Being Horde is HARD

Being Horde is HARD

Wench thought that dealing with the Alliance enemy was hard enough. She has now learned that not only is the alliance determined to kill her, but the very fauna of forest and vale also attack her at every step, and just picking a flower can be deadly dangerous. She will not let Kul Tiras beat her, despite her fears. Twice now, she has been driven away from her immediate goal at the bridge, blood smearing her gear. Her blood.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she must wonder where her Horde friends are. She could use the company. As well as someone to watch her back.

When Azeroth was Young

Wildshard has been around for a long time. A very long time. He was even married once. Really! She left him, though, taking the child away and never returning. Wild used to tease her and call her Wildswench, and there are days when Wild wondered if she left because of the nickname.

Wildshard will never know the answer. What he does know is that the daughter of that sad marriage grew into a young woman and went to find her father. And found him. And adopted the name of Wildswench for herself, though she sometimes shortens it to just Wench. As for the mother, Wench is silent. And some nights Wild weeps.

Given the unfolding history, a happy reunion was not in the cards. Wildshard has hopes, though, and tries to keep track of his young daughter. To date they have not met in person, and it seems that is not likely to happen any time soon.

In fact, getting the two together may be impossible. Wildshard is aligned with the Alliance Faction. Wildswench rejected Wildshard's Alliance and chose to join the Horde.

Wild's worst fear will be the day his daughter greets him on the battlefield.

The Arathi Highlands

Wench was introduced to the Arathi Highlands for the first time, and she admitted that it was an awesome sight. This is the part of the world when it was young. This is the time when Azeroth was the only world. And it came with a treat. Wench mounted her Blue Wind Rider and nearly fell off when she realized that SHE COULD FLY! Yes, in the Highlands, she can fly.

Wench is still young, and gets to see what the world was before it became so complicated. She immediately leaped into the sky to explore. She practically broke into giggles when she saw the ancient herbs that dotted the terrain. Yes, Wench is an Herbalist. Back at Zandalar herb farming maxes out at 150. In the Highlands she could farm up to 300, and she gleefully spent time finding them. Bruiseweed, Kingsblood, Wild steelbloom, Goldthorn, Khadgar's whiskers, and others. She was a child at play.

There was also business to conduct. Stromholm is the fortress that both the Horde and the Alliance lay claim to. Wildshard has seen the horrific fighting and bloody carnage. When the time comes, Wench will take her place among the Horde against the Alliance. Wildshard, given his oath to the Alliance, will be an opponent. This is the battle that has waged since the dawn of the two factions.

Wildshard felt a sadness come over him. He did not let it linger, though. Somewhere along the line the two will test each other, veteran and youngster, father and daughter.

Interesting Stats:

Wildshard stats:          Gear 353, Weapon 350, AP Level 35 plus 17%

Wildswench Stats:      Gear 297, Weapon 298, AP Level 16 plus 92%

This is Home (Note - Still having trouble with pics)

Wildswench Reaches the Magic iLevel 120

Wildswench Reaches the Magic iLevel 120 (Mar 21 1019)

Wench started her run as a boosted iLevel 110. Now her gearscore is 274. Her AP is Level 12. She picked up Herbalism (150/150) and Alchemy (77/150). She loves gathering herbs and fishing. As a single woman without a guild she must do everything herself.

Happyface gave her a grant of 50,000 gold. She will have to earn the rest. She has increased her gold through selling herbs and fish, and now has 67,000 gold.

Wench wondered how the other, older Alliance family are doing and how she compares.

Her stats: Gearscore is 274. AP 12.

 Mahakeya: Gearscore: 314. AP 19.

Sista: Gearscore:304.AP 23

Wildshard: Gearscore 353. AP 35.

Update: As of March 23rd, Wench's gearscore is up to 291. AP is still 12. Better gear will come when she can start getting azerite power.

Wench is determined to take on the Alliance at Kul Tiras. So far she has managed to take a cabin in a wooded area, killing the Alliance that had taken up residence. The cabin is hers, now. It's a slow process, often having to fight off 3-4 enemies at once. She does not always win, but she just gets more determined to succeed. 

