Go Home, Nat, You're Drunk.

Hurrying Home.

While I was doing my daily fishing quest, I decided I would finish up the Draenor Angler achievement so I could upgrade my fishing shack to level 3. I was already working on it, in the haphazard way of doing the daily fishing quest, and had decided to finish out whatever fish I had that day if I hadn't already. Then, While I was in Nagrand, a pretty new fishing pole dropped, and I decided I needed to finish now. See that pretty gold pole on Del's back? Here's a better picture of it

Ephemeral Fishing Pole.

At first I was very excited, because it was so pretty and I thought I finally had a replacement for my Kalu'ak pole. Then I looked more closely at it and noticed it had a duration of 1 day. Turns out that one day is not real time, but game time. Still, I thought it was real time, so I packed Del a takeout box of her favorite Blackrock Barbecue and sent her off with her bodyguard Vivianne to finish the achievement. With this pole and the Fishing Buddy add-on, she was done in a couple of hours. It would have been longer without it, trying to find the lures in Del's enormous bag full of junk and then put on the highest one, and then the zone specific one! With the add-on, a double right click adds the lures, one at a time, and then casts the line. It even tracks what she catches in each new sub-zone she moves to.

Achievement complete, Del bought the plans for the upgraded shack and built it.

Yes, I want to know about Nat Pagle!

He told me to go back to Pandaria and lure him here with promises of great fishing, and sent me with a catch of my own as proof.

Yes, you should leave all this booze, and fish with me!

He comes to my garrison and promptly sends me out to prove I am worthy of his companionship. Del had to fish up lunkers of every type of zone specific freshwater fish. That last sentence is a huge clue for later, kids. She gathered them all in another hour and Nat approved her catch and became her follower.

Normally, you'd be happy to have another follower. You can continue to earn reputation with him, and he gives you coins for catching lunkers that you can spend to buy items only he sells. I thought that once he was happily set up in my fishing shack next to a well stocked private lake he would stay put. Nope.

Begging for beer and jeering at my catch.

Wherever Del goes to fish, he shows up. His constant complaining about Del's lack of a beer cooler is making her think twice about finishing out her reputation with him. Only a little, because she wants what he sells.Oh, and she can complain all she wants to my fishing buddies, because they can't see him. So, not only is Del drinking because it helps her catch lunkers, she is hallucinating? Put down the pole, it's time to sober up.

No, Nat, it's my hat. 

Go home, Nat, you're drunk.

Goblins vs Gnomes Arena Fun!

I'm game!

I always start my gaming time at home with Hearthstone. It gives me time to organize the real life stuff, and I get my dailies out of the way. I was surprised to see this on my screen when I opened up the game! Then, there was this...

Free Arena!

There were three card changes I wanted to check before I started building my deck. Flare is now a 2 cost card that still destroys all enemy secrets and takes away stealth. The Gadgetzan Auctioneer is now a 6 cost 4/4 minion that still gives cards when friendly spells are cast.There was a warlock spell that the mana cost was changed on, but I decided I wasn't upset about the changes and hurried into the arena where I drafted this deck.

Lots of fun new cards!

I had my choice of druid, paladin, and warrior. I chose paladin, because they are my favorite class to play in arena. There are a lot of fun cards in here! I'll be back after I'm done with my arena bouts to share the fun and prizes!

This was the best arena key I have ever played! I used the arena deck building guide from Icy Veins to help with some of my choices, except when a Goblins vs Gnomes card was in the mix. I picked every one I could, and in the rare case I had two to choose from, I chose one that I didn't have already in the deck. My favorite cards? There were a few. 

Mini Truesilver Champion, kinda.

It's a flip flop of the True Silver Champion, giving more health and doing less damage. For the price, it is a great removal spell early in the game if you are being hit by a bunch of little minions.

Random is always fun!

This is a great one when you have a lot of minions out! I had a lot of fun with this one. Here is a screenshot of one play I made with him. Another great idea is to throw him up after a Defender of Argus  or Sunfury Protector for a chance at shielded taunts!

Almost perfectly buffed, at random!

Watch your cards fly away!

This is one you don't want to play lightly. He's a good one to put up late game when you have all you need in your hand, but not good early in the game. I put him up after several turns at 10 pips, and even then I cringed to see cards I could use flying away.

