The Wild Family Eleventh New Year's Report for 2015

The Wild Family Eleventh New Year's Report for 2015

It's time for the annual review. Grab a cup of coffee, it's a long one.

The big news of 2015 was the latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor (WoD). Wild and family are thrust 35 years into the past, planted on a chunk of rock and embedded in an endless war. The centerpiece of the expansion is the new, personal Garrison which establishes a base of operations for individual characters and provides for almost every need. Suffice it to say that Draenor occupied us all for the entire year. Draenor will still be with us until Legion arrives, somewhere around September, 2016.

The year 2015 began with frustration. Wild was the first in the family to try his hand at establishing a Garrison. The best that could be said of that task is that Wild suffered through all of the mistakes so that the rest of the family could have a smoother transition.

It took Level 90 Wild 59 days to reach the new max level of 100. By then his garrison was more or less working - limping along, mostly. Perhaps annoyed by his garrison issues, Wild made some strange decisions.

Wild convinced the boosted Jocy into learning Herbalism and Alchemy, figuring they would be needed in Draenor. She took on the task, getting those two professions to level 600 and reaching level 93 in the process. She at least professed to have enjoyed the journey. That outlook would later change for the worse when it became clear that farming herbs was a waste of time since Garrison herb gardens could produce far more than farming. Jocy never bothered to finish leveling either profession.

Wild still thought he might return to raiding, an idea that would come and go numerous times over the course of the year, but which never got any further along than a couple of trips into the Proving Grounds.

Jocy and Fist endlessly challenged each other, making wagers on who would reach level 100 first. As March turned to April, both girls were neck and neck at level 95. In May Jocy began pulling away from Fist. On June 1st, Jocy hit level 100. Fist was still plugging away at level 97.
In late June Patch 6.2 launched, opening up the Tanaan Jungle in Draenor. Wild and Jocy were ready for the invasion into Taanan, but Fist still lagged behind.

Patch 6.2.1 came along in mid-July. Up until then only ground mounts were allowed in Tanaan. Flying mounts were off limits. Tanaan was now open to flying mounts, but there was still a catch. A series of achievements had to be completed before flying mounts could be used.

The grind to complete those achievements began. Little did Wild and Jocy know just how difficult reaching that goal would be. Wild soon gave up the effort and turned the task over to Jocy exclusively. It only required one of them to finish, and then all could get their mounts into the sky. So, on July 28th, Jocy laid out a specific, step by step plan to complete every element of the flying mount achievement called Draenor Pathfinder.

Jocy was the first to figure out that all those Garrison followers she was housing and feeding could be put to use. Specifically, Jocy learned that followers with the bodyguard trait could go to war alongside her. Suddenly, she had a partner to help with everything Jocy needed to do. Jocy had her choice of several bodyguards, and she chose Vivianne.

Around the beginning of August an impromptu pageant was held between Jocy and Fist on who had the best wardrobe ensembles. Both were stunning, but neither would compliment the other, and Wild hid from view until it was safe to return. Stalemate.

It's August 3rd and Jocy is working Pathfinder Part 5. Already frustrated with the Pathfinder grind, she explodes when Happy asks her to make some healing tonics.

"I HATE the Alchemy profession, and herbs give me hives and makes me sneeze. Why I agreed to take over the flower business from Jezzibel I'll never know."

Jocy pleads with JB. "JB! PLEASE take it back!" Jocy sneezes violently and rubs snot from her nose. "This may be a big mistake, but I want to unlearn alchemy and learn mining and Blacksmithing, even though I'll lose my alchemy trinket." JB smiled to herself, and took back her profession. JB quietly began making future plans.

Fist began leveling again at level 97 on August 9th in the Spires of Arak. She moved on to Nagrand for the final push. The rush ended in Lok-Roth twenty-three minutes after midnight on Sunday morning, August 15th. Plumrosefist earned Level 100, i601 gear level.

In late August Jocy suffered a meltdown with her bodyguard, Vivianne, who kept falling into misfortunes. So says Jocy: "Viv" has reached a point where she is more hazard than help. She's maxed out in weapons and gear, but she just doesn't have the stamina to last against the level and number of mobs Jocy is dealing with. Viv is usually already dead before Jocy really gets warmed up. That costs Jocy an hours time for her to resurrect, and it's easier to not even ask her to come along.

Jocy began looking for an alternative. She found another follower with the bodyguard trait, Aeda Brightdawn. The little warlock was enthusiastic but lacked basic common sense, her outlandish wings kept getting in the way, and a frustrated Jocy had to toss her out. Jocy turned away from the flighty bodyguard and took a chance on hiring Leo, a powerfully built lion-like shaman bodyguard with healing abilities. Leo lasted one day before Jocy fired him. Hmm, one wonders if the problem is the bodyguard, or Jocy?

At the end of August Jocy was still grinding out Pathfinder, but there was at least the glimmering that the long journey was coming to an end. Wild, who had largely stayed out of the way, weighed a number of decisions that had been on his mind.

Wild quietly gave up his patriarch's role and turned the family leadership over to Jocy. Jocy's first act was to tell everyone that Patriarch was a fine title for Wild, but one better not refer to her as Matriarch. With Wild's acquiescence, Jocy is cleaning house in preparation for the next expansion.

Ten family members make up the current active account, including: Happyface, Jocelyne, Wildshard, Plumrosefist, Jezzibel, Phillyperdue, Chaitee, and Tiphaine. Sistaphilia will also come over from the inactive account, and there is the new demon hunter spot as well.

Five family members currently residing in the inactive account are now considered retired, but will remain on the account (Bruiserbabe, Beanoevil, Hapless, Alwayslost, and Mewgoogaipan).

The next move will be a difficult but necessary one. Wild is glad that it's Jocy having to make such a decision. Javajoo, Merylitlbotm, and Hearnoevils currently reside on the active account. Once the above changes are put into place, however, there will not be enough room for everyone, even with the addition of a 12th spot (which will be held for the demon hunter). Javajoo and Merylitlbotm will be able to stay on, at least for the time being. They have to know their spots are shaky. Unfortunately, that leaves no place for Hearnoevils.

Hearnoevils got some support from Beanoevils and Chaitee, asking Jocy to activate the second account. Jocy nixed that right away. There will be only one active account and only twelve active family members. The only hope is that the gods of WoW decide to pay a transaction fee and move Hearnoevils to the inactive account. All in all, it's possible that Mery, Java, and Hearnoevils could all be permanently retired.

JB was so angry at the decisions being made she ran amuck for several days, working through her fury by improving her level from 85 to 87. Her defiant manner continues to grow, worrying many in the family, though Jocy has ignored the whole outburst. The fact that JB, in her younger years, fought ferociously as a mail wearing, dual blade wielding, Enchancement Shaman was not lost on Jocy. They just might need her one day.

On the positive side the family got a flying mount upgrade, adding the Dread Raven as an upgraded Raven Lord, Wild's favorite mount. Even better, Jocy finally settled on Tormmok as her full time bodyguard, having fired Vivianne, Aeda, and Leo. Tormmok is a keeper.

On October 8th, Jocy finally finished Draenor Pathfinder. The skies are now open to flying mounts for the Level 100s!

Less than a week after Jocy's mammoth Pathfinder success, the reclusive Tiphaine suddenly came back on the scene. Tiphaine has a very nasty history, and has transformed herself at least twice. Who knows what motivates her actions? Not even her daughter, Fist, can say what her mother's ultimate goals are.

The facts, however, can't be denied. Tiphaine returned at level 72 and has seen only one expansion, The Burning Crusade, where the level cap is 70. She is four expansions behind and might still be short when the NEXT expansion arrives, Legion, which would raise the cap to 110. The possibility of a "Boost" maneuver could get her quickly to level 90. If Jocy gives her enough leveling time, she could follow Wild, Jocy, and Fist to level 100.

What is Tiphaine up to? Should Tiphaine come out of the shadows again? Remember, real characters died permanent deaths the last time she rose into action.

Tiphaine does return to action. See the post:

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2015/10/tiphaine-begins-her-journey.html

In early November, Tiphaine reached level 100 with surprisingly little fuss. However, she had a few thoughts about the new Demon Hunter Class: "Demon Hunters?" Tiphaine mused aloud. "I'd say this new Hero class is no more than a pale copy of the original (note that Tiphaine is a Death Knight, the first Hero Class). A "hunter" that can't use ranged weapons? A demon that leaps backward away from the enemy instead of facing it?" She shook her head. "These demon hunters are toys, and when the time comes my daughter Fist will prove just how easily she can take them apart."
And now Fist has something to worry about, too.

Personal Bests and Raid Info

The Wild family grew to four level 100s this year:
Name         Gear    Followers
Jocy           i693    24/25
Tiphaine    i653    22/25
Wild          i653    21/25
Fist            i660    19/25

Guild Review (What there is of it)

Home: Happyface continues to run a successful business from his guild, The Order of the Dragon. On the Alliance side, Chaitee is the guildmaster and caretaker of the guild Tea Green. What only a few others knew until now is that the Wild family has a second horde guild. When Tiphaine was still calling herself Naithipe, she took over another guild from a guildmaster who no longer wanted it (rumors say it was a forced transaction). Tiphaine's guild is called Knights Templarr. She is the only member.

Summary: Fate Sealed (FS) was Wild's first true raiding guild. Mostly a fun and casual raiding guild, it had a small contingent of super raiders. Wild would still be in FS if he hadn't been forced out of the guild by Kikz when the uber raiders were trying to become a top tier raiding guild. Wild didn't meet Kikz's standards. Wild loved FS, but followed other friends to join the Mayhem guild. When Mayhem fractured, Wild followed his friends into Meitha. So, Wild moved from FS to Mayhem, then to Meitha, and has been a happy member there ever since. Meitha is a casual raiding guild, mostly interested in enjoying the experience and playing with friends. It appears that FS remains a formidable raiding guild.

On the downside Rhonna's Warchild (WC) guild shows some slippage. The guild did gain a small number of new recruits, but it wasn't enough to stop a fall off in raiding or the complete failure to get a single boss down in HFC. Mayhem was already failing last year, and is now gone. Mayhem spawned Meitha when the guild fractured. The two guilds competed against each other, and now there is only Meitha.

 Raids: Note that raid success is determined by checking on the activity of key guildies.

