Monday, May 9, 2016

Bridging the Old and the New

Bridging the Old and the New

Sista is getting a history lesson while working her way through the leveling process with Enchanting and Tailoring. Just seeing these old enchants and tailoring items brings back ancient memories. Once again, Tiphaine wishes she'd thought to raid Wild's bank and bags and brought all those mouldering tailoring and enchanting mats that would have greatly helped get those professions up and running.

 Tiphaine still bristles at the restriction that won't allow the Horde and Alliance sides to barter with each other through the Auction House. But no more wishes. It is what it is. There were a great many mats even on the Alliance side, and that has helped. Some of the materials were available on the Auction House, but like many of the older items, they are costly because few farm them.

Sista is leveling both professions at the same time - tailoring items are crafted for leveling and those items are then disenchanted for the items needed to make enchants. It's a rough fit, and not always successful. Both professions have acquired the Draenor recipes, which provides some slight help, but the biggest advantage is that it erases the old method which required multiple levels and simply allows leveling from 1 - 700 using both old and new methods.

Sista went so far as to travel to Feralas and enter the killing fields at New Thalanar. There is a forever war going on there and Sista killed more than a thousand to get the mats she needed.

However, Sista has reached a sore spot in the leveling process. The tailoring items currently being crafted cannot be disenchanted by Sista because her enchanting process isn't far enough along to get that ability. To get that ability she needs vision dust. To get vision dust she needs to disenchant items that give vision dust. But  . . .  you see the problem. The AH is aware, too. The cheap vision dust went fast when Sista started buying, and its now very costly. Sista is still trying to find an alternate solution other than over paying on the AH.

Sista's enchanting is at 246/700. Tailoring is at 356/700. She's also come up with another idea that she's hoping will get her pass this rough spot. The plan was to buy Luminous shards on the cheap, but its too early in the week and the prices were too high. Not an option.

There were a number of recipes for enchanting that had Sista traveling to Darnassus as well as Shattrath City in the Outlands. One day Java is going to go and visit every alliance city and zone. There are so many things to see.

Sista pushed her enchanting up to 330/700, did some disenchants of tailored items, and called it a day. Tailoring will get some love tomorrow.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

"My kingdom for a Runed Copper Rod!"

"My kingdom for a Runed Copper Rod!"

I have to admit that I completely blew it with non-gathering professions when transitioning Tiphaine's family over to the Alliance faction. Specifically, the plan to have Sista pick up the Enchanting and Tailoring professions. Wild should have helped them get as far along as possible before passing them over to the alliance. These two professions are the bedrock of Happy's successful Auction House operation - a steady source of revenue, particularly when the flashier sources start to lose value. Like now, when the Draenor expansion is winding down and most of the world is waiting for the next expansion, Legion, now only four months away.

Tiphaine planned to use the same strategy with her own guild. Sista took on the project. Note that it has been ages since any family member has ever started a non-gathering profession. Sista found the Enchanting Trainer and picked up the profession. There was some confusion about getting the mandatory Runed Copper Rod which officially designates one an enchanter. Sista sorted that out, got the ancient materials to make it (who even remembers strange dust and magic essence?), and she was all set.

Sista is now a budding Enchanter. She has a Level 3 Enchanting building in her garrison. She produces goods every day. She crafts the daily temporal crystal and Dreanor Secret recipe. All seems to be in hand. Sista's leveling strategy is a combination of using old enchanting mats that may be lying around where possible. For the rest, Sista will do her dailies and Chaitee will keep an eye on the Auction House for bargains on temporal crystals, luminous shards, and dreanic dust. She can also disenchant items to get additional dust. It will still take considerable time to reach 700. Sista is also beginning to look at Tailoring, too.

Meanwhile, Rakta got a large boon from Tiphaine, crafting her a full set of steelforged weaponry including shield. Tiphaine can also craft trinket upgrades, which is her next project.

Overall, things are going well. By comparison, the Wild Family was trying to keep up a garrison supporting six level 100 members. Honestly, it was too hard to maintain. Tiphaine's garrison is supporting three level 100s (including herself), but eventually Java will reach level 100 as well, and then there will be four. The trick is to find a way to keep the garrison running at full capacity without sacrificing the needs of the four level 100s for which this whole thing is for.

