From Impossible to Inevitable?
Last week Jocy was sure she would never be done with the Awakened Faction reputation grind that haunted her and had her counting fragmented apexis crystals in her sleep.
Still, she went resolutely to Tanaan, prepared to press forward, as daunting as it seemed. Jocy made visits to the Ruins of Kra'nak to get fragments from the rare elite there, with only one other player around to help, and that cost Tormmok a life - and earned her a pair of fragments. Twice Jocy reanimated ten dead soldiers in the Fangrila swamps to prod the Night Haunter into attacking, earning more fragments from the kills. Jocy - belatedly I have to admit - also discovered that helping to kill the elites in the Rumble in the Jungle sometimes drops fragments - even if you aren't on the quest! Hanging around the Rumble and helping out took time, but that's how Jocy got the last two fragments to gather in another 1500 rep.
As a bright day dawns on Saturday morning, Jocy can confidently (maybe) predict that next week she'll reach Revered with the Awakened and complete the Draenor Pathfinder achievement. Unless something goes wrong. Unless her math is off. Unless she forgets to pick up the Rumble in the Jungle quest. Unless . . . Can one be both confident and panicky at the same time?
Here's the current status of Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: Revered (DONE)
Saberstalkers: Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: 100! (DONE)
Awakened: Honored -> 7500 -> 9000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Obviously, Jocy needs 20 fragments to finish this. Rumble in the Jungle drops 5-7 fragments once a week. Doing only the Rumble each week, it could take Jocy four weeks to get enough fragments.
Jocy doesn't plan to take that route. What fun would that be? So here's her plan.
(1) Do the Rumble in the Jungle this week (5-7 fragments)
(2) Kill the Night Haunter. Jocy has had good luck finding and killing the elusive elite (1-3 fragments). I think I can kill the Haunter once a day.
(3) If she gets the 10 fragments, Hurray! If still short of fragments (Boo!), she'll hang around the Rumble and horn in on someone else's Rumble and hope to get the rest.
(4) Failing the above, Jocy will give the Kra'nak elite a try, although it's one of the few elites that Jocy has trouble soloing, and I can't be sure it drops fragments if Jocy doesn't have the Kra'nak mission. Jocy's one kill of the elite was while on a mission, and Tormmok gave his life to the cause. Jocy had already burned her save me spells and was pretty low on health when the elite went down.
(5) Last resort, keep plugging away until Jocy gets those last fragments or another week arrives and Jocy gets another Rumble, which will then seal the deal. That's the "inevitable" part.
By the way, Tormmok is now past the halfway mark in leveling (5,030 toward 10,000) and has i654 gear and an i660 weapon. The max is i675. I'm not sure I'm counting levels properly, though. I never did spend much time learning the ins and outs of followers.
On another topic, Wild (remember him?) reached a long sought milestone. Wild is a fisherman, and has been working on earning the one hundred Nat Pagle marks needed to buy a new mount. Wild reached that goal Saturday night. It took more than 10,000 fishing casts - hours and hours of deadly boring monotony, I know, but thanks to Wild the Wild family now has the Crimson Water Spider mount, which can walk on water. Sorry, didn't get a pic, Blizz shut me down this morning before I thought to take one.
Jocy has her eye on another mount, the Reins of the Corrupted Dreadwing. Yes, another bird mount. I really want this bird. Jocy needs about 40,000 more apexis crystals to reach the 150,000 needed to acquire it from the Awakened faction. And no, there is no pic of Jocy astride it, since she doesn't have it, yet. Duh.
PS: I'm 58% through The Martian. It's as good as ya'll have been telling me.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Thursday, October 1, 2015
The Grueling Grind
The Grueling Grind
I once thought the Saberstalkers would be the toughest rep grind to gain the Draenor Pathfinder achievement, but on Wednesday morning that challenge fell. The Saberstalkers are now Revered. The final accomplishment did not come from the Rumble in the Jungle or a string of elite monkey kills - it came from the daily quest Tooth and Claw, one of the easiest quests to complete. A nice start to Jocy's morning.
The nice start turned very cold soon after. Jocy chased treasures in three different zones, spending an enormous amount of time, collecting all sorts of things, but none of them got her any closer to 100 treasures. After some more running around, this time in Tanaan for Unseen Influence, the three apexis crystals she needs for today's daily still elude her.
Jocy and Tormmok are down to very small numbers, but each win gets ever harder to find. Of the three treasures still needed: A last garrison bag in Bladespire Citadel; an elite kill in Nagrand; and the last - a parrot drops a key which then opens a locked chest. With that, Jocy earned Master Treasure Hunter.
