620 and climbing

Hi,

Yep, that's the iLvL I've got Flaying to at the moment. I don't think I'll be doing Molten Core (because I've heard of people waiting hours to get in and then wiping on trash), but she's certainly ready for when LFR opens up tomorrow. It's a mixture of Crafted (2 640s from Gnomey), Apexis Crystals (3 630 pieces), and some follower mission 630 and 615 stuff. Flaying has hardly done a dungeon (still need Skyreach for the 640 ring :)). I've had more fun gearing up at the start of an expansion than ever before.

Picture time. I realized that the Garrison picture for the heading was just a bit dark, so here's another to see if it's a bit brighter.

Brighter Garrison

Yeah, I think that will do for the new heading pic.

What else has been going on? Leveling in Draenor, that's what. Unstable made it to 96 and got her Herb Garden. Then, Gnomey got to 96 and got hers too. So that's 4 Herb Gardens now. A steady supply of Herbs. Here's what I do with them.

Frostweed - Flaying, for Alchemy.
Gorgond Flytrap - Gnomey and Fengsui, for Tailoring and Leatherworking.
Talador Orchid, Starflower, and Fireweed - Blizzy, to make Gems.
Nagrand Arrowbloom - Boomy, for milling.

With Alchemy, I'm making the Phil. Stones and vendoring them. With JC, I'm making the basic gems and vendoring them. With Engineering, I'm making the 30g items that cost 20 GS parts and vendoring them. With Tailoring, Blacksmithing, and Leatherworking, I'm making gear for my characters. With Inscription, I'm going to make a staff, and then switch to Card of Omens for gold. With Enchanting, I'm just collecting mats right now.

It's actually fun just vendoring stuff, rather than relying on the AH for gold. I know I could make tons more using the AH, but that's OK.

In other profession stuff, Dreany made a weapon for herself, Blizzy got to 700 JC making all the gems with herbs and ore, and a couple made it to 700 Mining. Also, Unstable leveled up Herbalism my mostly flying around Valley of the Four Winds picking herbs. This was a great way to level up. Much better than going back to the old world.
 
Draeny and Fengsui also got to 93 this week, as I tried to decide which would be the next to level. Now I've thought about it, it make be Fliction, to get level 2 Eng building for more GS Parts.

In the mornings, I've been playing Priesty and bit. She's now 54, and ready for Swamp of Sorrows and Blasted Lands.

In the late evenings, I've been playing Horde a bit. Ghostlands is actually East Coast, so there's not much completion after 9pm my time. Horde Priesty is now level 42 and questing in Eastern Plaguelands.
     
Alliance (Brits United) on Draenor:

Flayingbrit (100) - Human/Priest (Herbalism 700/Alchemy 676) - iLvl 620
Draenybrit (93) - Draenei/Shaman (Mining 700/Blacksmithing 643)
Gnomeybrit (96) - Gnome/Priest (Tailoring 641/Enchanting 609)
Flictionbrit (92) - Gnome/Warlock (Mining 700/Engineering 673)
Fengsuibrit (93) - Pandaren/Hunter (Skinning 668/Leatherworking 605)
Blizzybrit (92) - Draenei/Mage (Mining 694/Jewelcrafting 710)
Boomybrit (96) - Night Elf/Druid (Herbalism 700/Inscription 623)
Unstablebrit (96) - Human/Warlock (Herbalim 465/Skinning 682)
Pallybrit (90) - Human/Paladin (Mining 600/Tailoring 600)
Bamboodbrit (90) - Pandaren/Priest (Herbalism 600/Alchemy 600)
Priestybrit (54) - Draenei/Priest (None)
Raidbrit (10) - Doesn't matter (2nd account)

Alliance (Brits United) on Echo Isles:
 
Shaolinbrit (91) - Pandaren/Monk (Mining 594/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 (42) - Undead/Priest (Tailoring 176/Enchanting 196)
Elfybrit (3) - Blood Elf/Priest (None)
Shammybrit (14) - Orc/Shaman (Mining 21/Herbalism 25)


Achievements have gone up to 5290, with the last two being Moving on Up (Flaying upgraded Alchemy Lab to level 3) and Salvaging Pays Off (Opened 100 crates of Salvage from missions).

