Character Update

I leveled my Blood Elf (also named Keystone) Warlock to level 10.
The other Keystone, the Human Mage, reached level 63.

I respecced my level 49 Night Elf Druid to Feral and I've been testing him in BG's.
I've also been trying to master the Protection Tree on my level 60 Dwarf Paladin.

I looted two good drops and sold them for probably less than I could have, but it was the Crusader Enchant, and the high level blue scope that adds +7 damage, the name slips my memory. I sold both items for a total of 150g. That's not bad for a weekend of fluff leveling.

Thoughts on PvP Rewards...

Before I give my opinion on the current system of PvP rewards, I would like to tell you about something that recently happened to me.

I was at "The Stadium" in Hellfire Peninsula the other night with some Alliance friends trying to help them get a few kills for PvP marks. Our whole group bit the dust to a few level 70 horde and I took the ol' "auto-run" back to corpse method. By the time I ressed, my whole team had moved to the other capture point.

I was about to res when I saw a level 64 Orc Rogue around my corpse, so I moved into distance, ressed, then sheeped. I casted my Frost Armor, Ice Barrier, Bandaged, Evocation, then he came out of sheep and vanished. I start to Rank 1 Arcane Explosion to reveal him, but no luck.

To make a long story short, the fight was underway between me and this rogue when a level 70 Human Mage drops from the sky and wails on this rogue that I was in the process of beating.

I think to myself, "that's cool, he flew down to save the day, even thou I didn't need saving". I gave him an obsolete "thank you", and he returned with a, "stfu noob, and stop stealing marks from people that do 80% of the damage!"

Ok, what did he just say? Is this guy retarded? This person dropped out of the sky into MY fight and basically tried to take the mark from me, but he was pissed that I did the killing blow and received the mark?

I don't care about the marks, I enjoy the competition from PvP and the challenge of a human opponent. I saw this guy was part of a mega-guild on the server and it made more sense. I'm not trying to stereotype, but most of the mega-guild people I meet have a very arrogant attitude.

I like the idea that Blizzard is trying to reward PvP players for their non-raiding agendas, but I don't like that it breeds an unhealthy competition between faction members. This guy is Alliance, and I'm Alliance, there should be no tension about who gets the kill.

I'd like to see a minor change to where anyone that did damage would get a PvP mark, but I know this would be hard because of the exploit possibilities, but just make a level requirement or something.

Oh, and I haven't forgot the screenshots, they're coming! I promise!!!

Attack of the Flying Mage!!!

I really didn't care too much for the thought of flying mounts; I recall the let down of flying classes I've played before in games like Anarchy Online & Shadowbane.

That all changed last night...

I was running to Hellfire Ramparts to meet with my group. I was almost there when I noticed all their bars suddenly greyed out with the soon-to-follow cries of, "Stupid level 70 Mage".

I'm anxious to try a Counter Spell > Sheep combo on this sucker, so I run to where my group just died on top of the bridge leading to Ramparts. I look around and see nothing but dead corpses.

I think to myself, "Hrmm, he couldn't have gone far...", but then I heard something, something I haven't heard before in the world of Azeroth. I slowley turned around to see an Undead Mage gently hovering in the air next to the bridge.

The Undead Mage slowley lowered himself to the ground to dismount and immidiately started a Polymorph cast. Still being stunned by the intimidation of the flying beast, all I could think to do was turn and blink into the instance.

...I want a flying mount!

I've since been wondering where this will lead PvP and what elements will we soon start to see with the new variable of flying mounts added into the equation?

Just for information purposes, it's something like 1,000g for a regular flying mount and 5,000g for an epic one.

WTS lvl 60 Paladin!!!

I logged on my Paladin this weekend to help a friend in STV. I haven't played my Paladin in ages, so I had no clue what I was doing, but it still doesn't excuse the following event...