Meitha (MM2) - Guild Leader Talatiana, plus Porkkchopp & Grrbaby
    - 479 total members (down from 486, minus 7)
    - 140 level 100s (up from 76, plus 64)

    Highmaul (LFR/Normal/Heroic) - 7/7, 5/7, 4/7
    Blackrock Foundry (LFR/Normal/Heroic) - 10/10, 0/0, 0/0
    Hellfire Citadel (LFR/Normal/Heroic) - 13/13, 0/0, 0/0

Fate Sealed (FS) - Guild Leader Ramux, plus many others (Frohgurt, Muximus, Kikz, Lagaris). Wild counts all of these folks as friends, and very glad that the guild is still active. Based on the numbers below, the guild grew significantly this past year. This is the only guild which got into Mythic level raids.
    - 213 total members (up from 176, plus 37)
    - 90 level 100s (up from 36, plus 54)

FS is a very active raid with a top notch group. LFR is taken for granted so it isn't listed.
    Highmaul (Normal/Heroic/Mythic) - 6/7, 4/7, 0/0
    Blackrock Foundry (Normal/Heroic/Mythic) - 10/10, 0/0, 0/0
    Hellfire Citadel (Normal/Heroic/Mythic) - 13/13, 13/13, 2/13

Warchild (WC) - Grymshot Guild Leader (aka Rhonna), Amevia 2nd. Rhonna was Wild's first raid leader, guild leader, and a good friend who taught me a lot. I wonder how this guild is doing, given poor results in BRF and not a single boss down in HFC.

    - 72 total members (up from 69, plus 3)
    - 28 level 100s (up from 18, plus 10)
    Highmaul (Normal/Heroic/Mythic) - 7/7, 5/7, 0/0
    Blackrock Foundry (Normal/Heroic/Mythic) - 4/10, 0/0, 0/0
    Hellfire Citadel (Normal/Heroic/Mythic) - 0/0, 0/0, 0/0

Mayhem (MM) - The Mayhem guild that is now in Silvermoon is not the Mayhem guild that Wild once was a part of. It has been replaced with no recognizable characters. The former guild leaders, Whiteblade and Kira, no longer exist.

Wild has not stepped into a live raid since May 10th, 2012.

Great Heart, Questionable Intellect

Great Heart, Questionable Intellect

JB's Alliance friend, UB, got it right when she heard that JB was heading back into Naxxramas for the second time. "I admire JB's heart," UB stated, "but question her intellect."

In last night's raid JB focused on the Construct Quarter. The first raid boss in this quarter is Patchwerk. What a nightmare that ugly, smelly monster was back in the day. Getting to him required killing a bunch of mobs, which JB had no trouble with. She also had to jump a flowing gulley of very nasty goo. The smallest touch (when the back of her heel touched the goo when she jumped over it) brought her health down to 2%. That was close. JB then sidestepped the moving drops of goo in the lane that Patchwerk paces. The battle was anti-climactic as JB shut him down in under ten seconds. So much for the nightmare that Wild used to wrestle with on a weekly basis.

Getting to the next two bosses required walking a narrow, winding pipe. Wild was always terrified he would fall, which was instant death and cost the raid a lot of time. JB was more sure footed and traversed the pipe without issue, and very quickly two more bosses, Gluth and Grobbulus, went down. One of them is a giant sized dog, and JB actually felt sorry for the pup.

Then came the final boss in this quarter, Thaddius. Wild has nightmare's about this one, too. There are two adds to kill, on platforms that require jumping one platform to another. Fall short, and the deadly water below will kill you in a few seconds. JB killed the adds but failed to make the leap to Thaddius's platform on the first try (the timing is very tricky). She survived the deadly water by using her walk on water talent and clambered back out for another try. Lightning strikes from the boss kept disrupting JB's attempts to make that leap, and the hits were actually causing disturbing damage.
"Hell with this," JB muttered, "what's the worst that can happen?" She jumped. She didn't make it.

Splash.

Sigh. JB hearthed home. But it doesn't look like she's giving up.

If Jocy Can, So Will I

If Jocy Can, So Will I

Edit Update - This Naxx clear was done by Wildshard, not Jocy. How I mixed that up . . . well,  it sure stirred things up in the Wild family until it was straightened out.

Jocy recently soloed the Level 83 Elite raid dungeon, Naxxramas. Jocy, of course, is a Level 100 with raid level gear (i693) and waltzed through the place. Jocy had fun, but she also picked up enough frostweave for Wild to make four bags.

When Jezzibel (JB) announced that she, too, was going to solo Naxxramas, there were some scratching of heads and questioning looks. JB, at level 87, is five levels above Naxx, but she's 13 levels below Jocy. JB's gear is also significantly below Jocy's: i693 vs i421. Those facts didin't deter JB.

She began in the Arachnid wing, just as Jocy did. JB struggled with her weaponry and spell casting at the beginning. She is out of shape. Still, JB got through that wing and took out the three spider bosses found there. It was messy and JB had to heal herself at times, but she got it done.

JB moved on to the Military Wing and did a good job slaughtering all the hired help. JB wanted to try her hand at Instructor Razuvious, and the two other elites with him. When Wild was doing ten mans in Naxx it was hell getting him down, which we sometimes managed and on other night's we failed. Jocy so overwhelms this raid that she was able to kill Razuvious without resorting to the mind control trickery normally required from a raid group. JB found out the hard way that blunt force was not good enough against three boss level elites. JB killed one of the elites before dying. She reincarnated and the other two were on her immediately. Even with a surviving elite hanging on her, she managed to beat Razuvious down to 15% before she died a second time.

Finding her way through Naxx to the distant graveyard was too much trouble, so JB called it a night and hearthed home. There was some hope that running Naxx would help her leveling, but the gain was minimal. Entering Naxx, JB was level 87 +67% of the way to level 88. When she returned home she was still level 87 and +72% of the way to level 88, earning only 5% total toward the next level.

JB is not discouraged. Further forays might yet get her to level 88 - if she was determined to go back in there. The Plague Quarter and the Construct Quarter await her.

Naxxramas Plundered

Naxxramas Plundered

Edit Update: I mistakenly have Jocy listed at completing the Naxxramas run when in fact it was Wildshard who did the clearing. Wild is level 100 with i653 gear. Wild made great use of his mass kill weapons such as Hurricane and Wild's great healing strength to bring down gobs of mobs at once and down the bosses while staying alive.

Naxxramas is one of the great raid dungeons. In Wild's heyday as a raider, tackling the many levels and bosses of the huge fortress was a formidable task. Four main wings held an array of deadly horrors, plus a bonus wing if we cleared the other four. Our raids of ten and sometimes 25 raiders were lucky to clear two chambers in an evening of combat, taking many hours and numerous deaths.

Wild returned to Naxxramas this week. His purpose was both nostalgia and practical. His level and his gear far surpasses the old place, so there was little personal danger. Wild can one-shot anything in there except for the bosses. The bosses, too, went down, just a little more slowly. It is now a place for farming frostweave cloth to make bags. Wild also hoped to pick up some old gear to finish his gear sets.

I plan to run Naxxramas again in the near future and video tape it to give readers a chance to see what the place looks like. These old raid dungeons are truly awesome. A lot of work went into the look and feel of the raid, and the monsters we fought were truly fierce in their time. Wild did a full clear, except for the final, optional boss, Kel'Thuzad. I lacked a key quest or achievement to be able to take him on. Maybe next time. It brought back awesome memories, that's for sure.

Grasping at Straws

Grasping at Straws

In recent weeks there has been a rather desperate attempt to maintain interest in the goings on of the Wild Family. November was a very bad month.

[] Fist was dragged out of her cocoon and pushed to get out of the garrison and do something "useful."
[] Tiphaine made desultory efforts to upgrade her garrison.
[] Jocy made a half hearted attempt at getting "raid ready," going so far as shaking the dust off her Holy Paladin spec.
[] Wild? Just follow the sound of snoring.

Happy is losing gold every day. The market has gone crazy stupid, selling goods for less than it costs to make them. Insane, but the prices keep falling on many of the goods Happy depends on, and no one wants to consider going back to the desperately dull process of farming materials.

The latest effort to force activity by hunting down a bunch of garrison followers was met with a tepid response.

The doldrums are truly here.

Bored with Warcraft, I can usually turn to sports for a pickmeup. The San Diego Chargers (that's a football team by the way) finally won a game last week. Not that it matters much. The team has a 3-8 record and is blatantly trying to move the team to Los Angeles despite pretty strong local fan support. Los Angeles hasn't had an NFL football team in 20 years, which should say something about the caliber of fans there, but the Chargers think they're the team that will ignite the supposed huge, slavering fan base in LA. If it weren't for quarterback Phillip Rivers (a great guy, always the optimist, eight kids to feed, and HOF caliber player) there'd be no reason to watch the Chargers play.

Winter baseball talk is growing with spring training only three months away. The San Diego Padres made a big splash last season, hiring a high energy general manager (AJ Preller) and given a wad of money to remake a team that usually lives on food stamps. Preller bought some big time talent and fans were buzzing. The buzz had fizzled before mid-season and the team finished 74-88. Now the team has traded away most of the stars they'd paid big money for, and are now trading away some of the better and most appreciated players that are left in order to build up their minor league system (which Preller decimated to get those big name players). The main lament is not so much about being a bad team (Padres fans are very used to losing) and more about seeing fan favorites traded away for what seems little in return.

San Diego has a soccer team, too. I tried to get some information, but the loading page for their website takes as long to load as a soccer game (do soccer games ever end?). I had to go to Wikepedia. I know nothing about soccer leagues, but it says that in 2015 they were 1st in the West-Southern NPSL league division semi-finals but didn't qualify for the Open Cup. Whatever that means. Doesn't soccer keep track of wins and losses?

Hmm, maybe I can find a rugby league in San Diego . . . ok, never mind.

Finding Followers

Finding Followers

Happy is glum in a down cycle for the Auction House. Nothing to do but wait it out, which leaves him with little to do. Jocy and Tiphaine are bored silly earning apexis crystals et al and do nothing but putter about the garrison. Wild's single contribution of the day was to tear down his Spirit Lodge, which turned out to be less than worthless to him, and built a War Mill. Despite Wild being the first to get a garrison, his followers lack even the basic gear. With the War Mill he can start making improvements. Fist is active within her garrison, but even she feels the duldrums blanketing the family.

While the family frets, I decided to make a full accounting of garrison followers and see if I can get all four of the level 100s to the current follower max of 25.

Jocy has the most followers with 23, Tiphaine with 20, Wild with 19, and Fist with 18. I have a chart that shows who has which followers.

There are only eight followers that all four have in their garrisons: Ahm, Kimzee, Lantressor, Mulverick, Olin, Rala, Ulna, and Vivianne.

The total number of known followers in the family is 32. There are many more followers that none of the family has, but for now I'll focus just on getting all of the family to the 25 limit using those followers we do have.

