This and That's
JB has a problem. Her level 2 Lumber Yard looks very nice. Unfortunately, she can't cut any wood. She is still short on garrison resources and her Lumber Yard should have been churning out lumber by now. Checking Wowhead, I learned that the starter quest, "Easing in Lumberjacking" is bugged for boosted toons. I have two boosted toons, Jocy and Tiphaine, so that's good to know should they ever want a LumberYard. JB, however, is not boosted. I've put in a ticket.
How do boosted toons get their Lumber Yard going? They have to do the Tanaan entry quests up through "The Assault Base" in order to get the starter quest for the Lumber Yard. Sigh. JB has barely started the Tanaan questing. My guess is that the answer to my ticket will be to do the Tanaan quests. That way Blizz doesn't have to fix the actual problem.
Philly is struggling a bit. She has been out of action so long it's like learning a new character, or discovering the character has amnesia. I thought Philly could skip Pandaria like JB did, but that isn't working out with Philly. I'm still trying to figure out how JB still had quests and achievements available in Mount Hyjal where with Philly, there are no quests at all. I think it may be an issue with the starter quest that opens up Cata. Going to try to do it and see if that clears it up.
On the practical side, Philly is working on her gear, which at her level was pretty cheap. She raised her gear level from i418 to i426, getting rid of all her spirit gear in favor of crit (that tip was courtesy of UB).
Combat with Philly has been frustating and funny. The up close kick ass attack pattern of Jocy, Tiphaine, and JB is so ingrained that Philly feels compelled to rush in and attack vice standing at range. I'm sure she'll get herself re-wired after a few fatal encounters.
Tiphaine is getting more comfortable with her Inscription profession and the process to get to level 700 is slowly accelerating. Most of the leveling comes from making Card of Omens. The best way to describe them is that they're like lottery tickets. You buy them and then "flip" them to see what you won. Apparently, some players buy and flip tens of thousands of them on the chance of getting something good. Tiphaine has flipped several hundred so far, getting nothing more interesting than a card worth two gold. But they aren't useful for anything else, so Tiphaine will keep flipping them until she finishes leveling Inscription.
Umm, here's a PS - Tiphaine flipped her latest group of cards and came out with 3,235 gold! Oh dear, these cards could be addictive.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Phillyperdue Rising
Phillyperdue Rising
JB is well on her way now to completing her garrison. Resources are still limited, but it's only a matter of time. She is testing two new buildings that the family has paid little attention to. She has a large, empty lot and decided to try a Lumber Mill. Now that JB isn't doing the leveling grind, she should have time to cut lumber, which will also increase her resources. She will also be the first in the family to have a Salvage Yard. JB doesn't know anything about it beyond the description in Wowhead. I think the Yard increases leveling and gear for followers, and also offers real gear, some of it unique, that JB may be able to use herself. Other buildings will be erected as resources are available.
In other news, Jocy was feeling pretty good about the state of the family. Running the family business isn't as hard as Wild always made it out to be. Then Philly asked Jocy to come visit her in Orgrimmar. Jocy suddenly had things to do and told Wild to speak with Philly. Hmm, who is really running things around here, Wild thought?
Philly was very prepared when Wild visted her at the Wyvern's Tail in Orgrimmar, which also happened to be a favorite watering hole of Wild's as well.
First off, Philly began, she admits that she was pretty angry that Tiphaine was given the Inscription profession, ignoring the fact that Philly was already a level 600 Scribe. BUT, she pressed, she understands that she is not far enough along in her leveling to be helpful. At least not yet. She resigned herself to losing that profession.
Philly forged on, taking sideways looks at Wild, who hadn't said anything. The family needs a Jewelcrafter, too, but Jocy's plan to give it to a demon hunter not even identified yet is stupid! Not when there is a Jewelcrafter already in the family! Philly was getting heated and she tried to calm down.
Wild was on his second mug of beer and smiled benignly at Philly. Taking that as permission to continue, Philly made her pitch, stating emphatically that there's no need to wait on this "demon hunter person" because she is ready to do what it takes to get that profession to its highest level. She was even ready to take on other chores, such as picking up the mining profession, which, she notes, is not assigned to anyone and goes decently with jewelcrafting.
Philly finally had to take a breath, having said all those things in one long rush of words. The bartender handed Wild another beer.
"Got the itch to level up all of a sudden, huh?" Wild asked her.
Philly opened her mouth again. Wild waved her off. "Go! Do! Get it done!" Wild waited a few seconds, wondering why Philly was still standing there. Maybe he should pat her on the back or something. "Philly, you have always been the responsible one among you girls." Philly glowered and clamped her mouth shut.
"We'll help ya out any way we can." Wild couldn't remember if Philly was the responsible one are not, but it sounded good to him.
"Wanna share a beer before you trot off?" he asked. She didn't, but thanked Wild anyway and took off to get started on her plans.
Wild decided to drink her beer as well as his. And maybe a few more.
Philly, meanwhile, needed to take stock and get ready. Honestly, she had been hoping for this moment. She had in mind following a similar path that JB took: using a gathering profession (which in Philly's case could be mining) and Mount Hyjal as her jumping off point. Her gear level is a modest i418, and she will need a lot of practice re-learning to be Shadow Priest.
JB is well on her way now to completing her garrison. Resources are still limited, but it's only a matter of time. She is testing two new buildings that the family has paid little attention to. She has a large, empty lot and decided to try a Lumber Mill. Now that JB isn't doing the leveling grind, she should have time to cut lumber, which will also increase her resources. She will also be the first in the family to have a Salvage Yard. JB doesn't know anything about it beyond the description in Wowhead. I think the Yard increases leveling and gear for followers, and also offers real gear, some of it unique, that JB may be able to use herself. Other buildings will be erected as resources are available.
In other news, Jocy was feeling pretty good about the state of the family. Running the family business isn't as hard as Wild always made it out to be. Then Philly asked Jocy to come visit her in Orgrimmar. Jocy suddenly had things to do and told Wild to speak with Philly. Hmm, who is really running things around here, Wild thought?
Philly was very prepared when Wild visted her at the Wyvern's Tail in Orgrimmar, which also happened to be a favorite watering hole of Wild's as well.
First off, Philly began, she admits that she was pretty angry that Tiphaine was given the Inscription profession, ignoring the fact that Philly was already a level 600 Scribe. BUT, she pressed, she understands that she is not far enough along in her leveling to be helpful. At least not yet. She resigned herself to losing that profession.
Philly forged on, taking sideways looks at Wild, who hadn't said anything. The family needs a Jewelcrafter, too, but Jocy's plan to give it to a demon hunter not even identified yet is stupid! Not when there is a Jewelcrafter already in the family! Philly was getting heated and she tried to calm down.
Wild was on his second mug of beer and smiled benignly at Philly. Taking that as permission to continue, Philly made her pitch, stating emphatically that there's no need to wait on this "demon hunter person" because she is ready to do what it takes to get that profession to its highest level. She was even ready to take on other chores, such as picking up the mining profession, which, she notes, is not assigned to anyone and goes decently with jewelcrafting.
Philly finally had to take a breath, having said all those things in one long rush of words. The bartender handed Wild another beer.
"Got the itch to level up all of a sudden, huh?" Wild asked her.
Philly opened her mouth again. Wild waved her off. "Go! Do! Get it done!" Wild waited a few seconds, wondering why Philly was still standing there. Maybe he should pat her on the back or something. "Philly, you have always been the responsible one among you girls." Philly glowered and clamped her mouth shut.
"We'll help ya out any way we can." Wild couldn't remember if Philly was the responsible one are not, but it sounded good to him.
"Wanna share a beer before you trot off?" he asked. She didn't, but thanked Wild anyway and took off to get started on her plans.
Wild decided to drink her beer as well as his. And maybe a few more.
Philly, meanwhile, needed to take stock and get ready. Honestly, she had been hoping for this moment. She had in mind following a similar path that JB took: using a gathering profession (which in Philly's case could be mining) and Mount Hyjal as her jumping off point. Her gear level is a modest i418, and she will need a lot of practice re-learning to be Shadow Priest.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Five Garrisons Open For Business
Five Garrisons Open For Business
The World of Draenor opened on 13 November, 2014, fourteen long months ago. During that time five family members leveled from 90 to 100 and took on the challenge of the Tannan Jungle. Ever wondered how long it took for each of them to reach their goal? Check the chart below.
13 Nov 2014 - WoD Opened
20 Nov 2014 - Wild, Jocy, and Fist began leveling
18 Jan 2015 - Wild reached Level 100. It took 59 days.
This is about Wild's expected leveling speed. Steady progress.
01 Jun 2015 - Jocy reached Level 100. It took 193 days (134 actual leveling days).
If anyone should be embarrased, it's Jocy. Lazy ass. Kudo's are warranted for Jocy completing the mammoth Pathfinder Achievement, though.
20 Oct 2015 - Tiphaine reached Level 100 in - wait for it - SIX DAYS
I had to check this twice to make sure. The six day rush to level 100 is correct.
09 Nov 2015 - Fist reached Level 100. It took 354 days (102 actual leveling days).
Cut some slack for Fist, who went to the back of the bus while both Wild and Jocy were leveling. She started at the same time as Wild and Jocy, but got very little time until both Wild and Jocy were done. If you subtracted all the days that Fist had to wait on the other two, her leveling time drops down to 102 days.
