Saturday, July 30, 2016

Sista's Wild Ride

Sista's Wild Ride

This will be short and sweet. As soon as Rakta and Java finds out Sista will be a hated woman. Sista plowed through every Tanaan quest she could get her hands this morning (Friday). She took Tiphaine's word that Sista had the helm and to make the most of it. She lost track after awhile, covered in gore, killing whatever stood in front of her. Her bodyguard, Illona, was terrific. She never died. Not even once, even though it was her duty to goad the enemy into attacking her, not Sista. Sista mowed into more than a couple of elites, but she often didn't realize it until she saw the corpse. At least the corpses didn't pile up, because she didn't stay in one place for very long.

When Sista was first given the okay to start working on her gear, she wore i620 gear. After her initial forays she pushed it to i636 in two stages of effort.

Then came this morning. Sista finally called a break in the early afternoon. Tiphaine took a quick look at the haul and immediately gathered her girls together to admire Sista's progress. "Start at the beginning," Tiphaine advised, when Sista, suddenly nervous in the face of the glowering Rakta and Java.

Sista started her day with 869 apexis crystals, soon turning them into over 5,000, enough to buy a piece of baleful gear. Gaining confidence, she did the daily kill fest at the Iron Hold, and added two bonus events to gain even more. She relentlessly pursued and completed the Unseen Influence quest. By early afternoon her adrenaline was so high she completed two other optional quests just to slow down.

Sista's voice wound down. Still flushed with her victories, she had let the gear she'd accumulated fall into an untidy pile. Treasure or trash? That was foremost in everyone's mind. There was nine pieces of gear.

When it was all sorted out, Sista's gear level stood at i656, twelve levels above Rakta's i644, twenty levels below Tiphaine herself. Sista had gone from i620 to i656, a stretch of 36 levels over just two days. Tiphaine certainly noticed that another two day assault like this one might put Sista in range of Tiphaine herself.

Nothing like family competition, Tiphaine mused, keeping her thoughts to herself. Too bad it will all come apart soon. No, the girls will stay fired up, that's for sure. Tiphaine had overdone that part of her plan. Which is the problem. When Legion arrives on her doorstep all things become equal. If Tiphaine does not enter the fray, she will almost immediately fall behind. Tiphaine will not relinguish her power in even its smallest amount. And sooner than later Tiphaine expects to be challenged. She's managed to hide the one fear that could topple her. Tiphaine is a Death Knight. Long ago she accepted what she is. And what she's done. And what she WILL do. When the time comes. 

Announced just today, July 29th, is this: "Demon Hunters Playable on August 9th." Now things will really get interesting.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Sista Becomes a Model?

Sista Becomes a Model?

Worgen Sista is the closest thing the family has to a demon hunter right now. That means wearing leather gear and using Agility as her primary attribute. Demon hunters have a bear-like spec called Vengeance that's equivalent to a tank. Tiphaine has modeled all of her girls into tanking modes for high survivability. So Sista, of course, has been encouraged to choose Gaurdian/Bear form as her specialty.

Sista might have had other ideas, but Tiphaine put the situation to her quite bluntly. Time is running out. Java and Rakta don't have real jobs at present, but they'll eat up the time left if given the chance. Tiphaine can give Sista that time - if she intends to spend it learning how to survive and prosper as druid bear. Mahakeya will appreciate her shortening the learning curve. So will I, Tiphaine added.

Sista grumbled and complained. Inwardly, she was happy with the decision, but she wouldn't tell Tiphaine that. Sista set aside her feral spec and picked up Guardian. Legion has removed many spells from druid bear spec which will likely aid Sista learn her new role. She started her day with a gear level of i620. Sista had not yet tapped the gold that all of the girls were given when the guild transferred. Sista took advantage of that at the Auction House. When she was done her gear score rose to i626. Not exactly overwhelming, but it was progress.

Now it was time to test her abilities. Sista liked what she saw of Java kicking butt in Kra'nak, and that was her first destination. She didn't have the quest, but her goal was to see how she'd fare in real encounters against a determined enemy. She first stumbled into the elite area of Kra'nak and pilfered a node that had a baleful gear in it. What luck!  Her big haul, though, was helping two other players kill the elite Rashe. It's a long fight and most of the damage was directed Sista's way (she was in bear form, of course), but Rashe went down with Sista at 62% health and feeling pretty good about it. She picked up another baleful gear and an i655 trinket. Her baleful gear, a helmet, upgraded itself to i680! She also landed yet another baleful that upgraded itself to i675. That was some incredible take!

When all the upgrades were counted, Sista's gear score rose from i626 to i636. She then joined a group doing the Rumble in the Jungle. She could not get the quest, but she helped out anyway.

