Sista Gets Fired Up

PS - The below is a long post covering two posts added together. Sista wanted to be sure her successes weren't going to over shadow Atkar's troubles, which are also included. Hope that isn't too confusing.

Sista Gets Fired Up

Sista has been trying out some additional gear to determine which gives her both the best damage dealing and the best protection.

Her standard setup is a two hand i232 Polearm that averages 149-278 DPS.

She also recently earned an i254 off-hand to go with an i233 fist weapon. As much as she wanted to use that off-hand, it just didn't deliver the damage she needed. Too bad.

Being the ornery type, she decided that a two-hand staff was what she really wanted, being a druid and all. She paid a bargain price off the Auction House, which she paid for out of her own pocket (1,700 gold). She is much happier now with the i239 staff, which deals 194-263 DPS. 

Things may look slow, but Sista has actually been very busy. She rolled over another level and is now LEVEL 116!  She is 36% toward the next level.

Her gear score is now 257. Her AP is Level 7, 48% toward the next level.

Now for "The Atkar Situation"

Atkar is a mess. She was forced into picking up two professions, Tailoring and Alchemy, both of which she hates. Her single room at the Snug Harbor Inn is anything but snug. She has yet to fully unpack from the move from Dalaran to Kul Tiras. Atkar has little to do other than complete the once a day tailor crafting and whenever Sista decides to make an embersilk run and needs a potion to boost the take. Atkar is lobbying for a pool table at the inn so she'll have something to do.

She did manage to make some progress sorting through her junk. She still needs to do a thorough cleanup and sell/destroy. Chaitee offered help, and Atkar might take her up on it. Her reagent bank is 90% full of stuff from her time as a jewel crafter - another failed profession foisted on her that she didn't want. Chaitee chimed in again that she could help sell off the mats and get something back from the Auction House.

As far as her leveling goes, here is where she's at: Still stuck at Level 110. Which really sucks. Her gear score is i177. She is living with an i180 two-handed mace.

[WHAT? Yep, Atkar seems to have forgotten the type of gear she needs, which is a sword and shield]

She's a Protection Warrior (did I forget to mention that?) and she keeps getting mail gear tossed into her room. One day it might even be useful [no, it won't, she needs plate gear].

She has some random plate gear crushing a box full of unused cloth gear somewhere. Oh, to make things really clear - Tiphaine hasn't offered any gold and won't, not until Atkar becomes useful. She has less than 5k gold to her name.

She still has a shortage of space and will have to keep up the de-cluttering. Tiphaine wanted her to make a gold run, but she only has 77 slots free, not enough space to warrant a run.

What she really wants is the time to at least reach iLevel111. She made her first foray into Dustvar to see how she would do.

WARNING! This will be embarrassing.

Atkar with a Two-Hander? Really!

  There is an elite at the bank in Dustvar that is very hard to kill. All of the family who have taken it on have won that fight. Atkar arrived in Dustvar and saw that a player was already engaged with the elite and having a tough time of it. Atkar weighed in. Between the two of us we killed the elite, but we both knew that neither of us would have survived had it been a solo fight.

Simply stated, Atkar needs practice. But it's worse than that. Some of her weapons can't be used because she doesn't have the right gear! Shield Slam requires a shield duh! Revenge requires a one-handed melee weapon! Devastate also requires a shield! How Atkar managed not to die is a mystery, given the situation. Atkar needs better gear, but she won't likely get much stuff until she gets to level 111. Quite a conundrum. Nobody knows what happened to the original gear she owned. It's apparently gone.

What she has now is a two-handed mace - which is worse than worthless in the hands of a protection warrior.

Okay, Atkar is finally getting her act together. She now has a simple one-hand sword (i186) and a decent shield (also i186). Finally, all of her spells and gear are in working order. And the price was cheap, too.

Atkar's overall gear is now i178.  She's barely started leveling at 14% toward level 111.

She has a Level 1 Artifact and is 36% of the way to the next level. She has a long way to go. But at least she's wearing the right gear. Sigh.

