Done, Done, and, Done!

Nitro's Blacksmithing: >300

Nitro's Enchanting: >300

Nitro's Level: 60

And, she's earned a well deserved rest in the inn at Honor Hold. I've completed a number of HP quests to get from 58.75 to 60, so the rest XP will come in handy.

In other news, Rysteranch got the nod for Northrend. I know I hemmed and hawed about who would go first and even said DV might go ahead, but in the end, I took my first 70 hunter. I'm over halfway through the level. I still plan on playing solely on rest XP from now on.

There are a lot of things that I'd like to discuss (ok, whine/rant/complain) regarding the new content, so prepare yourself accordingly.

Gear
Now, the best raid drops that I have on Rysteranch are from Kara with some badge gear. I actually found myself debating switching out for the new gear. In my eyes, it was that close. In the end, I opted to keep my current gear in most cases due to enchants. DV, Smoochie, and Nitro, on the other hand, will be ecstatic when they hit Northrend, even though DV will likely have to switch to bows for a while.../sigh.

Death Knights
Yeah, I made one yesterday - Vanco (let me know if you get the reference). I made the Scorpion (from Mortal Kombat) macro for Death Grip:

/s GET OVER HERE!!!
/cast Death Grip

It was pretty funny to yank my next mob to me and pummel them. I really didn't know what I was doing; I just hit buttons until the mob died. Eventually, I figured out two of them - the Yank button (for the aforementioned macro) and the Heal me button. I still don't have any clue about the others, so I just continue to spam them until I can't spam them any more. /shrug.

I really like being in the starting area and getting free on the spot rezzes. I saw the angel thingy swooping toward me the first time, and I thought, "I wonder what that thing is.." as I pressed the release spirit button. The next time I hung around and, voila! I got a free, on the spot rez!

What I didn't like.....was killing the innocents. Yes, yes, yes, I realize it's part of the lore and all that rot, and I understand why it's put in there. But I don't have to like it. I also don't like the whole idea behind the DK's - turn traitor to your faction to serve the Lich King and then turn traitor to him to go back to your faction. Also, using evil means to accomplish quests and the like just seems wrong to me. I'll probably continue to play him on occasion to get an idea of how they play, but I don't see myself playing one to end game.

D.E.H.T.A.
What a bunch of hippie hypocrites. I hate this faction. I'd really like to punch them all in their smelly hippy faces and then take their ears and turn them into Nessingwary for some good rep! I have yet to make the mistake of wandering into their camp with the smell of animal blood on me, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they kill me in their self righteous anger.

What is most upsetting about this faction is that it really feels like indoctrination. Animals = good; hunters = bad! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if there weren't groups that actually felt this way and actually condoned violence to remedy the situation. And, yes, I realize that this is just a game, but, unfortunately, Blizzard seems to be on the treehugging, liberal hippie side of the equation and not afraid to push some ideas on us. I wonder when the global warming quests start....

...oh, and, yes, I'm still doing their quests....I need the money and achievement. So, who's the hypocrite NOW!! HUH, HUH?? Oh...I am....

Ding 58

Yeppers, last night, Nitrodax dinged 58 right at the end of my play session. I haven't had a chance to run to the Dark Portal, but I should be able to get there tonight.

I've decided to finish off all the quests in my log rather than dropping them. I mean, it's all XP, and I have most of them completed, just not turned in. The one quest I might take the follow up on is the Yeti quest. I love running around scaring the little goblins!

I also have to get my primary profs up to 300, as well as cooking. I have the dumpling recipe from Silithus; I just have to grind out 10 (15 for the points from 285 -> 300) for the quest.

Blacksmithing shouldn't be too bad; I just have to mine the thorium. Enchanting, on the other hand, might require me to buy some mats. I did finally get the Enchant Cloak - Superior Defense recipe from Moonglade, so I have more options for the mats I've collected.

I also dinged Friendly with the Timbermaw dudes. I like the easier rep gains for the older factions (my first three 70's aren't even Neutral with them). So, I picked up the Oldlands 2 H agility enchant; I'm not sure if I'm going to put it on anything, but if I happen to have the mats, I might.

So, with all that said, I think tonight will be full of finishing off quests, topping off professions, and getting to Honor Hold. After that....I believe I'm finally going to start Borean Tundra with Rysteranch....muhuhuhahahahahaha.

Check that one off

The weaponsmith quest, that is. I spent a considerable amount of time mining Iron and Mithril on DV yesterday. For what it's worth, Alterac Mountains seems to be the best area for mining Iron. Badlands comes close, but Alterac has less people in it.

I also got Nitrodax up to 56; Outlands is only two levels away! I'll probably get there tomorrow night, as I can stay up late!