The plan for next week is to continue doing all the profession stuff, and then probably level Fliction. Or maybe Draeny, or maybe Fengsui :) I'll also try to get Priesty (Alliance) to 60, and progress Priesty (Horde) a bit. Oh yeah, I hope to do a bit of LFR on Flaying too.


Opinion Time: LFR Opens Tomorrow


Well, not really an opinion, just happy that LFR is opening up, especially for people like myself who consider this their end-game. I'll have to read up a bit on it and then try it out sometime this week.


There are those who don't like LFR, but I really think it's a god-send for people who can't, or don't want to, do real Raiding. I think this is a large segment of the WoW population too.


So, bring on LFR!!


Cheers.

Herb Garden, Where Art Thou?

Hi,

Yeah, it takes such a long time to open up the Herb Garden compared to the Mine. Flaying has one of course, having passed 96 a long time ago. But, I wanted another one, now that I needed all the Herbs for Inscription, and also another use I'll get to in a minute. So, I decided to level Boomy like crazy to get to 96 and open up another Herb Garden. Phew, I made it yesterday.

The other use for Herbs is to combine with Ore to make Gems that vendor for 4g each. As you know, I don't use the AH, so this would be a good source of income, if I had a steady supply of herbs.

Since getting to 100, Flaying has been doing the Apexis Crystal daily every day, and has one 630 piece from it, and is ready to buy another. Gnomey also got to 100 Hexweave Cloth, and crafted the 640 Chest for Flaying. Flaying's also been working hard on followers, and now has about 23, 20 of which are level 100.

Fliction actually got 100 Gearspring Parts too, and made:

Blingtron5000 outside the garrison

It's cool. But I've heard reports that if you place one while another one's out, and they fight, they no longer give the quest. That sucks.

I got Blizzy and Unstable to level 92 too, so they've now got level 2 mines also. With 7 level 2 mines, I'm really racking up tons and tons of Ore.

Yesterday, I decided I better get my Leatherworking started, and so I leveled Fengsui a bit. Leveling a Hunter is just ridiculous. I remember all the times when other characters had trouble with stuff, and it's just a breeze with a hunter. Fengsui only got to 91, but will be 93 with a mine soon :)

Another thing I did was drop Mining on Unstable, and picked up Herbalism instead. As I've said, with all the mines, Mining is pretty useless. However, I'm not dropping it on Draeny or Blizzy, because who knows what Blizzard have in store for it in the future. Unstable will probably be the next one I'll get to 96, as she can get skill ups from the Garden, and get full plants from it.

I also leveled Priesty in the morning on several days, and she made it to 47 and is in the Badlands.

Alliance (Brits United) on Draenor:

Flayingbrit (100) - Human/Priest (Herbalism 700/Alchemy 628) - iLvl 611
Draenybrit (92) - Draenei/Shaman (Mining 695/Blacksmithing 626)
Gnomeybrit (94) - Gnome/Priest (Tailoring 624/Enchanting 601)
Flictionbrit (92) - Gnome/Warlock (Mining 698/Engineering 653)
Fengsuibrit (91) - Pandaren/Hunter (Skinning 645/Leatherworking 602)
Blizzybrit (92) - Draenei/Mage (Mining 674/Jewelcrafting 641)
Boomybrit (96) - Night Elf/Druid (Herbalism 700/Inscription 618)
Unstablebrit (92) - Human/Warlock (Herbalim 31/Skinning 661)
Pallybrit (90) - Human/Paladin (Mining 600/Tailoring 600)
Bamboodbrit (90) - Pandaren/Priest (Herbalism 600/Alchemy 600)
Priestybrit (47) - Draenei/Priest (None)
Raidbrit (10) - Doesn't matter (2nd account)

Alliance (Brits United) on Echo Isles:
 
Shaolinbrit (91) - Pandaren/Monk (Mining 594/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 (14) - Orc/Shaman (Mining 21/Herbalism 25)


Achievements have made it up to 5230:

Up to 5230

The last two being Working Some Orders (125 Work Orders), and Filling the Ranks (20 Followers to 100).


The plan for next week is to keep doing daily stuff on Flaying, level Unstable to 96, work on Priesty and maybe Frosty a bit, and continue to work on all the professions.


