Oops! Was That A Heroic?

Delgada in her Tabard of the Achiever

 I played a long time yesterday.  I finished Deepholm, which also finished the Cataclysm Loremaster achievement.  I did my first round of Twilight Highlands dailies, and found the only two dailies in Uldum. I fiddled around getting the 25 tabard achievement.  I logged in my bank alt and sent 1300 gold to Delgada so she could get the ultimate riding achievement.  I even managed to kill C'thun (with some help!) and got my AQ40 achievement.   I figured, I can do all that, I might as well try one of these super hard instances everyone is talking about.

The End of C'thun

So I loaded up the looking for group tool, making sure I had selected only DPS, and pulled out my fishing pole.  I fished for about 30 minutes, and was whisked away into the Stonecore.  I'm guessing I was a replacement, because there were some dead mobs where I zoned in.  Not having run the instance before, I kinda guessed that we weren't at the entrance, because there were no npc types handing out quests.  So, I buffed up and followed the pack, carefully doing my job of dps and nothing else (well, I did dispel a couple things off the tank, but you won't tell?  Good.). 

Pre-Dungeon Attire.

The first boss I encountered was a dragon, I think.  This is a little fuzzy because it was at night yesterday, and I may get things out of order.    Anyhow, seems this guy does this aoe thing, you can see his cast bar ramping up to spin it off, of crystal shards.  Before he does that, he does this aoe where stalagmites drop from the ceiling.  This actually come in handy for the second aoe, as you can use them to hide behind.  Not too bad a fight, and we were off to the second boss.  Now, I'm pretty sure this was the second boss I saw, even though it may be further in, because I was a pinch hitter.  This rock guy does that shatter thing we all love from back in Burning Crusade days, but he has this other aoe I couldn't see.  So, after the shatter was about done, I sat there spamming my shield, or dissipate if it was up, to avoid as much damage from that attack as possible.  We got through that fight, then it was on to the next. Trash fights in between seemed rather straight forward, stay out of bad stuff, don't aggro, don't aoe, follow the tanks lead for kill order.  Well, I did aoe in the room before this next boss, to get rid of a bunch of non elites in the middle, then we turned the corner and saw our last boss.  This lady was fun.  She threw rocks at you, which you could totally avoid by getting out of the dust forming around your feet.  She also put up void circles, which were also easily avoided because of their obvious targeting ring before they appear.  The boss called non elites out, usually when she ran away to her stage, which were aoe'd down rather easily.  Oh, and if you grabbed enough aggro, she had this choke hold thing, I think it was even called Force Choke. So, we didn't get her down on the first try. Or the second.  Then, the tank, healer, and one dps just up and quit, leaving me and another hanging around.  We decided to wait for replacements.  She (might have been a guy, but was in female form, so you know, you are what you wear in this game to me) told me this was her first heroic, and that is when it hit me.  This is a heroic?  Here I just thought that the instances were that hard, and I was lucky to be able to perform at all in them..  Replacements arrived, and my partner in crime ate the dust, but we finished the boss, getting me a heroic and regular run of Stonecore all at once.

So, the heroics are hard?  The instances are hard, too?  Well, it's just more of the same we already learned...stay out of stuff, don't let stuff fall on you, and for gosh sakes pay attention! Now, to start planning my next several runs...

Bucket List

Before Cataclysm hits, I would like to, in no particular order, complete these items. I will choose whatever hits my fancy as my quest for that day, or several days, depending on the complexity of the item.This list may change, mostly to add things, not to subtract. Here is my preliminary list.  I will notate when I complete something by scoring through it and adding a date. If I add something new I will put an asterisk after it with the date added. For items with multiple parts. I will date each part as it is completed, or note what part was completed and date it if there was no description (ie Northrend Glory of the Hero or Bloody Rare).  I will post daily about what I worked on, what add-ons or guides I found useful in completing them, and anything I did that I think would be helpful.