There were a lot of cards I saw played against me that I am excited to add to my deck. New pirates! The ogre cards are a laugh  with their low cost and 50% fail (or lucky misdirect) rate. There were other cards I played that were worth mentioning.

Random minion?

Here is how random this one was. First time, I got a new card, the Ship's Cannon. It works like the Knife Juggler, except only if you play a pirate. The other times this died, I got a Dire Wolf Alpha, a Novice Engineer, and a Cruel Task Master. Like the other cards that draw a random minion, they lost their battlecry, but it was fun waiting to see what I got!

What does that do?

This one can be pretty helpful, and with all the low cost things he does, I think he would be a great card for a rogue. The spare parts I got the few times he died were Armor Plating, a Time Rewinder, a Reversing Switch, and Whirling Blades. Someone that played against me got a Rusty Horn. Can you imagine turning a Chillwind Yeti into a taunt minion? The person I played against put it on an Azure Drake.

My Best Arena Key Ever!

This was a very good key for me. For rewards, I got 25 gold, 155 gold, and of course a pack of cards, which in turn gave me a legendary that I already had. I pushed all my gold into another arena key, which I promptly lost because I grabbed EVERY Goblins vs Gnomes card I could find and threw deck balance to the wind! I am so excited to collect all the new cards, aren't you? Did you try the free arena key? What were your favorite cards? Tell me in the comments!

What I Am Up To: December Edition.

I have a baby that I only level with a friend. Since Delgada is 100 and well on her way to being geared for raiding, we hop on our babies and level the slow way, stopping for treasure, hunting down rares, picking herbs and ore, and dying to things we should know just cannot be killed.

We just finished Gorgrond. To maximize the treasures we could pick up, he chose the arena and I chose the lumber mill so that we could grab each others items. What I didn't expect is that our quests would be so dramatically different because of the choice! The good thing is, where my quests were in my log, he had a bonus objective, and vice-versa, so we didn't lose while the other gained. One of the weird parts was that at the end of my lumber mill chain, I had to kill Iyu, a huge genosaur. Leading up to that, I was in a cave doing a kill ten things quest and pick up four of those. When I was done the cave was swarmed with those annoying flower podlings. I died once to them, asked my friend why he wasn't helping, and he said, helping with what? He couldn't see anything! Well, I did my magey stealth thing and ran out of the cave to face Iyu, who he also could not see. So, he popped out of bear form and threw heals on me while I finished my quest.  I don't remember not being able to see his quest objectives. This was very odd!

You probably met my baby, Bittsee, here once before.

Reapersky and Bittsee?

We found one of those shaman stones in the level 100 area of Frostfire Ridge (we begged a guildy to help us kill rares out there!) that turns you into an ogre as part of it's buff. So silly!  Anyhow, Reapersky refuses to level without a goblin aboard, so Bittsee obliges. Sometimes I feel like I am really just along for the ride, because he demolishes everything while I am still trying to cast Arcane Blast. I contribute as best I can by being the "Oh, look, there's a toy over to the north east!" navigator. Handy Notes is really a great thing. The map does get a little busy in Gorgrond, though, if you turn on the spawn points for either the stones or the tanglewood. Sad thing is, the items don't disappear when you loot them on those items, so I end up going back to points I already cleared. Still, I guess it is better than having nothing at all!

Just a little old transmog showing.

I really like the new armor styles in this expansion so far. Both Delgada and Bittsee are wearing everything (except that weird towel looking shoulder rag) that is an upgrade without covering it up with transmog. I haven't got far enough on Shawndra or Anselma (my boosted human paladin) to tell if they will be as forunate, and Carlatta is waiting impatiently to cross over when a friend gets his expansion for Christmas. Oh, and there is Halinka, who has yet to break her transmog set at level 96. Here, look at the two priests, one in un-mogged ready for heroics and beyond gear, and one still leveling through Talador.

Her buckle is missing, and Fishing Pole!

Just gloves, offhand, and dagger.

Oh, and I suppose I should post a picture of Anselma even though I haven't been playing her as much, because Halinka needs to hit 100 next. I have loved Anselma for a long time, but she was on a server where no one was playing. She still is, but thanks to a perfect server merge, she is now on the same server as Halinka, so she is also in Hearts of Darkness! This means I will have questing buddies and help if needed, and people to talk to.

I'll put out the fire, but I don't have to like it!

