Lvl 50!

Well me and Kimi hit 50 on our Worgen warrior and mage, respectively. So far, my favorite zones have been Gilneas and Thousand Needles, with Desolace being my least favorite. I figure I'll mention some highs and lows from each zone here though.

Gilneas

Where it all starts. I haven't done the goblin starting area yet, but so far I believe this to be the best starting experience Blizzard has ever produced. Previously the Death Knight area was amazing, but this is trumps that. Gilneas was a nation that, after the Second War, walled itself off from the rest of Azeroth to not be bothered when anything else was afoot, such as the Third War, the Burning Legion, or the Lich King. But behind these walls, the Gilneans have suffered through civil war and now the curse of the worgen is spreading rapidly throughout the land. The player starts out as human still, right at the beginning of the worgen attack and work their way through being bitten until they become a full fledged worgen. The quests are all fun and tell a very good story. Many of the quests are quite funny, while others are moving and sad. The flow is akin to the DK area in that you must progress along with one to two quests at a time and the whole place phases around you. If you are an Alliance player that is still up in the air about the forsaken, this should definitely change your opinion of them. IMO - they need to stay dead.

Darnassus

Once Gilneas is completed you are moved to Darnassus which is the home of the worgen. I have never been a fan of Darnassus. Pretty? Absolutely. Useful? Absolutely not. I'm still personally of the opinion that goblins and worgen should have had their own city. I would have loved to see Gilneas as a new city option, like what they did with draenei and blood elves. But alas, what's done is done. I think my number one problem with Darnassus is the fact that they STILL DO NOT HAVE ALL THE PROFESSION TRAINERS. There is not a blacksmthing or engineering trainer in the entire city. This is the only city like this. Let's say that they were going for some kind of lore reason. Ok sure, engineering - bad for the environment yeah yeah they don't want it. Gotcha. But no blacksmithing? Really? Where do night elf and worgen warriors get their weapons and armor from? Where do all the sentinels' glaives come from? Since my two chosen professions are blacksmithing and engineering, I will NEVER come here again. I have no need, it has nothing for me. Blizzard, in my opinion, kinda dropped the ball there.

Darkshore

From Darnassus you can go to Stormwind and level in the human lands if you so desire. Of all of my toons, 8 of 10 have been leveled in the Eastern Kingdoms. I figured it would be a good chance to see this continent. Also, TotalBiscuit from CynicalBrit.com did a leveling in Stonetalon segment on his youtube channel. I watched all of those and wanted to see what the Alliance quests were like. They didn't disappoint.

So anyways, Auberdine got wiped out when meany Deathwing came and rocked Azeroth's socks and you start out in a more northern town, Lor'Danel. This place DOES have a BS and Engi trainer, however they only train up to 150. The Horde are making more incursions into Darkshore than before the Shattering and can be found to the north; a few quests take you up there to deal with them. This zone has had some major changes done to it, including being broken in the middle and having Malfurion Stromrage holding back a gargantuan tornado. A neat thing about this zone, and many zones, is that after some quests you gain access to a zone specific mechanic. In this case, you choose an animal (cat, bear, stag) and gain special properties as well as being friendly with all of the animals of the chosen type. The bear, which I chose, reduces all damage by 10% while in Darkshore and makes all bears friendly to me. The stag, which Kimi chose, increases run speed and makes all stags friendly. I can only imagine that the cat increases your damage while in the zone. World PvP in the zone ought to be fun since I have an inert 10% damage reduction now.

I have to say this zone flew by way too fast, and we ended up leaving about halfway through it due to heirlooms. I think with my next toon I'm not gonna bother with heirlooms. But it wasn't only the heirlooms. When I did this zone in beta without any exp boosts all of the quests were still green to me when I came fresh out of Gilneas. If you want to enjoy this zone to the fullest, then get as little xp as possible while doing the worgen starting zone.

We experienced our first PvP in this zone too. 5 horde of the guild Worgen Neuter Squad came on a little expedition into Darkshore. Me and Kimi were content to leave them alone. Until they started to log out. Pro tip for world pvp - never be the last one to log out. It will get you killed. That poor orc mage... he didn't stand a chance.

Ashevnale

This zone has remained unchanged except for all the lava in the middle. Once again, we didn't do much more than the first half of the quests before we were done with the zone and moved on to Stonetalon. It was a nice place though with the Horde once again pushing further in. Using a glave thrower to take down windriders is always fun!

Stonetalon Mountains

This is where I noticed the Cata changes starting to take true hold. Cut scenes, German gnome scientists, huge explosions and rocket packs. It told a truly awesome story, all within one zone and the span of 5 or 10 levels. I do think though that the horde side of this zone is better, and much more emotional. This zone's mechanic, though shortlived, is that you get a rocket jump pack taht you can use in a certain area whenever you have it. It's very short, but quite fun to constantly hop around with it.

