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PhiLogical

Phrixus’s first Kara run

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This past Friday I was able to run Karazhan for the first time with my guild. I had been looking forward to this for quite some time now. When I first started on this new realm, it was my sole intention to get a toon to 70 and for the first time raid. That is one of the reasons I went with Gitr and started all over again with my current and only 70 Warlock, Phrixus. Now, I realize I could have found a guild on one of the many other realms that I have high level toons on, but this guild is different. I have fun when I log in and look forward to talking to the people in the guild. That to me means a lot. (unashamed guild plug: Dooms Assailants on US:Silvermoon:PVE)

For my first ever Kara run, I have to say I think it went well. There was only one wipe all the way up to Prince, and that one was just bad luck on our part. The Raid consisted of 3 Druids, 3 Warlocks, 1 Pally, 1 Priest, 1 Hunter, and 1 Warrior. I was given the sole job of applying Curse of Weakness or Curse of Tongues, depending on the mob. Well that and causing mad DPS. From what the damage meter said the few times it went up, was that I was 3rd or 4th on DPS all night.

The Opera Event and the Chess Event were my favorite parts. Both were unique and just fun to do. Though I learned a valuable lesson, don’t talk to NPC’s unless you know what will happen. Yeah I kind of started the Opera event without everyone being ready. Yeah I was that guy. No harm though, we got the Wizard of Oz event and just wrecked it.

The end of the raid though did not go so well. We wiped 4 times on Prince, and with that we called it a night. I am not really sure what went wrong, but there was hope. We were supposed to try again on Saturday, to no avail though. Only half of the people showed up for the retry, so it was called off. The whole thing took about 4 hours and there were some long breaks in the raid to boot. I was able to get to very nice pieces of gear. The Nethershard Girdle and Boots of Foretelling, I guess it helps that I was the weakest geared player there. No biggie though, there is always next Friday and believe me, now that I have had a taste of the good stuff, (i.e., shiny purples) I plan to try to raid as much as I can.

Ding 70

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So after almost 3 years, off and on, I finally have my first level 70 toon. Phrixus dinged 70 at about 6:30 server time on Sunday evening. It feels so great to have done that accomplishment. Now I can finally raid with my guild, though I need to figure out my role with them. I really would prefer to stay demon spec’d, but if need to change I will. So I went and learned the last of my spells, I have a feeling I am going to love Seed of Corruption.                                

Then I went to the Isle of Quel’Danas, mostly because not being able to go thru that portal was kind of bugging me.  I did not realize that there was not a portal back to Shattrath, I just wanted to check it out.  So I was stuck and I figured I might as well try to do a daily or two.  Usually I research any new areas I go to, but this time I just chose two at random. I kinda lucked out; I chose The Battle Must Go On and Know Your Ley Lines.  Know Your Lay Lines provided me with 10G 99S and Darnarian’s Scroll of Teleportation and The Battle Must Go On provided me with 10G 10S.

I know where I will be going for awhile, because I really want my flying mount and right now I am about 600G off.

Phrixus Dings 68

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PhrixusThis weekend I dinged 68 with Phrixus. He is currently the highest toon I have ever leveled, with Punitor coming in second at 61. Now generally I tend to spend a lot of my time doing other things than try to level. Play the auction house, grind rep, and get my professions up, but not so much anymore. Since I hit 65 I have been singularly focused on finally having one toon at 70 and with every level the urge to keep playing grows larger. I don’t remember a time since I have started playing this game that I have had this much fun and still been this focused, which presents its own set of problems. You see, the summer festival is going on, and with it some incredible buffs.

Phrixus StatsThe 10% gain experience buff, to me, screams play an alt. I have a level 21 druid that really needs my attention, but alas, no. I played him this weekend and I just could not play him for more than an hour. I even respec’d to Feral, from Resto. I was originally going to try to level straight resto, but that became very boring for me since I did not have a leveling buddy along the way like I did with Protectr.

So I will happily continue my almost obsessive quest to ding 70 and I’m sure once that goal is done I will gladly find a new one. Have you ever been focused on just one goal and let almost everything else fall to the way side?

…hmm that Neatherdrake mount looks kinda nice.