Opinion Time: Dailies in Warlords


This isn't actually a complaint. I did complain about the lack of dailies before WoD shipped, and before I got to 100, but I don't complain any more.


What they've done is basically give you one daily for 800/1000 Apexis Crystals, that is about equivalent to 5 old dailes for 160/200 each. The daily can take about 20-30 minutes, and once I have more than one 100, this is going to eat up plenty of time.


Yeah, I guess if I only played one character, this might be a bit limiting, but with all the Garrison stuff to do, and Dungeons, and all the usually stuff, I don't think the lack of dailies hurts at all.


Cheers.

My First Level 100!!

Hi,

Yep. Did it. About mid-afternoon on Sunday, Flaying got to 100 while questing in Nagrand.

100!!

And here she is, chilling at her Garrison, proud to be level 100.

Flayingbrit at her Garrison

Another reason for that picture is to make it the background for the entire blog.

So, a lot has happened this week, nearly all of it in Draenor. Flaying completed Shadowmoon Valley, and then did nearly all of Gorgrond. She went to Talador and did the first few quests there and hit 96. I read that you could get the Salvage Yard (to get some cool salvage while doing Follower missions), so I knew you had to go to Spires of Arak to do that.

Flaying abandoned Talador, and went off to Spires. It took a lot of quests to actually get the Garrison Outpost set up, and then the start of the quest chain for the Salvage Yard Blueprint still wasn't showing up. So, I went and did the Admiral Tailor quests, and boom, it opened up. A few more Golbiny quests later, and I had finally unlocked it.

Spires of Arak is pretty cool, and at the end of it, you're given a quest to kill all the bosses in the Skyreach dungeon. So, while questing in Nagrand, I queued for it, and got in a good group and did it fine (making sure I also had the quest for Skyreach from my Inn).

Nagrand is really cool. Lot's of Throwback to Outland quests (or is that Throw Forward? :)). Things like going to the Throne of the Elements, killing Clefthoof and Taibuk etc. I really liked it though.

So, Flaying is now 100. I was unsure where the daily for Apexis Crystals was, but went back to my Garrison and it was on the War table next to where you send your followers on missions. I got the PVE one (of course) and it was doing stuff in the area between Shadowmoon Valley and Spires of Arak. Not bad at all. Took about 30 minutes because of all the people there.

Flaying now has about 5 level 100 followers, and they've been going on missions to get gear and weapons tokens to upgrade. It's still a fun little game. I've stopped doing follower missions on other characters so that the followers don't level too quickly.

On the Profession side, my characters are swimming in Ore, with me having 2 level 2 mines, and 2 level 1 mines. Draeny is up to about 71 Truesteel, and will soon be able to make her shield. Gnomey is up to about 83 Hexweave Cloth, and will be able to make a Robe for Flaying soon. Fliction has about 35 Gearspring Parts now. Oh, and Flaying got to 700 Herbalism too.

I leveled Draeny, Gnomey, and Fliction to 92 to get the mines. And now that Flaying is 100, I'll be leveling Gnomey next (she got to 93 this week). Another thing I did was take many more characters into Draenor. I have now done 9, and only 3 remain.

In the mornings, I've also got a bit of time in on Priesty. She got to level 41 this morning and is questing in Eastern Plaguelands.

Alliance (Brits United) on Draenor:

Flayingbrit (100) - Human/Priest (Herbalism 700/Alchemy 613) - iLvl 596
Draenybrit (92) - Draenei/Shaman (Mining 683/Blacksmithing 605)
Gnomeybrit (93) - Gnome/Priest (Tailoring 608/Enchanting 601)
Flictionbrit (92) - Gnome/Warlock (Mining 650/Engineering 643)
Fengsuibrit (90) - Pandaren/Hunter (Skinning 606/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 (41) - 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 made it up to 5140 this week, with the last two being Level 100, and Skyreach.

The plan for next week is to keep doing the Apexis Crystal daily and Follower missions on Flaying. To also level Gnomey, and probably work on Boomy too, because I can't wait to get started on Inscription. I'll also work on Priesty in the mornings and maybe even Frosty too.

No Opinion Time this week. I think the blog post is long enough as it is. It will return next week.

Cheers.  

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.  

A Change in Direction!