PS - Sista wanted a further test of her abilities. Both Java and Rakta had taken their mettle against the elite manglers in Fangri'la (I have to mention that the name of the elites is actually "blackfang." Blame Java for the mis-naming). They were successful killing the blackfangs, but the fight was tough. Sista, with some admitted help by her bodyguard, had no problem at all killing the elite. Sista barely broke a sweat, and commented that Java and Rakta both needed more combat practice. Sista is one tough bear even at her lower gear level. Too bad Rumble in the Jungle can only be run once a week.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Java Goes Apexis Hunting

Java Goes Apexis Hunting

Sigh, Java can't help herself. She was supposed to be happy with her gear and done with chasing shinys. She was supposed to be done with Tanaan, too, but saw an opportunity she couldn't resist. Java received 2500 apexis crystals when she made it into the Tanaan Jungle. While there, she mostly did some mapping and kept up her routine of gathering flowers and rocks. She kept returning to the the Fangri'la area, though. Her one goal other than just getting settled into Tanaan was to complete the Rumble in the Jungle quest, which requires slaying three elites. She had opportunities, killing one elite, and on another day taking out the first and second elites. But she still couldn't complete the quest without killing the final elite, and she needed help from other players.

She finally got another chance with a full group of five players. Java even tanked the first two elites, although it wasn't that tough given the firepower of the other players. Still, she was happy to do it. The final boss was tougher. Splitting the tanking on the third elite, Java and a warrior tank kept the boss busy while the rest killed it. Java had her Rumble in the Jungle quest completed.

Back at the Lion's Den, Java was checking her gear and noticed that she now had 3,373 apexis crystals. She wondered if there was anything she might be able to buy with them. Well, she quickly learned that she could buy baleful gear with it - for 5,000 apexis crystals she could get an i650 piece of gear! That would be nice to have, if she could get 5,000 apexis crystals. Hmmm.
Java remembers Tiphaine running a weekly quest, Unseen Influence, to collect ten fragments that could be turned in for more apexis - 1,500 of them, to be precise. Another, longer Hmmmm. Doing the math in her head, that would add up to 4,873.

Okay, this is getting serious. She picked up Unseen Influence. There should have been a daily to run, too, but she couldn't find it. Never mind, she can't get quest credit, but she can still go to the quest area and kill things for apexis and fragments. She went to work, slaying her way through the Ruins of Kra'nak and  Zethgor. 

Java was having fun. Sure, there'd been a few close encounters, dipping into single digit health, but hey, she was still alive and laying waste. Then she entered the Temple of Sha'nar. Java wasn't worried. She knew all about the elites in this place and knew how to avoid them. Java took the tunnel into the deeper area of Sha'nar. She easily killed the guards there, but when she encountered her first Demon level 100, she got a little worried. The damn demon was hell to kill! She made some adjustments in both gear and attitude. Stay focused. Tanaan is dangerous.

Java was being careful, but she also wanted her fragments, and there should be at least one or two inside this area. She was also keen to try her luck on a special boss - non elite, but tougher than the normal Demon. And what a lucky break - Java walked right into him. Not so fortunate was aggroing a warlock and a team of slavering dogs as well. It was a great battle, but . . .  Java and her bodyguard were very, very dead.

Getting out of Sha'nar after reviving was almost as tricky as getting in. She made it, though, and limped home to the Lion's Den. Among her loot was an i655 gun she couldn't use, an i650 agility sword that she could equip but didn't need, and an i650 +int trinket that might (but probably won't) be used for healing.

On the brighter side, her pockets were full with the ten fragments she needed. Even better, she won TWO pieces i650 baleful gear, a ring and shoulders. Just a minute, Java wants to crack them open to see if she gets an upgrade. Here goes: The Ring held true at i650. The shoulder gear hit the upgrade jackpot and became an i675! With the new gear she earned EPIC gear level, too! Java's new gear level is now i638.
 
Java wasn't done, though. She still needed more apexis crystals. After tallying everything up, her total came to 4,899. Time to find a good quest.

Java chose the Battle in the West quest to earn the needed apexis crystals. The massive killing spree was again fun for awhile, though if she had to do it multiple times (as Tiphaine did) it would definitely turn into drudgery. Java got her 5,000 apexis crystals, turned in her i575 cloak, and replaced it with a baleful cloak that raised her gear level to i643.

Java still has 1,970 apexis crystals. She is mulling over the possibility of earning another piece of baleful gear. There is some sisterly competition going on now. Java has unmercifully   teased Rakta that she didn't really earn her i644 gear set, acquired mostly with Boosted gold. Rakta won't admit it, but the jab stung. Rakta returned the jab, claiming Java had spent guild money to get all her gear. 

Java nearly exploded, pointing to the months of leveling she had to endure. Java pressed Rakta, challenging her skill and declaring she would top her i644 gear. That would put Java second, behind only Tiphaine, in claiming who had the best gear.

