Solo Runs - Ulduar

I ran Ulduar on my warlock yesterday, and had success for the most part. I've never been there before, so the mechanics were all new to me. I started out on 25-man.

Flame Leviathan took some research to figure out. Outside of a vehicle, I wasn't able to do much to him before he took me down, but after looking at some YouTube clips, I set a few Demolishers up and he went down very fast.

The rest of the fights were fairly easy until I got to Mimiron. All the individual pieces went down easy enough, but the combined unit was too hard for me to get all three segments down fast enough. I switched to 10-man and it was pretty easy.

Hodir also gave me a little trouble, so he was done in 10-man as well.  I though Freya was going to be impossible, but after a long while her health started dropping quickly and she went down.

Yogg Saron was something I haven't figured out yet. The insanity mechanic takes me out in the brain room, so I'm not doing something quite right, and it will take me a few more attempts to get it.

Earlier in the week I beat Lich King on 10-man pretty easily.

Waiting for Warlords

I went back to World of Warcraft a few weeks ago, and I've been having a blast. I had un-subbed for a few months, and wandered into other games for a bit. I still play Hearthstone every week, as I really like being able to drop in for a quick game here and there (they really need to get the Android release out). I finally finished Diablo 3, although I don't have the expansion. I tried Wildstar for two months, but got frustrated with how often I died, and just didn't love my character the way I felt about my warlocks in WoW.

Warlords of Draenor comes out in a few weeks, and I'm looking forward to garrisons and another 10 levels in a new world.

The latest improvements are pretty cool.

My current transmog set

The Toy Box - all my cool little doodads in one tab, and it's shared between all my characters? Thank you! I can also see all the ones I don't have, and where to get them. This is a feature that should be in all the profession tabs, so we can see the holes in our collections.

Reagent Bank - deposit all your crafting materials into a large bank tab, but be able to craft from there anywhere you are. Craft mats also stack to 200 now, so this freed up a huge amount of bank space for me.

Organize bank and bags - one button sorts all the junk in your bags into orderly piles, and you can even mark a bag to hold specific things, such as equipment, consumables, and trade goods.

The Squish - all the numbers behind the scenes have been reworked, and we seem to have a jump in power, especially for old world raids. A lot of our spells and abilities have been combined, removed, or altered, so we have a lot fewer buttons to press. My spellbar actually has some blank spots now.

New Models - Most of the new characters look pretty amazing. My Undead warlock looks very cool now. I have a human female warlock, and I just can't quite get the face I liked, though. Hoping they'll upgrade the Blood Elves soon.

Cross-Faction Auction House - A lot more activity with more players having access. I like it.

I've been running a lot of old world raids solo, and having great fun. I was able to get through Black Wing Lair and Icecrown Citadel all by myself, which I couldn't do before. 

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 - 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 - Fireland dailies end in sight!

With Skulfrak, I filled the Moonwell, recruited the ancients, and tomorrow I should have enough marks to recruit the armorer. After that, I think there's only one more phase and I can be dobne wtih this place for a while. I'm kind of disappointed that there aren't more crafting patters available for different professions.  Skul is a tailor and enchanter, and the only thing he got was a gem bag pattern, which I don't even really need on my jewelcrafter with stacking now.  There are a lot of plate patterns in there, but I'm wondering why the professions in WoW are so imbalanced.  Jewelcrafting has daily quests, and it takes a long time to buy all the available cuts.  Others just seem to be there to max and and then rest until the next expansion.  It seems like they're being a bit neglectful in this area.

With all of my time in the Firelands, I was pretty much ignoring Brewfest, and I just realized last night that I haven't been doing the Corin Direbrew run every day.  Doh!  I corrected this on all three of my 85 warlocks, and he hits a lot harder this year!

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.

Affliction spec - for now

For most of my career as a warlock, I've used demonology spec as my main utility. Affliction was something I started using for PvP when they gave us the dual-specs.  I enjoyed the Felgurad and once I learned how to work with Metamorposis, I was regularly topping the damage meters. In Cataclysm though, I noticed a big drop off, and I would get torn up quite a bit, especially during the Firelands dailies. So many fight mechanics require you to stay on the move - you can't stand in fires or green stuff, you have to hop to dispel some effect, you have to not let things fall on you, etc.  It became very hard to find a safe place to stand and throw shadow bolts, which take a few seconds to cast.

I switched over to Affliction for almost everything and noticed a big spike, not only in my damage output, but in the life points I gained back as well.  I could DOT things up, and stay on the run, and I'd be fed health back.  Multiple targets amplify the effects.  Working solo, I pretty much stay at full health all the time, and can life-tap my mana back any time I want.  There are a few things I miss, but I'm finding the spec allows me to stay on the move and still constantly apply DPS.

Soul-swap is an ability I'm still learning how to use.  That, combined with the timing of me DOTs mean I have to pay much more attention to spell duration now.  I recently started using a few new add-ons for my interface to better arrange the information I'm getting, and can keep track of multiple targets a little better now.

I'm pretty comfortable with affliction at the moment, and my gear has improved a little, so I may go back and take another stab at demonology soon, and see if I can tighten things up.  It's still my favorite spec, and I know they all rise and fall over time, so I'm hoping to see it make a comeback soon.

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.

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.