I'm saving her boost gear for transmog, because it is so pretty, and it isn't a bikini transmog. Don't get me wrong, I love bikini mogs, but nothing says you mean business like a fully armored look. I mean to tank on Anselma, eventually, so she might as well look the part!

Boosted characters are a funny thing. I chose Anselma because she was in mid Lich King content, so she would get the profession boost. Walking through the portal, it was like she was an amnesia patient, being slowly reminded of the spells she had already learned and used before, spoon fed to her a couple at a time. I really hated it. There should be a point where a boost can just pick up where they left off from, especially for those that were at least 60. Instead of making it a one size fits all experience, maybe a two tiered approach would be better. If you boost from zero, spoon feed , but if you boost from 60 or higher, start from a level 60 set of skills and build from there.

This is a lot for one post! I have a lot more to say, but the thought aren't organized yet, so I leave you with Mr February 2015 from the Azeroth Beefcakes Calendar. 

I welcome photo-shopped versions featuring beaches and suitable beach attire!

Pumpkin Pie and Thankfulness.

I'd share with you if I could!

I have been so absorbed by the new expansion that I nearly forgot I had a blog. Today I pulled myself mostly away (I had to check on my followers!) to make Thanksgiving dinner for my family. I would say it was a small affair, but with 7 kids, 2 grand kids, their dad, my husband, my mother and the cat, who needs guests? I have been working most of the day making stuffing (no boxes here!), gravy, and the turkey. I made pies with two of my girls yesterday (from a whole pumpkin, but with the pre made crust dough), and cheated with Hawaiian and ranch rolls the store made and cranberry sauce from a can (because it's not Thanksgiving without the slices of canned jelly). One of the girls made the green bean casserole, and another made the candied yams, while the littlest of my girls wrapped the sweet potatoes in foil. Oh, and I would be a bad wife if I didn't give credit to the hubby for making the mashed potatoes and his famous cherry cream cheese pie.

I finally finished the dishes for the umpteenth time, and got to sit down and eat another slice of pie. While I was washing dishes, I thought about what I have to be thankful for. The usual things came to mind, of course. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, healthy kids, and there are three more than just me working toward keeping this family in toilet paper and electricity. I have a husband who is crazy about me. I'm losing weight, despite my unhealthy WoW addiction., and feel healthier than I have in a long time. Things are pretty good.

Right about halfway through the dishes I started thinking about my friends here, on the internet. I am so thankful to have found a wonderful community of people to share this hobby of mine with. Those of you on my BNet list, I smile when I see you log in. The comments I do get on this blog, though few, are a highlight of my day. Meeting up with fellow gamers once a month at Jose's gives me something to look forward to when these walls start closing in on me. Those of you who blog along with me, I enjoy reading of your fun in game and out. The few times I de-lurk to pipe up on Twitter, I enjoy the short conversations. Podcasters, thanks for being the background soundtrack to my day at work. Pwnies, I think  you are all awesome (still fishing up enough awesomefish to throw your way). I am thankful for all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving, my dear Azerothian friends. I'm going to go get myself another slice of pie, because my plate is empty.

Needs more pie.

Vientos!

I was upset because I thought for sure that I had missed out and that Day of the Dead was over. I was excited to find out that I could still buy the costumes and get the achievements the next day! Del went out and bought all of the costumes, leaving her almost penniless. A few guild mates were trying to finish out their Calavera achievement, so we started trading blows in the graveyard in Orgrimmar, taking resurrection sickness to try and speed things up. Big mistake.

One of the fellas was getting frustrated with how slowly this was going, being that there were at least a few others in the graveyard that were stealing his knockouts. He suggested we head to the Temple of the Jade Serpent to finish the achievements off for everyone. Why in a dungeon? Well, the Temple has a graveyard fairly close to the entrance, and the front area is clear and great for a little sparring. No resurrection sickness = no huge repair bills (though most of us were already seeing yellow and red!). The rest of the time we spent moved at a much better pace.

The costumes are so fun! I especially love the red one. The flower behind the ear of the female character is sweet, even when she's been knocked for a loop.

Whoa.

Better than a rose behind the ear is where the men hold it.

Victor Resendiz, perhaps?

The rest of the costumes are almost as fun with their lucha libre masks.

Ignore the uneven background. I'm not good at this!

I'll bet these look so much better on any other character model. Poor knobby kneed Delgada. She needs a tan and no goblin has figured that out yet!

