.  The elders gave me some chores, like collecting apples and cleaning some vermin out of a cave.  I used my ability to smite a lot, and was always running out of mana. After a short while, my trainer taught me Shadow Word: Pain, which was a little better.  I had to crack a few skulls with my little mace, which I found very distasteful.  I don't like getting my hands dirty.

I passed my trials, and was sent on my way to Razor Hill.  I met my new trainer, and was taught Power Word: Shield, which I like, as I'm not very fond of being touched.  I like my personal space, and I think keeping a respectful distance is a good thing.  I also received a package from my mentor, containing some bags and supplies I'll be needing to get my career started.

Later today, I'll head over to Sen'jin Village and see what work I can find.  I'm anxious to learn a few new spells, and start learning some of the shadow arts of the priesthood.  Durotar is proving to be a dusty, dirty place, though, and I'll be happy to move some place cleaner in the future.