11 Jan 2016 - JB reached Level 100. It took - another wait for it - FOURTEEN DAYS
JB, benefiting from all the help and support (not to mention a flying mount), swept through Dreanor and reached her goal in an amazing fourteen days.
Now that she's level 100, JB's plan is to gather garrison recources any way she can to improve her garrison. After talking things over with Tiphaine, JB built a Trading Post. A good omen is that the first item that her Trading Post offered for trade is crescent saberfish. Spend an afternoon fishing, turn in the meat, and get garrison resources in return! Of course, JB can't pick them up until later. In the meantime, JB is heading to Nagrand to hunt down treasures.
FINALLY, JB scrabbled together just enough garrison resources to get her Level 3 Great Hall. That opened the spigot. JB has the plans in hand to build Level 2 to the Trading Post, which cost only a little gold. With the last of her resources, she ordered a Storehouse. She's been carrying all her worldy goods in her bags. At last, she'll have somewhere to store her stuff. With only 16 garrison resources left, she had to call it a day.
The World of Draenor opened on 13 November, 2014, fourteen long months ago. During that time five family members leveled from 90 to 100 and took on the challenge of the Tannan Jungle. Ever wondered how long it took for each of them to reach their goal? Check the chart below.
13 Nov 2014 - WoD Opened
20 Nov 2014 - Wild, Jocy, and Fist began leveling
18 Jan 2015 - Wild reached Level 100. It took 59 days.
This is about Wild's expected leveling speed. Steady progress.
01 Jun 2015 - Jocy reached Level 100. It took 193 days (134 actual leveling days).
If anyone should be embarrased, it's Jocy. Lazy ass. Kudo's are warranted for Jocy completing the mammoth Pathfinder Achievement, though.
20 Oct 2015 - Tiphaine reached Level 100 in - wait for it - SIX DAYS
I had to check this twice to make sure. The six day rush to level 100 is correct.
09 Nov 2015 - Fist reached Level 100. It took 354 days (102 actual leveling days).
Cut some slack for Fist, who went to the back of the bus while both Wild and Jocy were leveling. She started at the same time as Wild and Jocy, but got very little time until both Wild and Jocy were done. If you subtracted all the days that Fist had to wait on the other two, her leveling time drops down to 102 days.
11 Jan 2016 - JB reached Level 100. It took - another wait for it - FOURTEEN DAYS
JB, benefiting from all the help and support (not to mention a flying mount), swept through Dreanor and reached her goal in an amazing fourteen days.
Now that she's level 100, JB's plan is to gather garrison recources any way she can to improve her garrison. After talking things over with Tiphaine, JB built a Trading Post. A good omen is that the first item that her Trading Post offered for trade is crescent saberfish. Spend an afternoon fishing, turn in the meat, and get garrison resources in return! Of course, JB can't pick them up until later. In the meantime, JB is heading to Nagrand to hunt down treasures.
FINALLY, JB scrabbled together just enough garrison resources to get her Level 3 Great Hall. That opened the spigot. JB has the plans in hand to build Level 2 to the Trading Post, which cost only a little gold. With the last of her resources, she ordered a Storehouse. She's been carrying all her worldy goods in her bags. At last, she'll have somewhere to store her stuff. With only 16 garrison resources left, she had to call it a day.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Careful, Construction Underway
Careful, Construction Underway
Keeping track of all of the Wild family goods and services is a daily challenge. There are five garrisons, four of them housing the maximum twelve structures allowed per the building codes. JB's garrison is still in flux, but it, too, will eventually reach capacity. A sixth "garrison" is Happy's little home in the Undercity manning the Auction House, which takes up as much or more time than running the garrisons.
When garrisons were introduced there was no master plan describing how to best use them. Wild was the first, but despite many hurdles his garrison managed to wind up pretty well organized. Wild holds the Tailoring and Enchanting professions. His profession buildings house the Tailoring Emporium and Enchanter's Study. It all fits, beacause it mirrors how things work prior to the garrisons.
Then came Jocy's garrison, and Tiphaine's followed, and then the rest, each one making individual decisions that seemed fine at the time. Well, time has passed and things have gotten pretty messy where professions are concerned. It is time to develop a master plan that maximizes the family profession business. Stay tuned.
It's Saturday afternoon and JB is on a break. She has reached level 98 plus 39%. Her gear score cracked i600 at is now at i604. And JB gets a present: four ensorcelled tarot trinket upgrades. After installing the upgrades JB's gear score rose to i607. More importantly, her key agility score went from 171 to 298. She has one more upgrade still to come, when the gold is available.
Later in the evening JB hit level 99. Gear from quests increased her gear score to i612.
Sunday - It's all about Football! AFC and NFC Championship games. JB wants to hit 100 today, but that isn't very likely. She is 96% away from reaching her goal.
Quick Auction House Note. The once ludicrous market for high end weapon enchants has steadily declined and is no longer profitable. So Happy is expanding the market for gear and weapon upgrades to make up for the difference. It would be nice if a Trader would offer actual recipes some time in the next decade! More recipes means more stuff to sell. Every day the Group Finder and/or Wowhead is checked to see what is up. Today is Draenor dust trading. No recipes.
Sunday night after the football games JB went back to work. She eventually reached the Throne of the Elements in Nagrand. That series of quests is like voodoo to the Wild family. Things always go wrong. Wild (or it might be Tiphaine) is the only one in the family that has ever finished that quest thread. Well, after getting most of the quests done JB became haunted by a dead fish. Any time JB approached waters where the water elementals are, she started taking large chunks of damage, even though there was no one around her. The first time it happened JB tried to out heal it, but it just got worse. She tried to out run it but died. On reincarnation, she immediately started getting hit again. She managed, finally, to get out of range. Tentative attempts to return were met with more invisible attacks. JB even returned to town and logged out of the game. When she got back to the Throne in the watery area - yep, the damage started up where it left off.
Okay, I know why this is happening. I was even warned, but it was a long time ago and I forgot about it. When I grind xp I tend to pick things up as I go along. In JB's case, she picked whatever flowers she found as well as any treasures. The innocent looking fishing pole by the water looked like one of those treasures. When JB used the fishing pole, she was dragged underwater and attacked by an electrified fish. JB was able to kill it, and that is where she became vulnerable to those water attacks. So now JB just stays out of that area. She may always have problems there, or until Blizz clears it during maintenance. I'd advise never to click on that fishing pole.
It didn't keep JB from pushing on. At 8pm Sunday night JB hit level 100 in Nagrand. That's the good news. Okay, great news. However, JB doesn't have enough garrison resources to build anything yet. It will come. Slowly.
Oh, I almost forgot to update her gear situation. And since she doesn't have a storehouse yet, she has to return to Orgrimmar.
Gear score at level 100: i613
Add Baleful Gear (3 pieces): i625
Congratulations! The Tanaan Jungle awaits you.
Keeping track of all of the Wild family goods and services is a daily challenge. There are five garrisons, four of them housing the maximum twelve structures allowed per the building codes. JB's garrison is still in flux, but it, too, will eventually reach capacity. A sixth "garrison" is Happy's little home in the Undercity manning the Auction House, which takes up as much or more time than running the garrisons.
When garrisons were introduced there was no master plan describing how to best use them. Wild was the first, but despite many hurdles his garrison managed to wind up pretty well organized. Wild holds the Tailoring and Enchanting professions. His profession buildings house the Tailoring Emporium and Enchanter's Study. It all fits, beacause it mirrors how things work prior to the garrisons.
Then came Jocy's garrison, and Tiphaine's followed, and then the rest, each one making individual decisions that seemed fine at the time. Well, time has passed and things have gotten pretty messy where professions are concerned. It is time to develop a master plan that maximizes the family profession business. Stay tuned.
It's Saturday afternoon and JB is on a break. She has reached level 98 plus 39%. Her gear score cracked i600 at is now at i604. And JB gets a present: four ensorcelled tarot trinket upgrades. After installing the upgrades JB's gear score rose to i607. More importantly, her key agility score went from 171 to 298. She has one more upgrade still to come, when the gold is available.
Later in the evening JB hit level 99. Gear from quests increased her gear score to i612.
Sunday - It's all about Football! AFC and NFC Championship games. JB wants to hit 100 today, but that isn't very likely. She is 96% away from reaching her goal.
Quick Auction House Note. The once ludicrous market for high end weapon enchants has steadily declined and is no longer profitable. So Happy is expanding the market for gear and weapon upgrades to make up for the difference. It would be nice if a Trader would offer actual recipes some time in the next decade! More recipes means more stuff to sell. Every day the Group Finder and/or Wowhead is checked to see what is up. Today is Draenor dust trading. No recipes.
Sunday night after the football games JB went back to work. She eventually reached the Throne of the Elements in Nagrand. That series of quests is like voodoo to the Wild family. Things always go wrong. Wild (or it might be Tiphaine) is the only one in the family that has ever finished that quest thread. Well, after getting most of the quests done JB became haunted by a dead fish. Any time JB approached waters where the water elementals are, she started taking large chunks of damage, even though there was no one around her. The first time it happened JB tried to out heal it, but it just got worse. She tried to out run it but died. On reincarnation, she immediately started getting hit again. She managed, finally, to get out of range. Tentative attempts to return were met with more invisible attacks. JB even returned to town and logged out of the game. When she got back to the Throne in the watery area - yep, the damage started up where it left off.