Also of note, there is a guild achievement called Critter Killer squad. This requires your guild to kill 50,000 critters. There is a place called Webwinder Hollow which has TONS of spiders running around, usually in packs of 5-10, that are ripe for the mass critter slaying.

Desolace

Ahh Desolace... when you hit this desert, you may have wished you had went on to an Eastern Kingdoms leveling zone. This is by far the worst zone that we have been in. It's especially jarring because before this everything is running very smoothly, quests are smooth and linked together, and then you get to Desolace and the first set of quests it feels like you come to a grinding halt. Random drops for some collection quests and hard to see items to pick up plague the beginning of this zone making its introduction rocky. It's enough to turn some people to pure instances or other zones, which is a shame because the second half of the zone is not bad.

One neat thing though is that, after a series of mind numbingly tedious quests with terrible drop rates and bad spawn ratios for the items you need to collect. (You need 5 of these? Here's 40 mobs. Oh you need 20 of those? Here's 3 mobs.) After a quest chain involving the naga you actually gain a trinket allowing you, while in Desolace, to transform into a naga and be on friendly terms with them, as well as breathe and swim fast underwater. That was the highlight of the zone really. I could have easily spent 20 minutes just swimming around underwater and enjoying the scenery.

The second half of the zone has undergone a massive change. The Cenarion Circle is hard at work turning the desert into a lush forest full of vegetation. They apparently don't respect nature all that much, as they are destroying one ecosystem to create another in its place. But that's their call.

Feralas

Due to loads of instance runs we completely skipped this place sadly. It still remains my favorite looking zone though.

Thousand Needles

This zone is my favorite quest wise. There are some interesting mechanics too! Since the Shattering, Thousand Needles has been completely flooded. While here you'll get some scuba gear which will let you breathe and move faster underwater, as well as your own boat! I mean, come on, who doesn't want a boat? This zone also contains both my new favorite and new least favorite quests, as well as my most hated person in WoW right now.

There is a quest where you basically try to trick the local centaur population to give up their land for its oil, then when they figure you out you resort to just killing all of them and taking it by force. I really didn't like that quest. Not because it was a bad quest, quite the contrary. It amazed and appalled me that I could be doing this. It's like the Native Americans all over again. Score another one to Blizzard for making us feel emotion in the quest. The thought of the quest appalled me so much that I almost didn't do it. Wanting to finish the zone took over though so I carried out the little rat bastard gnome's plans and took from them to give to the Speedbarge. I'm not real happy with that.

The quest that was my favorite so far was a quest involving assassinating Twilight Hammer leaders. The best line I have seen in WoW thusfar: You walk up to a blood elf cultist leader. You need to get his back to you so you can kill him. You say, "Look, behind you! A mirror!" To which he says, "A mirror? How wonderful!". Best line ever. After more quests you meet Magatha Grimtotem. I hate that cow.

Magatha Grimtotem is the reason that Cairne Bloodhoof is dead. I don't care for horde, but I do like tuaren. And I liked Cairne. He was an awesome fellow, but Magatha basically poisoned him, then tried to take over as leader of the tauren. Thankfully Cairne's son didn't let that happen. You end up helping her in a quest which does save Thousand Needles from the cult, but you also help her out. I wish I could have completed the quest and the assassinated HER too. Sad day.

Tanaris

We are maybe halfway through Tanaris and we have hit 50. This is due to heirloom gear and instance runs. So far though, the quests are following the same way that they did before: pirates, and lots of them. One mission that's quite amusing is flying in a hot air balloon and bombing the crap out of them, which sends them flying. It's hilarious to watch.

I've been meaning to record my instance runs, but until now had forgotten about it. I think the next one I do (later today) I will try to record. I'm not sure if I'll voice it though, seeing as I sound like a hick and all.

Cataclysm.... finally :D

So Cataclysm finally came out this morning at 12:01 PST. All I've done so far is log in, create my worgen, and do three or four starter quests. I'm trying to do all of my quests with Kimi so we can stay the same level/phase at all times.

I was pleasantly surprised by some voice acting right off the bat. Hopefully this will continue. I don't remember there being any of that in the beta. I'll probably record some video tonight of Gilneas and the worgen starting area. I just wish there was a way to get FRAPS to record only in game sound and not vent sounds too.

The Shattering of... Names?

