Monday (8 Oct) - Exalted Rep Surprise

Monday (8 Oct) - Exalted Rep Surprise

Fist's leveling has slowed a bit. After finishing up with the Hinterlands, Fist had her choice of several next stops. She wanted to return to Kalimdor, though, where she felt more comfortable that the zones she would be looking at on the Eastern Continent. So, Fist packed up her things at the Undercity where she had been staying, and changed homes to the inn at the Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar. She did the fishing and cooking dailies (cool that she can do those at her level), and then had to make her decision. She decided on Desolace, a level 30-40 zone that looks much like it's name, as it is truly a desolate place. Wild remembered some fun times, though, and so Fist hopped a flight to Shadowprey Village on the coast.

Desolace proved to be not quite as barren as it used to be. The area where the horde had a foothold at the kodo burial grounds is now green with vegetation, and there is a new neutral area full of quest givers apparently responsible for the greening of this zone. That was a relatively small area, with most of the zone still rock and dust.

One matter was very different. The warring tribes of Magram and Gelkis were still spread out in their encampments, but Fist did not - in fact, could not - select which tribe to support. That faction choice and long string of battles were a major part of this zone. Instead, it became Fist's task to bring the two factions together through a series of quests that had Fist fighting through one group to deliver a quest to a non-hostile from the other group. That proved so popular Fist was sent to unite a third clan (whose name I can't recall), and that required entering the Maraudon dungeon. It was an interesting change, and required a lot fewer kills than the version Wild was familiar with. Overall, I think the change was a good one. A better storyline and less endless killing to earn faction rep.

Fist ran out of things to do in Desolace pretty quickly, though, and with many quests really strung out it took awhile to get through them. There are better places to spend her time, thought Fist, although she will remember it, since it was in Desolace that she reached level 40. She already had her mount, but now she had a swifter running mount after visiting the riding trainer.

Next stop, Ferelas. I've always liked Ferelas. The changes wrought in this zone since Wild's day seem to be mostly changes in the horde bases so far. The quests are slightly altered, but for the most part Fist was killing the same mobs that Wild did back in the day. And as Fist is coming to expect, the more dangerous areas have been turned into kindergarten. There is an area in Ferelas where elite cliff giants once wandered about as part of and as dangers to players working on several quests there. The cliff giants are no longer elite, and the elite giants that are there are tagged as yellow and do not attack. Fist has just barely gotten started here, I think, although she has done quite a few quests already.

Toward the end of the evening Fist also accomplished something that I would not have thought possible when guild reputation was first implemented. Fist reached Exalted rep with the guild. She's the first member of the guild ever to reach that status.

Fist is now level 42.