Okay, I know why this is happening. I was even warned, but it was a long time ago and I forgot about it. When I grind xp I tend to pick things up as I go along. In JB's case, she picked whatever flowers she found as well as any treasures. The innocent looking fishing pole by the water looked like one of those treasures. When JB used the fishing pole, she was dragged underwater and attacked by an electrified fish. JB was able to kill it, and that is where she became vulnerable to those water attacks. So now JB just stays out of that area. She may always have problems there, or until Blizz clears it during maintenance. I'd advise never to click on that fishing pole.
It didn't keep JB from pushing on. At 8pm Sunday night JB hit level 100 in Nagrand. That's the good news. Okay, great news. However, JB doesn't have enough garrison resources to build anything yet. It will come. Slowly.
Oh, I almost forgot to update her gear situation. And since she doesn't have a storehouse yet, she has to return to Orgrimmar.
Gear score at level 100: i613
Add Baleful Gear (3 pieces): i625
Congratulations! The Tanaan Jungle awaits you.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Dealing with Professions
Dealing with Professions
JB's leveling has slackened this week while waiting for rested xp to rise to a useful amount. Garrison missions have helped on that front. JB is very short on garrison resources, so she has to carefully weigh any expenses costing resources. One of the missions that pop up frequently are simply called XP missions. They are one follower missions, short duration, and on average bump up JB's xp by 4% each mission. That is pretty significent. The only other expenditure of resources JB consumes are missions with bodyguard Krok. He is now at level 98 and should reach level 100 soon just doing missions.
As for JB, she hit level 96 earlier in the week and is 82% of the way to level 97. Krok will likely beat her to level 100. JB also has her Herb Garden up and running, which means she has all three of the base buildings - Fishing, Herbs, and Mining. I don't know what if any building plans open up at level 97, but I'm hoping one turns up. She also hopes to find plans for the Level 2 Great Hall and Level 3 Barracks. After that she will likely get either a Storehouse, or maybe a War Mill. I don't think I get my Level 3 Great Hall until level 100. Sigh. But she still hopes.
The family is reviewing the state of professions. JB is now the fifth family member with a garrison. One would think that every profession was covered by primary and secondary professions, and the garrison profession buildings. That's not necessarily so. Each family member made their own determination on what professions to take and also made personal decisions on what profession buildings they wanted. That has created some issues.
Tiphaine, with some reluctance, agreed with the family that she would take on the Inscription profession, replacing Smelting. She was required to state an oath that she was prepared to take on the responsibility of the Inscription Profession and that no one from the Smelting Guild would come looking for her (no profession wants to lose members of their union). Jocy also has the smelting profession, so no profession was lost.
She "unlearned" smelting and then made a quick trip to Ashran to learn Draenor Inscription, paying the small sum of 90g. Tiphaine is now a Scribe. There was some initial concern that there could be a problem with Tiphaine having the Inscription profession, but with the Scribes Quarters located in Fist's garrison. Turns out that in this case that still works out okay. Here's how it works. Both Tiphaine and the Scribe's Quarters can produce the main mat, cerulean pigments, which are milled with herbs and are not soulbound. Cerulean pigments are used to craft a higher element, war paints. War paints are not soulbound with Tiphaine, but war paints produced in Fist's Scribe's Quarters ARE soulbound and not accessible to Tiphaine. The solution is simple and obvious. The Scribe's Quarters will NOT make war paints (except those used to craft stuff carried by there). It will make only the cerulean pigments, then sent to Tiphaine to be made into war paints.
Tiphaine is already leveling Inscription, but it will take as long as three weeks to reach level 700 due to daily crafting limitations. That is a disappointment Tiphaine hadn't rekoned on. JB is impatient to to get her trinket upgrade (which is crafted by Inscription).
Philly, angry at her loss of status, ungraciously dumped five bags of inscription materials outside Tiphaine's garrison. It was quite a large pile.
"Have at it," Philly said, and walked off.
Another downer is that no important Trader (ie, those selling high end recipes) turned up during the entire week. JB grumbled that she'll still be waiting for recipes from Traders when Legion arrives.
On a brighter note, JB and Krok made their first run together. The Target - The Spires of Arak. JB made level 97 Thursday night and is halfway to level 98. She also built Hearthfire Tavern, her Spires of Arak home away from home. Krok is at level 99.
JB's leveling has slackened this week while waiting for rested xp to rise to a useful amount. Garrison missions have helped on that front. JB is very short on garrison resources, so she has to carefully weigh any expenses costing resources. One of the missions that pop up frequently are simply called XP missions. They are one follower missions, short duration, and on average bump up JB's xp by 4% each mission. That is pretty significent. The only other expenditure of resources JB consumes are missions with bodyguard Krok. He is now at level 98 and should reach level 100 soon just doing missions.
As for JB, she hit level 96 earlier in the week and is 82% of the way to level 97. Krok will likely beat her to level 100. JB also has her Herb Garden up and running, which means she has all three of the base buildings - Fishing, Herbs, and Mining. I don't know what if any building plans open up at level 97, but I'm hoping one turns up. She also hopes to find plans for the Level 2 Great Hall and Level 3 Barracks. After that she will likely get either a Storehouse, or maybe a War Mill. I don't think I get my Level 3 Great Hall until level 100. Sigh. But she still hopes.
The family is reviewing the state of professions. JB is now the fifth family member with a garrison. One would think that every profession was covered by primary and secondary professions, and the garrison profession buildings. That's not necessarily so. Each family member made their own determination on what professions to take and also made personal decisions on what profession buildings they wanted. That has created some issues.
Tiphaine, with some reluctance, agreed with the family that she would take on the Inscription profession, replacing Smelting. She was required to state an oath that she was prepared to take on the responsibility of the Inscription Profession and that no one from the Smelting Guild would come looking for her (no profession wants to lose members of their union). Jocy also has the smelting profession, so no profession was lost.
She "unlearned" smelting and then made a quick trip to Ashran to learn Draenor Inscription, paying the small sum of 90g. Tiphaine is now a Scribe. There was some initial concern that there could be a problem with Tiphaine having the Inscription profession, but with the Scribes Quarters located in Fist's garrison. Turns out that in this case that still works out okay. Here's how it works. Both Tiphaine and the Scribe's Quarters can produce the main mat, cerulean pigments, which are milled with herbs and are not soulbound. Cerulean pigments are used to craft a higher element, war paints. War paints are not soulbound with Tiphaine, but war paints produced in Fist's Scribe's Quarters ARE soulbound and not accessible to Tiphaine. The solution is simple and obvious. The Scribe's Quarters will NOT make war paints (except those used to craft stuff carried by there). It will make only the cerulean pigments, then sent to Tiphaine to be made into war paints.
Tiphaine is already leveling Inscription, but it will take as long as three weeks to reach level 700 due to daily crafting limitations. That is a disappointment Tiphaine hadn't rekoned on. JB is impatient to to get her trinket upgrade (which is crafted by Inscription).
Philly, angry at her loss of status, ungraciously dumped five bags of inscription materials outside Tiphaine's garrison. It was quite a large pile.
"Have at it," Philly said, and walked off.
Another downer is that no important Trader (ie, those selling high end recipes) turned up during the entire week. JB grumbled that she'll still be waiting for recipes from Traders when Legion arrives.
On a brighter note, JB and Krok made their first run together. The Target - The Spires of Arak. JB made level 97 Thursday night and is halfway to level 98. She also built Hearthfire Tavern, her Spires of Arak home away from home. Krok is at level 99.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Blizzard Trader Stupidity
Blizzard Trader Stupidity
Yes, this is a rant. Each day a Trader is assigned to random garrisons. There are many different Traders, each one carrying different items. Not only are the garrisons that get a Trader random, the type of Trader that is sent is also random. That all by itself is a lousy way to trade.
All of the garrisons that don't get a visit by the Trader are out of luck, and even if a Trader shows up, the odds are the Trader won't have what is needed.
A lot of the trade goods carried by Traders are routine items that can be acquired in other ways. In fact, most Traders DON'T CARRY RECIPES! Only a very few carry them, and those recipes can ONLY BE ACQUIRED from that very small sub-group of Traders.
There is a Trader rotation that changes each day - Ore based goods, then Dust based goods, then Cloth, then Leather, and then Herbs. All essential profession recipes fall into one of those categories.
Let's take a real example of just how screwed up this is. JB dutifully raised her Alchemy profession to max level 700. She still needs the recipes held hostage by the Traders. I believe it's the herb Trader that has what JB needs. Let's say the rotation is at the start. So, JB waits each day as a Trader works through ore, dust, cloth, leather, and finally to herbs (interspersed with numerous Traders who don't have any of those recipes, wasting that day), which is what she needs. Then she has to hope that on that day the right Trader actually shows up in her garrison.
What are the chances? Not good. If random chance goes against you it could take a very long time to acquire critically needed recipes. For example, no Trader has ever set foot in any of my garrisons. None. Never.
This is stupidity on a large scale. Blizzard has no plan to fix this; ie, working as advertised. The "fix" to this comes from players who had to find a better way. It's not perfect, but with a little patience it can be done. I won't go through the specific steps, which must be followed by the letter. Here is what happens in general: On the day a Trader with the recipes you need is visiting random garrisons, you go to the Group Finder, then to Pre-Made groups, and then to Custom. Find a group on that list that advertises what you need, in JB's case it would be alchemy recipes. Join that group, and JB can be invited into that garrison to buy the recipes she needs from that Trader. The main thing to remember is to carry in your bags everything you need to buy the recipes. If it calls for iron ore, make sure you bring the right amount of ore. If it requires gold, have it ready. If you are missing something, sorry, you can't buy the recipe.