Let the hissing and cat fighting begin.

Tiphaine just smiled. Not a bad day's work.

Update: Later this same day,  Crafty Tiphaine decided to add a twist to the arguing girls, Rakta and Java. Tiphaine has over 23k in apexis crystals. She spent 20k of those crystals to get an Empowered Apexis Fragment. When used on a piece of baleful gear, the i650 item is Empowered and rises to i695. Tiphaine slipped the fragment to Java.

Imagine Rakta's surprise - and fury - when she saw Java's new gear. She's now at gear level i646, number two behind Rakta's i644. Tiphaine is now wondering how to get Sista involved in this little murder party.




Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Auction House Roulette

Auction House Roulette

The great Auctioneer addon that Happy and now Chaitee have depended on remains on its' deathbed.  I counted at least six coders working on the auctioneer addon, but the outcome appears grim. Legion coding has significantly altered and damaged the pre-legion code and there may be no way to revive this patient. One can only pray for a miracle.

In the meantime, Chaitee attempted to find value in the other AH addon, Auctionator, but it is completely inadequate. Chaitee will stick with the vanilla Blizz version.

Even so, Chaitee is working small miracles to keep the gold flowing, but her creative efforts yield less and less value. Chaitee has decided to gamble. This morning's AH find of the day is felblight. The mat usually sells for 60 gold plus each. The market reels back and forth, and hovered at 35 gold each early today. Chaitee started buying. Not to resell the felblight, but passing the felblight to Tiphaine to be crafted into high end weapons and gear. With the lower price of felblight, a Savage Steelforged sword now costs less than 2500 gold to make, and should sell in the 14,000 gold range. That's a big profit.

It's a risky venture. There will be a point when players will simply stop upgrading their gear and wait for Legion's bounty of new gear. But the full release of Legion is still a month away, and players are still buying. Java routinely checks the AH to see if a player has given up and posted high end gear at a bargain price. Java got lucky just this morning, buying a pair of gloves that cost her 700 gold - the price yesterday was 4000 gold. Java is hoping to compete with gear equal to Tiphaine's by the time Legion arrives using this method. Java's gear is now i631. Reaching Tiphaine's i674 may not be attainable, but it won't be for lack of trying.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Data Mining Legion Professions

Data Mining Legion Professions

The Autumn Tea Green Guild is hoping to get a fast start in crafting professions for Legion. I did a very quick scan to see what looked new to the professions as well as what looks very similar to that of Draenor. My means to attack this is to attempt to prioritize needs and get up to speed on crafting as quickly as possible.

Sistaphilia Professions (Tailoring and Enchanting)

Tailoring - There is still a lack of good information on this profession, but there's at least  one major impact: Bags. Embersilk (22 slot) and frostweave (20 slot) bags have made thousands of gold for the guild, but both of those bags will be overtaken by the Legion 24 slot bag, Silkweave Satchel. This is a 24 slot bag that needs only one ingredient (90 shal'dorei silk). It will likely cost less than the already maligned 26 and 28 slot bags that few use. For very large bag needs, there is still the 30 slot hexweave bag, but like the 26 and 28 slot bags, it too, may languish because the difficulty of getting crafting material as the garrisons are abandoned.

But I don't think embersilk and frostweave bags will go away completely, since embersilk and frostweave are pretty easy to farm.

Enchanting - New versions of temporal crystal (chaos crystal), luminous shard (arkhana), and draenic dust (leylight shard) will replace the old versions and work in a similar fashion - minus the garrison element. There is also Blood of Sargeras, a rare item like felblight I think that isn't fully understood yet. The "Mark" enchants are now "Word" enchants but perform the same duty: adding stats to gear.

Javajoo Professions (Herbalism and Mining)

Herbalism - the new herbs are yseralline seed (found within other herbs), felwort, starlight rose, fjarnskaggi, foxflower, dreamleaf, and aethril. Wow, that's a lot of herbs. Herb seeds can also be looted and planted near water. There are three herb ranks and each herb has their own quests. Boon of the Harvester is an enchant which obtains herbs from slain mobs. Along with a glove enchant that speeds up gathering. There's a chance a hostile mob will appear, just as they do in Draenor gathering.

Mining - Types: leystone ore, felslate, infernal brimstone. Same rules as herbalism. There are only two ranks instead of three. Boon of the Salvager and glove enchant increase gathering.

Rakta Professions (Alchemy and Jewelcrafting)

Alchemy depends heavily on herbs, which puts pressure on Java to keep gathering. Potions and flasks and transmutes are still the norm. The alchemist trinket follows the same pattern. Nothing really new here except the naming.

Jewelcrafting - There are no guides and almost no information yet. It's got to be there, I just haven't found a good source.