All that is left is the Awakened. Jocy is 7 of 10 for the daily quest today, and finding the remainder will be a real chore. Jocy spent considerable time in the Fangrila swamps tracking the Night Haunter elite. The elite wouldn't come out and play until Jocy collected the souls of the dead scattered in the swamp. Once Jocy had the ten items needed to flush the creature out of the shadows, it attacked immediately, catching Jocy by surprise. A number of dinosaurs decided to join in the battle as well. It was along slog, but the Night Huanter died, and Jocy got one fragmented apexis for all that work.
Still two to go. There is a cave in the swamp. When she was a young level 100 she nearly drowned attempting to get a few of those fragments in that cave. There was one treadure left that Jocy couldn't figure out how to reach. Armed and with Tormmok at her side, Jocy delved into the cave once again. The treasure wasn't deep in the water, it was high of a spire of rock. It was well guarded and the whole area had to be cleared out. Then a way had to be found to get to it. Ultimately, Jocy was able to scrabble up on pointed rock, found a thin rope she had to highwire across, and then she had to jump to another narrow spire where the treasure lay. All that work for one more fragment, now at 9 of 10 required. Somehow she has to find that tenth fragment. And then try to find another ten the next day. . . and the next. Here's the math:
Best Case:
Today - 1500 rep (if Jocy gets that 10th fragment) = 7500 rep
Tomorrow - 10 fragments = 9000 rep
Day 3 = 10,500 rep
Day 4 = Revered and done
Worst Case:
The weekly Rumble in the Jungle gives 5-7 fragments, but if Jocy can only find enough fragments to turn in once a week, it would take four weeks to reach Revered.
But, hey, I'm on page one of "The Martian," a book I want to read, even if at the expense of slowing down my march to the Pathfinder achievement.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: Revered (DONE)
Saberstalkers: Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: -> 86 -> 97 -> 100! (DONE)
Awakened: Honored -> 4500 -> 6000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Progess on The Martian: 11%
I once thought the Saberstalkers would be the toughest rep grind to gain the Draenor Pathfinder achievement, but on Wednesday morning that challenge fell. The Saberstalkers are now Revered. The final accomplishment did not come from the Rumble in the Jungle or a string of elite monkey kills - it came from the daily quest Tooth and Claw, one of the easiest quests to complete. A nice start to Jocy's morning.
The nice start turned very cold soon after. Jocy chased treasures in three different zones, spending an enormous amount of time, collecting all sorts of things, but none of them got her any closer to 100 treasures. After some more running around, this time in Tanaan for Unseen Influence, the three apexis crystals she needs for today's daily still elude her.
Jocy and Tormmok are down to very small numbers, but each win gets ever harder to find. Of the three treasures still needed: A last garrison bag in Bladespire Citadel; an elite kill in Nagrand; and the last - a parrot drops a key which then opens a locked chest. With that, Jocy earned Master Treasure Hunter.
All that is left is the Awakened. Jocy is 7 of 10 for the daily quest today, and finding the remainder will be a real chore. Jocy spent considerable time in the Fangrila swamps tracking the Night Haunter elite. The elite wouldn't come out and play until Jocy collected the souls of the dead scattered in the swamp. Once Jocy had the ten items needed to flush the creature out of the shadows, it attacked immediately, catching Jocy by surprise. A number of dinosaurs decided to join in the battle as well. It was along slog, but the Night Huanter died, and Jocy got one fragmented apexis for all that work.
Still two to go. There is a cave in the swamp. When she was a young level 100 she nearly drowned attempting to get a few of those fragments in that cave. There was one treadure left that Jocy couldn't figure out how to reach. Armed and with Tormmok at her side, Jocy delved into the cave once again. The treasure wasn't deep in the water, it was high of a spire of rock. It was well guarded and the whole area had to be cleared out. Then a way had to be found to get to it. Ultimately, Jocy was able to scrabble up on pointed rock, found a thin rope she had to highwire across, and then she had to jump to another narrow spire where the treasure lay. All that work for one more fragment, now at 9 of 10 required. Somehow she has to find that tenth fragment. And then try to find another ten the next day. . . and the next. Here's the math:
Best Case:
Today - 1500 rep (if Jocy gets that 10th fragment) = 7500 rep
Tomorrow - 10 fragments = 9000 rep
Day 3 = 10,500 rep
Day 4 = Revered and done
Worst Case:
The weekly Rumble in the Jungle gives 5-7 fragments, but if Jocy can only find enough fragments to turn in once a week, it would take four weeks to reach Revered.