Even after all that it's still not a sure thing. Maybe no one feels like opening up their garrison to other players or no one creates the custom group? Then you are out of luck. Wait however long it takes for the right Trader to appear and try again. Sucks, don't it?
Yes, this is a rant. Each day a Trader is assigned to random garrisons. There are many different Traders, each one carrying different items. Not only are the garrisons that get a Trader random, the type of Trader that is sent is also random. That all by itself is a lousy way to trade.
All of the garrisons that don't get a visit by the Trader are out of luck, and even if a Trader shows up, the odds are the Trader won't have what is needed.
A lot of the trade goods carried by Traders are routine items that can be acquired in other ways. In fact, most Traders DON'T CARRY RECIPES! Only a very few carry them, and those recipes can ONLY BE ACQUIRED from that very small sub-group of Traders.
There is a Trader rotation that changes each day - Ore based goods, then Dust based goods, then Cloth, then Leather, and then Herbs. All essential profession recipes fall into one of those categories.
Let's take a real example of just how screwed up this is. JB dutifully raised her Alchemy profession to max level 700. She still needs the recipes held hostage by the Traders. I believe it's the herb Trader that has what JB needs. Let's say the rotation is at the start. So, JB waits each day as a Trader works through ore, dust, cloth, leather, and finally to herbs (interspersed with numerous Traders who don't have any of those recipes, wasting that day), which is what she needs. Then she has to hope that on that day the right Trader actually shows up in her garrison.
What are the chances? Not good. If random chance goes against you it could take a very long time to acquire critically needed recipes. For example, no Trader has ever set foot in any of my garrisons. None. Never.
This is stupidity on a large scale. Blizzard has no plan to fix this; ie, working as advertised. The "fix" to this comes from players who had to find a better way. It's not perfect, but with a little patience it can be done. I won't go through the specific steps, which must be followed by the letter. Here is what happens in general: On the day a Trader with the recipes you need is visiting random garrisons, you go to the Group Finder, then to Pre-Made groups, and then to Custom. Find a group on that list that advertises what you need, in JB's case it would be alchemy recipes. Join that group, and JB can be invited into that garrison to buy the recipes she needs from that Trader. The main thing to remember is to carry in your bags everything you need to buy the recipes. If it calls for iron ore, make sure you bring the right amount of ore. If it requires gold, have it ready. If you are missing something, sorry, you can't buy the recipe.
Even after all that it's still not a sure thing. Maybe no one feels like opening up their garrison to other players or no one creates the custom group? Then you are out of luck. Wait however long it takes for the right Trader to appear and try again. Sucks, don't it?
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Weekend Rampage
Weekend Rampage
Level 91 JB (gear level i512) began the week on a slow grind that gained momentum day by day, and plunged into full speed by Friday. One thing that makes this march faster is that JB can FLY! JB thanks Jocy every day for doing all the grueling work it took to get flying mounts authorized for everyone in the family.
It didn't take JB long to hit level 92. She upgraded her Garrison and built a Level 2 Town Hall. She now has 5 followers, but only 2 are worth anything. JB also opened the mine.
After clearing through Frostfire Ridge JB moved on to Gorgrond. She made a short stay in Beastwatch and built a lumber mill. JB's gear level rose to i550. The Fishing Shack also went into operation.
JB reached level 93 Friday night. She hit level 94 on Saturday, and moved on to Talador. By the time she decided to retire for the evening she had made level 95. JB has upped her follower numbers to ten, but still only four of them have all five traits and abilities.
JB's big break was getting the paperwork to upgrade her Barracks to level 2. There will a small delay in getting it running, though. She's short a couple of hundred garrison supplies. JB is confident she will have the barracks up and a bodyguard assigned sometime on Sunday (after the football game). JB's gear score is currently at i570. After drawing level 95 gear from the bank, and buying a couple of additional pieces from the AH, JB's gear level went up to i576.
In the meantime Happy has all but closed up shop. The Auction House is frozen by outlandish and nonsensical pricing, such as weapon enchants posted for sale under 1100g when the cost to make those enchants requires at least 1200g. This madness has affected all six weapon enchants.
So JB went back into action on Sunday afternoon. Follower Ahm waited her return to the Garrison. He was yet another disappointment as he has only two total traits and abilities. Total followers: 11
At 2:39pm on Sunday, JB got her Barracks to level 2. Fire Mage Vivianne is the only follower so far that can be used as a bodyguard. She is only level 93 herself, so she will be learning the ropes while keeping JB's back safe. At least JB hopes so. Opinions about bodyguards vary from helpful to useless. JB knew that Vivianne was a fine pick for some in the family, but the heavy hitters like Jocy and Tiphaine preferred the monster-sized Tormmok follower.
JB took Vivianne with her to acquire Tormmok. JB was very happy to gain his services with all of his five traits and abilities. JB's Tormmok is the third in the family: Jocy's Mock, Tiphaine's Torn, and now JB's Krok. Krok begins his life at level 93. Vivianne and Krok will switch duties as required - Krok is the bodyguard, but turns the reins over to Vivianne when he is on missions.
Three other followers in Gorgrond were targeted, but one of them, Bruto, was attached to the sparring ring at the Talador base and couldn't be collected unless JB paid 5000g. No way. Never should have built the stupid lumber mill. She lost the follower, Spirit of Xuk, as well for the same reason.
So, she now has 13 followers, five of which have a good set of stats. Hmmm, looks like a good time to take a nap.
Level 91 JB (gear level i512) began the week on a slow grind that gained momentum day by day, and plunged into full speed by Friday. One thing that makes this march faster is that JB can FLY! JB thanks Jocy every day for doing all the grueling work it took to get flying mounts authorized for everyone in the family.
It didn't take JB long to hit level 92. She upgraded her Garrison and built a Level 2 Town Hall. She now has 5 followers, but only 2 are worth anything. JB also opened the mine.
After clearing through Frostfire Ridge JB moved on to Gorgrond. She made a short stay in Beastwatch and built a lumber mill. JB's gear level rose to i550. The Fishing Shack also went into operation.
JB reached level 93 Friday night. She hit level 94 on Saturday, and moved on to Talador. By the time she decided to retire for the evening she had made level 95. JB has upped her follower numbers to ten, but still only four of them have all five traits and abilities.
JB's big break was getting the paperwork to upgrade her Barracks to level 2. There will a small delay in getting it running, though. She's short a couple of hundred garrison supplies. JB is confident she will have the barracks up and a bodyguard assigned sometime on Sunday (after the football game). JB's gear score is currently at i570. After drawing level 95 gear from the bank, and buying a couple of additional pieces from the AH, JB's gear level went up to i576.
In the meantime Happy has all but closed up shop. The Auction House is frozen by outlandish and nonsensical pricing, such as weapon enchants posted for sale under 1100g when the cost to make those enchants requires at least 1200g. This madness has affected all six weapon enchants.
So JB went back into action on Sunday afternoon. Follower Ahm waited her return to the Garrison. He was yet another disappointment as he has only two total traits and abilities. Total followers: 11
At 2:39pm on Sunday, JB got her Barracks to level 2. Fire Mage Vivianne is the only follower so far that can be used as a bodyguard. She is only level 93 herself, so she will be learning the ropes while keeping JB's back safe. At least JB hopes so. Opinions about bodyguards vary from helpful to useless. JB knew that Vivianne was a fine pick for some in the family, but the heavy hitters like Jocy and Tiphaine preferred the monster-sized Tormmok follower.
JB took Vivianne with her to acquire Tormmok. JB was very happy to gain his services with all of his five traits and abilities. JB's Tormmok is the third in the family: Jocy's Mock, Tiphaine's Torn, and now JB's Krok. Krok begins his life at level 93. Vivianne and Krok will switch duties as required - Krok is the bodyguard, but turns the reins over to Vivianne when he is on missions.
Three other followers in Gorgrond were targeted, but one of them, Bruto, was attached to the sparring ring at the Talador base and couldn't be collected unless JB paid 5000g. No way. Never should have built the stupid lumber mill. She lost the follower, Spirit of Xuk, as well for the same reason.
So, she now has 13 followers, five of which have a good set of stats. Hmmm, looks like a good time to take a nap.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Hitting The Grind Part 2
Hitting The Grind Part 2
JB is now level 91, has her barracks up and operating, and has three followers. JB can run missions now, but her followers can't be used as bodyguards. Yet. I think I have to get the barracks to level 2 first.
JB also spent some of Happy's gold and bought a mace already upgraded to level 4 that greatly bumped up her gear level. Jocy helped out by crafting a second mace for her to duel wield with, but JB will have to get the upgrades herself for that one. Finally, Happy grudgingly gifted JB a Skull of War trinket, created by Fist's Inscription hut. Didn't cost Happy anything, except for the 3000 gold he thought he was going to sell it for. Happy didn't grumble too bad, though, since the price for that trinket has plummeted to 999g.
JB's gear score rose from i473 to i512. All of the heirloom gear went back into storage.
The next task on her agenda is her professions, which languished in Jocy's unkempt care. All of her secondary professions can now start leveling up to the max 700.