So the shattering finally happened. And it is epic. The cinematic was one of those with such an epic feel that it gave me goosebumps and shiver ran down my spine just to watch it. I think that's my definition of experiencing something that I feel justifies as epic, the spine tingle / goosebumps sensation. I remember some pieces of music do it for me, the scene in Lord of the Rings where Rohan comes to the rescue, the save sound music from Skies of Arcadia, the way I felt when Kimi told me she loved me... Just little things that give you a tingle letting you know 'shit just got real'. That's what the cinematic for Cataclysm did for me, everything from Deathwing's voice to the way he flies across Azeroth is just amazing. Super props to the WoW cinematic team. That was amazing.

Now would be a fantastic time to level up a new character and experience some of the new starting zones, especially the new Gnome zone. I will be devoting my time to trying to get the required materials for leveling up Engi/Blacksmithing on my new character. Which is no longer going to be named Kearney. Instead I will be using Kechlion. I have a druid named Kechlion right now. I don't particularly care for druids, I have yet to have fun as one. Maybe these new changes make it better somehow. But I want that name.

Kechlion was one of the first online names I ever used. The very first was Twirling Hammer in Guild Wars, however shortly after I moved to college (and graduated from dial up) I needed a moniker that I could use on a fairly regular basis. I sat down at my keyboard, let my fingers rest on the keys, and then typed what came to me, which was Kechlion. I've always said it was pronounced like Keck-leon which I guess I could have spelled it like that, but I like my spelling better. Many people have pronounced it very differently. I rarely ever correct them unless they ask. Most of the time they shorten it to either Keck or Kech (as in Ketch) which is fine. It was my first XBOX gamertag, my steam account name, and now my forum name for everywhere I go. So, I have decided I am going to delete my druid and salvage that name. In making a new main character I thought it was about time to make my normal name a successful one.

Engineering or Blacksmithing or... Both?

So I still want to make my Worgen an engineer... I mean who can say no to rocket boots, invisibility, and explosions? But I also discovered a number of blacksmithing crafted epics, such as a very nice shield Elementium Earthguard, a chest piece Elementium Deathplate (yes it's 'DPS' but 228 Mastery is better than 228 Parry), a belt Hardened Elementium Girdle, and a blue weapon Elementium Bonesplitter. Combine these with the epic helm from engineering Reinforced Bio-Optic Kill Shades and you have a fairly good start on your heroic / pre-raid set. This helps out in two ways for tanking. First : You can never have an over geared tank. Don't get me wrong, each member of the group has just as much responsibility as the others, but while you might can carry a dps, you cannot carry a tank (and by the same means a healer) until you vastly out gear the dungeon. I don't think that will be happening for a very long time either. Having a head start on gear will help out with your survivability as well as the chances you'll be successful in completing the dungeon. Second : this frees up a large investment of justice points to fill holes in your other gear faster. Things like shoulders, hands, legs, and neck pieces. Another benefit to also pick up blacksmithing is that you can sell these crafted epics for some nice gold. The trick of course will be to get the recipes for these epics. As of this posting I have no idea where they drop, be they raid / rep / heroic. The only thing I'm not looking forward to? Farming up 600 copper, 481 mithril, 622 thorium, 604 cobalt, and 891 saronite just to get to 450.

If This Doesn't Convince You Engineering Is Awesome...

THIS : Cardboard Assassin

If somehow you remain unconvinced that a cardboard assassin popping out of your belt to assist you in the field of battle isn't enough to making engineering awesome, then perhaps you should also consider some of these fine selections:

Loot-a-Rang

Have you killed something? Then... does its corpse emit sparkles like the light glistening off a loot filled shiny treasure chest? Can you not be bothered to make the short run to loot it, or is it in an inaccessible place due to monster's uncanny ability to scale sheer cliff walls, not swim, and phase through walls? Are you tired of loot ninjas beating you to a corpse? Never fear, Loot-a-rang is here! With this multifunctional, multidimensional, multivectoral loot retrieving device, all of your glowy corpse problems will be solved! Simply aim at the corpse of your latest unfortunate victim you suspect of containing loot, rare back and let fly! This amazing device actually does the work for you! Get one today!

Invisibility Field

Are you constantly being ganked? Does the sight of a flying mount's shadow send you into a catatonic state of fear? This handy little device will save the day! Simply attach the kit containing thousands of tiny mirrors to your belt, activate, and voila! You are invisible, and free to run away from any scary shadows at your leisure. Never* get ganked again, thanks to the Invisibility Field!