As for Legion, Tiphaine has a plan. She and Rakta will open Legion and take turns leveling. In that way rested xp can be maintained. Tiphaine and Rakta have different needs in gear and such so there shouldn't be too many issues over who gets what gear. Once those two reach level 110, Sista and Java (who should be level 100 by then - I hope) can do the same thing.

However, if Legion requires an achievement process to unlock flying and other critical things like we have in Draenor, then Tiphaine will most likely take the lead to go after all the achievements required so the rest of the family can take advantage of it.

Dreanor is not quite done with us, yet. Things are slowing down. Important things are going to get costlier. Gold is still flowing out of the guild coffers and very little is coming back in. Why? Because all those folks who spend their time gathering mats have slowed or even stopped gathering since the demand for mats is declining fast, which raises prices. It's a sinkhole. And it will only get worse.

The sort of silver lining to all this depends on understanding why the Alliance team was established in the first place. The Wild Family had/has it good. But they were running out of reasons to get out of bed every day. The dangers and challenges were few.

Tiphaine has made her stake. She has given her girls a chance to make something of themselves. Tiphaine may have said this before, but it bears repeating. She's not going to coddle them. Survive or die. It's up to them.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Northrend Adventures

Northrend Adventures

The continent of Northrend started off great. Java had a lot of quests, plenty of things to kill, and a back story that kept things moving forward. That was the Borean Tundra. Then Java moved on to Crystalsong Forest and everything unraveled. Questing was a mixed bag. There were a few quests, but many of the threads were broken. Java's frustration grew when she knew she was in the right place but what should be there wasn't. I'm not sure when Blizz started using scenarios (basically, independent quest threads that existed only in that scenario). There is a term for it which I can't recall. Basically, you had to have completed certain things before other things would appear or not appear, or something. Frustrating. She's now moved on to Shalazar Basin which entails a lot of critter killing. Java lost some skinning leveling when she realized that pre-Draenor, she still had to go see the skinning profession person every time you reached a new level. Oh, and she reached Level 77.

Sholazar Basin - When Wild and the rest of the horde family were leveling to 80, Sholazar Basin was always our last stop. This is the place where Level 80 always arrived. The Nessingway Base is loaded with quests and a great many of them are kill quests that require nothing more than staying awake and hammering buttons and watching things die. Most of the time it was late at night with only a couple of guildies on vent to talk to. The Basin was never fully explored by the horde family because they were never that far from level 80 that they needed the extra XP.

For Java, though, she has the longer view - she can mine the quests and stories of all of Sholazar Basin - there is no reason to leave while quests and experience can still be had. Java was in awe of all the things that she is encountering that none of the Wild family ever saw. The Lost Lands, Powering the Waygate, and numberless others. Even Java started feeling like hitting level 80 was somehow special, not just the next jump to another expansion grind. So she took her time.

After getting in some work, she had to fly back to a real town, instead of the jungle basin, to clean out a completely full set of bags. She could have hearthed back to the Borean Tundra but took a shortcut to Fordragon Hold at Dragonblight. Yes, this is in Crystalsong Forest. That was a mistake. There is NO INN THERE! In fact, the hold has nothing but a barn. Why is there a flight path? She'd thought to save some time, but was forced to take the hearthstone all the way back to Borean Tundra anyway, and then take the boat to Stormwind.

Java refuses to complain. Sholazar Basin still has prizes to be had. More quests went down but eventually even Sholazar Basin was tapped out. But not before Java reached Level 78.

Now to Icecrown and the Argent Tournament. The tournament was kind of a bust. Java could have entered the tournament and gotten some experience, learning to joust and what not, but Wild's memory of that was drudgery to get it over with so he could do things that were more fun.

Scourgeholme is where Java spent most of her time killing beasts and beings by the hundreds and getting in a lot of quests that the Wild family had never seen. Java biggest conquests were a trio of level 79 elites. The battles were epic for young Java, and she needed all her skill. She persevered, and reached Level 79.

There is too much to show everything, but below are just a smattering of pics taken during this long grind.










View of Dalaran From Mountain Top

The Little white mount is Java's

Ouch! Very Big, Very Nasty, very dead..