The Antoran Wastes

The Antoran Wastes
and Sista Goes Off the Reservation

Remember the post where Keya said the enemy at Argus was no harder to kill than the Legion soldiers? And that she also said she might still come across stronger foes? Consider them found.

The Antoran Wastes is another area that must be established on Argus. Keya weighed into the first battle with the same certainty of victory that she's shown to every vanquished foe. Arriving there, her first task was to kill an elite gaurd. Keya engaged immediately. Ten seconds later she knew she was in trouble. Okay, she's been in tough fights before, she's even had to use her save me skills a time or two. Only this time it wasn't good enough. After she died she took stock. She decided she had been overconfident and careless.

Keya took a longer look around before engaging this time. There were the usual gaggle of enemy about, but on closer look she realized that most of them were elites. She singled one out that she could attack one on one. There would be no mistakes this time. A few minutes later it was over. Keya made no mistakes. Except that she still died. Keya felt something strange - a tinge of fear. She was stubborn. She changed tactics, tightened her spell casting, but it didn't matter. Four deaths - four trips to the graveyard. It's been a very long time since she's had to repair her armor. She couldn't kill them. This is going to take some thought.

Sista Goes Off the Reservation

Sista heard the rumors of the new cloth, lightweave cloth. She wanted to ask Keya about it, but Keya was locked away in her room with her own problems, primarily how to stay alive in the Antoran Wastes. Sista had heard rumors of bases on Argus, but that's all she knew.

So Sista sneaked off to see about this lightweave cloth on her own. Where cloth can be found, especially alien cloth, Sista was determined to get her hands on it. One lightweave cloth was running over 200 gold on the Auction House and Sista didn't have that kind of gold. She wasn't about to beg for some from Chaitee, either.

She started asking around, and it didn't take her long to learn enough to catch a portal to Stormwind. It was easy from there, with half the pier full of soldiers waiting their chance at glory. Sista isn't ready for Argus. She isn't ready for much of the Broken Shores, either to be honest. But Keya learned about it too late. Sista found the launching spot for Argus. And took it.

Consider that Keya's gear score is i895. Compare that to Sista's gear level of  i828, a difference of 67 item levels! Her "combat" skill goes no further than one shotting low level creatures to collect cloth. The noise level grew as others learned where Sista had gone. Tiphaine made a rare appearance. She listened to Keya's concern. It was a short conversation. "Her life, her choice. Maybe some good will come of it." Keya wasn't so sure. She never thought much of Sista, but after getting hosed herself down on Argus, Keya was afraid Sista wouldn't survive the first minute.

Much Later . . .

Sista is huddled in a small alcove on the surface of Argus, at an area called Krokuun. She is one of hundreds of soldiers battling demons and beasts. Her companion ally helps keep the worst of the killers at bay, but battles are long slogs with few others to help her. The riffraff she can fend off or kill, but the others are terrifying. She fights mostly at half strength, unable to get enough health from her rejuv and not enough time to cast longer heals. There is no quarter. The enemy is always banging away. Her current shelter has given her a chance to recover, but it won't last. Another surge is due at any moment.

At least I'm here, Sista murmured to herself. No one else in the family would dare even the Broken Shores, not with all but Rakta under Level 110, who hasn't been on a quest in months.  Java is Level 107, but all she does is farm flowers and bust rocks. Hell, Tiphaine is only Level 101, the bitch! Sista groused.

Time to go. More are coming. Sista shifts out of bear form and grabs her get out of hell card - She calls on her Dreamweaver, waits what seems like a forever five seconds, and then took the portal home. Clutched in her raw, bloody hands/paws are fourteen lightweave cloth.

Keya Gets First Look at Argus

Keya Gets First Look at Argus

Keya took the portal to Stormwind harbor, boarded the waiting boat, and was soon on her way across the ether to the Legion world of Argus. For those who want to be picky, Argus looks a whole lot like the Broken Shores. Battles were already in progress, coached by various characters. The killing started shortly after that. Keya wondered if the new demons were any tougher than the old ones. Her assessment is that they are a bit tougher, but then Keya picked up some upgrades that evened the field. She took down five special elites, all solo. This early in the day there wasn't many players out. More on the weapon upgrades later.

Keya was kept very busy for nearly an hour before she took a break. In fact, a break was built into the flow of the battles, which Keya appreciated. It gave her time to explore her ship, called Vindicaar, and locate a Dalaran Portal should she need to return to Dalaran. A weird looking portal also appeared at Dalaran that almost tries to bite you when you port back to Argus.

Keya, meanwhile, made a stupendous find! Her third relic is now ACTIVE! Keya slotted the third relic as soon as she got back to Mardum. She still isn't sure if she can use her AP (now over 3.5 billion) to upgrade or buy additional traits, which is unchanged at 52. But she was encouraged that her 40 reseach Artifact knowledge (AK) shows 41 AK, which I hope means that every week she'll get a new AK as a result of the new patch. It was stuck at 40 until today.

Her blades are now at i893, up from i884. Her overall gear score is now at i895, up from i889. She has yet to find an enemy, or groups of enemies, who can defeat her. But Keya is sure that somewhere out there are things that can kill her.