JB traveled to Ashran to meet with the Alchemy master so that she could begin leveling her prime profession again. HER profession. She now has a number of Draenor recipes, but the first one, Crescent oil, looks to be an easy starting point. All she needs is crescent fish, which are easy to catch. JB is only 525 in fishing, but that's okay, she can level her fishing skill and use the fish to start leveling her Alchemy. JB then headed back to Orgrimmar and rummaged around her quarters. Where is that fishing pole?
Another imperative is to upgrade her barracks to level 2 in order to make her bodyguards available. Those plans can be purchased in Ashran, but only if JB is level 100. Sigh. So, if she wants it earlier she has to hope to get a drop of the plan "Comprehensive Outpost Construction Guide." One of my great disappointments with this expansion is that so much of it depends on random chance instead of working to achieve it.
That said, the next step is to acquire an Alchemy Lab. Those plans become available once JB gets a level 2 Town Hall. See above for what is holding that up.
JB could have one sooner is she gets lucky and finds an Alchemy "Mysterious Flask" or comes across "Outpost Building Assembly Notes." See above for what is holding that up.
Once all the above gets sorted out by random chance, JB can get her lab operating. Most important is to start crafting Savage Blood, which is in high demand for making gear and/or selling on the AH.
On a broader front, the family is taking a close look at what professions are represented in both personal and garrison professions. For example, the family has two blacksmiths. Are two needed? The answer is yes, for crafting gear that all members need and to sell the extra items that pay for the gear that is used. The family doesn't need two smelters, however. That potentially opens a spot for another profession. Another candidate to change is the Skinning profession. There seems to be an abundance of crafting mats for leatherworkers that makes skinning less useful.
What would they be replaced with? Fist has a Scribe's Quarters in her garrison. A nice compleement would be train someone in Inscription. Does Fist want to sign up for that? Philly would argue that she already has the Inscription profession. Philly is only level 85. Her best hope is that JB reaches level 100 and then Philly can be boosted. Maybe. So, on the table is a potential change in Fist's profession, removing Skinning and replacing it with Inscription.
What Smelting might be replaced with is another question. Jocy has a gem boutique, and could drop smelting for Jewelcrafting. Philly bristles again. Jewelcrafting is her second profession.
When Philly began to argue, Jocy interrupted. Level up, max your professions, and get your garrison. That's the only way to earn your way into the coming Legion. Hard news to bear.
JB is now level 91, has her barracks up and operating, and has three followers. JB can run missions now, but her followers can't be used as bodyguards. Yet. I think I have to get the barracks to level 2 first.
JB also spent some of Happy's gold and bought a mace already upgraded to level 4 that greatly bumped up her gear level. Jocy helped out by crafting a second mace for her to duel wield with, but JB will have to get the upgrades herself for that one. Finally, Happy grudgingly gifted JB a Skull of War trinket, created by Fist's Inscription hut. Didn't cost Happy anything, except for the 3000 gold he thought he was going to sell it for. Happy didn't grumble too bad, though, since the price for that trinket has plummeted to 999g.
JB's gear score rose from i473 to i512. All of the heirloom gear went back into storage.
The next task on her agenda is her professions, which languished in Jocy's unkempt care. All of her secondary professions can now start leveling up to the max 700.
JB traveled to Ashran to meet with the Alchemy master so that she could begin leveling her prime profession again. HER profession. She now has a number of Draenor recipes, but the first one, Crescent oil, looks to be an easy starting point. All she needs is crescent fish, which are easy to catch. JB is only 525 in fishing, but that's okay, she can level her fishing skill and use the fish to start leveling her Alchemy. JB then headed back to Orgrimmar and rummaged around her quarters. Where is that fishing pole?
Another imperative is to upgrade her barracks to level 2 in order to make her bodyguards available. Those plans can be purchased in Ashran, but only if JB is level 100. Sigh. So, if she wants it earlier she has to hope to get a drop of the plan "Comprehensive Outpost Construction Guide." One of my great disappointments with this expansion is that so much of it depends on random chance instead of working to achieve it.
That said, the next step is to acquire an Alchemy Lab. Those plans become available once JB gets a level 2 Town Hall. See above for what is holding that up.
JB could have one sooner is she gets lucky and finds an Alchemy "Mysterious Flask" or comes across "Outpost Building Assembly Notes." See above for what is holding that up.
Once all the above gets sorted out by random chance, JB can get her lab operating. Most important is to start crafting Savage Blood, which is in high demand for making gear and/or selling on the AH.
On a broader front, the family is taking a close look at what professions are represented in both personal and garrison professions. For example, the family has two blacksmiths. Are two needed? The answer is yes, for crafting gear that all members need and to sell the extra items that pay for the gear that is used. The family doesn't need two smelters, however. That potentially opens a spot for another profession. Another candidate to change is the Skinning profession. There seems to be an abundance of crafting mats for leatherworkers that makes skinning less useful.
What would they be replaced with? Fist has a Scribe's Quarters in her garrison. A nice compleement would be train someone in Inscription. Does Fist want to sign up for that? Philly would argue that she already has the Inscription profession. Philly is only level 85. Her best hope is that JB reaches level 100 and then Philly can be boosted. Maybe. So, on the table is a potential change in Fist's profession, removing Skinning and replacing it with Inscription.
What Smelting might be replaced with is another question. Jocy has a gem boutique, and could drop smelting for Jewelcrafting. Philly bristles again. Jewelcrafting is her second profession.
When Philly began to argue, Jocy interrupted. Level up, max your professions, and get your garrison. That's the only way to earn your way into the coming Legion. Hard news to bear.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Hitting the Grind Again
Hitting the Grind Again
JB isn't sure she wants to do this. She had a lot of fun playing around in the Twilight Highlands and Mount Hyjal. Getting herself muscled up to mash a few mid-level elite monsters was a hoot, even when she didn't always survive. She probably won't ever forget her solo clobbering a bunch of elites in Bastion of Twilight. Even her lark through Pandaria was entertaining since she was only visiting.
But that's in the past. In front of her is no walk in the park. From here on out she'll be on the same footing as everyone else taking on a new challenge. Sure, four members of the family - Wild, Jocy, Tiphaine, and Fist - have trodden this path before. JB can take advantage of that knowledge to some extent, but she still has to grind it out by herself.
I'm just not sure that yours truly is up to going through this for the fifth time.
JB was given the night off. Movie night at the house. . . but the movie sucked.
Now it's a little past 11pm. JB took the Dark Portal to Draenor.
She is now the fifth family member to have a Garrison.
Status: 74% of the way to level 91. Gear level i473.
JB isn't sure she wants to do this. She had a lot of fun playing around in the Twilight Highlands and Mount Hyjal. Getting herself muscled up to mash a few mid-level elite monsters was a hoot, even when she didn't always survive. She probably won't ever forget her solo clobbering a bunch of elites in Bastion of Twilight. Even her lark through Pandaria was entertaining since she was only visiting.
But that's in the past. In front of her is no walk in the park. From here on out she'll be on the same footing as everyone else taking on a new challenge. Sure, four members of the family - Wild, Jocy, Tiphaine, and Fist - have trodden this path before. JB can take advantage of that knowledge to some extent, but she still has to grind it out by herself.
I'm just not sure that yours truly is up to going through this for the fifth time.
JB was given the night off. Movie night at the house. . . but the movie sucked.
Now it's a little past 11pm. JB took the Dark Portal to Draenor.
She is now the fifth family member to have a Garrison.
Status: 74% of the way to level 91. Gear level i473.
Monday, January 11, 2016
The Dark Portal of Draenor Awaits
The Dark Portal of Draenor Awaits
JB promised that she would not turn up again until she hit level 89. Count it done. JB advanced to level 89 on Sunday by running Molten Front dailies and picking twilight jasmine. The herb gathering was awesome - with rested xp JB got 3,250 xp for each flower she picked! Compare that to less than 10 xp for killing random mobs. Now she needs a new plan to reach level 90. What to do, what to do?
While formulating a new plan, JB pattered about in Pandaria's kiddy pool (the Jade Forest) and found a level 86 elite to kill. Later on, she got a little too overconfident and died battling an elite crab. That might be a sign that JB isn't ready to tackle the Timeless Isle. JB forgets to use her special spells. Her feral spirits never get to stretch their legs, or her fire elemental. JB mostly just explored and mapped, picking up flight paths along the way, and didn't bother doing many quests unless they were kill quests. Normal mobs with rested xp were giving JB around 800 xp per kill, which isn't too bad, and she still gets the 3,250 xp for flower picking. She's slower in Pandaria because she can't fly in that zone yet. Not until level 90.
The Morning: JB is 41% of the way to level 90. Picked flowers and did the Molten Front dailies. Pushed herself to 79% of the way to level 90.
Lunchtime: JB follows in Wild's footsteps and takes her solo self into the Bastion of Twilight (BoT) ten man raid. She just wanted to know how far she could get. BoT has two waves of mobs in the center and two more waves of mobs on either side. JB went up the middle and pulled the first wave. Oops, she aggroed the 2nd wave, too. JB did some mad killing and this time unleashed her feral spirits and her fire elemental. JB barely survived that when the two edge grouping of mobs decided to join in. It was rough, but JB stayed alive long enough for the feral spirits to respawn and they kept a lot of mobs busy while she killed them.
"That was fun," JB laughed, a little shakenly. "But let's not do that again." JB's level improved from 79% to 81%. "What! Was that all?" JB growled.