1. Set aside enough cloth to level first aid on one goblin.(netherweave,runecloth,mageweave, silk, wool, linen)
   
2. Finish leveling jewelcrafting on Sinnerman.Account off. If time I will on Gwenna.
3. Set aside enough material to level blacksmithing on one goblin.
4. Finish Delgada's An'Qiraj set.  She is missing the Shroud of Infinite Wisdom. 9/13/10
5. Prophecy set and Oracle set for Delgada, but first....
6. Change a Devout set into a Virtuous set, bur first..
7.  Farm for Devout set.
8. Farm for at least one more whelpling.  I have the blue one. I want a green one!
9. Farm for the oozeling.  He eludes our grasp.9/6/10
10. Finish Northrend so Delgada can have the Loremaster title and colors. (only 11 quests to go!)
11. 100 mount achievement? Give it a huge try by...
12. Get a pvp mount (or several, but that means battlegrounds...)
13. Get an Argent Tournament mount (or several?)White Skeletal Horse 9/4/10
14. Finish my old school Naxxramas quest chain
15. Get the pieces to do the Balance of Light and Shadow quest and build Benediction
16. Clean out bank to make room for old school goodies 9/6/10 it's hopeless a post on this 9/7/10
17. Finish old world raids for achievement (need BWL and AQ40)
18. BC raids? not high on the list but I am missing most of them( I know I finished Gruul and Mag- I was cheated!)
19. Finish BC dungeons on heroic to knock out both achievements
20. Become a Savior of the Oracles, and start buying eggs again. (only missing one quest)9/20/10
21. Work on the Bloody Rare achievement for Outland (have 3 of the 21)
22. Work on the Frostbitten achievement for Northrend (have 1 of the 23)
23. Duel someone enough to get the Duel-icious achievement 9/7/10 (with the argent tourney duel achieve)
24. Kill Malygos to finish Champion of the Frozen Wastes
25. Finish Glory of the Hero (have 11 to go)
26. Find the 5 recipes Delgada is missing for Chef De Cuisine 9/2/10
    
27. Buy a chef's hat..which means doing dailies again!
28. Catch a rare fish
29. Catch Old Ironjaw
30. Fish up Gahz'ranka in ZG and The Lurker Below in SC9/2/10(ZG)
31. Fish up Tirion Fordring's gold coin and get Coin Master/There's Gold in That There Fountain
32. Win a fishing tourney (who am I kidding?)
33. Turn as many pieces of frostweave as possible into bandages (500, to be exact).
34. Jump off a precipice and bandage for Ultimate Triage./9/22/10 with Drunken Stupor
35. Make 3 more factions love me for 25 exalted (ad infinitum)(30, 35, 40)(Kalu'ak 9/2/10)9/18/10
36. Zandalar Tribe(9/23/10), Hydraxian Waterlords and Brood of Nozdormu must love me.
37. Thrallmar, Lower City, the Sha'tar and Keepers of Time must also love me.
38. Get exalted with Skyguard(9/18/10) and Netherwing (for mounts!)
39. Kalu'ak don't love me yet. I must have their fishing pole! (more dailies)9/2/10
40. Exalted Ashen Verdict? Shouldn't be too hard.
41. Buy ridiculously expensive mounts. Ice Mammoth Grand Ice Mammoth, Wooly Mammoth, Traveler's Tundra Mammoth, a Choppa...
42. Make the Oracles love me, then forsake them and flirt with some Frenzyhearts.
43. Get the Brewmaster title9/24/10
44. Get the Pilgrim title and turkey pet on Delgada 
45. Collect tabards. You can never have too many tabards.
46. Farm for impossible to get mounts.
47. Pick pocket as many lockboxes as possible on Maura.
48. Back to the goblin. Set aside enough frostweave bags, and a few non binding 16 slotters, (in case I kill of the first one) to equip and for bank.
49. Do the dailies in Storm Peaks for the Brunhildar Village, in hopes of the polar bear mount.
50. Since I am doing so many dailies, I should at least aim for the 500 dailies done achievement...9/6/10
51. As much as I think heirloom gear is a cheat, buy a whole set of clothy gear, just for kicks.
52. Work on the baby raptor, because Delgada really wants the mount (ugh, more dailies).
53. Find those snake gowns and get one of every color. I thought there were red and orange ones, too? 
54. Get the baby croc pets. More Dailies!Toothy 9/2/10 Snarly 9/4/10
55. Buy the last bank tab for my guild.
56. Try to get the epic fishing poles from the fishing dailies (at least I like fishing?)
57. Delgada wants a firefly pet.
58. Delgada wants all the baby raptor pets. She still needs Gundrak, Ravasaur, and Razzashi hatchlings.
59. Finish the Argent Tournament.Champion of the Undercity
60. Fish up a turtle mount.