Wildshard Strikes Gold

Wildshard Strikes Gold

Wildshard made a Naxxramas that turned into an astounding secret - at least to Wild. He began his run normally, completing the sweep. Then he reset the instance and set it to 25 man. From there he reset again for the second run. The set and reset works for ten resets and then Nax will refuse a reset. It takes a few days before Nax opens again.

Well, this time Wild did his ten runs and then on a whim ran an 11th reset. It ran. He ran a 12th - and the reset was still working. Wild reset Nax 15 times! and then could have gone again except that Wild had no more room in his bags. Wildshard is not sure if that was a bugged run - or a change in the settings that allow more runs. Wild will test Nax again soon to see what is going on. He got 23 frostweave bags for that run, which is huge.

Even better, Chaitee rode huge wave of mat buying and prices just went crazy:

Satchel - went from 190 to 498

Embersilk - 375 to 450

Frostweave - 150 to 397 Wow!

Hexweave - 850 to 980

Naxxramas Update: A day later Sista sent Atkar out for another Nax run. Atkar HATES those Nax runs. Atkar's warrior gear is just not compatible with tailoring, and the run was taking forever. Frustrated, Atkar balked and refused to finish. "I'M A WARRIOR!" She bellowed, "not a damned seamstress!"

Well, a frostweave run was still needed, so Sista was forced to set aside her own business and do the run. She didn't mind, and she was hoping that the run was still bugged so she could get extra mats. Sista teleported to Dalaran and entered the portal at the Wyrmrest Temple. She came out of the portal at Crystalsong Forest, not at the temple. Hmmm. Well, the Gods of Wow just had this large patch and a lot of things look different now. Sista just sighed. She ported back to Dalaran, which has been transformed into a completely new arrangement. Sista checked off the portals that were available, and eventually found the portal to Wyrmrest Temple, and then hunted down the location of Naxxramas. Whew!

It will take some time to get comfortable with the new portal setup, but overall Sista was okay with it. Sista made the Nax run and this time she got her ten runs, and then Nex shut her out. So things are back to normal. 

==== PATCH 8-1-5 ====

 03/12/2019

So that's the patch. Honestly, I didn't think it would be a big deal. Normally there is little that affects Wild or the rest of the family of Horde and Alliance. But a couple things caught my attention, and twenty minutes later I realized that this patch is huge. Actually, the patch is overwhelming. It's practically choked with stuff to the point there seems no way to encompass it all.

It's hard enough to keep two characters active (Wild and Wildswench, of course) , but trying to fit even a small piece of this patch looks nearly impossible to learn. More on this later . . . 

Wildswench Wakes up to the Patch

 

It was early morning on a clear day in Orgrimmar. Wench woke up at the Wyverns Tail Inn, as is her usual. But something felt just a little . . .  different. Smothering a large yawn, she checked on her mailbox, but it was empty. Sigh. None of the Auction House bids she'd put up had been sold yet.

Then she noticed something odd about the Valor of Honor entrance that led outside the fortress. Shaking off the feeling, she hopped on her wind rider and flew into the Cleft of Shadow to get access to the Zuldazar portal.

To her surprise, the portal was gone! How was she going to get to Zuldazar? She asked herself. Just what is going on? Hmmm. Well, another way to get there is through the portal at Dalaran. The portal to Zuldazar was there to her relief, but the other portals were gone. Getting a bit frustrated, she ported back to Orgimmar. Everything was different!

WOW! The Cleft of Shadow was completely changed! The tunnel leading out of Orgimmar now held all of the portals. The designer did a great job, What was once a simple tunnel was now the center for portal traffic. Nice.

Now, if only she could add new portals that she doesn't yet have.

Too Long as Alliance

Too Long as Alliance

When Wildswench made her boost and settled into Orgrimmar as Horde, she knew there would be disconnects. Wildshard has been on the Alliance side for so long he was more or less useless. Wench was not much better off. Orgrimmar was an alien city as far as her recollections about the place.

But she learned. She contacted Happyface in the Undercity, and through him, she discovered the Horde Auction House at Orgrimmar. Through hit and miss, she discovered the Drag, and a set of Portals, expanding her knowledge of places she can use and access.