Tiphaine Professions (Blacksmithing and Inscription)

Blacksmithing - Leystone ore (requires anvil) and demonsteel (requires Firmament Stone and demonsteel bars) are the primary materials used, replacing blackrock ore and true iron ore.

Inscription - Major glyphs have been removed. Minor glyphs were either removed, turned into toys, or made into cosmetic glyphs applied to certain spells with no limit of how many. Replacing glyphs are Vantus Runes which have a specific purpose - they increase a player's strength against a particular boss for the week (yawn). The most important aspect of this profession now is collecting relics which can be applied to slots on our artifact weapon.

Mahakeya Professions (Leatherworking and Skinning)

Leatherworking - The new mats and armor are:
    Stonehide Leather: Leather armor; Warhide armor
    Dreadhide Leather: Leather armor; Dreadleather armor
    Stormscale: Mail armor; Battlebound armor
    Gravenscale: Mail armor; Gravenscale armor

Skinning - Scraps have been removed so you get a full pelt with each skinning. Works the same way as the other gathering professions.

The Rest - Professions Archaeology, Cooking, First Aid, Engineering, and Fishing.
    I like to fish and will be looking for fish that can be cooked into stat upgrades.
    First Aid? Healing Tonic is replaced with silkweave splint bandages.
    I have no interest in either Archaeology or Engineering.

Finally, Tiphaine has discovered the new location of the floating city of Dalaran. Dalaran is going to be the central gathering point in Legion. With the launch of Legion, Dalaran will be found floating in the southern Broken Isles, south of Suramar and southeast of Azsuna. The city has received a number of upgrades and are working on the finishing touches.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

More Patch Note Information

More Patch Note Information

Spirit and Bonus Armor have been removed. And there goes all that effort Java took to gain that armor. Sigh.
Spell power on caster weapons has been consolidated into Intellect to aid in weapon comparisons.
Potion of Luck and Potion of Greater Luck no longer have any effect.
Note on swapping Specs: Can't swap while in combat. The new spec swapping rules results in dual specialization being removed.
Talents can be traded freely in rested xp areas, and can also be traded out of those areas if using a consumable item made by inscription.
All Major Glyphs and most minor glyphs have been converted or removed.
Glyphs have been removed. Those which have a cosmetic effect have been converted into other items.
Want a Gnome hunter? Now you can.
Hunters (mail), Shaman (mail), Warriors (plate), and Paladins (plate) can equip gear at level 1 instead of level 40.
The maximum gold a character can have has been increased to 9,999,999 gold (1 gold less that 10 million). Previous maximum? 1 million.
You can no longer hide you helm or cloak unless you use a transmogrifier. Shoulders will also be added to that list.

Stormwind City on Pre-Patch Night

Welcome to the Legion Pre-Patch

The Crush at the Auction House

More Madness in the Courtyard

Chaitee Takes it all In

Note: See the previous post for all the details.

Blizz Needs This Pre-Patch

Blizz Needs This Pre-Patch

I started this post right after the pre-patch went live and I had a number of issues. However, now that a couple of days have gone by things are starting to settle in. Java and Chaitee have the lead and they are pretty well oriented now. There were a few early issues: gear slots showing the wrong gear, buggy character information, new views that changed while fixes were in progress, that kind of thing. In addition, the pre-patch has no special patch quests or other events that could get snarled up by the glitches that have to be fixed before launching the full expansion.

The addons I need are relatively few and are working fine with one exception: Auctioneer. Chaitee manages the Auction House and admits to some frustration in getting her AH chores done each day. Auctioneer is the premier addon for handling the AH and as of this morning it still doesn't work and there is no expected date when it will be ready. Patience is the rule, here. The authors have lives and will get it fixed when they can. That doesn't make Chaitee feel any better, though. Working with the vanilla AH sucks. Gold is being lost. That said, Chaitee deserves a pat on the back for working to gain back at least some of the gold outlay the family has sucked out of the bank. About 26k gold has been added back to the coffers.

Once Java felt comfortable she headed out to do some combat in Shadowmoon Valley (where her garrison is). She went hunting in Socrether's Rise where there is a high concentration of level 100 mobs. By the way, Java's offensive spells grew by two when I got around to setting up her talents. Avenging Wrath (increased DPS and healing) and Seraphim (increases stats by 750) is now in the combat rotation.

The first time Java used the revamped Consecration, I was like WoW! The animation is truly cool. The spell one shots beasts and mobs under level 100. Fighting level 100s was also a joy to behold. As I figured, killing them took some time, but her health bar barely moved off 100% even against numerous mobs. I haven't pitted her against an elite yet, but the short test looks like she'll be very tough to kill.