So then it was back to picking flowers. Boring, but it was steady work. So what time is it now? 2:24pm? Ok. BOOM! JB is level 90. She did a little dance. Ok, enough partying. Time to raid her bank, where a stack of fresh gear lay ready.
JB had to see what goodies she could add to her gear set. Note that she can still wear four pieces of heirloom gear until she reaches level 91.
Current Gear Score: i437
Time to open her presents. Three new i90 pieces of gear awaited her, courtesy of the family's caching of gear from the Timeless Isles: Bracers, Boots, and trousers.
New Gear Score: i452
From the Auction House: a new helm. Plus JB breaks up her paired Tooth-Marked Maces, replacing one of the i442 maces with an i483 fist weapon.
New Gear Score: i465
JB prepares for Departure. Hovering in the air is a new quest for a new expansion:
The Dark Portal of Draenor awaits. Here goes . . .
JB promised that she would not turn up again until she hit level 89. Count it done. JB advanced to level 89 on Sunday by running Molten Front dailies and picking twilight jasmine. The herb gathering was awesome - with rested xp JB got 3,250 xp for each flower she picked! Compare that to less than 10 xp for killing random mobs. Now she needs a new plan to reach level 90. What to do, what to do?
While formulating a new plan, JB pattered about in Pandaria's kiddy pool (the Jade Forest) and found a level 86 elite to kill. Later on, she got a little too overconfident and died battling an elite crab. That might be a sign that JB isn't ready to tackle the Timeless Isle. JB forgets to use her special spells. Her feral spirits never get to stretch their legs, or her fire elemental. JB mostly just explored and mapped, picking up flight paths along the way, and didn't bother doing many quests unless they were kill quests. Normal mobs with rested xp were giving JB around 800 xp per kill, which isn't too bad, and she still gets the 3,250 xp for flower picking. She's slower in Pandaria because she can't fly in that zone yet. Not until level 90.
The Morning: JB is 41% of the way to level 90. Picked flowers and did the Molten Front dailies. Pushed herself to 79% of the way to level 90.
Lunchtime: JB follows in Wild's footsteps and takes her solo self into the Bastion of Twilight (BoT) ten man raid. She just wanted to know how far she could get. BoT has two waves of mobs in the center and two more waves of mobs on either side. JB went up the middle and pulled the first wave. Oops, she aggroed the 2nd wave, too. JB did some mad killing and this time unleashed her feral spirits and her fire elemental. JB barely survived that when the two edge grouping of mobs decided to join in. It was rough, but JB stayed alive long enough for the feral spirits to respawn and they kept a lot of mobs busy while she killed them.
"That was fun," JB laughed, a little shakenly. "But let's not do that again." JB's level improved from 79% to 81%. "What! Was that all?" JB growled.
So then it was back to picking flowers. Boring, but it was steady work. So what time is it now? 2:24pm? Ok. BOOM! JB is level 90. She did a little dance. Ok, enough partying. Time to raid her bank, where a stack of fresh gear lay ready.
JB had to see what goodies she could add to her gear set. Note that she can still wear four pieces of heirloom gear until she reaches level 91.
Current Gear Score: i437
Time to open her presents. Three new i90 pieces of gear awaited her, courtesy of the family's caching of gear from the Timeless Isles: Bracers, Boots, and trousers.
New Gear Score: i452
From the Auction House: a new helm. Plus JB breaks up her paired Tooth-Marked Maces, replacing one of the i442 maces with an i483 fist weapon.
New Gear Score: i465
JB prepares for Departure. Hovering in the air is a new quest for a new expansion:
The Dark Portal of Draenor awaits. Here goes . . .
Friday, January 8, 2016
A New Patch Opens Fire
A New Patch Opens Fire
Patch 6.2.3 arrived on Thursday. I didn't know a new patch was coming. For most players, DPS spell damage gets a boost by as much as 10% increased damage. The bad guys should be going down a little faster, which makes JB happy. Another bonus is that gatherers get a very nice 20% boost. That also translates to lower prices on the Auction House, which won't make Happy happy. That assumes the gatherers out there keep sending goods to the Auction House. There are signs of a slow down, but Happy is hopefull things will ramp up again over the weekend.
Happy had a terrible scare early in the day on Friday. The AH stopped working. Specifically, the Appraisal component, which tells Happy what the prices are for goods and posts the items for sale. The Auctioneer addon that Happy uses was installed in 2014. Happy's first order of business was to install the most current version. That didn't help initially. Happy was near to a breakdown.
Fortunately, with a little tweaking, things settled out and Happy is back in business - although he has acquired a few new twitches and strange gestures. In between trips to the Auction House, he sits in the bank with his dragon and counts coins. It may take some time for him to get over that scare.
JB will be back in action soon. She is planning her own gathering of herbs in Deepholm. Then she'll head to the Molten Front in Mount Hyjal. Don't expect to see her again until she hits level 89.
Philly has been following JB's adventures with a bemused look on her face. Why is JB going to all this effort to gain a few levels, she wonders? Everyone in the family knows JB will get boosted to level 100 as soon as she is eligible. Philly thought a little harder. Maybe she shouldn't be so critical of JB. If JB fools around and gets to level 100 before the expansion arrives, well, then, JB won't need to get boosted. Hmm. Maybe Philly should keep her mouth shut. Maybe Philly has a chance at that boost? One never knows what might happen.
The rumor mill is spewing some pretty crazy things these days. The latest dire rumor is that Hearnoevils will be killed to make room for a another heavily armed player, this time a warrior. With Jocy at the head of the family, and Tiphaine standing at her elbow these days, there is even an out of this world idea that Happy (who is a warrior, though everyone forgets it) will be Boosted to level 90. It doesn't get any crazier than that!
Patch 6.2.3 arrived on Thursday. I didn't know a new patch was coming. For most players, DPS spell damage gets a boost by as much as 10% increased damage. The bad guys should be going down a little faster, which makes JB happy. Another bonus is that gatherers get a very nice 20% boost. That also translates to lower prices on the Auction House, which won't make Happy happy. That assumes the gatherers out there keep sending goods to the Auction House. There are signs of a slow down, but Happy is hopefull things will ramp up again over the weekend.
Happy had a terrible scare early in the day on Friday. The AH stopped working. Specifically, the Appraisal component, which tells Happy what the prices are for goods and posts the items for sale. The Auctioneer addon that Happy uses was installed in 2014. Happy's first order of business was to install the most current version. That didn't help initially. Happy was near to a breakdown.
Fortunately, with a little tweaking, things settled out and Happy is back in business - although he has acquired a few new twitches and strange gestures. In between trips to the Auction House, he sits in the bank with his dragon and counts coins. It may take some time for him to get over that scare.
JB will be back in action soon. She is planning her own gathering of herbs in Deepholm. Then she'll head to the Molten Front in Mount Hyjal. Don't expect to see her again until she hits level 89.
Philly has been following JB's adventures with a bemused look on her face. Why is JB going to all this effort to gain a few levels, she wonders? Everyone in the family knows JB will get boosted to level 100 as soon as she is eligible. Philly thought a little harder. Maybe she shouldn't be so critical of JB. If JB fools around and gets to level 100 before the expansion arrives, well, then, JB won't need to get boosted. Hmm. Maybe Philly should keep her mouth shut. Maybe Philly has a chance at that boost? One never knows what might happen.
The rumor mill is spewing some pretty crazy things these days. The latest dire rumor is that Hearnoevils will be killed to make room for a another heavily armed player, this time a warrior. With Jocy at the head of the family, and Tiphaine standing at her elbow these days, there is even an out of this world idea that Happy (who is a warrior, though everyone forgets it) will be Boosted to level 90. It doesn't get any crazier than that!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Hellfire Citadel (Curtesy of Discipline Priest Unbleached)
Hellfire Citadel (Curtesy of Discipline Priest Unbleached)
Hellfire Citadel is the last and most difficult raid in Draenor. Unbleached, now unencumbered by secrecy, raided Hellfire Citadel with her guild last night.
Unbleached knew she would be outclassed by her fellow healers. It had, after all, been over 6 months since she entered the 'hallowed' halls when they first opened. The rest of her guild has had plenty of time to pillage its coffers and she was not even breaking an i score of 700; 720 being the guild minimum now.
She has been able to sneak some idea of untouched fights by going into lfr on her downtime, but not much since lfr is such a clownfest. When she entered the gates and joined in the Hellfire Assault she found it MUCH easier than it used to be. Helps when everyone are tough enough that they eat rocks for breakfast. Gates, down. Iron Reaver, down.
Kormrok down, on second try. This wrapped up the Hellbreach area, and she was not too unknowing of the strats as she feared. She even asked how she ranked in healing (she did not have recount installed) and was happy to see she was 3rd in line of 5 healers, close behind the 2nd.
Next her group moved to the Halls of Blood and took on the Hellfire High Council. Unbleached knew she'd done this with the guild before, but for the life of her could not recall it. Luckily they called out instructions and the fight did not seem too complicated. The Council was defeated on the first attempt.
Kilrogg Deadeye was next. Unbleached knows they attempted him on Normal but was a bit foggy on if they ever got him down while she was still active. Luckily she was not asked to go into any other realms as a healer. Deadeye had Aknor Steelbringer (the orc whom all people meet as they enter Dreanor) and was trying to bring him to heel as a felslave. Deadeye was down on the first try and Aknor Steelbringer became one of Unbleached followers. Apparently he was happy to be out of there. Halls of Blood completed.