And, VA's surgery is scheduled for Dec 5th, and I know she'd appreciate all of your prayers. She's also wanting to get back into WoW afterward as she thinks it'll greatly help out in her rehab. So, things may be picking up in the guild. If it works out, great; I just hope she doesn't try to push herself too hard and do more harm than good.

If Teurion and VA do start playing again, they mentioned they'd like to start their DeathKnights, so I might leave the Outlands quests alone on Nitro so I can level with them. We'll just have to see.

Still playin' BC

As I've mentioned before, I wasn't done with the Burning Crusade XPac, so...I'm still playing it (as I'm sure you all are tired of hearing). For that matter, I'm still playing vanilla WoW for a bit also.

Nitrodax is a Blacksmith. I did this because

1) I don't have the profession covered.
B) I didn't have easy access to Enchanting rods
#) There is no ##, I just wanted to put that.

I was originally going to skip specialization, but after I read up on it, I saw that the BoP Axes are pretty nice! So, I'll be making her an Axesmith. I'm not really looking forward to grinding the mats for the Weaponsmith quest (I was an idiot and made armor to level up, then DE'd it). I haven't even looked into what I need to do for the Axesmith quest, but I'm sure it's not easy.

But...what's the rush? I mean, the new XPac just came out, my main playing partner (Teurion) is unable to play currently, and I have plenty of time to get my 6 main toons to 80. So what if it takes me a week to mine the mats (it probably won't, but...).

So often, I'm guilty of rushing through stuff to get it done. I get antsy and impatient. I really need something like this project to slow me down and force me to take it easy.

I know, it kind of seems contrary to the last post where I bragged about how fast I'm leveling my newest hunter. And that's why I constantly need to remind myself to be patient. To take it easy and not get too amped up about the game - this really helps me in my home life and keeping the game in perspective.

See, when I get all excited about playing the game and super motivated about leveling/crafting/raiding/etc, I lose perspective in real life, as you all have read about. By pressing the issue of patience and putting up roadblocks (goals that have little value but I'm compelled to complete them), I hope to temper my desire to geek out all the time in game. Rather, I hope that I'm able to drop it in a hot second when something more important (read anything in RL) comes up.

Does it work? Sometimes. This last weekend I had some success and some failure in this area. I opted out of going to a movie with my wife and son, but I did volunteer to cook dinner for my inlaws. (Not justifying either action, just reporting)

I have a burn to get to 58 and Outlands. I really wanted to make 60 by Thanksgiving, but I know that in order to get there I'll probably get sucked into the computer to my family's exclusion. Doh! Can't do that.

So, I come up with a goal that forces me to slow it down and keep perspective. I have a pretty easy time dropping what I'm doing when it's just mining. I can do that any time!

I didn't mean for this post to go the way it has, but I sure needed the pep talk and reminder. I'm not in a rush.....not....in....a.....rush.

Can't be in a rush....

The Jury is Back

...and gorilladins are all win AND overpowered!

Over the weekend, I got little Nitrodax up to 55. I've been doing quite a bit of AoE killing with DV the Gorilladin, and I'm very impressed with his ability to hold aggro on multiple mobs.

For the most part, I allow two Thunderstomps (TS) before I start with the Volleying. Before that, I hit DV's assigned target with a Serpent Sting and maybe throw out a Multi-Shot. Then it's VolleyVolleyVolley. I usually don't get that third Volley off before the mobs are dead, but it just sounds better as VolleyVolleyVolley.

Anyways, hunters, arguably the easiest class to level, just got easier! With Aspect of the Viper being available at...uh, 30?...20?....anyways, a lot lower level....and Steady Shot at 50(!!!!)....and Volley at 40....AND an AoE tanking pet, sheesh, I spend more time traveling between zones than actually killing stuff! I mean, yesterday morning, I did two entire levels (no rest XP - dinged 52 and 53) in 5 and a half hours.

But, before you think this is a whiney piney post for the olden days when you had to level with just a sharp stick and die 50,000 times before getting to the level cap, I absolutely love leveling this fast. I also love being overpowered and on easy mode. I can wait for the challenges in the end game, but leveling, I'll take the easy route. Of course I can always grab a mob that's 5 levels above me if I want a challenge.

And speaking of OP and challenges, yesterday, I grabbed three same level mobs to AoE down for questing purposes and...got a level 55 Devilsaur (elite) as an add! Whoops. I figured I'd try to at least kill the original mobs so I did waste my time and then feign death.

But, as the fight progressed, I saw that DV was doing ok with my Mend Pet and Gift of the Naaru. Suddenly, I thought, I just might be able to pull this off! I smacked an Intimidation to stop some incoming damage, then set off Beastial Wrath to prevent some fearing, and wha-la, dead Devilsaur! I was 53 at the time.