Java already had one Level 100 Tanaan elite kill (the mangler) before the pre-patch. Now she stalked a new challenge with the pre-patch changes. The mangler was tough, but now she sought an even more dangerous forest beast - a Tanglewood Ancient, level 100 elite. The frozen tree waits patiently for someone to try him. Java did.

Java learned quickly that Ancients have a lot in common with protection spec. They are very, very hard to kill. The battle took almost twice as long as the pre-patch mangler. I didn't record the DPS of the mangler fight, but Java's DPS on the Ancient was 9068k. Decent but not thrilling. Java has 249k health. The Ancient has 1.2 million health. The battle was very even, with both health bars dropping almost in tandem. Java used nearly all of the tricks she had and even then it came down to those dicey last seconds. The Ancient died with Java at 15% health.

Java is getting used to the new look, and overall I like it. The entire player frame can now be seen without having to scroll down to see all the stats, giving it a cleaner look. Dominos also added some features I hadn't seen before, such as showing the cooldown counts for each active spell. That certainly helps with spell choices. I do miss the spell that grants +strength for one hour. Where did that go?

There are also some weaponizing changes. Protection Warrior Rakta uses sword and board, but she can now also use a Two-Hander in protection spec: she even got one (actually 2) for free! A nice idea, but Rakta's stats are far better with sword and board. The 2-hand probably works better with an Arms spec.

Tiphaine, too, received a pair of one-hand weapons for dual wielding, courtesy of Wow. It seems every spec is getting weapon changes of some kind. Tiphaine can't actually duel wield them, though, not until Legion is fully released. So these amount to teasers. And may not be used at all since her 2-hander is i705 and the one hands are just i655. Tiphaine will probably never use them.

Sista got no freebies at all. I guess she's already perfect. Right.

Evening Update: Around 9pm last night the main square in Stormwind was suddenly flooded with large masses of players. The number of players were staggering and people began noticing that many were from other realms. A bug/glitch in the system? No one seemed to know. I haven't seen such a concentrated group of players since the days when the Horde or Alliance would gather huge numbers into raids to assault an enemy city and attempt to kill their king. Was Stormwind under attack? No, so the only idea I could think of is that Blizz merged realms on purpose temporarily - or something went way wrong. Chaitee has been hanging out for a long time now and the square is still packed. The already overwhelmed auction house came to a crawl (not that the vanilla AH was of much use anyway) and things started to get strained. The game locked up and died, and a second attempt also failed. Shades of expansions of the past, where failed logins and all kinds of craziness was the norm. But Blizz has to be ecstatic at the turn out.

As of this morning the Stormwind square is still very busy. And still no Auctioneer.

Looks like the next chore is getting all of the other family members set up and ready for the real event - Legion. Only Java and Chaitee are fully set up so far.

This is a long post, so look for a second post with pics!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

So It Begins: Legion Pre-Patch Messes

So It Begins: Legion Pre-Patch Messes

I intended to talk about protection paladin changes, but that has to wait as my addons have all gone belly up. Logging in crashed battle.net, and Blizzard changed my window type without my knowledge. I then had to change passwords to find a way to log back in, and now the pre-patch is being patched until further notice.

So, a half hour later I managed to log back in successfully with my new password and I'm looking at the vanilla view of my screen. I feel so lost without my addons. So I opened all the default action bars just so I could see some buttons. With additional effort I got Dominos (my go to addon) running. Now I can get all my spells set up again. I had nine offensive spells before the pre-patch. Now Java has only six. I haven't tried any combat yet. Six spells. Makes me nervous. Anyway, here is what has been done to the Paladin.

Protection Paladin Changes

Changes to the protection paladin in Legion could spell the end of the "hybrid" paladin that selects protection but fights and gears up more like retribution. Like Javajoo.

 Gone are offensive spells Holy Power, Crusader Strike, and Word of Glory. All paladin Seals have been removed from the game.

Consecration has been twisted into a healing spell - Paladins are encouraged to stand inside the area of consecration to get additional healing from two new spells, Light of the Protector (self healing) and Divine Bulwark, a multipurpose, passive spell that combines the affects of Shield of the Righteous, Bastion of Glory, and improves melee blocking while increasing attack power.

Another new spell is Divine Steed, which auto calls your mount and gives a 100% increase in speed for 3 seconds.

Icy Veins hasn't set a spell rotation yet, but it appears that things will be simpler. I suspect there will be more standing around waiting on cooldowns to finish. It also appears that killing things in prot spec will take longer than before. That probably works out ok for Java and I, but I wonder how well it will be received by those who believe this is all a dumbing down trick.

On another related subject Blizzard now allows players to switch specs almost at will without going to the trainer. The catch? It costs gold to make the swap - 100 gold is the number that keeps popping up. I don't understand what Blizzard thinks they are making better by this idiotic idea.