Heavy Junkboxes? We Have Them!

Roughly a month ago my husband was given a down payment on another persons bid for insanity.  I don't know what the final payment will be, but I do know this has given me some blog fodder.  That, in itself, is payment enough, since I have been in a dry place lately game wise.  So, without further ado, I present to you my guide for grabbing as many heavy junk boxes as you can in a small amount of space and time.

Some of you might be asking yourselves, "Why do I need heavy junk boxes?"  The only reason I can think of that anyone would need these is to gain positive reputation with the Ravenholdt faction, by doing the repeatable quest Junkboxes Needed. Ideally, you should kill as many Syndicate as possible before starting this quest.  If you aren't a rogue already, you either will have to beg a friend or use an alt, because you can only pickpocket these boxes.

For starters, you will need a rogue.  These come in many different flavors.  My favorite is undead.  Your rogue will want to be at least level 60, and the higher above that the better, as it decreases the chance your rogue will be caught with his/her hand in a pocket. Make sure your rogue has the barest minimum of items in his/her bag.  I recommend a stack of bandages, some food, and your thieves tools.  If your rogue is an engineer, bring Jeeves along as well to sell of the garbage. Maura is not, so we will just be littering.  Drop your rogue off in Kargath, or Thorium Point if you have the flight point, and head on over to Blackrock Depths.

 Once inside, hang a left, and pick lock that gate. Don't bother with the mobs that are directly in front of you as you enter.  They only drop Sturdy Lockboxes, which look just like the heavy ones, but don't work for the quest turn in. Once you have passed the gate, stealth past the flame mobs and get out on the highway.

You could stay here, pickpocketing up and down the highway with great success, but I hate those dogs! They see through stealth, and though Maura is a healthy level 71, she still gets a tad too close once in while. After that happens, she usually ends up killing precious humanoid mobs, and we cannot have that. Since pocket loot will respawn after several minutes, you want to keep as many mobs alive on your route as possible.


Got auto loot on? You should have several boxes by now.  I didn't mean for you to think that I don't pick these guys pockets at all.  I do pick them on the way to my preferred farming area. Through the monstrous gate...

across the bridge...

through the covered walkway and past Lord Incendius.

Through the Hall of Crafting and past the contstructs.

Pick the craftsmen's pockets, you might get something! Even Fineous Darkvire sometimes has a little something in his pockets.

In Shadowforge City, on this ledge, go out the door and turn left, and go into the last door on the ledge. Pickpocket all these guys, too.

 In the Domicile, pick pocket as many as you dare. Up the ramp, through the first room and into the second, go past that fireguard on the right.

Another bridge...

Pickpocket this whole hall, including Pyromance Loregrain at the end.

You  have entered the farming zone! Halfway down the hall is our entrance to the Ring of Law, in the audience section.

Pick all their pockets, starting from the left or right, and ending when you have made a full circuit.  I usually then go to the opposite entrance...

and pick pocket over there...

...then come back and do the ring, then pickpocket the original hallway again.  You can keep this up indefinitely.

I hope this was helpful. Below I have made a nice red line on the map approximately where my path takes me.  Personally, I use landmarks much better, so that is why there are so many pictures! Any suggestions you all have would be welcome, because I am sure going INSANE picking all these pockets! :)

Looking For Group!

This has been my habit all week. Right after I get home, I log into WoW, ignore my husband(he told me to put that in there. He is partially right), check my bank character, then log in Delgada and start running instances. I always select damage and healing, but so far I have been chosen as dps only once. This is not altogether a bad thing. Delgada has resigned herself to being a healer and shadow only in secret. All the groups, save a pug on her own server, were a breeze, free smites thrown at bosses and mobs instead of becoming free flash heals. The pug on her server? I don't know, but that death knight took so much damage, I couldn't keep him up. Sorry, Mr. I have strange letters in my name, but there is something wrong there. I don't know what it is, but he needs someone in better gear than Delgada healing him in ToC heroic.