Atkar Shines with Correct Gear

Another Day Another Level Sista Progress Report

Another Day Another Level - Sista Progress Report

Sista is now Level 112. She is 34% of the way to level 113. Her gear score is a very nice i232. Her enemies are a lot more cautious now. At least the smart ones are. She finally had some news about her Artifact Power, which is now AP Level 3, 20% toward the next level.

Sista also made progress on her Tailoring. She is now 76/150 and has learned to craft a key item: embroidered deep sea satin, which is used in virtually every pattern. Farming deep sea satin will be a high priority.

Wait, Sista hasn't finished for the day. After further review, here are her new stats.
Sista is now Level 113! 6% of the next level. Gear score is still i232. No change there. But she's made it to AP Level 4 now, 63% toward the next level.

Snow and Ice. Sista is now Level 114! Gear score raised to i237. AP level 5, 41% toward next level.

Back to the Auction Grind - Chaitee is clamoring for more bag production. A small window opened with higher than normal pricing. It won't last long.

Sista is the bag maker, but she has to have the mats to get started. Silkweave bags (24 slots) were first, listed at a rare selling price of 299 gold each. She only had a limited number and hoped to get them sold quickly. Java can farm the silkweave but it's boringly slow work and she hates it. She refused to go, knowing that Tiphaine was off somewhere else.

Frostweave mats and bags (20 slot) are at the other end of the scale. The cloth is cheap, as low as 1g per piece, and can be easily farmed in the Naxxramas raid. Being cheap, Chaitee even bought a few hundred frostweave cloth, expecting to still earn a profit. Wildshard even took a turn farming the place. There's a story behind that somewhere.

Wild's "abode" is a disaster. It's even worse since he is still without a guild and therefore has no access to storage that a guild would have provided.

That didn't stop Wild, though. He even volunteered to make a Twilight Highlands run as well as spend a long hour farming the endless hordes flowing out of the Maw to get embersilk cloth.

Even Atkar finally got into the process. The mats Java gathered (cinderbloom, from Deepholm, which is a lot easier to farm than silkweave) went to make potions that increase the loot from the hordes coming out of the Maw.

Most of the above materials is "old tech," despite that they're still worth farming and making. However, the Battle of Azeroth compression by the "dumbing down" of almost everything is getting felt across the gathering and bag production business. A prime example is that while this report was being written, the 299 gold price of Silkweave Bags dropped to 200 gold. Just like that. Suddenly, the market for bags, whether silkweave, embersilk, or frostweave, became useless. At least until the next belch from some farmer dumping goods on the market.

Sista Prepares to "Hit the Islands"

What Do I Do Now?

What Do I Do Now?

Chaitee 's work on the Auction House takes no more than five minutes or less these days. There just isn't much activity. Sista did make a large haul of frostweave that produced 14 frostweave bags, but she has little to else to sell. Embersilk is all but forgotten, and the hexweave still takes days to craft. There is also rampant dumping, forcing prices below the profit margin.Sista finally had to make a decision. She could continue to try and scrape up old content materials to make old content bags, or she could see how she might be able to farm the new mats that are making all the gold.

Sista wished Keya could do some of that farming, but she is not a Tailor. Well, Sista groaned, it seems she'll have to go out and farm mats herself. She pictured herself riding around the countryside, collecting mats while earning Artifact Power toward getting to level 120.

So, what mats should she focus on getting? That was an easy question to answer - she needs to collect Deep Sea Satin and Tidespray Linen. Then came the kicker. Both of those mats can only be gained by killing enemy humanoids, not creatures, not flowers, not rocks, no. Humanoids only.

Sista is still Level 110, and is only 29% of the way to level 111. Her gear score is a so-so i189. She'll be killing things in bear form. Her experience in Tailoring is 61/150. Fortunately, she gets to keep her Cloth Scavenging, which includes humanoid kills.

Both Keya and Java immediately complained at the lost questing time, but Tiphaine stood firm, giving Sista time to work on much needed materials collecting.

Later in the Day - Sista got off to a rough start, but after a grind of killing and questing she could say with confidence that she was making progress. Sista collected 35 tidespray linen (she only needs 15) and 5 Deep Sea Satin (she needs 30). Sista wished the number was the reverse - she needs 30 Deep Sea Satin and 15 tidespray linen to make a deep sea satin bag. Farming these mats will remain part of Sista's leveling since the best farming areas are in the islands, and Sista doesn't have access to them yet.