Lastly we moved into the Bastion of Shadows and took on Shadow-Lord Iskar, a humanoid bird with the powers of wind to his call. Not sure how many times we attempted him, 6-10 likely, before we got him down, but he went down in the final 10 minutes of our raid. One of the main things that is deadly to the raid is his tornado. He casts out tornadoes on 2 to 6 players. At the same time two 'eyes' goes out. The players that get the eye need to throw it to a tornadoed individual, which gets them out of it. Once all the tornadoes are done, it is thrown to a designed tank and healer. If you do not take care of the tornadoes you are swept off the ledge to your death. If the tank or healer does not get it at the end, they cannot stop certain bombs from exploding and killing the raid.
There are other things that can go awry and kill everyone, but this is the top one. Luckily there is an addon that makes tossing the eye pretty easy. The only thing though, if you are the last person to get it, is make sure you toss it to the tank/healer. In the end, like I mentioned, we got him down.
Unbleached, at the end of the night, had a few hundred in repair bills, and made out with 4 upgrades. They are not perfect upgrades (she seems to not be getting anything with the crit she wants), but they are better than what she is wearing as a whole.
Bastian of Shadows still has some bosses to be cleared out, and there is one more wing after that before the end boss, but Unbleached may not have good odds of getting to them. She is just going for one night a week raiding, which means first bosses only.
PS: Unbleached reached gear level i704!
Hellfire Citadel is the last and most difficult raid in Draenor. Unbleached, now unencumbered by secrecy, raided Hellfire Citadel with her guild last night.
Unbleached knew she would be outclassed by her fellow healers. It had, after all, been over 6 months since she entered the 'hallowed' halls when they first opened. The rest of her guild has had plenty of time to pillage its coffers and she was not even breaking an i score of 700; 720 being the guild minimum now.
She has been able to sneak some idea of untouched fights by going into lfr on her downtime, but not much since lfr is such a clownfest. When she entered the gates and joined in the Hellfire Assault she found it MUCH easier than it used to be. Helps when everyone are tough enough that they eat rocks for breakfast. Gates, down. Iron Reaver, down.
Kormrok down, on second try. This wrapped up the Hellbreach area, and she was not too unknowing of the strats as she feared. She even asked how she ranked in healing (she did not have recount installed) and was happy to see she was 3rd in line of 5 healers, close behind the 2nd.
Next her group moved to the Halls of Blood and took on the Hellfire High Council. Unbleached knew she'd done this with the guild before, but for the life of her could not recall it. Luckily they called out instructions and the fight did not seem too complicated. The Council was defeated on the first attempt.
Kilrogg Deadeye was next. Unbleached knows they attempted him on Normal but was a bit foggy on if they ever got him down while she was still active. Luckily she was not asked to go into any other realms as a healer. Deadeye had Aknor Steelbringer (the orc whom all people meet as they enter Dreanor) and was trying to bring him to heel as a felslave. Deadeye was down on the first try and Aknor Steelbringer became one of Unbleached followers. Apparently he was happy to be out of there. Halls of Blood completed.
Lastly we moved into the Bastion of Shadows and took on Shadow-Lord Iskar, a humanoid bird with the powers of wind to his call. Not sure how many times we attempted him, 6-10 likely, before we got him down, but he went down in the final 10 minutes of our raid. One of the main things that is deadly to the raid is his tornado. He casts out tornadoes on 2 to 6 players. At the same time two 'eyes' goes out. The players that get the eye need to throw it to a tornadoed individual, which gets them out of it. Once all the tornadoes are done, it is thrown to a designed tank and healer. If you do not take care of the tornadoes you are swept off the ledge to your death. If the tank or healer does not get it at the end, they cannot stop certain bombs from exploding and killing the raid.
There are other things that can go awry and kill everyone, but this is the top one. Luckily there is an addon that makes tossing the eye pretty easy. The only thing though, if you are the last person to get it, is make sure you toss it to the tank/healer. In the end, like I mentioned, we got him down.
Unbleached, at the end of the night, had a few hundred in repair bills, and made out with 4 upgrades. They are not perfect upgrades (she seems to not be getting anything with the crit she wants), but they are better than what she is wearing as a whole.
Bastian of Shadows still has some bosses to be cleared out, and there is one more wing after that before the end boss, but Unbleached may not have good odds of getting to them. She is just going for one night a week raiding, which means first bosses only.
PS: Unbleached reached gear level i704!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Keeping Busy in the New Year of 2016
Keeping Busy in the New Year of 2016
The new year is here. It's 2016. The latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, was released on 13 November, 2014. Counting fingers, toes, and other digits, that's going on fourteen months ago. Wild, Jocy, Tiphaine, and Fist are settled in. The every day routine of the garrisons continues. Happy maintains the Auction House. Draenor has reached Boring of legendary size.
The next expansion, Legion, is at least nine months away (September estimate). The family has some time on their hands.
Filling the void so far is Jezibel (JB), volunteering to help out with enchanting mats. Specifically, Happy needs hypnotic dust and embersilk cloth. Traditionally, Happy buys these items and sends them to Wild to be crafted into embersilk bags, which are pretty consistent sellers. The price of hypnotic dust, however, continues to climb. Wild offered an interesting solution. Wild can make gear from his Tailoring profession that can be dis-enchanted into hypnotic dust by his Enchanting profession. It's a tried and true method that serves both professions. What surprised both Happy and Wild is that Happy can makje a lot more gold selling the hypnotic dust directly instead of making bags out of them. The only downside is that bags sell faster than hypnotic dust does, and Happy has to wait longer to get his sales.
What does JB have to do with this? Well, since embersilk cloth is also needed to make the gear for dis-enchanting, she decided to try her hand at farming embersilk in the level 85 elite raid, Bastions of Twilight (BoT). BoT is in the Twilight Highlands, and getting to it took something like thirty minutes. Cleaning out the place solo took less time than the trip. It was a breeze and, as usual, brought back Wild's memories of raiding there. One circuit produced only 94 embersilk, however. She could have reset and gone in again until the system shut her down, but this was just a test run. Happy and JB have the option to farm when embersilk is expensive and buy when its cheap.
JB has her own agenda, of course. JB has already done the quests for Cataclysm, the level 85 expansion, and has no interest in doing any more. She wants to be lazy and just kill things that respawn quickly. She has her eyes on reaching level 90 so she can play in the Timeless Isles of Pandaria. JB loathes Pandaria, and has no interest in leveling there. She's heard a lot about the Timeless Isles, though, and it sounds like fun.
After some research, JB decided to go to Mount Hyjal, a low 80s level land. Her target is the Molten Front and its portal to a raging battlefield that never ends. JB had to work through the initial quest series in order to gain access to the Molten Front. She had it done in an hour, and sailed through the portal.
JB did the daily quests within the molten front and lavishly killed the endless stream of foes. Experience was pretty good while rested XP was in place, and she was wearing all her XP gear to further build experience. For a couple of hours work, JB went from level 87 +77% to Level 88 +12%. Not bad. Once she has her rested XP is full JB will be back in there. XP will continue to decline as she levels, so JB will keep looking for more areas where she can pile up the corpses.
The new year is here. It's 2016. The latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, was released on 13 November, 2014. Counting fingers, toes, and other digits, that's going on fourteen months ago. Wild, Jocy, Tiphaine, and Fist are settled in. The every day routine of the garrisons continues. Happy maintains the Auction House. Draenor has reached Boring of legendary size.
The next expansion, Legion, is at least nine months away (September estimate). The family has some time on their hands.
Filling the void so far is Jezibel (JB), volunteering to help out with enchanting mats. Specifically, Happy needs hypnotic dust and embersilk cloth. Traditionally, Happy buys these items and sends them to Wild to be crafted into embersilk bags, which are pretty consistent sellers. The price of hypnotic dust, however, continues to climb. Wild offered an interesting solution. Wild can make gear from his Tailoring profession that can be dis-enchanted into hypnotic dust by his Enchanting profession. It's a tried and true method that serves both professions. What surprised both Happy and Wild is that Happy can makje a lot more gold selling the hypnotic dust directly instead of making bags out of them. The only downside is that bags sell faster than hypnotic dust does, and Happy has to wait longer to get his sales.
What does JB have to do with this? Well, since embersilk cloth is also needed to make the gear for dis-enchanting, she decided to try her hand at farming embersilk in the level 85 elite raid, Bastions of Twilight (BoT). BoT is in the Twilight Highlands, and getting to it took something like thirty minutes. Cleaning out the place solo took less time than the trip. It was a breeze and, as usual, brought back Wild's memories of raiding there. One circuit produced only 94 embersilk, however. She could have reset and gone in again until the system shut her down, but this was just a test run. Happy and JB have the option to farm when embersilk is expensive and buy when its cheap.
JB has her own agenda, of course. JB has already done the quests for Cataclysm, the level 85 expansion, and has no interest in doing any more. She wants to be lazy and just kill things that respawn quickly. She has her eyes on reaching level 90 so she can play in the Timeless Isles of Pandaria. JB loathes Pandaria, and has no interest in leveling there. She's heard a lot about the Timeless Isles, though, and it sounds like fun.
After some research, JB decided to go to Mount Hyjal, a low 80s level land. Her target is the Molten Front and its portal to a raging battlefield that never ends. JB had to work through the initial quest series in order to gain access to the Molten Front. She had it done in an hour, and sailed through the portal.