Last night she traveled to the Argent Tournament grounds and bought gloves and shoulders. I didn't even know they had gear vendors there. Her gear is coming up. I expect her gear level to climb rapidly, now that I am enjoying this random dungeon queue. I got to run the same heroic a couple of times in a row last night, even though it said I was locked. All I have to say is, sweet!

Today, I tried it on my bank character, Rowena. She hit one dungeon, but didn't receive the reward. I think it was because she got pulled in after the first two bosses. So I switched to Anselma and ran one of my least favorite instances, Blackfathom Deeps. She finished it, even after kicking a paladin who kept pulling when the tank (who was supposed to be me but ended up being a warrior) wasn't ready and wiped us in the murloc cave. Anselma got a Tumultuous Cloak of the Moon in her goody bag. Building a healing set is good!

I then logged in to Maura, my 70 rogue, to see what I would get as a prize, joining up with my buddy's 70 hunter. It took forever, about 4 quests worth, before we got a group. Utgarde Keep was difficult. I had to go before we finished, so I turned the keys over to my hubby (what a great guy), and he finished it out for me. As I left, I heard him grumbling "Ation bars all wrong, everything's all wrong", grumble grumble. Sorry! I guess she got a couple of badges for her efforts, along with some gold and a tonne of experience. So, it would seem the ability to run Wrath of the Lich King dungeons is the cut off for getting goody bags. I logged in Gwenna later that night just to see what the reward was for running a Burning Crusade instance. A goody bag, 6 gold and change, and about 1200 experience points. Today I will log her in and see how long it takes for her to get a group.

My research finds that, in the high teens and twenties, a tank and a dps (seperately) were able to get a group during the morning hours within 10 minutes. Two grouped dps in their early seventies took about 20 minutes during off peak hours. I haven't tried the 80 characters off peak yet, but I imagine the demand would be enough to get a group within 5 minutes for healer or tank, 10 for dps. I don't have anyone in the middle area between 25 and 60. Until I do, I have no answers for how available instances are through there. I am toying with the idea of only instancing with my paladin from here on out, so by the end of January I may have some answers.

I love this new tool and I cannot say it enough! I have grouped with all sorts of interesting people. I'm looking forward to my time in the queue today!

What I've Been Doing - November Edition

If you've been reading lately, it is pretty obvious that Shawndra has me wrapped around her little finger. She has been getting the bulk of my attention, needing tanking gear and catching up to her status as a main character. Delgada has come out to do enchanting for Shawndra, and right back away she goes when she is done. Maura has been out to do leg patches and heavy borean armor kits for Shawndra, which has earned her some levels in leatherworking, but back away she goes when she is finished. Shawndra is working on finishing Zul'Drak, then she will be off to Storm Peaks.

Halinka got out a couple of nights ago. She got to run Heroic Trial of the Champion with a few guild mates and a couple pugs. The healer was a pug, and was undergeared, so the instance wasn't finished. Our hunter got a shiny new pair of shoulders, though, so the run was considered a success. Halinka, at the end of the run, had enough tokens to buy a new pair of gloves and a new wand. It was a pretty successful hour of play, all in all.

Real life has been busy. Getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas is always a chore. Add on top of that poor grades and homework contracts for my oldest daughter, checking in on my mom who is getting the holiday blues, and closing up the kitchen for holiday break kept me really hopping. I did have time, however, to hang out with John and Michelle on the Warcraft Outsiders Podcast recently. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you will all give it a listen, and check out their other shows, Video Game Outsiders and Pop Outsiders. Their shows are lively and witty, and a whole lot of fun! They also have a great community site with busy forums and, of course, a fabulous WoW guild on the Shadowsong server.

So, that is what I have been up to this month. I skipped October, but I plan for this to be a monthly article, because it gives me something to write and something to look back on. Now, I am off to hunt wild turkey and shoot some rogues. Wish me luck!

So I Was Going To...