Sista is getting used to killing in bear form, and she's starting to like it again. It's been awhile since she'd been out and about. Her gear score is up to 191, which included a small upgrade. She is on the verge of hitting the next level, but she stopped the killing before she realized she was that close. She has to go find something to kill, like NOW!

Update - Sista is Level 111! Sista already had a plan for this day. She went to the Trade District, opened a ticket on the Auction House, and bought a new weapon. The new two-hand staff jumped her gear score from 191 to 197! Sista didn't bat an eye when paying the 2,200 gold it cost. AND, Keya volunteered to craft a set of i225 gear to go with the staff. Keya sent 7 pieces of gear, which torpedoed her gear score from 197 to 217. Sista is ready to rock-n-roll!

Sistaphilia Rocks!

Battle For Azeroth Pathfinder, Part One

Battle For Azeroth Pathfinder, Part One

Yes, there is a new Pathfinder for Keya and family to sort out.

(1) Battle for Azeroth Explorer.

Note that any family member can be used to get parts done. In fact, three of the first six requirements are already done.

Explore Drustvar                            100%

Explore Stormsong Valley            100%

Explore Tiragarde Sound               100%

                                                                To Do

Nazmir                                                  66.7%    Primal Wetlands, Nazwatha, The Frogmarsh

Zuldazar                                               66.7%    Blood Gate, Atal'Gral, The Sliver, Zeb Ahari         

Vol'Dun                                                 100%                          

                                               

Keya continues to work on her gear. She has reached AP Level 16 and 20% toward the next level. Her gear score is now i294.

Gear Update: Keya took a chance on a weapon upgrade from the Auction House. She loves her warglaives and had hoped to get a better set of the same type. She had to settle on a more powerful, but ugly, replacement for her i281 warglaive. She kept that weapon and replaced the other with an i325 fist weapon. Like Keya said, it's an ugly combination, but it increased her weapon level from i294 to i298, an improvement of five levels. 

Okay, since the family is asking, Keys spent 17k on the upgrade. And that's a bargain. Most of the prices were in the 30K plus range.

Keya and Her New Gear

The Arathi Highlands Doubled

The Arathi Highlands Doubled

Keya has been getting bloodied and muddied. She was given six quests and sent out to collect at least 20 items from each list. This is not a world for solo work. But that is what Keya is doing. There may be a few guilds romping across the scenery and taking out groups of elites, but what Keya saw was mostly small, unafiliated bands of players. Sometimes Keya managed solo, sometimes she had random help, and other times she ran for her life. Every encounter included an elite or multiple elites, as well as the major ELITE to bring down or GROUPS of elites. Pick your desired bloodbath.

Keya has died three times now, and she considers that good progress. Despite being out there solo, she has helpers. Keya is not shy about pulling enemies and playing the temporary role of tank while still dealing damage. Sometimes she even gets heals. Sometimes she runs her tail off when she loses her help and sometimes she gets away . .  and other times she doesn't.

 Keya isn't stupid. She doesn't just run in to every fight. As always she checks the circumstances and makes a determination if this situation or that situation is worth engaging in. Sometimes she starts things herself when it seems safe to do so.

She still has two quests to finish in the Highlands. Her gear score is now i285. Her AP is Level 12 and is 82% toward the next level.

The above is yesterday's news. Keya is out of quests in the Arathi Highlands now. Early this morning she encountered an in progress battle with a powerful elite. The battle was already joined, the loose group of combatants wrestling the monster they fought. Keya literally leaped into the fray. The beast we fought had a knockback that made it hard to hit. Keya turned the tide by using her Infernal Strike to leap into the middle of the fight. Every time the beast threw her out, she leaped back in. The elite beast went down.

Zidormi's Bridge to the Old World

Keya's stats budged slightly, gaining a gear score of i287. Her AP is now Level 14, 11% toward the next level.

There are no more quests now in the Highlands. Keya roamed all the way to the great bridge and talked to Zidormi, who maintains the Highlands. Beyond the bridge is the original world of Azeroth. Keya wandered around, fascinated to see the world in it's original creation. But there was nothing to earn there, only memories.