I wonder off for a second and a Blood Elf Mage kills my Night Elf Druid friend, so I mount up and intercept the Mage. The Belf Mage blinks away and I use Avenger Shield to slow her down, she then ice blocks. Her blink won't be ready till a few seconds after the block, and I know this so I move in for the stun and she cancels Ice Block and Frost Novas me at a distance and runs until blink is ready. *sigh*

She makes it past the guards with 3% health and I yell out in frustration. I start to drink to regain the mana lost during the chase, but before I finish, here she comes with a low level Belf Hunter & Belf Paladin.

To make a long disgusting story short, these three were able to kite my level 60 Dwarf Paladin to death. I logged off and swore never to log on a melee class again, because chasing people down is not my thing.

I jumped on my Human Mage and headed to STV; I only found the Belf Hunter, so I kill him a couple times to take out my Paladin frustration. After the second time, he doesn't res. I think to myself, "ooo, maybe he's getting his main so we can have a real fight".

I was right, before I knew it there was a level 61 Tauren Druid charging me in Bear Form. I immidiately blink out of the stun, then I Frost Nova > Cone of Cold > Fireblast > Water Ele > Ice Block > Rinse & Repeat.

**note** My Water Ele is broke and won't cast his "Freeze" spell.

I easily take this Druid down and decide it was time to move on and forget the stupid Paladin ordeal. This is why I would love to see class respecs.

Hellfire Ramparts / Blood Furnace?

I ran Hellfire Rampart & Blood Furnace over the weekend and I noticed there weren't many caster drops off the bosses. I saw various Mail / Plate drops, but no cloth gear.

I'm curious to see the loot tables now; I wonder what the cloth drop ratio is compared to other armor.

Also, just a tip to everyone out there that plays a DPS class... learn to use light DPS when you have a Paladin / Druid tank. These classes can tank just fine, but they're not warriors, so it does help them by not unleashing your triple Aim Shot / PoM Pyro combo right off the bat. I'm Frost Specced with Winter's Chill, so I just dump a couple rank 1 Frost Bolts to build up my crit chance, then I unleash my DPS.

I have some great screen shots of my runs, which I 'promise' to post since I've downloaded

IRfanview

at work and I can transfer the screen shots via a thumb drive.

Rested XP, ahhh!

I just had a simple thought, I say simple, but in reality my mind is much like a gnomish engineering shop with a lot of gears and gadgets. Anyways, I was thinking there should be a rested bonus for other portions of the game.

A couple things come to mind...

1) Honor
2) Reputation
3) Coin Drops
4) Profession Skills
5) Weapon Skills
6) Talent Respec Cost

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but since I'm a casual player with a 60 hour a week obligation, I would love to stay on par with the hardcore gamers.

Can anyone think of any other portions of the game that would benefit from rest?

Kinless' Addon List

Eollin & Aroe,

I found a perfect list of addons for you two thanks to Kinless, just follow the link and be sure to thank the kind gentleman for his list! Thanks Kinless!

Kinless' Addon List

A Slow Night...

I didn't get to play much last night due to work issues; however, I did get to make my first Outland 5-man instance run.

The instance is called "Hellfire Citadel" (HC), and it's located directly in the center of Hellfire Peninsula. This instance is great for Mages, Rogues, & Warlocks because of the Humanoid / Demon mobs that can be Sheeped, Sapped, or Banished.

Our group consisted of (2) Frost Mages, (1) Warlock, (1) Warrior, and (1) Priest. This class make-up worked great because we were able to double sheep and stack Winter's Chill on the same target.

There were no cloth drops at all, unless you count the +32 stamina green back piece.
The stamina was an upgrade over my back piece, but I'm all about +damage since I'm a Mage.

Not that we had a bad tank, but I have to mention that Frost Block is the answer to horrible tanks. I can't count the times I died as a fire Mage because the tank couldn't regain aggro (I would only scorch, and I had Burning Soul, so I wasn't generating that much threat).

That's about all that happened last night, and since I'll be at work for the next 26 hours, yes that's right, I said twenty six, I won't be able to play.

I know you all like to get your PvP story fix, so please head over to BRK's blog for a nice Moonkin Revenge story...

BRK's Moonkin Revenge Story