JB did the daily quests within the molten front and lavishly killed the endless stream of foes. Experience was pretty good while rested XP was in place, and she was wearing all her XP gear to further build experience. For a couple of hours work, JB went from level 87 +77% to Level 88 +12%. Not bad. Once she has her rested XP is full JB will be back in there. XP will continue to decline as she levels, so JB will keep looking for more areas where she can pile up the corpses.
Friday, January 1, 2016
The Unbleached End of Year Report for 2015
The Unbleached End of Year Report for 2015
Note: The Unbleached family (Alliance faction) and the Wild family (Horde Faction) is exchanging year end reports, continuing a long agreement to this exchange in lieu of trying to kill each other. Wild has already presented his in a prior post. This is Unbleached's (UB) report.
In late October I saw my opportunity to dust off my old friends. I was done with traveling, there was a lull at work, perfect time to stretch some legs. Legs that had not been stretched since July. A lot of things have happened since their sabbatical started. A new raid opened up when they left and now was close to farm mode. Mounts started flying. New gear started dropping, with up to a 695 ilevel, and existing craft gear had their ilevel also increasing (705 for weapons,715 for armor). And most of my toons had an interest in something the new land had to offer.
First things first, get flying. Most of the stuff Unbleached had gotten down. Treasures, check. Exploration, check. Quests, check. Reputation... hum, not a check. Unbleached did not have time to explore the new jungle, and there seemed to be where she needed the reputation, which meant questing. Hum... raid yes, quest no, that is typically UBs motto but that would have to change. She was the best geared toon I had, and would be the quickest to grind with.
She set out with a friend, a bodyguard. Yes, it took UB, or any of my toons, this long to try out a bodyguard but she loved it, mostly. The guard would keep the villians at bay and UB would pew pew from afar. The guard also did enough damage to help speed things up, a nice bonus. Downside is she was a hassle to deal with when you tried to loot or pick herbs, the girl just did not know how to stand to the side of things... ah well.
But UB was not able to grind out ALL the quests each day, so it was a slow grind, about a month and a half to two months of questing before she got her wing license, but when it happened, it was a beautiful thing.
"LOOK! LOOK!" She shouted to Happyface, as he was the only one on to share her joy as she broke out her gyrocopter. Crickets on his side.
"Grrr", she growled, she than made the sound of gold pouring out of a bag.
"Hum..what was that?" said Happy, his attention finally gotten. "Oh! Congratulations." Apparently he saw this as enough of his duty and went back to counting gold.
Ah well...
The next step was farming. There was a new member to the clan, Jadedwine, a shammy that wants to get out in the world but wants to do it in style. She was wearing three crafted pieces (chest, axe, shield), that needed an upgrade. This required felblight, a green power infused substance that can only be gotten from the jungle by doing gathering (herbs, ore, fish, skinning). Thing is, the whole time that UB had been running around for the last month or two questing, she had gotten only 11. This would call for a lot of focus farming.
Neekia was volunteered. There really was not much of a choice. She was the only other level 100 that could get there and she was a miner. Three pluses about being a miner, biggest one was there are only two types of ore, where as herbs there are five or six. This means less bag space would be used up. Second plus, the ore is usually on the outer edges, rather than the midst of orc land, easier to get without being attacked.
Lastly, the AH value of ore is 1.50 g to 2.50 g per ore, herbs can regularly dip to under 1g. Since this would be a lot of farming, I wanted a bigger bang for the buck.
Neekia prefers fishing and drinking to fighting or farming but she is a low key gal. If she were to have an Indian name it would be She-who-is-zen.. Yes, I know it is 'Native American', and yes, I know they would not have used the word Zen.. but it gets the point across.
Neekia is a low key gal that is open to helping others with it not ruffling her feathers.
So she set out to farm and farm and farm. There were two trials with this, one was the basic thing of farming, it takes a while. I would hazard to say, on a good day you get one felblight every 10 minutes, or every 75 ore. To upgrade Jadedwine's gear I would need 270 felblight.
Assuming a steady rate, that could mean 45 hours of farming. If I was not using the money I made from the ore to buy free game time, I would have funneled it into buying felblight.
The other trail was Neekia herself. She never cared about her gear. Good enough to get to 100 so she can fish is all she ever worried about. So while UB could take down elites and mobs of adds, Neekia just gets killed. But like I said, she-who-is-zen never let this bother her. She first tried fishing to get the blight, since this would not likely lead to her death and she could drink at the same time, but after 40 minutes of trying and no blight she was forced to get into mining. She was happy to hit rocks, excited when she got a felblight, and got used to her circuit around the jungle.
While I don't know how long she farmed for the felblight over the last three weeks, she finally got the count she needed yesterday.
So Jadedwine is upgraded, Neekia can go back to just fishing, and UB can finally start sorting out her gear and clean out her closet for raiding.
This week I am 'coming out' and letting the husband know that I am going to start raiding and we should have our own accounts. I think the conversation will go well.
Note: The Unbleached family (Alliance faction) and the Wild family (Horde Faction) is exchanging year end reports, continuing a long agreement to this exchange in lieu of trying to kill each other. Wild has already presented his in a prior post. This is Unbleached's (UB) report.
In late October I saw my opportunity to dust off my old friends. I was done with traveling, there was a lull at work, perfect time to stretch some legs. Legs that had not been stretched since July. A lot of things have happened since their sabbatical started. A new raid opened up when they left and now was close to farm mode. Mounts started flying. New gear started dropping, with up to a 695 ilevel, and existing craft gear had their ilevel also increasing (705 for weapons,715 for armor). And most of my toons had an interest in something the new land had to offer.
First things first, get flying. Most of the stuff Unbleached had gotten down. Treasures, check. Exploration, check. Quests, check. Reputation... hum, not a check. Unbleached did not have time to explore the new jungle, and there seemed to be where she needed the reputation, which meant questing. Hum... raid yes, quest no, that is typically UBs motto but that would have to change. She was the best geared toon I had, and would be the quickest to grind with.
She set out with a friend, a bodyguard. Yes, it took UB, or any of my toons, this long to try out a bodyguard but she loved it, mostly. The guard would keep the villians at bay and UB would pew pew from afar. The guard also did enough damage to help speed things up, a nice bonus. Downside is she was a hassle to deal with when you tried to loot or pick herbs, the girl just did not know how to stand to the side of things... ah well.
But UB was not able to grind out ALL the quests each day, so it was a slow grind, about a month and a half to two months of questing before she got her wing license, but when it happened, it was a beautiful thing.
"LOOK! LOOK!" She shouted to Happyface, as he was the only one on to share her joy as she broke out her gyrocopter. Crickets on his side.
"Grrr", she growled, she than made the sound of gold pouring out of a bag.
"Hum..what was that?" said Happy, his attention finally gotten. "Oh! Congratulations." Apparently he saw this as enough of his duty and went back to counting gold.
Ah well...
The next step was farming. There was a new member to the clan, Jadedwine, a shammy that wants to get out in the world but wants to do it in style. She was wearing three crafted pieces (chest, axe, shield), that needed an upgrade. This required felblight, a green power infused substance that can only be gotten from the jungle by doing gathering (herbs, ore, fish, skinning). Thing is, the whole time that UB had been running around for the last month or two questing, she had gotten only 11. This would call for a lot of focus farming.
Neekia was volunteered. There really was not much of a choice. She was the only other level 100 that could get there and she was a miner. Three pluses about being a miner, biggest one was there are only two types of ore, where as herbs there are five or six. This means less bag space would be used up. Second plus, the ore is usually on the outer edges, rather than the midst of orc land, easier to get without being attacked.
Lastly, the AH value of ore is 1.50 g to 2.50 g per ore, herbs can regularly dip to under 1g. Since this would be a lot of farming, I wanted a bigger bang for the buck.
Neekia prefers fishing and drinking to fighting or farming but she is a low key gal. If she were to have an Indian name it would be She-who-is-zen.. Yes, I know it is 'Native American', and yes, I know they would not have used the word Zen.. but it gets the point across.
Neekia is a low key gal that is open to helping others with it not ruffling her feathers.
So she set out to farm and farm and farm. There were two trials with this, one was the basic thing of farming, it takes a while. I would hazard to say, on a good day you get one felblight every 10 minutes, or every 75 ore. To upgrade Jadedwine's gear I would need 270 felblight.
Assuming a steady rate, that could mean 45 hours of farming. If I was not using the money I made from the ore to buy free game time, I would have funneled it into buying felblight.
The other trail was Neekia herself. She never cared about her gear. Good enough to get to 100 so she can fish is all she ever worried about. So while UB could take down elites and mobs of adds, Neekia just gets killed. But like I said, she-who-is-zen never let this bother her. She first tried fishing to get the blight, since this would not likely lead to her death and she could drink at the same time, but after 40 minutes of trying and no blight she was forced to get into mining. She was happy to hit rocks, excited when she got a felblight, and got used to her circuit around the jungle.
While I don't know how long she farmed for the felblight over the last three weeks, she finally got the count she needed yesterday.
So Jadedwine is upgraded, Neekia can go back to just fishing, and UB can finally start sorting out her gear and clean out her closet for raiding.
This week I am 'coming out' and letting the husband know that I am going to start raiding and we should have our own accounts. I think the conversation will go well.
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