The Plan is to just go alphabetically. If a follower proves difficult to get I'll just skip him and move on. There are far more followers than room to collect them, so I'm hoping it won't take long to max out.

What about getting the best followers instead of the easiest? No, because my experience is that at this level there is little difference in which specific followers are used in missions, as long as there is enough with the right stats to fill that mission. Quantity trumps talent in my view, except where a follower has minimal traits and abilities, but I can't control that, or change the limit of 25 total active followers. The best followers have a total of five traits and abilities, the worst have only two. PS - Yes, I know there are those who put a lot of work into follower missions and that there are some pretty nice things available if one wanted to put in a lot of extra time and effort. Maybe a time will come to pursue that, but for now the family is just trying to manage what they can manage.  Missions have on occasion provided gear upgrades, which is nice, so getting followers into the higher ranks is needed for those upgrades to appear.

Tiphaine's followers are particularly bad. She has only one follower with five traits and abilities (I call them"Fives"). Of the rest, she has 16 Threes and three Twos. That is a miserable combination. Fortunately, her one Five is Tormmok, for whom Tiphaine is very, very pleased to have. Without Mock she would have wound up with bodyguard Vivianne, who is only a Three.

Tiphaine, of course, wants to get more and better followers, but for some reason she was stuck at a max of 20, instead of the 25 the others have. Hmmm. I was curious what would happen if Tiphaine went out and brought back a twenty-first follower. How would that be handled? I quickly found out. Tiphaine brought back Abu'gar, an easy follower to pick up that Fist had found. Abu'gar joined the list of followers without a problem, and Tiphaines follower list showed 21/20, one over her max. What changed is the follower list turned RED and all missions were shut down. Uh Oh.

After doing some research I learned that we can have as many followers as we want, but the maximum that can be activated is 25. So why is Tiphaine's followers limited to 20? Tiphaine forgot to build up her Barracks to level three, that's why. That was an easy fix, and her followers now show as 21/25. All is well. I also learned that followers can be deactivated, so, for example, if a 26th follower is added a follower could be deactivated. There is no limit on how many deactivated followers one has. Any follower can be re-activated by paying 240 gold.

Adding followers is a time consuming process, but eventually every family member should have every follower that's been found.

Time to Fish or Cut Bait

Time to Fish or Cut Bait

Part One - From Happy's perspective the Auction House has reached crisis. Admittedly, Happy helped it along. As mats got harder and harder to get . . . as the cost of those mats rose and rose . . .  Happy waded in, selling off his huge stash of materials . . .  and selling . . .  and selling . . .  and selling. What was once close to a thousand felblights is now at . . .  zero. Yes, Happy has many bags of gold piled outside the vault. He may need a bigger vault just to house it all. To add another boon, two steelforged items that Happy needed to sell so that Jocy could improve her Holy spec gear finally sold. Two pieces for 37,000 gold.

I know this sounds stupendous, but prices are still rising, mats are hard to come by, and Happy is MISSING OUT on those big payouts! Never could Happy have imagined actually running out of things to sell. The rise in prices for key mats has continued unabated, but Happy is concerned that buying at such high prices could leave him high and dry when prices finally collapse - and they will, it's only a matter of when.

More than half of the mats Happy deals with are enchanting mats, and to a lesser degree, tailoring, both managed by Wild. Happy wants to double down on that market, not only because of the current run, but as a means to increase the amount of mats available. In short, Happy wants another family member to take up the Enchanting profession. Two enchanters would double the amount of mats crafted for sale. That is currently being discussed.

Tiphaine may be part of the answer. She has an open small plot in her garrison that could support the Enchanting profession. Her two current professions are Blacksmithing and Smelting. Tiphaine has yet to do anything with Smelting, and is agreeable to take on Enchanting. Jocy also has Smelting, so the family would still have access to that profession if needed. Yes, Blacksmithing and Enchanting is an odd combination, but in the world of garrisons such things are possible and even needed.

Profession Success! Tiphaine has built a Level 3 Enchanting Hut. Getting it into full production will take a little time because of the ongoing issues with Followers. Tiphaine doesn't have a follower to help her run the Enchanting Hut. Only one follower has that ability - Ahm. Tiphaine didn't have Ahm. Fortunately, Ahm was easy to find. Also fortunately, Tiphaine had one spot available for another follower. The man has been standing out in the snow just outside the garrison. Poor guy was near frozen and is only at level 95. It will take a few days to get him up to full strength and take over the garrison Enchanting job.

Part Two - Jocy tried fishing . . . once. She raised her fishing skill to 100 (max is 700). It's not for her. She was very relieved when Fist got the task of being the second fisherman in the family, behind Wild. Jocy isn't going fishing, she's going to do the proverbial cutting bait and dip her pole in the Proving Grounds.

Part Three - Long ago Jezzibel (aka "JB") was the ultimate Wild family killing machine. She is making her case that she can be that again. She gained two levels in Pandaria (going from level 85 to 87) just to be able to gather herbs and enjoy some of the wonders of Pandaria (without getting killed). Out of the rest of the Wild family, JB is the most likely to plow her way to level 100 well before Legion comes.

The idea surfaced during the moving around of professions and, of course, Jocy's re-imagining herself as a healer. If Jocy can make radical changes, so could she. For JB, it's not so much a re-imagining but more of a rebirth of herself. She has been a healer and a ranged DPS, but her favorite is Enhancement Shaman, comfortable with killing in close quarters. She wears mail armor, lighter than Jocy and Tiphaine's heavy plate but far tougher than Fist's leather. She also has healing skills to keep herself alive. Should the idea take hold, JB would keep her Alchemy profession and likely invest in Inscription as her second profession, although Philly already claims that profession. That could cause trouble, but Philly is only level 85 and would need to catch up. JB has the upper hand.

JB remembers Karazahn. She was in elemental spec at the time, at level 73, just above Kara's Level 70. What, you don't know that JB once raided? Check this post from September 14th, 2009:

http://wildfamilytales.blogspot.com/2009/09/weekend-part-2-jezzibaels-night-out.html

Interface Crash and Holy Paladin

Interface Crash and Holy Paladin

There was a moment in the Wild family when it looked like all of the player settings for every character had been wiped out. I was playing around with the Icy Veins recommended addon ElvUI. The addon is a complete replacement of the standard user interface. I didn't experiment on any active character. I tried it on Javajoo. Java is a paladin, like Jocy, and I wanted to experiment with a Holy spec using the new interface. Bottom line - messing with the interface is dangerous, particularly one that takes over completely. I got things set back where they should be without having to do anything drastic. That should have given Jocy the hint that maybe she should let things be.

But she won't. Somehow the bug to attempt the art of healing has lodged in her brain. Why would whe even bother trying a Holy spec? The idea just won't go away. Guilds, Bosses . . . uh, well, Raiding. There, she said it. She's got the itch. Maybe. Maybe not, but she's curious.

Meitha Guild is also thinking about it, planning it out. "You want to raid, get your gear to iLevel 680. Be ready." Jocy decided to, at the least, check things out.

First of all, she couldn't show up at a raid in her mushed together protection spec/DPS mode which she uses for solo work. It won't work in a raid environment. Jocy also has no intention of trying to be a tank, her own raiders would kill her for incompetence. She "might" consider retribution spec, but in all likelihood the guild will have more than enough DPS raiders with far better skills than Jocy.
Where does that leave Jocy? Raids always need healers, so if Jocy is the least bit serious, she'd better check her healing gear. In tank or retribution spec Jocy's gear level is i693. However, in Holy spec that gear falls to i679. Yes, it's close enough, if they are desperate for a healer. IF.

Jocy already has all the best gear that the Auction House can provide. However, there is something else she can do. Her Steelforged Saber of the Deft (i705) is a beautiful blade . . . but she can't use it in Holy spec. She has only a one-hand axe (i645) and an off-hand (i665) for healing. The axe is a Crafted one (1 of 6), so she could upgrade it to i705 as well, but it would be silly to combine that with an i665 off-hand that ought to be coupled with a Crafted off-hand. Jocy thought she had the right answer - get a Crafted two-hand Staff, like the one Fist has. Jocy dismally discovered that Holy paladins can't use staffs. Digging deeper, almost every weapon is outlawed to a holy paladin. No two-handers of any kind are allowed. That leaves just two one handed weapons to pick from. So, making the best of things, Jocy can upgrade her current blade to i675 and do the same with a new, Crafted shield or off-hand. Even that posed some problems, but she was finally able to maneuver her gear around to get to the magic i680.

Next, two things need to happen that don't have anything to do with gear levels. First, she has to get her addons set up for healing spec. No one in the Wild family has ever healed as a Holy Paladin. Second, she must practice. Go to the Proving Grounds and run that raid as many times as necessary to learn all of the spells and abilities and how/when to best use them.

That's as far as Jocy is ready to go so far. The third and fourth steps, if she is up to it, will be doing some LFR's (Looking For Raids) to get some practical experience after such a long lay off. It will be ugly. It wouldn't be a surprise if she were kicked from raids for a while. If she can stomach that, then she might suggest to the Meitha guild that Jocy is available for raids.

Raiding Noise?

Raiding Noise?

Patch 6.2.3 arrived on Tuesday. From the Wild family perspective nothing changed. Some very minor improvements on some spells will help Jocy and Tiphaine. Everyone continues to pursue personal goals.

Jocy has been building up her follower levels and that resulted in a special quest, the first such quest seen by the family. Jocy had to fly out into the middle of the ocean between Frostwall and Nagrand. Jocy didn't have her underwater breathing swim trunks on but figured she could just hold her breath. Swimming straight down, it took an unnervingly long time to get to the bottom, where a bright shiny waited. She was still several feet from the bottom when she was attacked by multiple mobs. Darn, Jocy belatedly wished she'd brought Tormmok. Too late now.

She killed four of the water beasts before getting enough elbow room to grab the shiny. She headed for the surface, still battling the persistent mobs, while worriedly watching her breath slipping away. Jocy breached the surface and gulped air. She got 30g for her trouble, from Black Market racketeers who rather brazenly hinted that more nefarious work might be arranged at her garrison. Sure enough, a Black Market representative was standing outside the Main Hall when Jocy got back. Frankly, this is a ruse to get people to use the black market Auction House, where players can post and bid on stuff. Sigh. And I thought Jocy might get something good out of that quest. Still, Wild caught Happy sneaking a peek at the offerings.

***

Wild startled the whole family when he woke from a bad dream murmuring something about raiding. Wild immediately disavowed ANY interest in slogging through dank dungeons, cleaning up monster goo, or standing around waiting for raids that never form up.