...write this fabulous post on if it was possible for a fresh 80 to tank ToC regular with a normal bunch and reap the rewards. I have this problem though. My guild doesn't let me do things like that. Yes, My fresh 80 butt was dragged into ToC kicking and screaming, under geared, to tank a few nights ago. I can tell you my health was about 17k, my defense was 480ish, and I was in mostly i-Level 170 and lower blues. I was enchanted and specced, sort of. I knew I wasn't ready.

But my friend insisted. So, I got up in front of the bosses after the joust and I failed miserably. I couldn't hold aggro, I wasn't using all the tools available to me, I stunk in more than just the gear category. I apologized, we lost a group member, and I put Shawndra in the inn in the Tournament grounds to think while I brought out Rowena to try and fix things. My friend helped with things too, making a cloak, enchanting a few items with defense and stamina, making a leg patch for me and some stamina patches for some other parts of my wardrobe. After a serious make over, Shawndra was now sporting a more healthy 22k health and a bit more defense and armor. While they looked for another body to fill our vacant spot, I reorganized my toolbar and found a few new tricks I wasn't using, and we started all over again. It went a lot smoother this time, with me not tanking in battle stance (I wasn't the first time either, but the pug we had before insisted I was), using vigilance on one of our overgeared members, and adding charge to my defense bar (I was specced for it, might as well use it in that stance instead of switching and confusing people).

It's been a long time since I tanked anything serious with Shawndra. Even back then, I was really insecure about my abilities. I tanked because we needed a tank. I'd like to get past the point where I grind my teeth and stare at my buttons, being so careful using all my threat generating and damage reducing cooldowns that I miss what the boss looks like. I don't want to be so afraid that I'm going to screw up the instance or raid for everyone else every time I pull, that I lose a mob staring at my cooldowns.

So, I guess I'll have to get more practice so I am no longer unsure of myself. Delgada is officially shelved as I focus on gearing Shawndra, who is coming along fabulously. The reason she is coming along so well is because KNR members are starting to return to the keys. Experience points in PvP and I imagine the Icecrown Citadel patch play a small factor in their returns. Others return from boredom with Aion, while others have no reason. I say, the more the merrier! We have had enough to field an instance group most nights, and when we haven't, we have seen others catching up with their characters of choice. I'm hoping in the next month to see enough on to run a 10 man, even if it's Burning Crusade content. I miss the guild getting together for a common cause. Perhaps it is time for an old school pirate pvp party. There are new boats to take over!

So, in conclusion, no, you cannot tank ToC in the random gear you were leveling in. Go buy yourself a few crafted and bind on equip pieces and get some health and defense boosts. Go quest in Icecrown for some of the items you can get there. Consider it a heroic level dungeon, because that is really what it is. Heroic content for a tank or a healer more often than not requires you to be almost at the gear level of the instance. Now, if you should decide to run the instance as dps and hope for the dribbles of gear the tank doesn't need, then you go right ahead. I'll just bat my eyelashes at my new favorite healer and see about another run. Shawndra still needs a trinket!

Pinata Party, Blindfold Not Included.

Trial of the Champion, a new instance at the Argent Tournament grounds, is quite fun. You walk in, grab a stick, and start beating the loot pinata. Seriously. Well, in the first groups I had been fortunate to be in, it was easy. Let's describe my horde party. We had two tanks, a paladin and a death knight. For damage, we had a shadow priest (not me) and a 79 moonkin. Delgada was in her holy form, being generous and healing. We beat down the instance a couple of times on regular mode. Easy Peasy. Now, we are all pretty well geared, with some Naxxramas gear, and a stray piece of Ulduar gear in the mix. I think the reason it was so easy was the two tank set up, and the aoe healing holy specialty provides. I was also fortunate to be in a group with mostly Ulduar geared raiders when Halinka got to go a few times. Much fun, and many upgrades were added to her closet.