So, some things have been fixed because of the patch, but there are still issues. Keya is focusing on the positives. She is really thrilled with the patch so far.

One area she knows is not fixed is Order Advancement. Maybe some day she'll find a way to finish the Champions of Legionfall achievement. Keya also has to keep up her work on Pathfinder while also finding time to go deeper into the Legion homeworld. And she can't forget to keep up with her Missions.

Around 11pm Tuesday night Keya ran out of quests on Argus. She has one open quest called "Essence of the Light Mother" but no clue what to do with it.

OOPs!  Keya was wandering about on the Mardum and opened her warblades and rank structure to admire her THREE relics. She's tired and prone to giggles this late and still has bits of blood and gore smattered about. She was running one hand along the lines and ranks she has gathered. She playfully tapped the Concordance. There was a little "woosh." Her 3.5 billion was suddenly only 2.8 billion. Keya's jaw dropped. Her ranks went from 52 to 53. The dang thing works. Now she'll be off to Icy Veins to see what ranks she should be getting.

Keya hasn't let Sista know yet that there is a new cloth now available, lightweave cloth. Not sure what its use is, but Sista will want some action the moment she finds out about it. Keya also got a new crafting item, fiendish leather. Privately, Keya shudders at the thought of Sista going onto the battlefield. You think Keya is a slow fighter, Sista is molasses in winter slow.

Patch 7.3.0 - Shadows of Argus

Patch 7.3.0 - Shadows of Argus

It's 9:18 AM my time here in California and Patch 7.3 is active. That was fast.

Just a quick look at what's out there that will attract Keya and Sista.

We'll be based on the ship Vindicaar that will take us to the Legion world of Argus.In addition, other Legion portals can be used.

World quests, artifact upgrades, more missions and champions in the class halls.
Keya's ears pricked when she heard about the six renowned Fishing NPCs that emerged. Akule:  Riverhorn, Corbyn, Ilyssia of the waters, Impus, Keeper Raynae, and Sha'leth. Daily rewards and reputation will earn the Fisherfriend of the Isles achievement and a new appearance for the Underlight Angler fishing pole.

Artifact knowledge now increases weekly for everyone without the need to submit work orders. I have to think that won't fix Keya's problems, but she will definitely check to see if she does get to start gathering artifact knowledge. She won't hold her breath.

No changes to the demon hunter class. I guess Keya's class is perfect.

Broken Shore rewards have been reduced and Keya will no longer get Legionfall recompsense. Seems they want us off the Broken Shore and on Argus.

Notes and Last Comments

Notes and Last Comments

Sorry for the downer, but it's been that kind of weekend for Keya.

Keya gained a third Legendary recently. There was some initial excitement, but it was a pair of shoes. Keya is already wearing legendary shoes. So a wasted legendary is tossed into a corner or obliterated into dust.

        It is harder to work up the will to complete tasks, conquer world quests, fight for rep and all the other facets of the daily grind when the purpose of it all seems beyond elusive.

        The every other day Legion invasions are tiresome and without interest. Kill, clean up, and drag your loot home. Billions of artifact power piled in great towers, but it doesn't help her. Like some dragon in it's den - but a false dragon, for the AP is useless to her.

        The world of the Broken Shores itself repeats itself over and over.

        Keya stays away from the Scenarios but has to take some of them in order to do other things. She did not make friends on those runs, though in the end she did get them done.

At long last Keya reached Exalted rep with Legionfall and can begin her series of quests to earn her demon hunter class mount. She rushed into Mardum and glided smoothly to the foot of Mother Malevolence to pick up the first quest in the series - To Fel and Back.  But Mother Malevolence just stood there, ignoring her. She gave no quest.

All that work, and she is denied even her class mount.

There is little to look forward to. Pathfinder Part One is mostly done, but there is little will to finish. What would be the point?

Keya doesn't know what PvP battlegrounds look like these days, but she guesses they are nothing like the old days.  Keya's one little surprise came over the weekend with a raucous crowd at the Stormwind Auction House. As all know, attacks on the Auction House by the opposing side is frequent. Since Chaitee handles that task, she sees it a lot but can't do anything about it at her level. That is until this night, when Keya decided to hang out at the Auction House with her  PvP set for action. Keya stayed for two assaults, killed two Horde, and managed not to die.

But it seems Pathfinder Part Two is the killing stroke. She will leave to others the Legion dungeons and raids. Unable to fly or get her class mount, Keya has no role there.

The next patch, 7.3, will arrive on August 29th. There will be a chance to attack the Legion Homeworld. Imagine the irony, the twist of the knife in the gut, that on the Legion Homeworld Keya will be denied flying there, too. Unlike the Legion, who will certainly have airborne demons in the sky. 

Keya will stay around long enough to see this Legion Homeworld. Maybe she'll stay there.

Maybe she won't come back.

Keya After Her Class Mount

Keya After Her Class Mount

Keya is obsessed with just one thing these days: Reaching Exalted reputation with the Legionfall faction. It takes 21,000 rep, and she is within 2,000 rep of that goal. When she gets there, she can begin the journey to earn her demon hunter class mount. She decided NOT to find out if she must have Legion Flying in order to earn her class mount. It allows her to focus on getting Legionfall rep to Exalted first.