But, hey, I'm on page one of "The Martian," a book I want to read, even if at the expense of slowing down my march to the Pathfinder achievement.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: Revered (DONE)
Saberstalkers: Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: -> 86 -> 97 -> 100! (DONE)
Awakened: Honored -> 4500 -> 6000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Progess on The Martian: 11%
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Tormmok Runs Amuck
Tormmok Runs Amuck
Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Tormmok may be a giant, but he has a pea for a brain. Jocy took Tormmok for a walk through the middle of the enemy, daring all comers to stop us, just to prove we could. Somewhat astonishing, the two of them walked all the way past the Dark Portal and into the Iron Horde, one of the daily quests, killing as we went. Jocy knew the place well and directed Tormmok to take out the mobs in front of a building that had a treasure Jocy was after. It started well, with Tormmok killing the mobs in the immediate vicinity. Jocy was stunned, though, when Tormmok went after more mobs, and then more, and then, holy enrage! the two were in the middle of a deluge of mobs.
Of course, Tormmok eventually died. That's at least partly Jocy's part, she would have to admit. There were many riflemen in the enemy mobs. One rifleman would hit Tormmok, and he'd run after the mob, gathering more mobs around him. The riflemen went down fast, but by the time he'd killed them all there was a lot of angry mobs surrounding them both. Ranged bad guys are just too enticing for Tormmok to resist. Jocy had no trouble finishing off the last of the dregs around her, but she was without her bodyguard for the next hour. At least she got her treasure. Jocy admitted to missing the big lug - just a little.
As an aside, I wish I could figure a way to see Tormmok's health bar so Jocy could heal him. Wait! I just found an addon called BodyguardHealth. Installed it and it looks like this will work. Hurry up, Tormmok, and get back to the Barracks so we can check it out!
The new addon works just fine, displaying Tormmok's health, making it easy for Jocy to heal him. Jocy and Tormmok tore through Rumble in the Jungle (in a group) and barely took a scratch. Then Jocy helped a player two-man the third and final boss - Eyepiercer - while still tangling with one of the monkey elites. It took a little while but we took Eyepiercer down and the guy got his quest done.
Jocy has developed a final plan to complete Pathfinder:
Master Treasure - This is a grind it out by the end of the week to locate the 14 treasures she needs.
Saberstalkers - Next week she'll earn another 3500 rep for Rumble in the Jungle, which is only 475 rep short. She can get that done by killing 19 elites. That's five sweeps along the Fangrila shoreline killing the crabs there. (Actually, no, see below)
Awakened - Everthing hinges on Jocy's ability to find ten apexis fragments each day for the daily Unseen Influence quest. If she can get that 1500 rep per day, it will take her five days to complete. I'm just not sure Jocy can find fifty more of those things. Elites do occasionally drop them (all three Rumble in the Jungle elites drop a few) but it is not near enough. Jocy is worried about this one. There is also the Medallion of the Legion, which grants 1,000 rep - but that entails doing four dungeon runs, which isn't very likely.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: -> 86 -> 97 (need 100)
Awakened: Honored -> 4500 -> 6000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Honored -> 4425 -> 8125 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Things don't stay sane, though. For whatever reason killing the elite trees or the crabs no longer give 25 rep. It seems Jocy now only has the rare spawns and the monkey elites to hassle. Monkeys do die rather nicely, but they take their time about it, sigh.
Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Tormmok may be a giant, but he has a pea for a brain. Jocy took Tormmok for a walk through the middle of the enemy, daring all comers to stop us, just to prove we could. Somewhat astonishing, the two of them walked all the way past the Dark Portal and into the Iron Horde, one of the daily quests, killing as we went. Jocy knew the place well and directed Tormmok to take out the mobs in front of a building that had a treasure Jocy was after. It started well, with Tormmok killing the mobs in the immediate vicinity. Jocy was stunned, though, when Tormmok went after more mobs, and then more, and then, holy enrage! the two were in the middle of a deluge of mobs.
Of course, Tormmok eventually died. That's at least partly Jocy's part, she would have to admit. There were many riflemen in the enemy mobs. One rifleman would hit Tormmok, and he'd run after the mob, gathering more mobs around him. The riflemen went down fast, but by the time he'd killed them all there was a lot of angry mobs surrounding them both. Ranged bad guys are just too enticing for Tormmok to resist. Jocy had no trouble finishing off the last of the dregs around her, but she was without her bodyguard for the next hour. At least she got her treasure. Jocy admitted to missing the big lug - just a little.
As an aside, I wish I could figure a way to see Tormmok's health bar so Jocy could heal him. Wait! I just found an addon called BodyguardHealth. Installed it and it looks like this will work. Hurry up, Tormmok, and get back to the Barracks so we can check it out!
The new addon works just fine, displaying Tormmok's health, making it easy for Jocy to heal him. Jocy and Tormmok tore through Rumble in the Jungle (in a group) and barely took a scratch. Then Jocy helped a player two-man the third and final boss - Eyepiercer - while still tangling with one of the monkey elites. It took a little while but we took Eyepiercer down and the guy got his quest done.