After that, I started pulling bigger groups. Mount up, gather up a bunch of mobs, Hunter's Mark one to dismount, allow DV to TS twice, and burn 'em down. And rake in the XP. While I still won't just grind for XP, it has become much faster to gather up quest mobs and complete quests this way.

Ok, this post has gone on long enough, but I have more to say, so I'll let you all read this wonderful prose and post something later. Cheers!

Not much

Just been leveling Nitrodax; she hit 45. I'm also dreading getting her Enchanting to 300 - it's at 230 right now.

Still haven't quested in Northrend, but at least I can spell it now.

I'm pretty sure I'll be playing Nitro right up to 60 and then start the foray into Northrend with my other toons. Of course, her primary professions have to be up to at least 300.

....and all these little guidelines that I'm making for myself might just get thrown out the window. I reckon we'll just have to see how it goes.

The temptation is getting harder to resist

The temptation to play in Northrend, that is.

I did resist, however, and Nitrodax is up to 40. I have Volley now....and a gorilladin....can you say AoE leveling? I can! Prior to getting Volley, I would round up three or so mobs, Serpent Sting each one, Multishot every time it was on cooldown, and burn them down one at a time. Now, with Volley, I'll be rounding up more, and Volley, Volley, Volley!! woot!

Now, I have to say, all 4 of my hunters love their PuddyTats, but I think, for leveling and soloing, I'm a true convert to my gorilladins. Heck, even Rysteranch has gotten into the swing of things and tamed one last night.

On the subject of apes, while all of my hunters' kitties are named PuddyTat, all of their gorilladins have different names.

Dwarfvader's ape is named PuddyTat. It goes along with his quirky, fun-loving, life is one big party personality. That and he's just plain lazy.

Smoochie was next to get one, and after declining to name it Dwarfvader to spite her "rival", she named it Elsee. Smoochie is a noble, serious Draenai that doesn't suffer fools....and doesn't want to name her pets after them....

Nitrodax got her simian and immediately named it....Dwarfvader. Since she hasn't had to compete with DV for leveling time AND since she relies on him to mine/smelt ore for her Blacksmithing, it's sort of a dig/respect thing for her.

And finally, as I mentioned, Rysteranch got his new gorilladin - a red one - and since he really misses his human tank, he named it Teurion. I'm sure Teurion will love to see that when he returns....lol.

Plan your work and work your plan

Well, WoW really isn't work, but....

I did exactly what I'd planned to do with Rash of the Itching.

I got all my prof caps raised.

I got Nitrodax's Darnasty rep to Exalted very soon after hitting 30.

I got Daxe's Inscription up to 350 and got the prof cap raised for that.

And, I got Nitrodax up to level 38.

The weekend was kinda ho-hum, except for Friday and Sunday nights. On THOSE nights, my wife and I went dancing! Friday was pretty cool - we learned a bit more about the merengue. But, Sunday night was the real deal at the Indiana Roof Ballroom.

The 5 (6 maybe) man combo really put out a great variety of ballroom music from foxtrot and cha-cha to rumba and swing, and of course, waltz. We danced and danced and danced! Toward the end of our time, we got to dance a slow single time swing, which I really enjoyed as it afforded me the opportunity to dance, uh, really close to my beautiful wife.....really close...heh...heh...

Now, I've made no secret of the fact that my wife is the most beautiful person on the planet, but I have to let you all know there was this one moment where she turned, the air caught her hair just right, and...../sigh. I was hit right between the eyes with a huge surge of ZOMGSHE'SBEAUTIFUL!!!

Just thought I'd share. And, no, she doesn't read the blog.

The End Is At Hand!!!!1!!!ONE!

Let me just say, "I'm not done yet."

I'm not done playing BC.

I have an Enchanter/Blacksmith hunter to level and max professions.

I have epic flight to buy for three of my 70's, not counting the aforementioned hunter.

I have rep to grind, gear to get, and recipes to discover.

I have my Alchemy mastery quest to complete.

All that, and more, will be put on the back burner. There's no stopping Rash of the Itching, so I'll be moving along. I've already reserved my copy.

I feel sort of like Ess in that I'd like a couple of more months to finish up some loose ends. And, I will hold off leveling my 70's for a bit just to let the dust settle and allow those quest mobs to go from a 1 second life span to a 2 second life span.

Oh, and I still need to check out the LW recipes, but I'm thinking that DV will get the nod to level first. He can be the Lord of War.

His tagline will be, "4 out of 7 of Dax's toons use some sort of ranged ammunition. The question is, 'How do we get ammo into the hands of the other three?'"

Happy Veteran's Day (belated)

I'd like to belatedly wish all of my military veteran readers a happy Veteran's Day and thank them for their service. As you may or may not know, I spent 9 years "in the rear with the gear" AKA in the Air Force. Both of my brothers served (albeit in a lesser service...*grunt* *grunt*), and my younger brother continues to serve full time in the Army Reserves.