Jocy was looking kind of strange, though. The other day the raiding guild that Wild is still a member of, Meitha, was chatting on the guild channel and talking about getting a raid started. Hellfire Citadel (HFC), with it's twelve bosses and a thirteenth special nasty, seem to be the focus. The recent patch offers new gear upgrades for raiders who earn valor points. Goover was going to work something out, he said. Even BK (Bloodknuckle) was interested. BK, by the way, is the tank that Wild healed for in almost every raid he ever ran up to Pandaria, when Wild stopped raiding. BK is still around. Wow.

More on that to follow. . . 

For The Birds

For The Birds

Saturday . . . I'm sick of doing the Tanaan dailies. Not even the enticement of a new mount or even a gear upgrade interests me in another day of mindless slaughter. Multply that by four toons doing the same thing and GAH!

On a small scale the everyday routine of sending followers off on missions and dutifully completing profession responsibilities continues in all four garrisons. There is still some interest in gaining more followers, but it's an "eh" kind of interest.

Jocy recently acquired a Frostwall Tavern. At level one all it offers is dungeon quests. Jocy hoped that the quests didn't require a full dungeon run. Sigh, they do. The second level is a bit better, adding some random followers each week. That's being built right now. The third level offers follower treasure hunts, which sound fun, but Jocy is withholding comment until she does a couple. Jocy also upgraded her War Mill to the second level, and that will open up more follower gear as well. So, Jocy is modestly active, and even has a small chance of gaining gear. At i693, I'm not sure any follower mission is likely to drop something better, but one can hope.

Tiphaine still struggles to get her garrison in order. Her baracks is only level 2. She has no follower to man her level 3 Forge. Her herb garden is a limp level 1. All that takes gold, which she might wrestle from Happy, but it also takes garrison resources, which is still in short supply due to issues covered previously.

Fist wanted to get more interested in Treasure Contracts, which are random dailies. Unfortunately, the quests are completely random (ie, the same quests can show up over and over) and are opened on only a few random garrisons each day. That's a double dose of randomness which seems designed to make it hard even to get them, much less do them. Maybe she'll try one - if one ever shows up in her garrison. On second thought, maybe she'll just go take a nap.

As for Wild, he learned early that napping caps everything else at times like these.

Sunday . . . Fist is restless and bored. She volunteered to take Wild's place as the family fisherman and cook. Fist went heavy into cooking while she was leveling in Pandaria and the family loves the recipes. She's not even halfway to the max 700, but at least it's something she likes to do. The fishing part, though, is going to take some getting used to. Fist also has that empty Scribe's Quarters. She went to talk Philly (who has the inscription profession) about it. There is a lot to learn, but maybe it will keep her busy.

Fixing Fist's Followers

Fixing Fist's Followers

I had a whole page of explanations about the troubles and solutions concerning the lack of followers in Fist's garrison. Wild has 19 followers. Tiphaine has 19. Jocy has 23. Fist has 13.

However, the more detailed the explanations, the more boring it got. Yes, Fist had some fun rounding up some of the easier followers that were out there. She even came up with some that the other family members don't have, but now know how to get them if they wish.

Her new followers are Goldmane, Leo, Abu'Gar, Blook, and Image of Archmage Vasgoth. That raises her number of followers to 18. Fist had hoped to pick up some upgraded followers, but luck wasn't with her on that score. All of the new followers are of the basic garden variety type. But that's okay. She at least has enough followers now to get her missions underway. Task complete, and she can chase after other followers as she pleases.

That leaves a lot of space to fill in this post. Poor reader, the time has come again to invite Happy to talk money.

Topic: Boring Business Stuff or Cooking the Books?

Never make Happy unhappy. That saying goes way back, but it seems some high level members of the family have recently forgotten it.

The Auction House continues to falter while the family continues to thrust IOUs at Happy in exchange for more gold, hinting that Happy is holding out on them. Happy returned an opinion that the word "ingrate" applied, considering the wealth of gold that has passed through his coffers and into their pockets.

Happy thought it wise to remind the family that significant amounts of gold are currently in family hands. Perhaps a closer accounting of those gold coins should be taken. Nobody wants to give up the gold they already have, but they ignored Happy's veiled threat to take it back.

Nobody messes with the Guild Bank. Accountants with their account books and ledgers descended on the family. No secrets, Happy told them. Every family member will reveal just how much gold they have. In addition, all IOUs are now due, immediately, except for the minimum necessary to maintain garrisons and followers.

The audit revealed the holdings of the following family members:

Fist    12,000g
Jocy    7,000g
Tiphaine    4,000g
Wild    6,000g
JB        8,000g

The gold is being pooled together for distribution based on need. Of course, since Happy holds the purse and handles all finances, he will make the ultimate decisions.

(1) JB and Happy quickly came to an agreement. At level 87, JB has no ambitions to level further and is mostly content handling the minor alchemy needs of the family. She graciously gave up her 8k gold with only one condition - that should she one day decide to become active, she would get Happy's full support.

(2) Wild and Happy have been brokering deals with each other since the day Happy convinced Wild he would make Wild far richer than than he could ever be on his own. Wild has rarely wanted for anything that Happy could provide, and that hasn't changed. Wild was the first in the family to build a garrison, and therefore the first to make mistakes. Wild has two plots of land for stables and barn which he now wishes to knock down and replace. Wild wants to try out a Spirit Lodge, which would be a first for the family. A second structure is yet to be defined. The cost will run 3-4k per structure and Happy agreed to fund it when the time is right.

(3) Jocy has the best gear in the family at i693. She is 6 of 6 in all three Crafted sets of gear with weapon, shield and trinket. The AH remains an option for upgrades but Jocy's needs are high end with gear running over 20-30k gold apiece. Happy is not going to pay for that. Should a good deal pop up, a purchase could be considered, but Jocy is going to have to work the system and find other ways to improve. Jocy's garrison is not particularly well designed, but any changes would not benefit the family as a whole. Decision: Jocy gets no gold from Happy.

(4) Tiphaine is active in Tanaan and needs gear upgrades and some work on her garrison. Currently her gear is at i645. Of her 18 Crafted needs, she has all but the last two, which are of course the most expensive, one for legs and one for trinket estimated to cost about 35k gold. Negotiations are ongoing, but the best Happy can offer is that upgrades will be considered over time.

(5) Fist edged past Tiphaine gear-wise to i649. She is four levels short of having all of her Crafted gear. Her chosen weapon, a two-handed staff, are made with Inscription and the upgrades are particularly expensive. She has the greatest need and is the most active, but the cost will run to about 38,300 gold . . . Happy will take that under advisement, while hoping prices fall.

Vivianne Steps Up

Vivianne Steps Up

Knowing she was competing with Thor for the honor of being Fist's bodyguard, Vivianne upped her skillset to the max of i675 in both weapon and gear. Excited to be selected, she suggested to Fist they try the famous Rumble in the Jungle. They flew to the arena and got lucky. A fight was already in progress and the first boss, Akrilla, was almost dead, but Fist got in a few licks and got credit for the kill, though the other two players did most of the work. Another player arrived, and the four of us took on the second boss, Rendar. Fist raised some stunning DPS on the fight, as high as 31.2k DPS, and Rendar fell. The final boss, Eyepiercer, casts spells which stop DPS, so on this fight Fist managed only 19.2k DPS, though the kill was just as nice. Fist completed her first Rumble!

Flush with victory, Fist went looking for more dangerous challenges. Fist has a quest to take a harness off a Gronn. Not just any Gronn, but an elite Iron Wargronn surrounded by enemy soldiers in the killing zones of the Iron Harbor. They flew slowly over the field, looking for a Gronn in an area that wasn't crowded with other mobs. As soon as Fist spotted one, though, caution went to the winds and Fist dived down and tagged the elite Gronn. There were no friendlies around - Fist would not get any help. Want to know how it went? BOOM! Fist and Vivianne killed the Gronn! Fist has her first elite solo kill.

Fist has learned the brute force method of playing her brewmaster. Now she needs to incorporate the Black Ox Statue into the mix. Even more importantly, she needs to begin learning the subtleties required to get really good at it.

[] Completed all of Darktide Roost and didn't get a single piece of gear. What a rip off. Vivianne is doing a decent job so far and her AOE Blizzard spell is pretty effective. She does everything at range when she can so most of the time Fist doesn't even know where she is until the battle is over.

[] Fist really, really, really, wanted to call out the Night Haunter, but the other two players in the swamp weren't interested. Cowards.

[] And then to top that the b-tards send Fist to Sha'naar for the daily Assault! Fist hates that place. Have I mentioned that before? Oh, several times, I see. Well, it's true. The place sucks, but they got through it.

[] On the way back from Sha'naar Fist veered off and and tackled one of the elite demons along the pathway near Vol'mar. These elites aren't at Haunter level of difficulty, but they are tough. Fist invoked the White Tiger (one of her attacks in the form of a tiger) which engages in battle for 45 seconds but can only be used once every three minutes. The fight went surprisingly well and the elite died. Encouraged, she tackled a second elite demon without the White Tiger. Her health took a beating, but at just under half health she tossed a health tonic down and got back to full strength. The elite went down. Fist wonders if the Night Haunter could be handled that way, but one healing tonic wouldn't be enough, and only one can be used in any single battle. The totem . . .  uh, didn't use it. Fist had better test the totem on an easier elite before testing it on the Haunter.

[] The lack of gear drops is beginning to mess with Fist's mind. She's at i649 and still behind both Jocy and Wild. "Mom" is right on her tail at i645.

[] One worrying aspect of her garrison is that Fist did not follow the planned sets of quests that lead to finding and taking in followers when she was leveling. All Fist could think of was "get to level 100" and that's what she did. Her problem now is that by this point Fist should have close to 20 followers. She has only 13. That restricts the missions she can send out, which slows down the leveling of the followers she does have. Eventually Fist is going to have to backtrack and collect the followers she's missing.

Finally, A Brief Moment - During one of Fists's trips back and forth between her garrison and Vol'mar, an old friend of Wild's, Lady Tala, showed up briefly at Vol'mar.  It's been a long time since I'd seen anyone from our cabal. I thought about whispering her, but of course she doesn't know Fist. But while wondering if it mattered, she took flight and departed. Just before she dissapeared Fist buffed Lady Tala with Legacy of the White Tiger. Wild still thinks about the cabal and the friends that still hang out in the Meitha guild (which JB is a still a member of). The reality, though, is that there isn't much left but fond memories of the past.

Getting Straightened Out

Getting Straightened Out

Note: This entry covers a bunch of stuff I wanted to get out before the weekend goes into full swing.