Now, last night, Delgada agreed to heal, yet again, as the boys got ready to do their heroic beatdown of the night. Our group for regular Trial of the Champion? Death Knight tank from the evening before, an enhancement shaman, a level 79 death knight, and an arcane mage. This group was painful. The other death knight was not a tank. We got the job done, but we died a few times. Semi satisfied that we were doing alright, we changed out the dps death knight for that same guy's hunter, and we started off. Oh, the pain. We had such a time trying to stay alive. I let the mage and the hunter die off, and kept the shaman and the death knight up to finish round one. Resurecctions were performed, loot was handed out, and round two commenced. It was the paladin, and I showed off my healing prowess by standing backwards to heal the whole fight. Go me! That boss gave us less problems, and we handed out loot, refreshed buffs, and went for round three, the Black Knight. Well, Delgada was not being smart this fight, and stood too close when he exploded his minion. Thanks to my glyph of "you fail so you can have this healer for a little longer", I was able to stay in Spirit form long enough to see phase three of this fight, but it was a losing battle. As soon as he popped into spirit form, he pretty much two shot everyone. So, back into the instance, buff up, and start from square one. The details from here get foggy, it was late, and it was frustrating. I seem to remember it taking at least one more wipe before we decided enough was enough and pounded him into the ground. He dropped a nice healing trinket and pair of pants for Delgada, though. Yay. Just what Delgada wanted. More healing gear.

So, to examine what went wrong on the second time around. In the first part, jousting happens. We were all facing up with different targets. This, just like a regular fight, should have a kill order. Mark them up if you can when they come out the gate. Healer goes down first, the rogue second, then deal with the caster or hunter third. When jousting, keep this kill order just for convenience. It will help everyone stay focused. Keep your shields up. I alternated throwing shield breaks and refreshing my shield ( I had a mob chasing me throughout one joust). Charge if you can and whack them with the melee hit when your charge brings you into range, then ride away, refresh shield, and throw shield breaks again. If you see your mount getting low on health and you aren't being pursued, ride to to the edge, dismount, and grab a new mount. This should help you get through phase one of this fight.

The second phase of this fight knocks you off your mount. Make sure you have replaced your lance with your main or two hand weapon. Our paladin tank forgot to, and although he is the best tank ever, he felt the difference. The tank, or tanks, should round up the three mobs and the group dps should proceed to kill the targets in order. The healer goes down first, then the rogue (those nasty poison vials really suck the life out of you if you aren't paying attention), then the ranged mob. This should go down easily, so long as a kill order is followed and the tank(s) can hold aggro on the mobs.

Fight number two is different all the time. At the beginning, you have a paladin or a priest. After taking down the trash mobs (make sure to take down healers first,who also mind control, and to kill lightwells), the tank will pick up the boss and dps will take it down. Somewhere between 25 and 35%, the boss will force everyone to wait while it summons another boss, this time a "nightmare" from a past experience. If you have a way to break fear, do it, and be ready to kill as quickly as possible, as this mob is healed by the other boss(a renew which can be dispelled), and fears frequently. Once that boss is done, the other will need to be taken down. This is where the fights start to differ. If you have the paladin, he does a holy attack that does a bit of damage that can be avoided if you turn around when it is announced(hence, the healing backwards) and does a hefty hit called Hammer of the Righteous to a player causing 14000 damage. If your dispeller is quick and can get Hammer of Justice off that player, the next hefty attack can be caught and thrown at the boss. I was not able to do this yet, so I will be trying again. With the priest, I don't remember any special attacks, though during the heroic I believe I was being mind controlled (kept getting the message, "Target is friendly" when trying to dps down the nightmare).

Third fight is the Black Knight. He will kill the master of ceremonies, and resurrect him as his ghoul. In the first phase of the fight, stay out of his desecration, and watch out for his exploding ghoul. This phase is pretty simple. Second phase, he will summon an army. Kill his adds one at a time, as they explode at low health. I have heard Area of Effect spells are a no go on this phase, probably because you would have many exploding ghouls at the same time. Take down the boss, and you'll be on the next phase. Phase three, he turns into a ghost. This part is very healing intensive, as he throws shadow damage all over. Use all your cool downs and trinkets and kill him quick, and you will have your prize!

Once you have this down, you are on your way to gearing up yourself and friends. Here is a link to the gear that drops from the dungeon, on both modes (second comment on the page). They gave you a stick, now go beat your pinata!