Bottom line is more heals and loss of some offensive spells. Standing in consecration increases healing - a gimmick to get pallies to stand closer to melee, which Blizz wants pallies to do more of. Best guess on what that will do to the spec is the pally will be even harder to kill, but killing things may take a lot longer. Blizz doesn't seem to want the prot/ret hybrid to succeed.

But, hey, its still only the first day of the pre-patch.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Foraging for Flowers and Rocks

Foraging for Flowers and Rocks

After deciding that there wasn't any reason for Javajoo to mess around with the Tanaan jungle, her curiosity got the better of her. She found the passage into the Tanaan Jungle a relatively easy one. A few battles and a quick stopover to establish and enter the Alliance Lion's Den where Tanaan operations are centered. Java is still leveling mining and herbalism, the two professions that Java wants to use to help level at the beginning of Legion. Java had to start from scratch and are so far at 603 Mining and 316 at Herbalism. Java gets two ores for every flower she picks, so it'll take Java longer to finish Herbalism, so the foraging continues.

In addition to picking flowers and pounding rocks, Java made a complete sweep of Tanaan (thanks to Tiphaine for getting the family flying skill in Tanaan) and then checked in where a weekly battle is waged against three elites. Java was lucky and found a group already engaged. Java managed to get in on two kills. Later, she helped kill the third elite but she must have arrived too late to get credit for the kill. Tiphaine smiled at Java's situation, having been there and done that. Tiphaine eventually reached the point she could solo at least two of the special elites, and in group had killed all three many, many times. Java needs a lot of help just to kill one of them. In time she'll get it done, if only to impress Tiphaine.

Tiphaine's interest encouraged Java. She decided to tweak the wings of one of the lesser jungle denizens called Manglers, a monkey like level 100 elite. The battle took considerable time, but Java was careful and patient. Layered in heavy armor and stocked with healing spells, Java eventually killed the beast. Her first solo level 100 elite kill. Java didn't even have her follower along, either. The lure of getting more involved in the war continues to tantalize her. Gear . . .  must . . .  get . . .  gear.

On another subject, I need a name for the soon to arrive demon hunter. I chose a Hindu backround this time, incorporating two Hindu gods, Mahalasa and Kartikeya. Mahalasa is a female avatar of the god Vishnu and a deadly enchantress. Kartikeya is the male Hindu God of War. I merged the two names into one: Mahakeya. I then did a search of the name and there were no matches. So the name is safe for now.

Will the character be male or female? Do you have to ask?

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Demon Hunter and Garrison Questions

Demon Hunter and Garrison Questions

PS - Note that I am peppering you with two posts this morning!

(1) What gear level will demon hunters start with? Demon Hunters begin life at level 98, level up to 100 and enter a special training facility. When they come out of that into the world of Legion they receive a full set of i680 gear. Wow.
        PS - I might have miscalculated the gear level required to have early success in Legion. Tiphaine (i674)  is the only member even close to level i680. That could be a scary scenario for Java (i622) who I intend to send into Legion first. Perhaps Java should spend more time in Tanaan to raise her gear level.

(2) Will demon hunters want or need a garrison? The answer seems to be two-fold.
        (2a) First is the question, are garrisons required in Legion? The short answer is no.
        (2b) The second question is: Should demon hunters build a garrison? The best answer I could find is this: Some players believe that a garrison would be useful for trading recources via the bunker, war mill, and trading post. If one is very good at doing that it might be useful. However, my expectation is that there will be way more things to do in Legion that will make garrisons useless. Plus, there is another lore based reason for abandoning garrisons: Demon Hunters come after the defeat of Archimode and should not be involved in any way with Draenor. However, Blizz ignores lore as often as they defend it, so that may not mean much.

(3) Another consideration is whether the garrison hearthstone will continue to funtion outside Draenor. If it's blocked, garrisons are dead.

(4) Garrisons made it easy to access banks and the Auction House. One "hopes" that the new Class Halls will have convenient access if the garrisons don't.

(5) What will we do without garrison missions? Here's one answer from the forums: "You'll be too busy sending your followers on Class Hall missions to think about running the old content version of garrisons."

Your thoughts?

Friday, July 15, 2016

Hot Legion! The Pre-Expansion Patch is Coming!

Hot Legion! The Pre-Expansion Patch is Coming!

The Pre-Expansion Patch goes LIVE on July 19 - That's only FOUR DAYS from Now!

The order of battle, so to speak, goes like this:

The Burning Legion invades Azeroth. The demonic invasion draws the armies of Azeroth into the Broken Shores. All players can participate in this part of the expansion.

Also available immediately is a new feature allowing players to switch between specializations for different content. For example, a player can queue up in any role of their class while able to continue playing in another role. You'll be automatically switched to a suitable role at no cost.