For the record, Orb of the Sindorei will allow you to change into a luchador costume and will show the look, but the Orb of Deception will not. If you are in a transformation that has a flex animation, even if it doesn't show the outfit you will perform the emote. So far in my limited testing (due to not having quite enough toys!), only the Orb of the Sindorei allows costume changes.

It's been almost a week since I started this, which means I now have to go put away my costumes and find something else to do. Maybe I'll go look for some of the toys I don't have. The expansion is getting closer and closer! What are you hurrying to finish?

z

Halloween Costume - Wicked Witch of the West.

Thought you were pretty foxy, didn't you?

It was difficult to find anything pure black in the game. Still, I think I have captured the spirit of this nasty old hag, who I am portraying as a troll. I know, it's not too original, because the Wicked Witch in Karazhan is a troll, too. I think mine looks the part, though.  Here's my take on the Wicked Witch.

I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too! 

This is a transmog set.  It is a shame that they won't allow us to use the Farmer's Broom for transmog! Sadly, if you don't already have one of these, it has been confirmed that it no longer drops. Here's the list of items I used.

• Skywitch Hat
• Elder Wizard's Mantle
• Death Speaker Robes
• Gloves of Penitence
• Ranger's Sash
• Big Stick
• Any shoes will do, because they won't show on a troll!

What do you think? Could she replace The Crone in Karazhan?  Here's a reference picture.

Ignore the silly shadow priest who wouldn't move.

Maybe not, but I think she looks every bit as evil as The Crone. Maybe she could stand in when she gets caught in a rainstorm, melting.

I'll be mostly afk tomorrow, handing out candy, escorting a kid or 3 all over my little town, and the usual work stuff. Happy Hallow's End! 

Halloween Costume - Dorothy

There's no place like home...

This could be a transmog if you can find a main hand that fades into the background. It's all cloth and pretty easy to get, for the most part. Here's the list.

• Blue Linen Vest
• White Linen Shirt
• Replica Devout Belt
• Simple Kilt
• Ruby Slippers
• Deep Core Lantern

Not as cute and cuddly as the original.

You could use your Egg Basket from Noblegarden instead of the lantern, but then it wouldn't be a transmog set!  This outfit also benefits from having Tito around. All you have to do is collect all the pets in this achievement group to get him, and most can be found on the auction house. This achievement works with traded pets, too, so if you have a friend that has the ones you need, trade them, learn them, and crate them back up to trade back. 

I think I have time for a Wicked Witch Costume, and maybe even a Tin Man. Happy Hallow's End!

Halloween Costume - Glinda the Good Witch.

You've always had the power, my dear.

This is not a transmog set, because the Elegant Dress is a common item, and I left out the belt, gloves, cloak, and main hand items. Still, if you have a costume party to go to in game, this will almost work. Just be sad with me for a moment that the Gossamer Headpiece doesn't let your lovely locks show. Thanks to the magic of GIMP, it works, but not so in game. Here, for reference, is a random picture of Glinda the Good Witch from the original Wizard of Oz.

You had it, all along...

Here's the item list, should you care to try this out in game.

• Elegant Dress
• Gossamer Headpiece
• Gossamer Shoulderpads
• Shimmering Boots
• Elementalist Star

Next, I will attempt a remake of Dorothy, complete with Toto.  Happy Hallow's End!

There is Still Heroic Mode!

Aww, look at the kitty!

I bought the last wing of Naxxramas today, and with the help of Icy Veins and Hearthhead, beat Sapphiron and Kel'thuzad. I finished the last class challenge, and now have all the Naxxramas cards. The paladin challenge was fun with all the oozes and buffs. I look forward to tweaking some decks and totally reworking others.

My card list is very light on legendary and epic cards. I stopped buying packs so I could buy the wings of Naxxramas with gold. I wasn't upset at not getting my customary 2 packs a week, because I had been dusting 90% of the cards I received. I'll be glad to have the extra gold to try out some arena, as my highest arena key is bronze, and I hear that you have a chance to win single cards with every key.

Have any decks to beat heroic mode Naxxramas bosses? I'd love to see them!

Trick or Treat?

Look at all the costumes!

I like that costumes stack, until one turns Delgada into a leper gnome. From then on, all the costumes are male. I'm all for dressing up, but Del really likes being, well, a girl. Trick or Treating is serious business, and Delgada wanted a kitty that was alive as her, so she had some serious traveling to do.