Fist is tired of being told she's done everything wrong since she was summarily directed to become active again. Most of those errors were more the fault of bad guidance, which she is beginning to learn to ignore, since it generally gets her into trouble.

No one has been mishandled worse than young Thor, however. When Tiphaine pulled her version of Tormmok, Mock, from Gorgrond and brought him to her garrison, the first thing she did was send him out on mission after mission until he reached level 100. That's the way it was done. No one even considered the idea that you could take your bodyguard into the field at less than level 100.

No one told Fist this. When Fist proudly brought home her version of Tormmok, Thor, she, quite accidentally, discovered that Thor was ready and able to go into the field with Fist at the tender age of 93. Off they went, and over the course of several days Thor racked up almost 3,000 points toward earning his way to the second level.

Then came the downside of that approach. Thor stayed at level 93. That was a sobering lesson which no one had ever mentioned to Fist. Followers level in two different ways. First, they must level to 100 through missions. When taken into the field as a bodyguard, they earn points to gain levels, but that is a separate process from missions. The bottom line is that what is best for Thor right now is to spend his time doing missions until he reaches level 100. Only then is he truly ready to be a full time bodyguard. While he's doing that, Fire Mage Vivianne offered to return to bodyguard duty. She's well equipped with i675 weapon and i660 armor.

It is quite remarkable how well Thor did as a level 93 bodyguard. Though new to the job, he did fine. Well, there was that time Thor tangled with two demons out of range of Fist while she was in a bit of desperate business herself. This was in Sha'naar, a zone she immediately destested.

They'd just entered the Temple of Sha'naar tunnel and lit into the first Demon they found. But there were also dogs, and warlock casters and they swarmed over Fist and Thor. Young Thor, unused to such ferocity, got separated from her. Fist fought wildly, killing everything around her while her health dropped below half. Desperate, she slew the last one and charged up to engage the demon Thor still fought. She made a fatal rookie mistake by trying to pull off and kill the demon on Thor instead of healing Thor first. The mountainous Thor groaned and toppled, dead at her feet. Fist slit the demons throat.

Fist learned more than one lesson. Thor should never have left Fist's side, but since it happened, Fist should have closed in so Thor could reconnect. They are much better as a team. Lesson #2 is DON'T FORGET YOUR SAVE ME SPELLS. She had two she could have used on Thor. Lesson #3 drew a crazed grin from Fist. Her DPS rang up close to 16k even against some lethal (though still not elite) enemies. Lesson #4 - Her health bar swung pretty far toward death more than once. The dance Fist has to play as a Brewmaster is a deadly one.

During the period Fist and Thor were working, she did some experimenting with the Brewmaster's primary taunt ability, the Black Ox Statue. It's like a totem. You set it down and it immediately begins taunting everything within a thirty yard circle around the statue.

Fist first tried it on a family of boars just outside the walls of Vol'mar. The effect was amazing. Not only did every boar in range immediately stampede to the statue, birds flying through the zone also zeroed in on it. If left in place the full fifteen minutes, I suspect that worms under the soil would come wriggling out as well.

Of course, unless there are healers supporting you, summoning the statue needs a few rules. First, don't be standing next to it when you set it down, because you then become ground zero for every mob in range. When soloing, Fist learned that the best approach is to set the statue down a good distance away. Then move in and pull mobs in smaller groups, kill them, lure in some more, rinse and repeat. With the statue active, Fist gets additional defensive spells such as Guard and Elusive Brew to help keep Fist alive. It's all still pretty strange, and she needs a lot more practice. Even more strange is that there are cases where the statue itself moves on it's own, depending on what is going on. Fist has not experienced that yet.

Fist picked up a new weapon as additional protection (not to diss Vivianne, but she can't do the things Thor can). Fist dropped her dual blades (i630 and i609) and added a two-hand staff (i675). Overall, her gear is now i643.

Also, here is some early data on the breakdown of spells being used:

Iron Harbor - the two of them (Thor is still with her here, no statue) reached 18k dps and managed to stay alive. However, they did take on one of the big Gronns, and though it was non-elite it probably would have killed them if another player hadn't helped out on the kill.
So far her damage is spread out pretty evenly, though that may be because I'm just going with whatever attack is available to me.

#1 Touch of Death, 23.7% (this is the kill spell when a mob is under 35% health)
#2 Keg Smash, 21.7% (this is the AOE spell)
#3 Melee, 19.2% (she seems to know how to use those dual blades)
#4 Tiger Palm, 11.0% (my usual starting attack after pulling with Crackling Jade Lightning)
I like using Breath of Fire (its a DoT), but it barely made the list with only 1.2%  and it consumers two chi. I need to retire that one.

I'll put out another report next go around.

Shaking her Fist in Challenge

Shaking her Fist in Challenge

It's a sad thing to admit - I never got much pleasure out of playing a Monk. That's no slight to Fist. She took the challenge to level from 1-90 and performed that grueling task admirably. And then marched on to level 100. She works hard, but she knows that she's the last to get picked for a job, and without much interest in her she continues to languish despite her best efforts to participate. For me personally, the one element that really bugs me about monks are the bubbles. Being forced to hunt and wade through healing bubbles during and after battles is pure idiocy, it creates distraction, and it's even worse with a very large follower hogging up viewing space. I know, its a personal grudge, but I hate those bubbles.

This is quite a shame because Fist has some really fun tasks in front of her - She has her version of Tormmok, but he's a young level 93 and needs to be leveled. Fist has been hoping to get a Tormmok of her own and has collected a veritable armory of gear for him - once he's level 100. If Fist and Tormmok, who Fist named Thor, ever get that chance.

Then an idea came to me. Actually, it's an old idea that harkens back to Jocy's struggles as a retribution paladin. Switching from Retribution to Protection made all the difference. Tiphaine,  on her return to action, noted Jocy's success with a tank spec and chose to become a Blood death knight.

Now Fist wants a chance, turning in her Windwalker for Brewmaster with the same mindset and motto as Jocy and Tiphaine: "We don't care how long it takes to kill something, as long as it dies before we do."

This is a special challenge for Fist. Both Jocy and Tiphaine wear plate armor. Fist has only leather between her and the points of her twin blades against the weapons of men and beasts.

Each of them handle damage in different ways. Jocy simply absorbs it because she can handle huge damage, and has several save me spells at her disposal. Tiphaine turns damage into self-healing, using her own attacks to build up health. As for Fist, Icy Veins says that Brewmasters survive by avoiding damage through dodging and parrying attacks, plus an ability called Stagger which spreads incoming damage over ten seconds instead of all at once. That sounds good, but the healing aspect worries Fist. Brewmasters are supposedly very steady tanks which is easy on raid healers. Fist won't have healers looking after her. She doesn't have a big save me spell, either, only a number of little ones.

Against the 85 target dummy, she did 15k. On the Raiding dummy she did 7500. I clearly have no idea what I'm doing. Fist may die a lot. Or not. In a very unscientific test, Fist and Thor attacked several groups of boars which are the favored targets when doing the 100 beasts quest. They did 16-18k DPS against the beasts. Fist took more damage than I am used to seeing, but her stupid little bubbles were there to fill her health bar after each kill.

They then tried their hand at the level 100 enemy close by Vol'mar, but they died too quickly to get a full measure, though still reaching over 20k DPS (note that these were scouts, not the more heavily armed soldiers). I have to question the validity of this test, but if anywhere close Fist is putting out DPS above the level of either Jocy or Tiphaine. I just wish I knew what I was doing. It'll take time to get used to all these new spells and the way in which they are used. Consider it a mad experiment.

Fist is going to the Iron Harbor soon, and that is where the dying is likely to happen.

From Tormmok to Mock to Avatar

From Tormmok to Mock to Avatar

Mock earned second level and became a Trusted Bodyguard. He added a new trait, Avatar. The new trait periodically turns Mock into a colossus for thirty seconds, doing 50% more damage. Tiphaine is delighted with the extra DPS, but really, isn't the dude big enough as he is? Now he turns Colossus!? Good grief.

Jocy and Tiphaine just love the Night Haunter. Jocy can solo it, although he does have to use his save me spell. Tiphaine was out on the swamps again doing her 100 beast kill quest and she just couldn't help herself, rounding up the wounded soldiers and calling out the Haunter. It was late evening this time, and there were several other players about. They all piled on and helped Tiphaine kill it. I've never seen anyone else call out the Haunter. The bat is tough, but its obviously killable. Maybe its too much trouble. Tiphaine is going to keep getting better until she can solo kill it.

As of Tuesday night Mock is 1080/10,000 toward level 3. Tiphaine raised her gear level from i630 to i645 and finished Rumble in the Jungle . . . "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Tiphaine's version: "Swarm like a dozen elite monkeys and Hammer like a Gronn."

[] Fist's Storehouse and Forge upgraded to 3. Mock gear raised to 649 weapon, 639 armor. Now we're talking.

On a whole other topic, there are going to be more changes regarding Fist. Stay tuned.

Taking Stock and Taking Names

Taking Stock and Taking Names

Tiphaine picked up the daily "kill 100 beasts" quest, but this is Saturday and the beasts in the area of Wor'var were all tapped out. Well, Jocy had shown her how to get to the swamps, where there's an endless stream of dinosaurs, snakes, flying things, frogs, and the list could go on and on.

The swamps were deserted of all players except one hunter likely on the same quest. The hunter tangled with one of the elites in the swamp - a forest walker thing - and Tiphaine helped finish it off, getting her first fragmented crystal.

Consistent with Jocy's habit of picking up possible quest goodies, Tiphaine also rounded up the parts of the quest for the Night Haunter elite without paying too much attention to it. She had no interest in taking on the elite in her current gear state.

What happened next could have been avoided. The Night Haunter quest requires saving ten wounded soldiers. I forgot that on the tenth save the fight starts, like NOW. Tiphaine found herself fighting the Night Haunter. Tiphaine doesn't know the word "retreat." The battle went decently at the start, but as time went on her health couldn't keep up with the damage she was taking. Save me spells delayed what was becoming inevitable, so she attacked even more desperately, burning her runes in the hope getting back into the fight. The hunter eventually saw that there was another elite afoot and joined in the fight. It was close, but Tiphaine didn't last the whole battle, dying with the Haunter still above 30%.