The demon hunters come into the picture around the 2nd or 3rd week of August (if you pre-purchased, later otherwise), beginning at Level 98 with a set up similar to that of the death knight.

There you have it. It's here! Almost.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Does the Tanaan Jungle Even Matter Now?

Does the Tanaan Jungle Even Matter Now?

The next expansion, Legion, is a month and half away. Java has reached the max experience of Level 100. Her leveling is over.
Java's gear level is now i622, eclipsing Sista's i616.
Rakta's gear level of i634 is the result of a set of i640 gear from her Boost. In Rakta's defense, she hasn't been given many opportunities to work on her gear.
Java is a long way to matching Tiphaine's i674, but she's beginning to wonder if it even matters.
On day One of the release of Legion Java will likely finish the day with an entirely new and better set of Legion level gear. Whatever gear she is wearing will all be discarded.

That said, Java is going to at least make the journey to the Tanaan Jungle and establish her jungle base at Lion's Watch. What else she may decide to do is still up in the air.

We now know that garrisons will remain open in Draenor. What value they have in the world of Legion isn't clear. The addition in Legion of Class Halls and Class Campaigns have only made things more confusing. It seems that the ability to earn gold from garrison quests and missions, and from salvage yard operations, are being eliminated. Legion has it's own follower system similar to the garrison but tied to the Class Halls instead of to garrison missions. Legion's artifact and weapon quests and campaigns are wholly within Legion and have nothing to do with Draenor. Yet Legion has things like "order hall tables" that sound like Draenor Architect Tables and speak of traits, followers, and mission quests. So close to release, there are still many unanswered questions.

Here's my definition of Legion: "It's like your garrison, but it's not. It will work differently, but sort of the same." As for the artifact weapon that every player must make, that, too, seems a variation of the same thing. In Draenor starting players generally "make" their i705 weapon from crafted gear via the six stage process. Sounds suspiciously similar to me.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Of Baseball, Warcraft, and Conventions

Of Baseball, Warcraft, and Conventions

I've been to many conventions, but in most cases I was there for work related reasons. Going to a convention for fun is not something I thought I would ever bother with. For example, San Diego hosts one of the biggest Comic-Con conventions in the country every year, but I've never had the least interest in going to it.

The first non-work related convention I ever attended was some years back. I don't recall the specific year, but it was a Warcraft convention held in Anaheim. It was a unique time when I had been drawn into the player-vs-player (pvp) world, a style of play that I never thought would appeal to me. Thanks to the help of players like Tanis and Erik, not only did I learn how to pvp, we convinced Judi to join us in the battlegrounds. With that background, Judi and I decided to go to the Warcraft convention held that year in Anaheim. It was a lot of fun, picked up some nice goodies, and just watched wide-eyed at the elaborate costumes and the intensity of the players competing against each other as viewed on several big screens.

My second convention is in progress right now. This time the San Diego Convention Center is hosting the All Star game convention. There is everything you would expect at such an event. Plenty of food, lots of fun things to do (batting cages, kid sections, raffles, etc). Chevrolet is the sponsor and both Judi and I won raffles for All Star baseballs. Nice, since buying one of those baseballs cost like ten bucks.

There were countless stores to throw money at, too, but what we spent most of our time on was the exhibits. If you're not a baseball fan . . .  well, just think of the absolute best hobby you've ever had or have - it's that kind of feeling. There were exhibits from the Hall of Fame with glass cases displaying player jerseys from the earliest days of baseball. There was a special exhibit focused on baseball in San Diego that goes back decades.

I am most passionate about the Negro Leagues. Men have been playing baseball since the 1870's, but black players were banned from major league baseball until 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. Before that, black players had their own leagues, which lasted from 1920 until 1966 (although the last formal league folded in 1948). Just seeing all the names of the great black ball players of that age mounted on plaques was quite a thrill for me.

The biggest thrill, though, was getting the autographs of two players who played in the latter days of the Negro Leagues. I met Jim Robinson, an infielder who played Negro League ball from 1953 - 1958 (minus his stint in Korea in the army). I also met Cuban born Pedro Sierra, who began his baseball career in 1954 at the age of 16. He has had a colorful career, playing baseball wherever he could from 1954 to 1975 (minus his army stint from 1959 - 1962). He played ball in Cuba, the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

I have the greatest respect in the world for those players. It was momentous for me to meet them and talk to them.

There is also an exhibit on Women's baseball. Yes, women played baseball, too. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League existed from 1943 to 1954 with over 600 players. The league was founded to keep up the tradition of baseball while most every able bodied man was in uniform fighting in World War II. "A League of Their Own" is a funny and informing movie that depicts that era. Tom Hanks has the starring role.

Judi and I will be heading for the ballpark this afternoon to watch the All Star game in person on a bright, sunny, late afternoon day. To avoid the traffic, we are leaving our car at the Naval base and taking the trolley to Petco Park. I can't wait.