Jocy has developed a final plan to complete Pathfinder:
Master Treasure - This is a grind it out by the end of the week to locate the 14 treasures she needs.
Saberstalkers - Next week she'll earn another 3500 rep for Rumble in the Jungle, which is only 475 rep short. She can get that done by killing 19 elites. That's five sweeps along the Fangrila shoreline killing the crabs there. (Actually, no, see below)
Awakened - Everthing hinges on Jocy's ability to find ten apexis fragments each day for the daily Unseen Influence quest. If she can get that 1500 rep per day, it will take her five days to complete. I'm just not sure Jocy can find fifty more of those things. Elites do occasionally drop them (all three Rumble in the Jungle elites drop a few) but it is not near enough. Jocy is worried about this one. There is also the Medallion of the Legion, which grants 1,000 rep - but that entails doing four dungeon runs, which isn't very likely.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: -> 86 -> 97 (need 100)
Awakened: Honored -> 4500 -> 6000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Honored -> 4425 -> 8125 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Things don't stay sane, though. For whatever reason killing the elite trees or the crabs no longer give 25 rep. It seems Jocy now only has the rare spawns and the monkey elites to hassle. Monkeys do die rather nicely, but they take their time about it, sigh.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Tormmok the Giant
Tormmok the Giant
Jocy's new bodyguard is Tormmok. He earned level 100 on Friday morning. Jocy had saved up a few gear upgrades which got him to i633 (weapon) and i627 (armor). He only has one additional attribute besides bodyguard, which is Taunt. Figuring there had to be something better, Jocy rolled the dice with her one retraining certificate to see if Tormmok got a better ability. Taunt was replaced by Recklessness. Recklessness is essentially an enrage, good for quicker kills but it also increases the chances of pulling aggro. Jocy hopes that she can maintain aggro on whatever they're killing, and that Tormmok's Enrage doesn't get him killed.
Jocy is committed to keeping young Tormmok around. No more merry-go-round with his bodyguards. Tormmok's best attribute may be his size. Jocy isn't going to lose sight of him under any circumstance. The man is HUGE. Time will tell how well he'll work out, but the pair have the whole weekend to get used to each other.
Happy finally relented on the cost of upgrading Jocy's trinket. Mostly. Jocy was able to cover almost 16k gold in crafted gear needed for the stage 5, i700 trinket. The stage 6, i715 upgrade costs 30k all by itself, and it will take Jocy a little more time to build up her mats to buy that last upgrade. Happy will likely split the cost with her. Even so, Jocy's ilevel went from i684 to i687.
Jocy wanted Tormmok to see some real action - a test to see if he is any better than the other light weights Jocy has tested - and failed. The best place to do that is Fangrila, land of the elites. It was a new week, and a new "Rumble in the Jungle" quest to conquer. She also had to get Unseen Influence done as well, a daily she has failed to complete for two straight days, setting her even further back.
Before Fangrila, though, Jocy had an open quest to kill 25 enemy mobs near the Vol'Mar base. A pre-test, I guess, to see how Tormmok handles himself. Fifteen minutes later 25 enemy soldiers lay slain. Jocy pushed the fight, too, aggroing six at once . . . and Tormmok took it and asked for more. Jocy growled at him for getting in the way a couple of times, but all in all - Jocy was silently pleased with what she'd seen so far.
Jocy was ready, with Tormmok at her side. Ack! A new danger! The Mrs is calling . . . I have to go to my accupuncture appointment. Sigh.
Ok, now that I'm back from the puncture palace, Jocy and Tormmok can continue their "get to know each other" phase in Fangrila. There is an elite in the swamps called a Night Haunter. Jocy has seen it twice, but when attacked it flies away, leaving behind a nine minute count down counter. I had to look the thing up. If Jocy gets another chance at it, she hopes the two of them can take it down. It's a level 101 elite with a steadily growing enrage (didn't know levels went over 100!).
No Night Haunter showed up, so Jocy hit the beach to kill elite crabs. They killed five, taking half the time it normally took for Jocy to kill them solo. Tormmok can do some pretty serious damage, and unlike the other three bodyguards Jocy tried out, Tormmok has yet to die even once. With Tormmok at her side, Jocy even took on an enemy fortress that she had not attempted before. Lots of battles and lots of treasures, too! Jocy will have and Unseen Influence quest to turn in, finally.
Tormmok is working out quite well so far.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: -> 86, no change (need 100)
Awakened: Honored -> 4500 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Honored -> 4425 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Jocy's new bodyguard is Tormmok. He earned level 100 on Friday morning. Jocy had saved up a few gear upgrades which got him to i633 (weapon) and i627 (armor). He only has one additional attribute besides bodyguard, which is Taunt. Figuring there had to be something better, Jocy rolled the dice with her one retraining certificate to see if Tormmok got a better ability. Taunt was replaced by Recklessness. Recklessness is essentially an enrage, good for quicker kills but it also increases the chances of pulling aggro. Jocy hopes that she can maintain aggro on whatever they're killing, and that Tormmok's Enrage doesn't get him killed.