Hi,

Yep, here's what happened. I was working on leveling all my Pandaren to 90 to get Classy Pandaren from the Guild. But then it hit me. Blizzard have spent massive amounts of resources to make new character models, and Pandaren isn't one of them. So, I've switched gears now, and decided that I will level all classes of Draenei to 90 instead. To that end, I started a Draenei Death Knight, and a Draenei Priest.

Frostybrit

That's my Death Knight. I got her up to level 64, and she's heading to Nagrand next. She got all the Heirlooms from Smashbrit, who I'm no longer playing.

Priestybrit

This is my Priest. She got all the Heirlooms from one of the Venture Co toons. I got her to 25 this morning in Duskwood. I'll continue in Duskwood for a while, before heading to Northern Stranglehorn.

I also decided to do other fun stuff this week, instead of the same old farming and TI. So, Flying went to ICC, to see if she could solo it. Well, indeed she could. She completed ICC and got tons of Achievements. I also researched where you could get Ashes of Alar from. So, Flying went to Tempest Keep, and soloed that too. No ashes though :). Draeny also did Tempest Keep.

Well, there's more to talk about. I decided to start leveling Horde characters too. So, I started up some characters on Ghostlands. I decided to give them a quick start by transferring over the guild from Ravenholt. So, my Undead Priest transferred over with the Guild. I wanted to start on Classy Blood Elf, but after starting a Priest, realized that I didn't have the Heirlooms (they're on Priesty). So, I had Shaman Heirlooms handy, so decided to level an Orc Shaman.

Elfybrit

This is the Blood Elf Priest I started. She won't be leveled until she can get the Heirlooms.

Shammybrit

And here's the Orc Shaman. I got her to level 13. She's questing in Silverpine Forest now (one of my favorite zones!). I decided I probably will use the AH on these Horde characters, so I gave Shammy Mining and Herbalim, so she can sell tons of stuff.

That's about it. I did go through Blasted Lands on quite a few more 90s, and you'll see an increase in iLvL, because a few of them got upgrades from it. Oh, I also leveled Shaolin a bit. I want to get her to 90 and then do professions.

Alliance (Brits United) on Draenor:

Flayingbrit (90) - Human/Priest (Herbalism 600/Alchemy 600) - iLvL 552
Draenybrit (90) - Draenei/Shaman (Mining 600/Blacksmithing 600) - iLvL 528
Gnomeybrit (90) - Gnome/Priest (Tailoring 600/Enchanting 600) - iLvl 548
Flictionbrit (90) - Gnome/Warlock (Mining 600/Engineering 600) - iLvL 523
Fengsuibrit (90) - Pandaren/Hunter (Skinning 600/Leatherworking 600) - iLvL 536
Blizzybrit (90) - Draenei/Mage (Mining 600/Jewelcrafting 600) - iLvL 522
Boomybrit (90) - Night Elf/Druid (Herbalism 600/Inscription 600) - iLvL 505
Unstablebrit (90) - Human/Warlock (Mining 600/Skinning 600) - iLvL 529
Pallybrit (90) - Human/Paladin (Mining 600/Tailoring 600) - iLvL 525
Bamboodbrit (90) - Pandaren/Priest (Herbalism 600/Alchemy 600) - iLvL 506 
Priestybrit (25) - Draenei/Priest (None)
Raidbrit (10) - Doesn't matter (2nd account)

Alliance (Brits United) on Echo Isles:
 
Shaolinbrit (86) - Pandaren/Monk (None) 
Slealthybrit (90) - Pandaren/Rogue (Skinning 600/Leatherworking 600) - iLvL 485
Smashbrit (12) - Pandaren/Warrior (None)
Frostybrit (64) - 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 zoomed up this week to 4890:

Achievements

The last two were explore Neterstorm, and giving Explore Outland (I thought I'd polish that off when I went there for Tempest Keep.

The plan for next week is to start leveling my 90s in WoD (which releases on Thursday). I'll also level my low level characters in the morning, when CRZ is more bearable.

Opinion Time: Less Than 3 Days To Go!

Well, not really opinion, just excitement. Even though I told you of a couple of things I'm not looking forward to in WoD, it's still going to be awesome. I can't wait to start questing in new zones, getting my Garrisons up and running, and collecting new gathering materials.

2 days and 15 hours to go, as of writing this sentence. I can't wait. 

Cheers.