Weekend Goal!

I plan to hit level 66 on Keystone by the end of the weekend, I'm dieing to try Ice Lance, especially since I'm Frost Specced. I'll post some PvP stories from over the weekend, since I know the Horde will try and stop me from reaching my goal!

...for the Alliance!

New Author Added...

I've added a real life friend to the blog, he has a level 68 Night Elf Druid main with a Human Warlock alt. I have a friend that plays a Priest I would like to add, but he would have to be literate first, heh. (you know who you are!)

Anyways, everyone welcome Aroe to the wonderful world of blogging!

~Keystone

First Night Back...

I'm officially back from my vacation to Michigan and I was able to get some game time in the other night.

I decided to log on Keystone and continue the trek towards 70, since he is my closest character, and the one I consider my "main". I was finishing up my last quest for Hellfire Peninsula in the Pools of Aggronar(sp?) when I noticed a level 70 Warlock floating in the distance. (uh-oh)

I mounted my handy-dandy epic tiger and 'pretended' to run away; once I was out of distance, I dismounted, summoned my Water Ele and activated my new "Gem of the Illidari" trinket (some spell damage trinket like the Hero Charm from ZG).

The Undead Warlock, sure enough, appears on my screen in his pursuit to gank the Human Mage 5 levels below him. I start a Frostbolt cast and he goes to dismount, but the Frostbolt released before he hit the ground and I froze him with the ranged Frost Nova from my Water Ele and the bolt crits for 2150.

The Undead Warlock starts to cast Fear and I blink towards him and Cone of Cold > Fireblast. I get both off before he Fears me because the Water Ele was slowing his cast time down with his Frost Bolts.

So, the Warlock's Fear hits me and off to the races I go, but wait... what's this, I have my trusty "Insignia of the Alliance". I wait to use the Insignia since he's putting all his DoTs on me and one Ice Block removes them in one clean sweep. Once he DoT'd me to hell and back, I pop out of Fear and cast Frost Nova, Cone of Cold, Fireblast, then I recasted Ice Barrier and bam he has me Feared again, so I cast Ice Block and he banishes my Water Ele while I'm blocked (a little too late pal, the ele jacked you up this whole time).

I then cancel the Ice Block, hit my Cold Snap (finishes all frost cooldowns), then I resummon the Water Ele and he goes to cast Fear, but I Counter Spell him, and he starts with the fire while I'm preparing a Frost Bolt -> Ranged Water Ele Frost Nova death combo, which I get off!!!

To make a long story short, we both died at the same time. Now I know what you're thinking, "but Keystone, you used all your cooldowns", and that's true, but this was a level 70 Warlock, and I'm a level 65 Mage, and anyone who is anyone knows that Warlocks wtfpwn Mages.

This guy wasn't a horrible Warlock, he was just Destruction spec and I didn't give him much of a chance to get a long cast, and I did get the element of surprise.

I'll post the screenshot when I get home from work, and maybe the story about the level 70 Orc Hunter that tried to gank me outside of town and thought he could chase me inside of town for the killing blow, but failed due to my leet alchemy skills, heh.

That's enough for now, it's good to be back!!!

~Keystone

...brrr, Michigan

I'm sorry for the lack of post as of late, I've been on vacation in Michigan; I must say it's very cold here compared to Texas.

I did get a chance to show my IRL Night Elf Druid friend how to use a 'normal' optical mouse instead of the mammoth trackball she normally uses. I think I've converted her after I set her macros to match my Druid's (found in a previous post that I'm too lazy to link; keep in mind I'm still on vacation).

I'm looking forward to leveling my Human Mage to level 70 soon, and to concentrate on none other than my Human Warlock after that. I've played all classes now, and I know I am a caster at heart, minus the Priest.

Speaking of Priest, the least played class in the game, I was at Gamestop and I noticed they were sold out of Mage pins, but they had at least 30 Priest pins, which restates the fact that it's the least played class and maybe needs more incentive to draw more players towards them.