Jocy is committed to keeping young Tormmok around. No more merry-go-round with his bodyguards. Tormmok's best attribute may be his size. Jocy isn't going to lose sight of him under any circumstance. The man is HUGE. Time will tell how well he'll work out, but the pair have the whole weekend to get used to each other.
 |
| Jocy and Tormmok |
 | |
| Jocy and Tormmok Mounted |
Happy finally relented on the cost of upgrading Jocy's trinket. Mostly. Jocy was able to cover almost 16k gold in crafted gear needed for the stage 5, i700 trinket. The stage 6, i715 upgrade costs 30k all by itself, and it will take Jocy a little more time to build up her mats to buy that last upgrade. Happy will likely split the cost with her. Even so, Jocy's ilevel went from i684 to i687.
Jocy wanted Tormmok to see some real action - a test to see if he is any better than the other light weights Jocy has tested - and failed. The best place to do that is Fangrila, land of the elites. It was a new week, and a new "Rumble in the Jungle" quest to conquer. She also had to get Unseen Influence done as well, a daily she has failed to complete for two straight days, setting her even further back.
Before Fangrila, though, Jocy had an open quest to kill 25 enemy mobs near the Vol'Mar base. A pre-test, I guess, to see how Tormmok handles himself. Fifteen minutes later 25 enemy soldiers lay slain. Jocy pushed the fight, too, aggroing six at once . . . and Tormmok took it and asked for more. Jocy growled at him for getting in the way a couple of times, but all in all - Jocy was silently pleased with what she'd seen so far.
Jocy was ready, with Tormmok at her side. Ack! A new danger! The Mrs is calling . . . I have to go to my accupuncture appointment. Sigh.
Ok, now that I'm back from the puncture palace, Jocy and Tormmok can continue their "get to know each other" phase in Fangrila. There is an elite in the swamps called a Night Haunter. Jocy has seen it twice, but when attacked it flies away, leaving behind a nine minute count down counter. I had to look the thing up. If Jocy gets another chance at it, she hopes the two of them can take it down. It's a level 101 elite with a steadily growing enrage (didn't know levels went over 100!).
No Night Haunter showed up, so Jocy hit the beach to kill elite crabs. They killed five, taking half the time it normally took for Jocy to kill them solo. Tormmok can do some pretty serious damage, and unlike the other three bodyguards Jocy tried out, Tormmok has yet to die even once. With Tormmok at her side, Jocy even took on an enemy fortress that she had not attempted before. Lots of battles and lots of treasures, too! Jocy will have and Unseen Influence quest to turn in, finally.
Tormmok is working out quite well so far.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder:
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Master Treasure: -> 86, no change (need 100)
Awakened: Honored -> 4500 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Honored -> 4425 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Scraping By
Scraping By
Well, Monday has come and gone and Happy has failed to provide the gold for Jocy's trinket upgrade. Jocy even offered to craft truesteel and steelforged essences for Happy to sell (at about 2400 gold per item). The gold from those sales could then pay for the ensorcelled tarots she needs. Unfortunately, ensorcelled tarots cost about 3700 gold. There are only two crafters selling them and both seem intent on keeping the price exceptionally high. It didn't help Jocy's cause that sales were quite poor on Monday. Prices are falling all over the place - except for those tarots. Happy's money bag is jingling, but only because Happy is buying up bargains.
Jocy did get in some work last night, but didn't have much to show for it. She tried going to the Soulslicer area where rapidly respawning "mobs" could be killed. What the tip failed to say is that the "mobs" were elites. Jocy hung around and killed a couple of them, but nobody else was around. This tactic requires a group. The other tip wasn't much use, either. The strategy is for Jocy to lather fel sludge all over her, up to nine stacks. This increases the damage dealt by up to 40%, but there's a catch. Jocy would also take an additional 40% in damage, too. The kicker is that if Jocy hits ten stacks - it's instant death. Again, Jocy is dealing with elites here, many of them, often close enough to aggro more than one at a time.
Almost two hours of galloping around Draenor looking for treasures turned up almost nothing. I have an addon that shows Jocy where they are, but no addon that tells Jocy she has already collected it before (you can only collect once).
Tormmok, Jocy's new bodyguard in training, reached level 95. Leveling him is taking an irritatingly long time, mostly because the missions that have been available suck, don't offer much, and each mission has been taking ten hours.