So, Thank You for putting your life on hold to protect my freedoms.

Thank You for leaving your families to ensure my way of life.

Thank You for getting in harm's way in order to uphold this great country.

Thank You for sacrificing everything that you hold dear for everything that I hold dear.

Jesus said this, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 NASB. I thank God for Veterans that are willing to lay down their lives for people they don't even know.


Thank You.

VA update

VA is scheduled to have brain surgery in two weeks, and Teurion has decided to cancel their WoW accounts to save money. VA is home from the hospital, but she is very unsteady on her feet and has to be with someone at all times. Your continued prayers are appreciated.

Covered

So, I went to the AH to buy a Silver Rod for my little Enchanter....and there were none to buy. /sigh. I have every profession BUT Blacksmithing covered.

Well, since I hate relying on others and have the alts to prove it, Nitrodax dropped Skinning and picked up Blacksmithing. That little move required that DV get up off his dead butt and do some mining.

And, since I love getting two things done at once, DV get his exploration achievements for Redridge, Darkshore, Ashenvale, The Barrens, and...Durotar! Yeah, I got flagged for discovering Orgrimmar, but I was able to "RUN AWAY!! RUN AWAY!!!"

A little secret for ya: you can discover the Valley of Trials without going into it; just run up the mountains on the outside (SW corner, I believe).

Anyways, BS is up to 183, and I'm really glad that I picked up a manufacturing profession. It gives me plenty of junk to DE. I'm also making a nice profit from selling Silver and Golden Rods.

On another note, I've decided to try and get Nitrodax's rep with Darnasty up to Exalted before level 30 so I can train Kitty Riding. I've finished all the Draenai areas, which provided some crossover rep, and then did everything I could find in Teldrassil. Now I'm almost done with everything in Darkshore and am 6642/21000 toward my goal. I'm thinking that Ashenvale should put me over the top, but if I see that I'm going to hit 30 before I ding Exalted, I might run over to Loch Modan or Westfall to get the crossover rep from those areas.

I got an email from a movie producer (ok, not a professional one...but someone who produces movies IS a movie producer, right?) asking permission to use my songs in a PVE movie; I'll let you all know when it comes out and provide a link. I'm gonna be in a movie!!!

Back to WoW

Last night, I did some work on DV's Engineering. So much work (and AH buying) that DV dinged 375! I still have to collect some of the mats for my Turbo Charged Flying Machine...and 5K, but at least I can make it now. That, and a new gun.

Nitro is up to 18, almost 19 and has Enchanting up to around 82 or so. I need to gather up some more greens for DEing, and I broke down and enchanted an item over and over. The main reason I chose to do this rather than putting it on a vellum is that it only cost one strange dust. And I have plenty.

The closer and closer that Rash of the Itching gets, the more I'm leaning toward leveling DV first. He will be able to make arrows and bullets for the other two (three?) hunters and be able to mote extract as well, which I'm sure will play a big part in leveling all of my professions.

Of course, I'm sure that I'll do some hopping around to take advantage of rest XP, but when I run out of that on all my toons, DV will probably get the nod. Of course, Nitro needs to get to 35 in order to get Ench to 275.

I'm also thinking about WHEN I'll start leveling in Coldlands. I'll be getting all of my new profession caps on the first day, but I absolutely hate competing for mobs/quest items. So I may bide my time over in Outlands (or Oldlands with Nitro) for the first couple of days. I'll still get XP on whoever I play, so it won't be time wasted.

A serious note

Teurion's wife, VA, is in the hospital. It seems that she has some sort of stroke, that may be related to what the doctors have found in the MRI scan - a small mass in her brain.

Today she has a PET scan to further define what's there, and I'm sure they'd appreciate all of your prayers.

OK

Alright.

I have a full house now (Hunters over Priests - a little poker term for ya), so what's the state of their professions?

Smoochie(herb/alch), Rysteranch(skin/LW), and Daxie(tailoring/Jewelcrafting) have all maxed their primary professions.

DV has maxed mining and is 4 points shy of maxing Eng.

Daxe has maxed tailoring and has Inscription at 330 or so.

And Nitrodax is level 11 with Enchanting at 51 and skinning around 20.

What??? Nitrodax? Who's that??

Oops, let the cat out of the bag....

Ding 70 for the fifth time

That's right! Smoochie hit the big 7 oh, and she's rubbing it in DV's face.

phhhhhfffffft!

The big push

Smoochie hit 69 this morning, and I have nearly 6 bars of rest XP left. I'll probably just continue pushing to 70 after I run out of rested XP because Smoochie needs to fly. Period.

Daxe's Inscription demands that his gatherer be able to fly around collecting flowers. So, it's really him that's cracking the whip.