Tiphaine is fast on her feet, though, and resurrected quickly. When she got back the Haunter was a corpse, but still bleeding and still twinkling, waiting for someone to take credit for the kill. Yes! She got her credit. You can bet she'll be more cautious the next time . . . oh, wait, this is Tiphaine we're talking about. The Night Haunter better be ready the next time Tiphaine wades into the swamps. She also received an i650 baleful shoulder that the War Mill helped upgrade to i675. It replaced an i591 and raised her overall ilevel to i630. Very Nice. And those two elite kills, even though she had help, were pretty sweet, too. Mock is 9,790/10,000, which is getting pretty close to reaching the second level.

[] Ever have one of those moments out of time? Tiphaine recalled getting her first death knight blade and the rune that she impressed on it. She had a sudden desire to go back to Ebon Hold and . . .  well, she wasn't sure why. There's no need for that now. It was just weird.

[] More weirdness followed. Tiphaine wondered why she didn't have a special spell that other classes have, like Wild's Mark of the Wild or Jocy's Blessing of Kings or Fist's Legacy of the White Tiger? Why doesn't death knights have something like that?

[] Well, they do, but no one in the family dared say anything out loud. Blood would be spilled if anyone let out that Tiphaine had forgotten the spell, and that it lay unused since her return from self-imposed exile. Oh so quietly the spell, Horn of Winter, appeared in her spell kit. As far as anyone would comment, it had always been there. 'Nuff said about that.

[] On a better note, Tiphaine took on the Rumble in the Jungle for the first time. She was the lone horde in a group of alliance. The group took no notice of her and she in return ignored them. Tiphaine helped kill the first and third bosses. They didn't do the second boss. No chance to solo the second boss, so she'll have to keep trying to horn in on another group to get that last boss.

Fist's Ferocious Family

Fist's Ferocious Family

Fist knew her mother would be on her case, now that Fist was back at work. She began making immediate improvements to the Garrison. The War Mill was brought up to full capacity at Level 3. The storehouse was also raised to Level 3. She filled her last remaining open spot with a Trading Post, which will be upgraded to Level 3 as soon as possible. Fist still isn't sure what she wants to do with The Scribes Quarters. For it to be useful, Fist would have to learn how.

Her own personal status is fine. She's kept herself prepared. A Windwalker Monk, her gear (i631) isn't bad, and she'll get time to build it up as needed. Fire Mage Vivianne (i654 geared) is a decent bodyguard but has only "Blizzard" as a weapon and lacks the armor protection of the family's favorite bodyguard, Tormmock. Fist ticked off the task - bring  her own Tormmock to the garrison and start his training as a bodyguard.

Fist didn't just give in, however. She countered Wild's plan for the demon hunter. "Let's say that I follow the plan," Fist suggested. "I craft the best leather gear available, and Happy gets his arm twisted and pays for the best gear upgrades available on the Auction House. With all of that gear saved up for the demon hunter, she/he could concievably reach Jocy's level of i693."
Fist let that sink in, and then went for the kill. "There are still obstacles to this plan." She began ticking them off.

"First, The new DH will start at level 98, and won't be able to use ANY of that saved gear until level 100."

"Second, assuming there is a specific training event (like the death knights have), the DH will likely level from 98 to 100 during that event and will likely have their OWN SET of level 100 GEAR when they complete the event."

"Third, the instant the DH reaches level 100 the DH will start getting Legion level gear that will eclipse every current piece of gear out there."

Fist paused for a breath. "In other words, the hundreds of hours of crafting and the thousands of gold spent will be worthless by the time the DH reaches level 101."

Fist waited - for applause, maybe. The family was silent. Finally, Tiphaine spoke. "Well said." She looked at the others shuffling their feet. "You want to be ready for Legion, do your own work to get there. And that goes for the demon hunter, too."

So, just how prepared is the Wild family for Legion in terms of getting a good start on the level grind from 100 to 110? Here they are, from top to bottom (this assumes no one jumps into a dungeon or raid - possible, but not likely):


#1 Jocy: at i693 gear level she is virtually maxed out. Bodyguard Tormmok is maxed at 675 weapon and 667 of 675 armor. He's a Trusted Bodygaurd (2nd level) and is 7,190/10,000 toward the third level (no, I don't know how many bodyguard levels there are).

#2: Wild: i653. Bodyguard Vivianne is 663/666 toward max 675. She is only 10/10,000 toward the second level. Wild never made much use of bodygaurds. He didn't learn how to use them, although that is no excuse.

#3: Fist: i631. Bodyguard Vivianne is 675/654 toward max 675. She is 670/10,000 toward the second level. She hasn't used her bodyguard much, either, so far. But then, she hasn't been given the time.

#4: Tiphaine. i623. Bodyguard Mock is at BASE LEVEL (600/600) because, well, Tiphaine has other priorities regarding her garrison and, frankly, Mock has worked out just fine as he is. He is 7,380/10,000 toward the second level. Once Tiphaine's issue with garrison resources is straightened out, she'll be able to acquire follower gear that should raise Mock's skill considerably.


"So, get off my case!" Fist demanded, reminding them who this is about. "There's a hundred other things I need to work on, including joining the ongoing battles in the Tanaan Jungle. This could get very bloody."

What's Up with Fist?

What's Up with Fist?

Fist has been under the radar for awhile. Her garrison is pretty well settled, so settled she's left goods just laying around. Prodded into checking the status of her garrison, she started with her level 2 War Mill. Goods were piled up outside the mill, who knows how long they'd been there.

Fist opened the stack of goods and dumped a small fortune on the snowy ground. The pile included: a blackrock armor set, a power overun weapon enhancement, 2 war ravaged armor sets, a balanced weapon enhancement, and 3 braced armor enhancements.

The Tannery is in working order but it, too, has goods stacked up waiting for delivery. The Scribes Quarters hasn't produced anything since it was first built. Fist needs to clean up her act.

Fist grumbled something nasty under her breath. Being the only level 100 leatherworker in the family should give her some status, but she's been pushed to the back of the bus by Jocy and Tiphaine. Even when she gets attention, she knows she's being used. Wild wants Fist to get her act together not because he wants her active - he wants her to prepare the future new member of the family, the Demon Hunter - who just happens to wear leather gear. Fist is back in the rotation, running missions, acquiring follower gear, working in the mines and in the herb fields, and building up her crafting skills and products.

Tiphaine has little to say in the matter. Fist was pretty bored, anyway, so returning to her routine tasks is no big deal. There was a private meeting, however, between mother and daughter afterword. Just a guess, but perhaps Tiphaine isn't quite as ambivilant as it seems about the way Fist is being treated. Asked her opinion of demon hunters, she smiled broadly, showing her new fangs. "I'm an original Hero class death knight, born without a childhood, made to kill from the moment of my creation." Tiphaine draped an arm over Fist's shoulders in a rare display of affection for her daughter - or at least that's what it looked like.

"Demon Hunters?" Tiphaine mused aloud. "I'd say this new Hero class is no more than a pale copy of the original. A "hunter" that can't use ranged weapons? A demon that leaps backward away from the enemy instead of facing it?" She shook her head. "These demon hunters are toys, and when the time comes Fist will prove just how easy she can take them apart."

Onward to the Tanaan Jungle!

Onward to the Tanaan Jungle!

I didn't know that Fist had a War Mill. She also has a nice tannery that she's not doing much with. And she has a Scribes Quarters. The girl has interesting tastes. However, she can't help Tiphaine increase her garrison resources. Fist has plenty, but it can't be used outside her garrison.
Wild came up with best idea, although Wild didn't know he did. Wild has a Trading Post, which he has long ignored. The Trading Post does exactly what one would expect - it trades. One of the things it trades for is herbs, and in exchange it returns resources. Wild also has more resoureces that he can use, but again it can only be used within the garrison.

Okay, Tiphaine doesn't have to be hit over the head to get the point. She has a spare building permit and a free lot, so she built her own Trading Post. All well and good, but the production of resources is abysmally slow. It could take days to get the resources needed, and Tiphaine has never been the patient sort. If this is confusing, let's summarize. Tiphaine wants into the Tanaan Jungle. She has to have a fully functional garrison with a Level 3 Great Hall first. She needs 2,000 resources to build it, and only has a few hundred. To get those resources she has to build a Trading Post, which trades goods for resources. Got it? Good.

[] Tic Tock. Tiphaine has been waiting days now and still hasn't gotten enough resources, which comes in dribbles. This sucks. The wait is putting Tiphaine into a murderous mood.

[] "F" this! Time to break some rules." She grabs Mock and mounts up (um, let's rephrase that). She and Mock get on their mounts. They ignore the menacing barrier separating the Tanaan Jungle from the rest of Draenor and fly right through it. Nothing stopped them. Ha!

[] The main horde city, Vol'mar, is about two-thirds deep into Tanaan. They decide to take a winding path though the sky, swooping down to tag every flight master they can find. It was pretty cool.

[] They already knew what they'd see at Vol'mar - nothing. Tiphaine hasn't gotten the quest line that officially opens up Tanaan yet. So they did some sightseeing. Tiphaine took a picture of where Vol'mar will be when its built. They did a fly by at the Rumble in the Jungle but figured they weren't quite ready to take on the three elites there, or the elite monkeys.

[]  They still have some gearing up to do, so they decided to do some looting. Tiphaine got excited at the beach when she spotted a treasure chest. It was surrounded by a pair of murktide squallreavers and their brood of 8 little nasties. She thought about Jocy's i693 gear versus Tiphaine's i608 against those critters. Eh, what's the worst that could happen? They'd die. Tiphaine swooped down and engaged. Both Tiphaine and Mock came out of the battle alive, though Tiphaine was at 70% health. Okay, tough buggers, but not tough enough. Tiphaine was delighted when she cracked open the chest - it held 100 garrison resources. They followed that up with a couple more treasure runs that netted them another 250 resources. That alone was worth the trip because now she has her 2,000 resources.

[] CRAP! I was DCed right in the middle of getting my Level 3 Town Hall!!!!!!! Okay, okay, its all okay. After re-logging, there it was. Tiphaine's Garrison and her Level 3 Great Hall. At last.

[] The rest followed the pattern that Wild, Jocy, and Fist all followed. That means starting up the shipyard so that Tiphaine could sail to Tanaan - officially this time. Another short string of quests and Vol'mar became available to her.

[] Now Tiphaine can start building again. She wants a War Mill. Her followers are clamoring for action as well. Back to the grind.

