Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Lock Out

Kael'thas was shut down for 24 hours yesterday for preparations for the upcoming Xpac. I have been playing a bit too much, so I took it as a forced break from the game and spent the evening with my wife (who took a nap...).

Over the weekend, I did happen to get Daxea up to 79 and am staring down the barrel at 80. It's interesting that for Daxxy the Druid, I had all sorts of gear lined up for her at 80, but for poor Daxea, I have barely done anything. I did start on Argent Crusade rep for the chest and back, but other than that, I'm just moseying along.

My plan at hitting 80 is to run the normal versions of the ICC 5 mans and ToC until I get all the useful gear out of them, then switch to running their heroic versions for upgrades and shards. Of course, I'll be doing at least the daily random for my frosties. I might just do chain randoms to grind out my T9 gear. I don't know; we'll just have to wait and see.

I have the option of bringing Dwarfvader to the raid tonight as alts are now authorized. The upside is that I could definitely use some ICC25 gear on him and that particular gear would probably get sharded. The downside is that Daxie needs to build up her DKP, and I need to get used to my T10 4 piece bonus, which I just got on Monday. So, I'll be taking Daxie this week; maybe next week, I'll take DV or if she's appropriately geared, Daxea.

On a side note, I started reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, specifically, his Sherlock Holmes series. So far, it's looking like Robert got it right in the latest movie depicting the super sleuth. I cracked up when I actually read in one of the books, a line from the recent movie:

"My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation."

Very nice....very nice indeed.

Friday, June 25, 2010

See what's going on here?

I think I am beginning to.

Currently, I am not really motivated to play Daxxy the Druid. Why? Because I basically see her as "done". She can easily heal 5 man Heroics. She has done the weekly a couple of times. She went on a 6/12 run of ICC10 and did just fine.

Yeah, I could push to make her ICC25 capable, but I really wouldn't have the time to raid with her outside of Daxie's raid times.

The same situation exists with Vanco the Death Knight and Dwarfvader the Hunter; they can pretty much go anywhere in game and be successful. (I'd need to work on actually playing Vanco to get the rotation/playstyle down, but after that, could supply pretty good DPS).

So, that brings me to why I'm leveling a Shammy (haven't touched her in a couple of days) and my Ench/BS Hunter - Daxea. I'm especially hooked on Daxea because she's so close to cap and I'd love to get her to around the same level as Dwarfvader in gear. She might even become my go to Hunter for Cataclysm. +1% hit is nothing to sneeze at.

So, what's going on here? I'm figuring out that while I do enjoy raiding, I also enjoy gearing out toons. Some might say I'm a....loot whore. There, I admitted it. On Daxie, I snag almost every piece of gear that is usable to me so that I can mix and match sets to get what I think is the best combination of stats and therefore DPS.

On Daxea, I like cranking out 2k DPS as a level 76, and I'm constantly looking to better that. Loot, of course, plays a large role in helping me stay King (ok, Daxea = Queen) of the Damage Meter. (Of course, since she IS an enchanter, I keep my gear enchanted. I did forget about throwing sockets in my wrists and gloves, so I'll have to remedy that.)

I'm really looking forward to hitting the cap and grabbing gear from level 80 instances and Heroics. I find that I'm looking at loot lists (mine is sorely outdated. A better one is here.), and I'm already thinking about farming Abyss Crystals with her on some normal ICC instance with some friends (*cough* Robin *Cough* Jay); once I get some decent gear I'm sure it wouldn't be any problem to three man the regular versions of those puppies.

Once I get some really good gear, I'd like to run back to some older instances and perhaps farm enchanting mats or recipes. Or maybe just see what I can solo with her. Being able to disenchant BoP's is a big plus.

...then again, I have a pally, a rogue, and a shammy all waiting to have their turn in the sun...

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Back to Work

Took the last week off; miss me?

So, Daxe the Shammy is 28 and is healing her way through instances. For some reason, I like leveling as healing instead of DPS. It might be due to the dearth of good tanks at the lower levels and my aversion to tanking as DPS.

It also may be the fact that a good healer can make or break a group at these levels. Even moreso than a good tank. I can certainly survive with one mob hitting me while spamming Lesser Heals on all of the other people. So, it may just be my inner control freak that drives me to heal.

Well, that and the queue times are shorter.

I've also done a fair amount of work in leveling my Blacksmith/Enchanting Hunter. Daxea is now 76 and has done almost all of the Northrend instances up to her level (only Halls of Stone and Halls of Lightning are missing). She has the Heirloom chest and shoulders, but has no Heirlooms for any weapons.

With the advent of the Midsummer Fire Festival, I took her around to gather up all the free XP while waiting for instances and got all the associated achieves for Honoring/Extinguishing flames in Oldlands and Outlands. I suppose I could fly around Coldlands and find those to do as well.

And, on a personal note, I have gone two plus weeks (since June 8th) without biting my fingernails. I hope I can keep it up as I know what will happen if I continue to bite them. Do not want!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The Deed....

....is done.

Daxe the Priest is deleted; long live Daxe the Shammy!

Sophi's Choice

Oh yes, I went there.

The previous post intimated that I was agonizing over deleting a character in order to make a new alt; well, I am.

Some of my toons have history on their side. In The Burning Crusade, I raided on Daxe (formerly Daxenos) the Priest and Rysteranch the Hunter. I have some pretty cool memories with both characters, and I keep them around because of it.

Sentimental, I R It.

Practical, I R It 2.

Round 1: Fight!
Senti: Remember your first raid with Death's Advocate on Daxenos? /sigh. You were wearing a mix of blues, greens, and one Primal Mooncloth piece (or was it two?). You even snagged an epic green piece of trash to put on your head! Ah...good times!