Widget the Departed.

Delgada is weary of begging for candy. She got a lot of treats, but I think an equal amount of tricks.

Can we make toothpicks a currency?

I'm afraid Bittsee or Carlatta or Shawndra will have to run around and gather candy for the other kitty,  and for the Yipp-Saron costume. Delgada used the last of her candy money to buy some masks.

Naga

Murloc

Vrykul

She ran out of candy before she could try out an Ogre mask, so Bittsee was made to try that one on.

Ogre

I think it suits her. The buff is all wrong though. What is an arcane mage going to do with extra stamina? 

That is about all the time I have for fun tonight. If I have time or patience tomorrow, I'll edit in WoWhead links. Hope you are enjoying Hallow's End as much as I am!

Sunday Smorgasbord.

I've been quiet lately. I apologize. Real life has been happening, so you can find me hiding out in WoW a lot. Sadly, frequenting my favorite places in Azeroth to escape my life has not been conducive to blogging.

Malozla

I can't remember the language I picked, but Malo means small and zla means evil. Malozla lives on Cenarius in the Pwny Express Alliance. She is my only warlock. We'll see how well this turns out. I am not fond of warlocks, and the only help she will get on this side of Cenarius (which seems to be much more populated that the Horde side) will be from fellow guildies and furtive packages of heirlooms slipped stealthily into the Alliance post.

Late to the party.

Garrosh is gone. I had taken care of the deed in LFR months ago, but never got to the end again to turn it in. I missed getting the Ahead of the Curve achievement despite the heroic last minute efforts of wonderful friends in my guild. We just didn't have enough oomph to make it happen. I got my first regular kill a few days after the expansion hit, got my heirloom staff, and am happy to say I never have to do it again, but probably will try to get Carlatta her heirloom ranged weapon, because she was on Cenarius first.

Ewww!

I decided to try and get the filthling pet off these oozes. It wasn't a long time before I got one, so I stayed long enough to get two! I'm hosting a costume contest for Hallow's End for my guild, and what better prize than a pet that is too grindy to get for yourself? The grand prize is a Mechano-Hog. I invite you all to participate, but the catch is you have to be level 40 on Cenarius in the Pwny Express for me to be able to award you the grand prize. However, if you want to be treated by this cranky old lady who only gives treats to the kids in costume, send me a screenshot of your best Hallow's End transmog and I will snoop in your armory and send you a pet you don't have (unless you have all the cool toys, in which case, stop teasing me!).

In the news of the new pre expansion fun, Delgada is thrilled that she has regained almost half of her bank space. I don't have nearly the amount of toys I thought I had, but I did have a fair amount of transmog items stashed away, and I was glad to give the ethereals money to store it away for me! In the not so thrilled department, we have this.

Kissy face and pink hair?!?

Thank you Blizzard for allowing face manipulation in the barber shop! She was better than I had hoped, but still not the gal I wanted.

Almost right.

I'm still not thrilled with her bouncy run and her huge butt. I'm sure I'll get over it eventually. Oh, and hubby tells me she looks like a boy. I'm still waffling on her hairstyle. I like the newest long style, and I like the Bride look, and I like a couple of the other short hair styles. I hear hair grows even when you are undead, so that shouldn't be a problem.

You face Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord...errr, what?

In Hearthstone news, I have been saving my gold pieces and buying each wing as I can. I have only one more wing to buy! I beat the Construct Quarter today, so that means if I draw 40 coin quests only for the next 2 weeks, I will have the last one just before Thanksgiving, earlier even because I didn't count the 10 coin reward for 3 wins with a class. This has more than doubled my legendary card count, and given me a lot of useful cards. Favorite card so far? Hard to say, as every deck has a new favorite, but I love the Sludge Belcher, and my rogue deck has been kicking some butt in the rankings (if you call rank 16 kicking butt!) Here is my deck, if you want to try it. I used to have a cheap fast zoo, but it started losing a lot at the advent of the freeze mage decks.

Where did I get this?

I'm sure I pulled this from Hearthhead somewhere. I love it because it has many cards that are hard to get around with priest removal, and some buffers that get the others up to that as well. It has just enough card draw. I especially love going second with Eviscerate in my opening hand. Four damage to the face, muahahahahah!

I hope everyone is enjoying their travels in Azeroth. Hope to bump into some of you in game!