Does Jocy sound frustrated? She is.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder - such as it is:
Master Treasure: -> 75 -> 86 (14 more required)
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Awakened: Honored -> no progess, 3000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Honored -> 2775 -> 4325 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Well, Monday has come and gone and Happy has failed to provide the gold for Jocy's trinket upgrade. Jocy even offered to craft truesteel and steelforged essences for Happy to sell (at about 2400 gold per item). The gold from those sales could then pay for the ensorcelled tarots she needs. Unfortunately, ensorcelled tarots cost about 3700 gold. There are only two crafters selling them and both seem intent on keeping the price exceptionally high. It didn't help Jocy's cause that sales were quite poor on Monday. Prices are falling all over the place - except for those tarots. Happy's money bag is jingling, but only because Happy is buying up bargains.
Jocy did get in some work last night, but didn't have much to show for it. She tried going to the Soulslicer area where rapidly respawning "mobs" could be killed. What the tip failed to say is that the "mobs" were elites. Jocy hung around and killed a couple of them, but nobody else was around. This tactic requires a group. The other tip wasn't much use, either. The strategy is for Jocy to lather fel sludge all over her, up to nine stacks. This increases the damage dealt by up to 40%, but there's a catch. Jocy would also take an additional 40% in damage, too. The kicker is that if Jocy hits ten stacks - it's instant death. Again, Jocy is dealing with elites here, many of them, often close enough to aggro more than one at a time.
Almost two hours of galloping around Draenor looking for treasures turned up almost nothing. I have an addon that shows Jocy where they are, but no addon that tells Jocy she has already collected it before (you can only collect once).
Tormmok, Jocy's new bodyguard in training, reached level 95. Leveling him is taking an irritatingly long time, mostly because the missions that have been available suck, don't offer much, and each mission has been taking ten hours.
Does Jocy sound frustrated? She is.
Progress Toward Draenor Pathfinder - such as it is:
Master Treasure: -> 75 -> 86 (14 more required)
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Awakened: Honored -> no progess, 3000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Honored -> 2775 -> 4325 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Monday, September 21, 2015
The Saberstalkers
The Saberstalkers
The Saberstalkers faction is the most difficult of the three factions required to meet the Draenor Pathfinder achievement, particularly for Jocy, who primarily works solo. The most important quest is "Rumble in the Jungle" which is available only once a week. Three elite bosses have to be cut down. Jocy did group up with some random horde also needing to complete the quest, and with that help Jocy completed the quest and got the 3500 rep reward. Jocy also takes advantage of a random daily quest called "Tooth and Claw" which generally appears about once a week. That, too, Jocy completed. There are a select few randomly appearing elite's that are a step more difficult to defeat solo, but Jocy has to be at the right place at the right time in order to take one down. They don't respawn that often, so I spend a lot of time circling through Fangrila - mostly I find elite corpses, or the empty spot where one might spawn. One idea that Jocy hasn't had a chance to try out is camping at the spot where Soulslicer spawns. There are supposedly a number of mobs that can be repeatedly killed for rep in that area.
The Awakened faction is actually the one I worry about the most, though. As mentioned in other posts, there is only one daily quest, "Unseen Influence," and it's difficult to find the needed ten items required. Jocy hasn't been able to complete the quest every single day, and is falling behind. Still, there's been decent progress overall.
Weekend Draenor Pathfinder Progress Summary:
Master Treasure: 64 -> 67 -> 75 -> no change (25 more required)
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Awakened: Reached Honored -> 1500 -> 3000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Reached Honored -> 2775 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Jocy's plan to upgrade her trinket using a Scribe's Quarters in Fist's garrison is a bust. Fortunately Jocy only had the one structure built, first level only, but Fist is really pissed off. Jocy didn't do her homework. The trinket upgrades Jocy wanted aren't available through the Scribes, which seems stupid because they do craft the trinket. The whole garrison thing is stupid, was Fist's assessment, wondering what she would do with the unwanted building.
That didn't stop Jocy. She's now leaning on Happy for the 33k gold it will take to buyout her trinket from i655 to i715. Happy says NO, not until the weekend take is assessed. Maybe the prices will be lower on Monday. Jocy isn't happy. Happy doesn't care.
Jocy has also decided to try out a new bodyguard. So far she's fired three (Vivianne, Leorajh, and Aeda) She didn't like any of them, each one worse than the one before. Jocy did additional research and found her another one. This one is called Tormmok. He's only level 93, so he'll have to be leveled. He's an arms warrior so he should be fairly hard to kill and should stay close and out of trouble. It'll take him a few days to level, but Jocy already has a full set of gear for him once he reaches 100. One thing I wish I could do is include the bodyguard follower in a group so that I could more easily keep track of him.