On the Alliance side Stormwind City was still the centerpiece, nicely located with it's own Auction House as well as a series of portals useful for Wildshard, such as the Bastion of Twilight and Deepholm Portals.

But Wench had a problem - She could not recall where the outside portals were at Orgrimmar. Dredging up her memory, she recalled a circle of stones holding those portals. They are easy to spot once you've seen them the first time, but hard to find on first look. Wench spent a frustrating period trying to locate them.

Wench finally figured it out. There are three towers for flight paths that line up in a single line. Follow that line and the Western Earthshine is laid out in a circle of portal stones.

Having ferreted these things out for herself, she now set her goal. The Bastion of Twilight will be her first target. She could use a "Potion of Treasure Finding" to increase the take. Atkar can make the potions, which is convenient to the Alliance.

But Wench is NOT in the Alliance! She is Horde, and has no access to Alliance potions. Wench is a Tailor/Herbalist. She is focused on her herbing because it speeds up her leveling.  Then she took a look at tailoring again, and , , , well, she changed her mind. Since she can't get help from the alliance guild, she would be all alone in learning and crafting tailoring from scratch.

A better secondary profession is Alchemy. Alchemists need a lot of herbs to make potions and such. Wench had a little twinge of sadness in leaving the tailoring world, but she is excited to take on the role of flasks, potions, and other valuable tools. Wench dropped tailoring and is now starting on her herbing and alchemy work.

With that straightened out, Wench went to find the Terrace of Crafters and the Herb trainer, Jah Den Fla. He has FIVE quests already laid out for her.

Later . . .  Things were going well for Wench's herbing, and she gained considerable knowledge. So she was very confused when the training stopped abruptly.

Wench's next task was to visit Wayrest Manor, far to the north in Drustvar. There stood a Dungeon portal. In order to continue her profession she would have to run a dungeon. Wench had hoped to get more training before getting her legs knocked out from under her, but there was no way around it.

Mahakeya knows the feeling. She needed a lot of help from friends to get the necessary dungeons that landed her the great fishing pole Keya proudly has. Tiphaine once held that status, too, but she has fallen behind and would have to wade through another set of dungeon runs. Tiphaine is not inclined.

So, time will tell if Wench gets that chance. If she manages to get into the Meitha guild, perhaps that may happen.

By the way, Wildswench is now iLevel 116. Her gear score is 249, and Artifact Power is AP 7.

The Young Wildswench

Level 116 and Growing Fast

Happyface Weeps

Happyface Weeps

The Horde Auction House at the Undercity is a travesty.  Happyface was torn between weeping at the sight of the poor quality and low quantity of goods, and weeping in relief that the Horde Auction House has been resurrected.

The well laid out and lovingly managed Stormwind Auction House is well known. The Undercity Auction House is, well, not so well known. It isn't much to look at, but there are goods to be bought and sold. Happyface is up for the challenge, however, and knew that the customers would come once the word gets out that it's back in business. In addition to that, the Auction House in Orgrimmar is also available to Wench. Just a reminder - all of the Auction Houses are linked to a central processing center regardless of faction.

Meanwhile, Wench helped orchestrate an assault with the Horde and established a foothold in Tiraguarde Sound/Boralus. One corner is now in the hands of the Horde.

Frankly, Wench was curious how that was going to turn out. Now she knows. The foothold has access to the sea and a path that leads into the interior. There is also a flight path, but strangely, it goes nowhere.

Wench is now Level 112 plus 14%. Her Artifact Power (AP) is Level 3 plus 75% .

Update: Her Gear score is i219. AP Lvl 4 plus 45%.

New Update: Wench is now Level 114 plus 40%. AP is Level 5. Gearscore is i242. 

Wench also did some fishing. Using a simple fishing pole and fishing without lures, she still caught enough slimey mackeral, sand shifter, and midnight salmon catches to make 1,440 gold (after selling the fish on the Auction House).

PS - Wench made her decision on her professions. She will be a Tailor, of course. And she will be an Herbalist. Farming and selling herbs appeals to her.

Note: At present, no pics are available due to a glitch that will hopefully be fixed soon.