Anyways, I'll have my Mage pin soon enough, maybe even as a commemorative pin to celebrate hitting level 70, which should be soon. I'll see you all when I get back to Texas...

~Keystone

Druid: Fun w/ Cat Form

I was on my level 51 Night Elf Druid with two IRL friends that have Druid mains. This is the first character for both of them, as well as their first MMO for that matter.
Anyways, we were headed to Un'Goro crater from Tanaris, and I explained to them that at level 40 Druid's get 50% less fallen damage while in cat form; so we make the jump, and the results can be seen int he screenshot, heh.

Keystone...

Here's my main, the level 65 Human Mage I always speak of...

PvP Stories: Hillsbrad Foothills

I logged on my level 65 Human Mage the other night to check some auctions when a buddy of mine that just hit 70 on his Night Elf Hunter sent me a message, "There's a ton of horde raiding Southshore, come help".

I've been playing since release, so the whole Tauren Mill / Southshore phenomenon is old news to me, but I hadn't PvP'd in awhile since I've been leveling alts with IRL friends.

I arrive in Southshore to find that my buddy is the only Alliance there above level 40, and it's basically him and myself against 5-6 level 70 Horde. We start by keeping our distance and trying to snipe a single target without getting too close, but that didn't last long. The horde rushed in towards us since the guards are only level 45 and pose no threat to them. We unleash our DPS on one guy and I Counter Spell the Priest before they can heal this poor singled-out fellow that dropped, but my friend and I died immediately afterwards.

So, we took one guy out before we bit the dust. We then waited a bit to let their numbers thin due to boredom from lack of Alliance to kill. After awhile there were only three Horde players left... 70 Undead Warlock / 70 Undead Priest / 67 Blood Elf Hunter.

Keep in mind that my Human Mage is only level 65, and my Night Elf Hunter only just hit level 70, so his gear isn't great. I figured we would be mince meat, but lucky for us this level 70 Undead Priest didn't remove my Polymorph from the Blood Elf Hunter, and he died fast from a multiple Water Ele Range Frost Nova Double Crit Super Combo (tm), and whatever my Hunter friend wailed on him with.

The Polymorph seem to last forever on the poor Blood Elf Hunter, and the Undead Warlock spent the entire time it took us to kill the Priest putting DoTs on me, which I removed with a simple Ice Block after the Priest died.

I noticed the Warlock start to cast Banish on my Water Ele and I Counter Spelled that perfectly, and the Warlock bit the dust. Right at that time, as if the gods were smiling upon us, the Blood Elf Hunter came out of sheep and tried his / her best, but it was too late by then.

After we came out on top of what should have been our asses in the dirt, we decided to call it quits while we were on top of the world.

I had other skirmishes throughout the night, as any player on a PvP server has, but I only like to mention the interesting ones. Also, for the benefit of this trio, the Warlock & Hunter weren't that bad, but the Priest showed a complete noobness for not dispelling that Polymorph, maybe he didn't notice, who knows.

I'm flying to Detroit for a week, but I'll try to keep the post coming.

~Keystone

...before I was Keystone

New Classes OR 4th Talent Tree?

It's been said many times before, but it still doesn't seem to fit. How would World of Warcraft add a new class to fill a role that isn't already filled?

The classic DPS, Tank, and Healer archetypes are covered, and adding more classes would only be a different skin for basically the same roll. You can call it a Ninja, Pirate, or Vagabond, but it's still going to fill one of the three main roles.

Since it's apparent there won't be any new roles created anytime soon in the genre of MMO's, then WoW should continue their diversity in classes with an added talent tree. This would be hard to balance, but it's very plausible, and easier to balance than additional classes.

Hybrid classes like the Paladin would be hard to implement since their 3 major roles are covered, whereas you could just add a new type of damage for a Mage talent tree.

Either way, I would like to see some upgrades to class / talent selection within the next expansion. The Burning Crusade was great, but it's still more of the same. Anyone have any ideas for a 4th talent tree for a particular class?

~Keystone

Armory

New tool for searching characters, pretty cool!

Here's my main, Keystone...
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Sargeras&n=Keystone