The Saberstalkers faction is the most difficult of the three factions required to meet the Draenor Pathfinder achievement, particularly for Jocy, who primarily works solo. The most important quest is "Rumble in the Jungle" which is available only once a week. Three elite bosses have to be cut down. Jocy did group up with some random horde also needing to complete the quest, and with that help Jocy completed the quest and got the 3500 rep reward. Jocy also takes advantage of a random daily quest called "Tooth and Claw" which generally appears about once a week. That, too, Jocy completed. There are a select few randomly appearing elite's that are a step more difficult to defeat solo, but Jocy has to be at the right place at the right time in order to take one down. They don't respawn that often, so I spend a lot of time circling through Fangrila - mostly I find elite corpses, or the empty spot where one might spawn. One idea that Jocy hasn't had a chance to try out is camping at the spot where Soulslicer spawns. There are supposedly a number of mobs that can be repeatedly killed for rep in that area.
The Awakened faction is actually the one I worry about the most, though. As mentioned in other posts, there is only one daily quest, "Unseen Influence," and it's difficult to find the needed ten items required. Jocy hasn't been able to complete the quest every single day, and is falling behind. Still, there's been decent progress overall.
Weekend Draenor Pathfinder Progress Summary:
Master Treasure: 64 -> 67 -> 75 -> no change (25 more required)
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Awakened: Reached Honored -> 1500 -> 3000 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Saberstalkers: Reached Honored -> 2775 toward Revered (need 12,000)
Jocy's plan to upgrade her trinket using a Scribe's Quarters in Fist's garrison is a bust. Fortunately Jocy only had the one structure built, first level only, but Fist is really pissed off. Jocy didn't do her homework. The trinket upgrades Jocy wanted aren't available through the Scribes, which seems stupid because they do craft the trinket. The whole garrison thing is stupid, was Fist's assessment, wondering what she would do with the unwanted building.
That didn't stop Jocy. She's now leaning on Happy for the 33k gold it will take to buyout her trinket from i655 to i715. Happy says NO, not until the weekend take is assessed. Maybe the prices will be lower on Monday. Jocy isn't happy. Happy doesn't care.
Jocy has also decided to try out a new bodyguard. So far she's fired three (Vivianne, Leorajh, and Aeda) She didn't like any of them, each one worse than the one before. Jocy did additional research and found her another one. This one is called Tormmok. He's only level 93, so he'll have to be leveled. He's an arms warrior so he should be fairly hard to kill and should stay close and out of trouble. It'll take him a few days to level, but Jocy already has a full set of gear for him once he reaches 100. One thing I wish I could do is include the bodyguard follower in a group so that I could more easily keep track of him.
Friday, September 18, 2015
Befudled Again About Gear
Befudled Again About Gear
Disclaimer - Jocy rants below, then has to retract her fury. No one in the family would rat on whoever let this post go through, but they did get a laugh at Jocy.
In Draenor, every piece of gear can be crafted by one profession or another. The gear starts at i640 and can be upraded six times (called "stages"), to i705. The catch is that only three items of crafted gear can be equipped. I ran into this issue by accident with Wild, who wanted to make and entire cloth gear set - no can do, three equipped is the max.
Jocy was frustrated with this rule. She'd picked up (ie, she bought) a new +strength trinket to replace a less useful one, not realizing it was a crafted trinket that had already been bumped up two stages. She equipped it. Wait, she can't, Jocy already has three crafted items, and all three are equiped: an i705 weapon, an i705 shield, and an i685 chest (stage 4).
What is Jocy to make of this? Holler "Woo Hoo!" and hope its not a bug? I can't find anything online that even mentions the possibility of equipping more than three. I have two guesses: (1) Jocy's three pieces are all crafted by Blacksmithing. The trinket is crafted from Inscription. Does that make a difference? I don't know. (2) Two of the four crafted pieces are maxed out at stage 6. Maybe they don't count as part of the three if they're maxed?
Oh, wait, never mind. Jocy's shield has six stages, BUT it isn't a crafted piece. Hmm, Jocy never noticed that. Oops. Never mind the above.
Jocy still needs that trinket upgraded. Instead of being patient and waiting (Jocy, waiting? Ha), she decided she could get her upgrades by building a Scribe's Quarters in the garrison. Problem was, Jocy had no room for another building. She asked Fist to put one in her garrison, instead, but Fist had no room, either. That started the bartering, and Fist agreed to build one only if Jocy paid for it. Fist had to tear down her Salvage yard first. They agreed.
AND, added Fist, "there's a couple of things on the Auction House I'd really like for YOU, Jocy, to buy for me."
Jocy gritted her teeth. "Ok," Jocy told Fist. "But I won't forget. We're even." With Jocy's gold, Fist raised her gear level from i627 to i631.