Tangling with Mock

Tangling with Mock

Tiphaine is level 98 and already looking forward to getting into the Tanaan Jungle, despite still being two levels short of that goal. She worked hard to get her bodyguard, Mock, to level 100, which she achieved (say goodbye to Vivianne). Mock has just basic gear right now since no missions have come up that offer weapons or gear. That isn't an issue. Mock has handled himself well since pairing up. The problem is that Mock is just so darn LARGE. He also interferes in quests, particularly the ones that require NOT killing the target. Mock is like a big happy dog. Say fetch and he's unstoppable, but whatever he brings back is certainly dead. Tiphaine wishes that there was a "Stay" command so Mock wouldn't interfere in those cases, or just get out of the way for a minute! There is a spell that miniaturizes Mock. It only lasts an hour and it takes 250 resources. Tiphaine hasn't built up those resources yet, so she has to decide whether the big fellow is worth the aggravation.

After cleaning up the Spires of Arak Tipahaine was invited to Nagrand. On landing outside the fort of Wor'var, she DINGED! level 99. Only one more level grind to go.

Tiphaine travels a lot lighter than she used to. Unlike Jocy, who has stacks of clothes and armor and spends hours mixing and matching them, Tiphaine maintains a very streamlined backpack. Gear no longer required for use are quickly discarded, lining her pockets with gold instead of filling bags with fancy gear. She's decided to keep Mock and his two-handed over the shoulder power swings (his sword cuts look like chopping wood) because the damage he does outweighs his tendency to stand at exactly the wrong place every time.

[] Pitting Tiphaine and Mock against the denizens of Nagrand, Tiphaine's DPS has risen to over 13k and her gear level has improved to i603.She's 69% of the way of level 100.

[] Tiphaine picked up another Outpost Construction Guide, but she's not sure what building to spend it on. The choices are pretty boring, or require more work than simple farming. I'm thinking about trying a War Mill. It might help get Mock geared up quicker and quest rewards will sometime offer a higher item level. It will take some time to get that going, though. She needs 2,000 resources to get her Town Hall to the level 3, and she can't get access to a large plot (which the War Mill needs) until she has a level 3 Hall. Sigh. So now she'll be grinding garrison resources.

[] It's been a dismal weekend for Happy. He'll be taking a loss and has too much inventory. Are players already bored? This latest patch may have peaked too soon. It could be a long wait for Legion.

[] I wonder if Blizz has anything else in work to keep us busy until then?

[] News Flash - And then it was done. At 955pm Sunday Night Tiphaine reached Level 100.

Voluptuous Vivianne Volunteers

Voluptuous Vivianne Volunteers

Getting buildings built in a Garrison can be a frustrating experience. Wild was the first to attempt it, and he finally got so frustrated he waited until he was level 100 and paid cash to get everything up and running. It was better with Jocy, who learned from Wild, and even swifter with Fist.
 
Getting the benefit of all that prior experience is helping Tiphaine get things done a little easier. She is also darned lucky, coming across an "Outpost Assembly Building" something or other. With just a little research, she learned that she could use the item to upgrade her barracks to level 2. Nice. Things got a lot more than "nice" when she discovered that a level 2 barracks could have a follower, and that follower could be a bodyguard, and that said bodyguard could follow along with Tiphaine even though neither of them have reached level 100. Wow!

Tiphaine is level 97+28% (i575 gear) now and working in the Spires of Arak zone. Mock is level 99. He is currently on a mission that when finished should put him at level 100, but it's a ten hour mission so he's not currently available. She has other bodyguards - Warlock Aeda Brightdawn and Fire Mage Vivianne. Even Tiphaine shudders at taking Aeda, who failed in spectacular fashion as a bodyguard for Jocy. No way. Vivianne is level 98 and has a lot more experience. While not the equal of Mock, she can handle herself. Until Mock becomes available, Vivianne has the job.

None of the above could have been accomplished when Tiphaine first learned of all this. While the barracks plans were in her hand, she couldn't use them because she didn't have the 900 garrison resources it takes to build it. She had been spending resources like mad to raise the level of her followers and had less than 400 resources. Those resources build up slowly, and would take days.
Tiphaine is not a patient woman. She went on a binge run to grab every treasure that held garrison resources. It got her closer, but it wasn't enough. Standing in Axefall in Arak with 11 quests crowded around her, she found what she wanted. Three Wanted Posters for level 97 Elite beast quests, worth 100 resources each. That would do it, if she lived through it. The poster suggested three players. Pooh, was Tiphaine's response. She'll do this solo.

The three beasts were scattered around Arak (she didn't bother to get their names), but when one can fly, things happen a lot faster. Tiphaine went huntiung the first elite on the list. It was a dragon, protecting a clutch of eggs. Tiphaine thought "scrambled eggs for breakfast" and launched into the nest. Other than falling out of the darn nest a couple of times the battle went smoothly - until the fire breathing thing started up and the temperature got really uncomfortable. Tiphaine came uncomfortably close to being dragon breakfast, but the level 97 elite went down. The seared scrambled eggs were delicious.

The second beasty was an armored skitterer of some kind and an alliance player had already engaged it. Tiphaine decided to help and that was a good thing because the guy was barely hanging on. Tiphaine won that round as well.

The third beasty was definitely the toughest of the three, although Tiphaine was just starting to get into stride. This ugly fellow didn't pack quite the punch of the other two, but the dang thing wouldn't die. Tiphaine began running low on runes to keep her attack going, and she started to get a tad worried. That alliance fella showed up - or it might of been a different one, Tiphaine can't tell alliance apart - and stood around waiting for her to die.

When Tiphaine stubbornly refused to go down, the alliance guy figured it was safe to weigh in and take credit for the kill. No matter, as soon as Tiphaine killed the beast she tagged another nearby elite and passed it along to the alliance guy - and left him there to deal with the angry elite.

And now Tiphaine and Vivianne are off to tackle the rest of the pile of quests that awaits her.

Charging Ahead

Charging Ahead

A funny thing happened to Tiphaine. She out quested her quests. There were no quests left in Frostfire Ridge and no quests available in Gorgrond, because she'd done them all. To her amazement there were no quests in Talador, either, though she hadn't done a single quest there yet. She flew over the entire zone and nada, no quests.

Tiphaine began criss-crossing zones to see if something popped up and finally got a quest. "News From Talador" suddenly appeared at the Gorgrond Beastwatch camp. Tiphaine had just gotten too far ahead of the quest lines and had to wait until things caught up.

[] She has reached level 95 +39% and her gear score is i558.

[] Mock is level 96.

[] Tiphaine unlocked the Fishing Shack.

[] Trouble spot. Tiphaine is having trouble keeping oriented on her attackers. There must be a way to automatically get Tiphaine pointed at the enemy instead standing with her back to the attacker. The extra step of turning isn't an issue, yet, but its lost seconds that could spell disaster as the battles get tougher. For whatever reason this is not an issue with Jocy. Jocy always faces her attacker.

[] We interrupt this mission to report on Jocy's adventures with the Halloween quests. This is Jocy's first time. There are four quests that take place in Shadowmoon Valley. She killed some bone crew, smashed squashling pumpkins, and broke open kegs of stuff. She then flew to the Bone ship and fought the elite Bone King. There was just Jocy and one other player in on the fight. A tougher fight than expected, Jocy was at only 75% health when the elite went down. Normally she's at least at 90%. Even so, the Bone King was not nearly as tough as the Night Haunter in Tanaan.

[] The Halloween Spoils: 5 packs of Spooky Supplies redeemable at the garrison events coordinator (whoever that is). Also, a Coin of Many Faces toy, a Sassy Imp pet, and two bottles of rum that turns you into a spectral pirate.

[] Tiphaine didn't partake of the Halloween festivities. Her garrison is not up to spec yet and no Halloween quests were provided. "Tiphaine is her own walking Halloween monster," Jocy muttered under her breath.

[] Jocy's Tormmok earned the title "Trusted Bodyguard" and is 71% of the way to earning his next ability.

. . . To Be Continued

Catch Her if You Can

Catch Her if You Can

Frostwall is an untamed land. The bare bones stretch of icy dirt and rock didn't look much like the future site for Tiphaine's fresh start, but it would have to do. Workmen were already on the site, and she left that business to those who knew what was needed.

Personally, her most urgent need is her own safety. Her combat skills are badly erroded and her gear, while carefully cared for, is desperately ancient and unsuitable for this new land of Draenor. Death Knight skills have changed four times since Tiphaine last took up arms.  Master the new arts, and do it fast, so Warchief Vol'jin advised.

Tiphaine left Ebon Hold at level 72. Now, surveying the buildings going up around her, she is level 90. An eighteen level jump may not be as impressive as Jocy's sixty-three level jump, but it was a striking change for Tiphaine. She wasted no time on such matters, having already asked herself what kind of Death Knight she wanted to be. Blood is her choice. What race? The steel tendons of the Undead had always kept her killing skills intact, but felt inadequate now, not up to the new standards Tiphaine expects of herself. She Changed, shedding undead bones for the meatier strength of the Trolls.

 Tiphaine agrees to a rare photo atop her Town Hall.

Tiphaine Atop Her Town Hall

There is little time for recording events now. Tiphaine has no patience and plows through anything and everything in her way. She cleared every quest in Frostwall Ridge in an afternoon, including some that Jocy spent long hours working on. Jocy would have complained that she was bound to a ground mount when she made it to Draenor, but Tiphaine cut her short. "What do you want?" Tiphaine sneered at her. "Permission to whine because I can use a flying mount?"

[] The Town Hall is up, as is her Level 1 Forge and a still under construction Storehouse. Her followers are busy filling in every mission. Others have come before her, including her daughter, and Tiphaine dismisses the boring work. She has all she needs for herself, now, but allows the rest of the garrison to carry on.

[] Frostfire Ridge has no more secrets. She will soon be heading for Gorgrond. Tiphaine is now level 92 +27% with a gear score of i525.

[] Jocy, still trying to gain a measure of value to Tiphaine, crafts her a beautiful two-handed greatsword, spending her own gold to upgrade the blade from i630 to i705. Tiphaine's average DPS doubles with the new weapon and  Tiphaine's gear rises and climbs in steady bursts of mayhem. Jocy gets no thank you for the help.

[] Determined to make an impression, Jocy shows off her bodyguard, Tormmok. Tiphaine is suitably impressed, until she learns that Jocy had already reached level 100 before getting the bodyguard, and took even longer to max the follower's gear and weapons.

[] A day later Tiphaine shows up with her own Tormmok, having hunted him down while still at level 92, a full level BELOW that of level 93 Tormmok. Tiphaine gave "her" Tormmok a nickname, Mock, declaring that Mock would be level 100 and geared to the max well ahead of Jocy's pace. Rubbing it in, Mock has an extra ability, Pummel, that Jocy's Tormmok lacks. Jocy glares and smoulders at the joke on her.