In the meantime Keya continues to collect AP, which is now bulging above 2.5 billion now. She tries to get into every invasion, and that has gotten her 49 of 50 Writhing Essence which "might" get her a gear upgrade. She's given up completely on the Dauntless gear upgrades (all she gets are i850s), and has lost confidence in the Relinquished process as well. Keya has sunk 20,000 nethershards into four attempts to get relinquished gear above i880 and all have failed.

Note: I saw a clip touting the next patch, 7.3. Apparently we get to attack the Legion homeworld. Keya had to smile when she learned that on the Legion Homeworld flying mounts are not allowed, even for the demons. Keya has learned how to get around without flying and that should give her an advantage when all those flying mounts are grounded. Keya is ready to rock-n-roll when 7.3 launches.

Chaitee experienced one of those Auction House whiplashes when prices plummet and then whiplash back into the stratosphere. For a few days Chaitee all but locked up her shop, but stayed patient. The profits are again starting to roll in, and that means Sista goes back to work farming and crafting.

The Noose Tightens on Keya and Chaitee

The Noose Tightens on Keya and Chaitee

Keya is still shy of reaching her goal of getting her overall gear to i900. Keya had hoped to be able to spend her 5,000 nethershards on an i870 ring that would bump up to relinquished i880. Alas, she realized that her other ring is already a relinquished piece and so she can't use it. She has no other options now but to spend the 5,000 anyway, hoping a piece that is already i880 will beat the odds and give her an upgrade. But the roll of the dice failed. No upgrade. Her 5,000 shards wasted.

Another way to upgrade is using her Writhing Essence. She needs 50, and has 25 so far. In other news, Army of Legionfall faction broke over 14,000 toward the 21,000 needed to reach Exalted. The Wardens are still inching forward toward Revered. She needs both to complete elements of Pathfinder AND progress toward her Demon Hunter Mount.

Keya is getting tired of the endless grinding, however. She was pursuing a Warden's quest, the last available, when an invasion started. She usually looks forward to invasions, but when the invasion began the Warden's quest changed to a Dreamweaver quest, which she didn't need.

She looked across her map and saw six invasion points, four of which held elite targets, but she just stood there, holding her fishing pole. She just couldn't bring herself to wade back into the fray. She grabbed a flight path and flew home to Dalaran. The invasion still has five hours before it's over, so she told herself she'd head back  . . . later. Maybe. That maybe became a No. And then came another invasion - and Keya let it pass untouched. Two invasions, worth at least 32 million AP was left on the table as well as the Legionfall rep she didn't get.

Keya now has 1,762,608,663 artifact points. That's one billion, 762 million, 608 thousand, and 663 AP. I think. That's a lot of numbers. But meaningless because she has nothing to spend it on.

. . . And the Auction House is a lonely place for Chaitee, all of her planning wrecked by out of control price dumping. Another week of red ink bleeding across her account books.

Chaitee Grumbles and Keya Plows Forward

Chaitee Grumbles and Keya Plows Forward

The bag business is underwater. It seems that soon after earning her millionth gold piece the market did a flip and prices plummeted. Chaitee is waiting not-so-patiently for pricing to rebound, but that hasn't happened. She has stacks and stacks of mats she refuses to post, determined to wait out the market. The fall is across the board - embersilk, frostweave, silkweave. The only bag still selling - and selling well - is hexweave bags, but it takes five days to craft one.

Chaitee has to face the fact that the market won't support her elevated prices, and being stubborn is costing her gold. For example, no one will buy a frostweave bag for 300g, not now, when the going price for the last week is 250g. Will she lose gold at that price? Actually, no, the mats to make a frostweave bag cost 100g, so she still wins. But it won't stop her from trying to game the market whenever she can.

A tougher challenge is the silkweave bag. Silk costs are now between 5-7 gold each. It takes 90 silk to make a bag, so at best 450g, but are listed for sale on the AH at 473g. Not much value there. Chaitee watches the AH and whenever the silk price dips to 4g per silk (360g per bag), she buys them. Farming them directly is easy but takes too much time. An hours worth of farming gets enough silk for 1-3 bags.

Meanwhile, Keya is making some very positive strides with her gear. A week ago her overall gear score was i883. Three upgrades later, highlighted by the purchase (for 65k gold) of a pair of Legion Season Four Warforged gloves and a relinquished ring pushed her gear score to i889. She needs two more invasions (which takes about three days) to get enough nethershards to get another upgrade that should push it to i900. Stay tuned.

Valarjar reached Revered, which leaves only The Wardens to complete the Faction section of Pathfinder. She is making steady progress on Legionfall as well with about 13k toward the 21k required.

Keya also started tracking Writhing Essence, which until recently she didn't even know existed. She was surprised when she earned a gear upgrade once she got 50 Writhing Essence. She upgraded her belt from i940 to i970 at that time. She only has 9 writhing currently. It's a slow process.

Oh, and she is now at PvP Honor Level 4.  :-)