Warlords of Draenor is Here!!

Hi,

Yep, Warlords released last Thursday, which seems like such a long time ago now. It certainly was a rocky Thursday and Friday, with lag, queues, all sorts of bugs. But it really settled down on Saturday after maintenance, and I've been having a blast ever since.

I of course started with Flaying. The Jungle intro is really great. So much better than the MoP starting experience. Then Shadowmoon Valley is just awesome. As soon as you get there, you get a couple of quests and then get to start up your Garrison. What a great feature Garrisons are. I got Flaying all set up, did some more quests in SMV, and then took Gnomey and Draeny there to set up their Garrisons also.

One thing I particularly love about Garrisons is recruiting Followers, and sending them on missions to level them up. It's such a great little mini simulator. Assign the followers with the right traits for the particular mission to take the likelyhood of success from about 64% to 100%. Flaying now has 8 followers and Draeny and Gnomey have about 3 or 4.

This is what happens after sending out the 8 followers on missions. I usually choose short duration ones, but then the 10 hour ones for at night, or before I come to work.

Completed Missions

Then, go and see what's been completed. The characters even do a little dance of joy when they level up. Here, they both leveled to 95.

A successful Mission

Flaying now has four level 95 Followers. I can really see getting lots to 100 by the next blog post.

In actually leveling, Flaying completed all of Shadowmoon Valley, has started in Gorgrond, and is level 93. Gnomey is still in SMV and is 91, and Dreany is in SMV and is 91. They are the only ones I've taken there so far. All of them have their prof buildings set up, and have started doing Work Orders. I'm not really looking to level professions right now, just start getting the high level mats.

Oh, before I forget, even though Flaying is not a Miner, she got a Mine on her Garrison. It's great getting all that Blackrock and True Iron Ore every day. I can't wait to get a Herb Garden, but that doesn't appear until level 96.

I should also mention that Flaying decided to get the Inn at the Garrison. At level 1, she gets daily quests for dungeons (which she actually did once), and when it gets to level 2, she can recruit followers.

Other than my play in Draenor, I've been leveling Priesty, Shaolin, and Frosty. I actually got Shaolin to 90, and she's my 12th level 90. Priesty has moved on to the Cape of Straglehorn, and Frosty actually made it through Outland, and is about to start in Northrend.

With Shaolin getting to 90, it was time to pick professions. I decided she should get Mining/JC. So, she started gathering all the ore and zooming through JC. One problem was that it appears that Wintergrasp is bugged, so she couldn't get any Ore from there (and that's usually my go to spot for Saronite and Titanium :(). Anyway, with the help of Flaying making Earthsiege Diamond, Shaolin did make it to 425. She made it through Cata no problem, and is now into MoP JC.

Alliance (Brits United) on Draenor:

Flayingbrit (93) - Human/Priest (Herbalism 673/Alchemy 601)
Draenybrit (91) - Draenei/Shaman (Mining 603/Blacksmithing 600)
Gnomeybrit (91) - Gnome/Priest (Tailoring 600/Enchanting 600)
Flictionbrit (90) - Gnome/Warlock (Mining 600/Engineering 600)
Fengsuibrit (90) - Pandaren/Hunter (Skinning 600/Leatherworking 600)
Blizzybrit (90) - Draenei/Mage (Mining 600/Jewelcrafting 600)
Boomybrit (90) - Night Elf/Druid (Herbalism 600/Inscription 600)
Unstablebrit (90) - Human/Warlock (Mining 600/Skinning 600)
Pallybrit (90) - Human/Paladin (Mining 600/Tailoring 600)
Bamboodbrit (90) - Pandaren/Priest (Herbalism 600/Alchemy 600)
Priestybrit (32) - Draenei/Priest (None)
Raidbrit (10) - Doesn't matter (2nd account)

Alliance (Brits United) on Echo Isles:
 
Shaolinbrit (90) - Pandaren/Monk (Mining 591/Jewelcrafting 600) 
Slealthybrit (90) - Pandaren/Rogue (Skinning 600/Leatherworking 600)
Smashbrit (12) - Pandaren/Warrior (None)
Frostybrit (68) - Draenei/Death Knight (None)
 
Horde (Britannia) on Ghostlands:

Priestybrit (40) - Undead/Priest (Tailoring 168/Enchanting 179)
Elfybrit (3) - Blood Elf/Priest (None)
Shammybrit (25) - Orc/Shaman (Mining 16/Herbalism 23)


Achievements have gone up over 5000 now at 5030, with the last two being Bloodmaul Slag Mines, and As I Walk Through The Valley of the Shadow of the Moon.

The plan for next week is probably take a few more into Draenor. Also to level Flaying up more, and probably Draeny and Gnomey too. I'll try to sneak in some time for Priesty and Forsty, and will definitely get Shaolin's profs to 600. Horde didn't get any play this week, and will probably not next week either.

Opinion Time: The Single Best Feature of WoD

Well, you've probably guessed what I consider the best feature by now. Yep, it's Follower Missions. It's so much fun sending them out and missions and seeing them complete (or even if they fail, they still get XP from) it. I love the little animations, especially the dancing when they level up.

I can imagine further down the road, when I have 12 characters with Garrisons, that I could just be logging on to each of them, looking at completed missions, and sending the followers out on new ones. This could be an entirely new little mini game with WoW. I don't think I'll just be doing that though.

Cheers.