Tuesday (16 Oct) - Out of Gas

Tuesday (16 Oct) - Out of Gas

Fist's patience started to fray with some of the quests in Hellfire Peninsula. It's a large zone, and even a 275% speed flying mount takes a good while to cross that mostly barren zone. At one point Fist tried to minimize the traveling by doing every quest she could without once going back to turn any of them in. She was able to complete thirteen quests before her quest log choked on all the open and completed quests. Far too many quests were strung out as singles - do quest A, come back and turn it in, do quest B - come back again - get quest C - over and over again.

Wild had also forgotten how, well, ordinary, many of those quests are in the Outlands. Fist has finished up with Hellfire Peninsula now, and hopes that her next zone, Zangarmarsh, will prove more interesting. She is now level 64, and couldn't bring herself to grind another level after turning in that last Hellfire Peninsula quest.

Fist began her pilgrimage on 27 Sep, which was just 19 days ago. Nineteen days of grinding more than sixty levels, or close to three and a half levels per day, and it's taking it's toll.

Fist isn't discouraged, though. Progress has been good, and she'll be ready to tackle Zangermarsh and focus on her current goal of getting access to Shattrath. She did take this pause as a chance to step back and re-examine her combat methods and priorities. She got lots of help from Sin and Lao, who suggested excellent sources of information. After 64 levels of brute force, it was time to learn a little finesse.

The monk Windwalker spec is most like that of a rogue. It's almost pure melee, with only limited ranged attacks. Monks use two resources, energy and Chi. Energy is capped at 100, with most spells that use energy consuming 40. Chi is accumulated by using certain spells, and is capped at 4. Fist has to be aware of both sources in order to be able to keep up a steady stream of attacks.

The priority scheme that Fist had been using up to her arrival at Hellfire Peninsula worked well enough, but against stronger foes Fist would burn up her Chi and energy too quickly, creating gaps in her attack. There was a better way, as her learned tutors would explain.

The first thing she had to do was stop doing some things she shouldn't have been doing. As one of her few ranged spells, Fist liked to use Spinning Fire Blossom to either pull a mob, or gun down a running mob. However, Blossom is one of the lesst efficient spells in her arsenal, and almost ANY spell would do more damage. Put it away, Fist was told, you don't need it. Second, Fist loved to gather multiple mobs and hammer them all at once with Fists of Fury. The experts pointed out to Fist that Fists of Fury was another inefficient spell because the damage it did was spread out among every attacker, instead of the full damage hitting every attacker. Fists of Fury was actually much, much better, when used against a single attacker.

After learning the things she shouldn't be doing, she now had to learn what she should be doing. First off, she had to learn to love Tiger Power. This is a buff that reduces the armor of attackers, and is one of those buffs that should always be kept active. Second, her most powerful attack had been relegated to like, her fifth choice, and was moved up to third. Rising Sun Kick is her most powerful attack, adding a mortal wound as well as doing increased damage to any other nearby attackers. It's her go to attack whenever it's available.

The new priority arrangement was immediately more comfortable - and powerful. Fist likes to think of it in two parts. The first part is the easy part, with four abilities spammed in a rhythm that allows for resources to constantly recharge.

In a typical fight, here is how it would go, and every one of these abilities does damage in addition to the other things they do:

Jab (creates Chi)
Tiger Palm (grants Tiger Power)
Jab again (more chi)
Rising Sun Kick (which uses the Chi gained from Jabs)
Blackout Kick (which uses energy, giving time to renew Chi)
Repeat. Or as one tutor noted: /flex, mob is dead.

With this new arrangement, most mobs were dead before the second round of attacks, and Fist usually had both Chi and energy available for the next fight.

The second part goes deeper, bringing in more abilities when the other spells are on cooldown. Fists of Fury is one (which uses energy), and Spinning Crane Kick is another (which uses Chi), giving Fist a choice depending on what resources she has available to her. For some healing support, Jab can be replaced with Expel Harm, which does less damage but adds a healing component. Finally, if Fist is totally out of options, she can always go to Flying Serpent Kick as filler. Maybe. So far it hasn't worked for Fist.

Flying Serpent Kick requires no resources, and is instant cast. It does have a 25 second cooldown. Casting it propels Fist forward rapidly. Casting it again stops her, doing AoE damage to any nearby enemies and slowing them. There is a glyph that can be used to have the Kick stop when it hits an enemy. In theory, Fist should be able to cast Kick and have it instantly stop and attack the mob directly in front of her. The problem, so far, is that it doesn't work. Fist flies right past the mob and has to stop herself with another cast. Fist will have to work on that part.

Overall, though, Fist is ecstatically happy with the results.

Fist's last task after arriving at Zangarmarsh was to hearth back to Org. Her bags were bulging, and the rotting meat was starting to smell a bit gamy.

PS - Fist has heard the comments about her choice of clothes while relaxing in town. Her response - Get over yourselves. You know I'm hot!

Naithipe has her own opinion - At level 64, Fist has proven she can take care of herself. Naithipe is confident that anyone challenging that will wind up at the morgue.