Special Note: My uncle James died recently. Judi and I had just visited with him and other relatives on our RV trip. I flew back to Memphis just days after we had returned. James loved baseball, but even more he loved watching the young players grow. He never missed a single game any of our relatives or friends played in and would drive long hours to make sure he was in the stands cheering them on. James and I were close and shared our love of baseball. I miss him. And I'll think of him in heaven, watching the game with me tonight.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Javajoo Gets Her Wings (almost)

Javajoo Gets Her Wings (almost)

Java is on the cusp of reaching one more goal of the family, her advancement to Level 100 and an official invitation to the Taanan Jungle. She needs just 51% more experience and is making final preparations from the Talaari Station trading post in Nagrand. After lining up some quests she decided to take the short flight to Hallvalor where most of the action takes place. That flight nearly got Java killed. She forgot she was now Alliance faction and the base she entered is held by the Horde. Her bodyguard follower, Delvar Ironfist, landed in a whirlwind of blows but fortunately both Java and Delvar were on the ground only seconds and took flight again, the Horde in hot pursuit. The Horde showed little patience and quickly turned back to their base.

[Ahem. The final thrust to level 100 will have to wait a bit. Warcraft is now beginning to infringe on another of my passions - baseball. San Diego is hosting the All Star game this year, and there are numerous events that have been going on since the 8th of July. Today I'm headed to the ballpark to see a double header: the Future's team representing fresh young talent, followed by the Legends Game where old timers play a game of softball and we get to drink beer and get autographs. The All Star game itself is on the 12th, and Judi and I both will be there. San Diego has hosted only one All Star game in its history - this is the second. I doubt I'll ever see another All Star game in person. It's that rare.]

In the meantime, I compiled some information about the current status of the Autumn Tea Green Guild:

Tiphaine, Level 100 Night Elf Blood Death Knight
Autumn Tea Green Alliance Guild Leader
Gear Level: i674
Professions: Blacksmith, Inscription

Rakta, Level 100 Human Protection Warrior
Autumn Tea Green Alliance Guild
Gear Level: i644
Professions: Alchemy, Jewelcrafting

Sistaphilia, Level 100 Worgen Feral Druid
Autumn Tea Green Alliance Guild
Gear Level: i616
Professions: Enchanting, Tailoring

Javajoo, Level 96 to Level 97/98/99 Draenei Protection Paladin
Autumn Tea Green Alliance Guild
Gear Level: i573 to i607
Professions: Herbalism, Mining

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Playing Catch Up

Playing Catch Up

Java is outrunning her reporting in her steady, unrelenting march to level 100. Here is a quick summary:

Saturday Java is still in Shadowmoon Valley running down quests, adding to her garrison resources, and building up her gear the old fashioned way (no more gold). Killed a level 92 elite (tangled with him by accident) and had fun doing it. After the elite kill she reached Level 92. The garrison got it's expected renovation and the place is starting to look for real. She has five followers, two of which were upgraded to five skills instead of just three. Okay, make that eight followers now.

Java has to make a decision about her professions. She has been using mining and skinning to aid in leveling (one mining node is worth almost 3,000 experience). As Java levels, though, that amount will get smaller. No one in the family has Herbalism so either mining or skinning must go. Java decided to dump skinning - the demon hunter will get skinning when she is added to the family. On Sunday night she racked up Level 93 and Level 94. Monday afternoon brought Level 95.

It's a new week and new challenges. Java is now working her way through Talador. Her garrison has a Level 2 Barracks, she has her own bodyguard, and eleven followers. She also reached Level 96 and made significant gear upgrades from i515 to i573.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Javajoo Enters the World of Draenor

Javajoo Enters the World of Draenor

For the NINTH time a Wild Family member begins the journey to Draeni. Five times the Horde have made that journey and built their personal garrisons. Javajoo is the fourth Alliance member to make that same journey.

Java is still in the early stages of building her garrison, but has already mastered Level 91 and has three followers. There is still a great deal to be done. Java took her hearthstone to Stormwind. When she arrived  Chaitee was waiting for her. She handed Java a large satchel. Java grunted at the weight, and gulped when she saw it was full of gold. There was a note from Tiphaine attached to the bag. "Spend it well. From here on you're on your own."
Java's gear score stood at i416 when Chaitee handed Java the bag. When the gold was gone and Tiphaine had finished crafting gear for her, Java's gear level rose to i515. Now it's time to test how well that holds up in the march to reach level 100.

Special Recognition: 

In recognition of the accomplishments of the Autumn Green Tea Guild, Guild Leader Tiphaine has commissioned a new tabard for the guild expressing hope, growth, and preparedness for the coming Legion.


Before 
After