(*Warning, may not work against Mages, Warlocks, Alliance, Horde, Monsters, and Murlocs)


High-Powered Bolt Gun

Do you have a hatred of casters? Do you need a tool to silence them once and for all*? Do you have an excess of bolts? Does the thought of slinging hot metal through the air make you cackle madly? Have I got a tool for you! Introducing, the High-Powered Bolt Gun! No engineer's toolkit is complete this item. It's simple to use** and extremely effective! Listen to Cletus T. Judd's authentic testimony :

Well, I reckin twas roundabouts noon time; Ma had just rung th' dinner bell, when outa nowhere POOF this hur mage all teleepurts into mah crop field, so I grabbed mah bolt launcher doo-hickey and sprang into action! He started wavin his hands all mystical like and I said... I walked right near the git and says to him, "Thar will be none o' that nonsense on my farm!" and then I got a bead on him down my sites and KAPOW hit him right in the daddy bags with some bolts. Them bolts sent him flyin' back and I didn't hear nay a sound afterwords!

That's just fantastic Mr. Judd! Order your schematic today!

(*Warning: Does not permanently silence. Once fired, it is best to GTFO before the silence effect wears off and you get your ass scorched)
(**Disclaimer: Easy to use by professionals. Required the gun be lubricated properly and maintained between 45F and 90F at all times or special lubricant is required. Requires a handful of obsidian bolts to be loaded into the chamber. Accurate up to 5 yards. Must be cleaned and re-lubricated after each shot.)


So there you have it, and that's why engineering is the best :D

I just died a little inside...

Why Blizzard... why... First it was the Timberlake dance for male worgen. Bad. Then Soulja Boy for Goblin. Awful. Now we have... Lady GaGa? Really? The damn human female dance is better, and it's just the flippin macarena! I sure hope they implement the dance studio. I'd turn my worgen's dance into the gnome's!

Worgen Creation in Beta

Here be a little video I took trying to highlight what you could currently make your Worgen look like. Unfortunately, you still cannot play as a female Worgen in beta. You can create one, but when you log in it will show up as a male. Rather disconcerting.

Also with the videos, I am going to be attempting to do random videos along the way, perhaps of quests or pvp or dungeons or whatever it is that suits me. Hopefully that will help out with some of the craziness that I post!

Warrior Tier 11

So this is what the new warrior tier 11 set is supposed to look like. I. Cannot. Wait. It looks so wicked! I just wish that I could find a picture of it on a worgen instead of a human so you could see what it's going to look like when I wear it. Which, when I finally am able to get my furry butt to 85 I will be!

I've been watching some of the raid testing videos and the fights look like they are going to be a lot of fun. Some of the ones I've seen involve the raid getting knocked to 1 HP every so often, getting thrown through the air to fight 3 different genies, and having to run from massive amounts of flame!

Inb4 First... oh wait...

This blog is intended to be me recapping my experiences as leveling and (hopefully) raiding as a Worgen come Cataclysm. I've never blogged before and I think it will be an interesting experience to share a personal account with... well I would say everyone but nobody even knows I exist yet so let's just say I'll share it and leave it at that.

The Worgen starting experience, as I know from the beta, is absolutely wonderful. It trumps the DK starting zone in awesomeness and I cannot wait to experience it on live with my girlfriend and all of my other friends. Oh yeah... my girlfriend, whom I met through WoW, plays WoW. That's right... she's awesome.

I have sadly squandered my beta key by not really doing much except the Worgen starting zone. If I didn't work... or didn't have a girlfriend... or didn't have to keep fixing my stupid truck... maybe I would have played more. But as it is I would rather spend my time playing with my girl on live rather than without her on beta.

First thing is first... I'm totally reserving a name for my character. I've never done that before; making a character with the name I want then deleting him before making the new one. I was all excited (and considered myself quite brilliant) for coming up with the idea when I did. "Excellent!" I said. "I'll get just the name I want!" I said. That feeling of pride lasted long enough for me to try out the first dozen names I had though of for my character. Son. Of. A. Bitch. My first choice was Kaiser. I intended to be a warrior tank and figured, "That means leader... and since I'm the tank I'll be leading. What a great idea!". Nooooope not available. So I went down my list of K names (All but two of my 9 characters is named with a K, this will be the tenth) until I finally landed on Kearney. It's Scottish for Warrior, which I feel is still pretty suiting.

So, a Worgen warrior who will be... an engineer! WEREWOLF WITH ROCKBOOTS OMGWTFBBQ or at least that's the plan anyway. I think engineering will be pretty fun, so that's what I'm gonna do. I'll be leveling with my girlfriend and possibly a few other friends. The great thing about being a tank = no waiting in instance queues! Awwwright. Of course, now we have to find the instances to start with but I doubt that will be much of an issue. God forbid we have to find a place before we can magically appear there. At least we don't have to spend an hour just putting together enough people from our server any more!