Pract: Daxie is my raiding priest now and has been since mid-BC. Daxie was also my first priest to 80 and is my best geared toon, currently.

Score:
Senti: 0
Pract: 1

Round 2: Fight!
Senti: Remember way back when, IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS AGO!.../sigh, when you first rolled your Alliance toons? Daxenos was your first Alliance character! How fun it was to discover the Human starting area, the joys of leveling Holy, and Hogger!

Pract: Daxe (we deal with the now, not the then) hasn't been out of the bar in quite a while now. Sure, he's 73, but do you really want to level another priest? Yeah, didn't think so.

Score:
Senti: 0
Pract: 2

Round 3: Fight!
Senti: Hey, I can be practical too! Daxe(nos...you know you want to spend $10 to change his name back) is an Herbalist/Inscriptionist - your only one! And he has epic flying! And he was your first toon with epic flying! Remember how you soared around the keep in Shadowmoon Valley when you first bought it? /sigh.

Pract: Glyphs are cheap, and Inscription is getting kicked in the junk come Cataclysm. Oh, and I actually have epic flying on all of my 80's as well as Rysteranch. That includes my Herbalist - Daxxy.

Score:
Senti: 0
Pract: 3
TKO!

Senti: but...but...you aren't actually going to delete your toon that you played with Malissa and Ken and Blitzed?? How about you transfer him? Turn him Horde? OH THE HUMANITY!

Pract: Let me know when you've stopped whining; I've got some deletin' to do...

Friday, June 11, 2010

Itching

I've been working on gearing out Daxxy and Vanco, of late.

For Vanco, the T9 is good enough, so I've spent badges getting him the four piece set and am not sure if I'll try to get him better gear from crafting crusader orb stuff.

For Daxxy, I am not impressed at all with the T9 four piece bonus, so I'm saving my badges for crusader's orbs. I may heal ICC10 tonight.

On Wednesday, Daxie got to raid with Jay, Robin, AND Teurion! It was pretty fun as we swept through first 4, Plague, and Blood Princes. That just leaves Blood Queen, Dreamwalker, and Sindy wipes for Sunday and Monday. With a little luck, we might even see the Lich King! Ok, a lotta luck...

So, with my two newest 80's approaching their respective gear caps (best non-raid gear), I'm starting to get the itch...and you know what that means: an alt.

Now I have my Blacksmith/Enchanter, a hunter, that I've been doing a random a day here and there. I'm not sure if I really want to start pushing her toward 80.

I also have my other priest, Daxe. I'm not so likely to grab him, but he is my Inscriptionist, so he would be useful to level in Cat for that.

I've got my PvP rogue, Daxen. She's just 18 or so and is arriving at the pwning levels for BGs.

Then there's my poor neglected pally, Daxynn. She's 44, tank spec'd, and could use some lovin'.

And finally....there's the possibility of a new alt. I know, I know...and I'd have to delete someone to make room on Kael'thas. (Blizzard, GIVE US MORE SLOTS!!!). For some reason, a shammy is nagging to be made.../sigh.

Must....stay.....strong...../resist

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Prodigal Son

Last Friday, my oldest son came to me and asked if he could move back into my home.

My response was, "What's your plan", implying "what's your plan to move out of my house?" I told him that even the prodigal son in Jesus' parable had a plan ("I'll ask to be as one of my father's hired men.")

He had done some research into apartments, but nothing concrete, so, I told him to come back to me when he had a plan.

Well, on Sunday evening, I took him out to dinner so we could hash out his plan. He had researched two apts, had some realistic expectations of what he would make, and had a general idea of his monthly expenses. I helped him think through the things he had missed or was unsure about, and we came up with something of a plan for him to move out in two and a half months.

Then I offered him a better deal.

I told him that he could stay in my house as long as he wanted - 2, 4, I hope not 6 years - if he would go back to school and work enough to cover his expenses (car insurance, gas, books).

He was more than happy to accept the better plan and moved back in last night.

My son is definitely not the same man that I kicked out last August; the world has schooled him something fierce, and I think he realizes, and appreciates, the value of what he left behind when he caused me to kick him out.

When he left, his head was shoved pretty far up his butt with his hands on his hips pulling it farther in. From talking with him recently, it sounds like there was the great popping sound that accompanies the action of pulling one's head out of their rectum. I couldn't be happier for him!

I'm cautiously optimistic. Of course my greatest hope is that he becomes absolutely consumed with digging himself out of the hole he's in by pursuing academic rehabilitation (yeah, he's on the dean's crap list) and saving every penny that he gets his hands on. But, I'm realistic in knowing that he's still only twenty and has a lot of growing up to do, so for now, I'm pleased that he is finally able to see something besides the inside of his butt.

And that's a great start.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Yikes!

I am sorry about not posting recently, as I know there are several of you who are going through severe withdraw symptoms as we speak. I won't offer any excuses. So there.

Anyways, I've been gearing up Daxxy the Druid. I even snuck into some raids - VoA10, VoA25, Weekly (Patchwerk), and another Weekly (XT). I've purchases several Triumph badge items and am saving my Frost badges for the cloak.

Now, I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'....Tree heals are OP! And I love it! Lifebloom, Lifebloom, Lifebloom, Rejuv! Wait....wait....wait....Lifebloom, Lifebloom, Lifebloom. Rinse and repeat. If I have a bit of a tough time, I'll throw a Regrowth in there.

Or, for when the situation gets out of control: Lifebloom, Nourish, Lifebloom, Nourish, Lifebloom, Nourish. It's nice to have options in getting the stacks up and working.

Crap, forgot about some work. Uh, Daxie saw the Lich King on 10 man. DV did a VoA. g2g.