[] New buildings go up, a level 2 Forge, Level 2 Storehouse, and a Mine. The Herb Shack can't be opened until Tiphaine is level 96. She's up to level 94 (i553 gear) and deep into Gorgrond.

[] Tiphaine exposes a secret she harbors explaining in part the swift path she cuts through her enemies. An addon called Spellflash whispers spell casting suggestions in her ear, aiding her in choosing which of her many spells she should cast. Depending on such magic is death in raids and dungeons, but Tiphaine fights alone, and makes no excuses for her methods.

[] Fighting alone got her in trouble more than once. Used to wading into mid-level mobs, she swept into a Bonus area in Gorgrond and began hacking away at half a dozen creatures. As her health began to drop she intensized her attack, knowing the hits were gaining back her health . . . except this time the incoming damage was too high to sustain the heals. Tiphaine died. She forgot she was only level 94, and she'd waded into a dense level 100 zone.

. . . To Be Continued.

Tiphaine Begins Her Journey

Tiphaine Begins Her Journey

"I am Tiphaine, level 72 Death Knight, once called Naithipe. I am the mother of Plumrosefist (aka, "Fist"). Fist's birth is my finest accomplishment, the only good deed I lay claim to. I've remained, reclusive, in Dalaran, the floating city above the Crystalsong Forest in Northrend. I have remained here because of what I am, and for what I have done. I deny nothing, and accept all condemnation of my past actions. The world changes, and perhaps there are worse things in this new world than I. I intend to find out."

Tiphaine's surprise announcement was met with suspicion. Certain factions and various enemies began to stir. There was no further word of her whereabouts. Her room at the inn is recently vacant, leaving no sign that she had ever lived there. There are rumors that she entered the Death Gate and returned to Ebon Hold above the Eastern Plaguelands. Some believe she is re-dedicating herself to the Death Knight creed and working to restore her craft and hone her skills.

The rumors flurrying about Tiphaine proved true when she was seen briefly at Warsong Hold in Northrend's Borean Tundra. She made no attempt at concealment at her next sighting, waiting for the zep outside the Undercity and obviously heading for Orgrimmar. Once in the city, Tiphaine went straight to Grommash Hold. Warchief Vol'jin ordered the doors closed.

What transpired between her and the Warchief remained between them, but for a time the Hold shook as if battered from within. Vol'jin made no comment, but seemed satisfied with the outcome. When the doors to the Hold opened, Tiphaine was no longer there. She'd taken the portal to Draenor.

Tiphaine has a tendency to kill reporters who try to paint her likeness, so there are few such portraits of her. The only known likeness is a portrait of Tiphaine and Fist together when the two briefly grouped together to help Fist during her training to become a Fistweaver Monk.
.
If the rumors coming out of Orgrimmar are true, however, Tiphaine may no longer look the same. Certain of the Foresaken Deathguard that surround Vol'jin have been found to have surreptitiously sketched Tiphaine's likeness during their conversation. Tiphaine inherited the bent, bony body of a typical Undead. Now, cloaked by her armor, she stands much taller than any undead, though the coals of her eyes were just as baleful from within her helm.

The rumors were denied and the sketches dissappeared. More telling, the entire Deathguard team on duty also dissappeared, replaced by others. Reporters, following the faint clues, are headed for Draenor as well. If they are in fact on Tiphaine's trail, they had better keep a close eye on their heads, for Tiphaine won't hesitate in separating their heads from their bodies.

In A Good Place

In A Good Place

Now that Jocy can fly in the Tanaan Jungle, accomplishing each day's tasks are a little easier. Easier still are the speedy kills given Jocy's now i693 gear and Tormmok's stolid assistance. The armored goon still gets in Jocy's way too often, but it's a small price to pay for a hard to kill attack dummy that leaves Jocy free to kill things.

For example, this morning's strafe through the Rumble in Jungle was almost an afterthought. Usually Jocy waits for some other player to start the event, but this time she purchased all three events and ran through them with only one other player helping. Jocy barely got a scratch against the first two bosses and even the final boss, Eyepiercer, was yawnable.

Jocy's quickly completed business gave an opportunity to other members of the family. The surprise of the day came from Tiphaine. The reclusive death knight is stirring about, making noises about a potential change of abode. Tiphaine has been more or less hiding out in old Dalaran. The place is so remote that Blizz has to bring it out and dust off the cobwebs whenever Tiphaine decides to open her eyes and look around.

Tiphaine has a very nasty history, and has transformed herself at least twice. Who knows what motivates her actions? Not even her daughter, Fist, can say what her mother's ultimate goals are.
The facts, however, can't be denied. Tiphaine is only level 72 and has seen only one expansion, The Burning Crusade, where the level cap is 70. She is four expansions behind and might still be short when the NEXT expansion arrives, Legion, which would raise the cap to 110.

Tiphaine will likely wind up in Orgrimmar, if she moves at all. She is considering a serious makeover. The possibility of a "Boost" maneuver could get her quickly to level 90. If Jocy gives her enough leveling time, she could follow Wild, Jocy, and Fist to level 100.

The question is why? Simply put, Jocy is very fun to play, in part due to her heavy armor and protections that keep her going even under heavy pressure. Death knights don't have quite that level of protection, but they are plate wearers and tough to kill. I think. Tiphaine will be very rusty, should she decide to get into action, although Jocy and Happy could keep her outfitted in the best gear.

Tiphaine remains mum on the topic. Anyone else have an opinion? Should Tiphaine come out of the shadows again? Remember, real characters died permanent deaths the last time she rose into action.

Nothing Beats Flying

Nothing Beats Flying

This past weekend featured a special event called "Sign of Apexis" that doubles the amount of apexis players can collect. Jocy has about 130,000 apexis. That sounds like a lot, but it takes a gob of them to buy anything useful. Jocy was faced with a bit of a conundrum. The Awakened faction has a bird mount that Jocy MUST have. It costs 150,000 apexis. Jocy didn't quite collect enough to buy the bird before the special event ended, but she could continue the normal dailies and would eventually have enough.

However, there is another use of apexis that may trump the bird. Apexis aren't the only item that got a buffed up drop rate. Baleful gear also dropped at far higher rate than usual. The gear is only i650, but it can be upgraded to i695 - if Jocy spends 20,000 apexis to buy the upgrade. Hmmm, buy a cool new mount? Or get better gear?

Practicality, not Jocy's strong suit, still won out. Jocy upgraded a baleful ring to i695, raising her overall gear to i690. A baleful neck piece also dropped. Jocy's practicality is really getting a workout now. Spending another 20k apexis for another gear upgrade is going to mean a LOT more grinding to reach 150,000 for the bird. Jocy wishes she could pay gold instead.

Tormmok also improved his gear. He's maxed his weapon at i675 and his armor is now i660. He also completed his first 10,000 level points and was granted an upgrade to his DPS. The buff doesn't show on his stats sheet, but I didn't know that, and now I can't recall what it was. I have to take it for granted that he got it, whatever it was. Sigh.

Overall the whole weekend was a frenzy of mayhem. Jocy completed all of her dailies and then did every bonus event. Thousands of mobs and critters died, and boy was it fun!

And now it's over.

The Last Dance of Draenor Pathfinder

The Last Dance of Draenor Pathfinder

On Tuesday Jocy picked up Unseen Influence, and then ran the Rumble in the Jungle, earning 6 fragments. She then went after the Night Haunter, and gathered one more fragment, for 7 total on the day. That was all she could get.

Back at it on Wednesday, Jocy hung out around the Rumble and talked a nervous horde rogue into taking on the first boss with just the two of us and our bodyguards. The battle went smoothly but only garnered one fragment. Feeling a little more confident, the rogue hung around for the second boss. This one went a little rougher, but rogue stayed alive and the outcome was the same - dead boss. Jocy picked up two fragments this time, and she now had her ten fragments for the day (counting the 7 she picked up the day before). The third boss would have been a lot trickier with only the lone rogue so Jocy had to bid him goodbye and good luck. There was no point in trying to get an extra fragment from the third boss because Unseen Influence stops taking them at 10. Once ten are turned in, Jocy can't get another Unseen Influence quest until the next day.

Jocy turned in her ten fragments and earned 1500 more rep. She is only 1500 rep - ie, one more turn in of Unseen Influence away from reaching Revered with the Awakened. Let's hope the Kra'nak mission pops, which would improve her chances. If she's lucky tomorrow will be the day.

Jocy was out of bed early on Thursday morning. Today could be the day. Feeling confident, she headed immediately for the Rumble area. Luck was with her. A mage and a druid were already standing around in the arena. No waiting. We killed all three bosses. Luck quickly abandoned her. The Rumble dropped only 6 fragments. She was hoping for seven. Her next stop was the Fangrila swamp, her target the Night Haunter. The Haunter dissappointed, too, dropping only one fragment and she had to have two. Jocy has seven fragments, leaving her three short.

Well, that sucks. Jocy isn't ready to give up, though. She already had the Ruins of Kra'nak as her fall back. She won't be on the mission, but based on the Rumble she can probably still collect fragments there. Jocy and Tormmok flew to the Aktar flight master. The entrance to Kra'nak is nearby. They had to dissuade a few mobs that Jocy wasn't interested in completing the mission. She went directly to the area where the elite boss spawns. Jocy was unlucky once again, the boss having been killed just before she arrived. So close. The carcass was still simmering. She won't get any fragments from there.

Jocy heaved a large sigh, pounded on Tormmok's knee to get his attention, and got to work. The rumor is that small treasures lined with a purplish light might contain fragments. Jocy doesn't remembering seeing such things when she's done this mission, but then at the time she wasn't trying to collect them.

They killed a few more mobs who didn't have the sense to stay away, and it only took about five minutes before Jocy spotted a smal purplish item hanging from a tree. Jocy picked it - a fragment dropped into her hand. Woo Hoo! Jocy needs only two more fragments!

Jocy got a little excited (a little?) and started running around looking for the purple things, mobs trailing along, Tormmok swatting them away.

She found another one, but couldn't get hold of it because she was surrounded by the trail of mobs that were following her. It took a little while to kill them all. With corpses all around her, she couldn't see the purple thing. Did some other player grab it while she was busy? Oh, she'd go all PVP on the b-tard if that's the case.

Tormmok waited patiently as Jocy still steamed. "Come on," she told him, we'll have to find another if we can." She took one step, Tormmok following, and there it was. Tormmok had been standing on it. Jocy smacked him and picked up the item from inside the size twenty footprint. Jocy opened it.
It held TWO fragments. Jocy has her ten fragments. And that, is that. Jocy has earned the Draenor Pathfinder Achievement.

Jocy can Fly!!!!

Jocy Can Fly in Tanaan!