Jocy didn't shirk her real duty, though, and after getting Fist's Scribes Quarters started, she was back in Tanaan killing things. She also made another trip to Bladsespire Citadel and managed to scrounge up 8 more treasures that she'd missed despite crawling over that monilith at least five times. Jocy is Revered with Vol'jin's Headhunters now, completing one of the four remaining tasks left to earn Pathfinder. The treasure hunting is particualrly frustrating. She killed a pair of elites trying to find a path to a treasure that is hanging from an unscalable ledge. The only way to reach it is through a gauntlet of elites. She couldn't get to it. That's par for the course.
Friday Draenor Pathfinder Progress Summary:
Master Treasure: 64 -> 67 -> 75 (25 more required)
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Awakened: Reached Honored -> 1500 toward Revered
Saberstalkers: 1625 -> 1650 -> Friendly -> 2250 -> 5250 toward Honored
PS - Happy talks a lot about the Auction House, but rarely reveals specifics of the amount of gold he handles. He's made a concession this one time to share a singular accomplishment. On Saturday morning Happy earned 30,605 gold. It's his largest one day haul of gold ever. Even more remarkable is that it comes despite a market that keeps bleeding and lowering prices. The dropping prices have encouraged prospective buyers to put their gold on the table, and while sales aren't exactly brisk, there is a pretty steady stream of buying.
Disclaimer - Jocy rants below, then has to retract her fury. No one in the family would rat on whoever let this post go through, but they did get a laugh at Jocy.
In Draenor, every piece of gear can be crafted by one profession or another. The gear starts at i640 and can be upraded six times (called "stages"), to i705. The catch is that only three items of crafted gear can be equipped. I ran into this issue by accident with Wild, who wanted to make and entire cloth gear set - no can do, three equipped is the max.
Jocy was frustrated with this rule. She'd picked up (ie, she bought) a new +strength trinket to replace a less useful one, not realizing it was a crafted trinket that had already been bumped up two stages. She equipped it. Wait, she can't, Jocy already has three crafted items, and all three are equiped: an i705 weapon, an i705 shield, and an i685 chest (stage 4).
What is Jocy to make of this? Holler "Woo Hoo!" and hope its not a bug? I can't find anything online that even mentions the possibility of equipping more than three. I have two guesses: (1) Jocy's three pieces are all crafted by Blacksmithing. The trinket is crafted from Inscription. Does that make a difference? I don't know. (2) Two of the four crafted pieces are maxed out at stage 6. Maybe they don't count as part of the three if they're maxed?
Oh, wait, never mind. Jocy's shield has six stages, BUT it isn't a crafted piece. Hmm, Jocy never noticed that. Oops. Never mind the above.
Jocy still needs that trinket upgraded. Instead of being patient and waiting (Jocy, waiting? Ha), she decided she could get her upgrades by building a Scribe's Quarters in the garrison. Problem was, Jocy had no room for another building. She asked Fist to put one in her garrison, instead, but Fist had no room, either. That started the bartering, and Fist agreed to build one only if Jocy paid for it. Fist had to tear down her Salvage yard first. They agreed.
AND, added Fist, "there's a couple of things on the Auction House I'd really like for YOU, Jocy, to buy for me."
Jocy gritted her teeth. "Ok," Jocy told Fist. "But I won't forget. We're even." With Jocy's gold, Fist raised her gear level from i627 to i631.
Jocy didn't shirk her real duty, though, and after getting Fist's Scribes Quarters started, she was back in Tanaan killing things. She also made another trip to Bladsespire Citadel and managed to scrounge up 8 more treasures that she'd missed despite crawling over that monilith at least five times. Jocy is Revered with Vol'jin's Headhunters now, completing one of the four remaining tasks left to earn Pathfinder. The treasure hunting is particualrly frustrating. She killed a pair of elites trying to find a path to a treasure that is hanging from an unscalable ledge. The only way to reach it is through a gauntlet of elites. She couldn't get to it. That's par for the course.
Friday Draenor Pathfinder Progress Summary:
Master Treasure: 64 -> 67 -> 75 (25 more required)
Vol'Jin's: 8200 -> 8700 -> 9700 -> Revered (DONE)
Awakened: Reached Honored -> 1500 toward Revered
Saberstalkers: 1625 -> 1650 -> Friendly -> 2250 -> 5250 toward Honored
PS - Happy talks a lot about the Auction House, but rarely reveals specifics of the amount of gold he handles. He's made a concession this one time to share a singular accomplishment. On Saturday morning Happy earned 30,605 gold. It's his largest one day haul of gold ever. Even more remarkable is that it comes despite a market that keeps bleeding and lowering prices. The dropping prices have encouraged prospective buyers to put their gold on the table, and while sales aren't exactly brisk, there is a pretty steady stream of buying.
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