Grinding for rep: Darnassus

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I had made it my goal recently to get a kitty mount from the Night Elves, though as I found out that’s not an easy task.

If you want to become exalted with the Night Elves and get your own kitty mount it is going to take a lot of time and sometimes a lot of gold.

There are four repeatable quests to gain reputation with Darnassus.

  1. Pristine Yeti Hide from Pratt McGrubben (30, 42) in Feathermoon Stronghold for 250+ Rep. 1 each Pristine Yeti Hide. The drop rate for it is very low. I did not have one to turn in at 64.
  2. Morrowgrain to Darnassus from Mathrengyl Bearwalker (32,8) in Darnassus for 50+ rep. 10 Each Morrowgrain. At 64 I was getting 82 rep.
  3. Morrowgrain to Feathermoon Stronghold from Quintis Jonespyre (32, 43) in Feathermoon Stronghold for 25+ rep. 5 Each Morrowgrain. At 64 I was getting 28 rep.
  4. Additional Runecloth from Raedon Duskstriker (63, 23) in Darnassus for 75+ rep. 20 Each Runecloth. At 64 I was getting 83 rep.

All of those will take considerable time and effort to gain the necessary reputation to become exalted, and reputation gains will vary depending on race, current reputation, and level.

So I recommend that you do what I did.  I did this with a level 64 Human Warlock and still received full reputation gains.

What you do is go to the Starting area for the Night Elves, Shadowglen, and do all the quests like you were a level one toon.

The quest givers won’t show up on your map, but just talk to the Night Elves around there and in all the low level areas if you are not familiar with that area. So basically just follow the path of progression the game gives you and you will gain a tremendous amount of rep.  You will still need to do the repeatable quests, but it won’t seem as daunting as before.                  

Follow my advice and in no time you will have your very own kitty mount.

The Blackfathom Deeps: Alliance Quests

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The Blackfathom Deeps

Alliance Quests

The Blackfathom Deeps is a level 20-30 instance located in the northwestern corner of Ashenvale (14, 14). For the Alliance there are 5 quests you should get before heading to the instance.

  1. Knowledge in the Deeps from Gerrig Bonegrip at the Forlorn Cavern in Ironforge (50, 5)
  2. Researching the Corruption from Gershala Nightwhisper in Auberdine in Darkshore (38, 43)
  3. In Search of Thaelrid from Dawnwatcher Shaedlass at the Craftsmen’s Terrace in Darnassus (55, 23)
  4. Twilight Falls from Argent Guard Manados at the Craftsmen’s Terrace in Darnassus (55, 23)
  5. Blackfathom Villainy from Argent Guard Thaelrid in the Blackfathom Deeps

Now that you have the quests it would be a good time to stock up on food, water, and any potions/elixirs that you can afford. I would recommend that once you put yourself in the Looking for Group channel for this instance you try to get a Warlock. They have the spell Underwater Breathing, which is very useful in this instance. If your group does not have a Warlock you will need to pick up an Elixir of Water Breathing from the auction House.

Now make your way to Ashenvale or get summoned there if there are people already at the summoning stone. Once you and your party are ready make your way down the stairs to the pool below. Swim under the wall and up to the other side and you will now make your way through the cave to the instance.

The mobs on the way to the instance are Levels 17-21. Once inside the instance the mobs are levels 22-28 Elite. Your tank should be at least level 24, if not 26, especially if there are higher level dps classes in the group. A tank will be hard-pressed to keep aggro off someone, say an uber warlock, if the warlock has 3-4 levels of spell/gear advantage over them. Trust us on this.

Now that you are inside the instance just go straight ahead, once you reach the first cavern you will need to swim straight ahead to make it to the above water area. You will have to do some jumping to get to the other side. Now follow the path a little ways and you will come to the second cavern and your first boss, Ghamoo-ra, a level 23 Elite. He will be on the island in the middle of the cavern; he will be surrounded by level 22-24 Elites, but they remain yellow and do not need to be engaged, so don’t attack them with any AOE or sweeping attacks. The fight is mainly a tank and spank, but he does have a blockable AOE spell called Trample. Another point of interest is that hunters of the same level can tame him. Cool, huh?

Now go back to where you first came into the cavern and take and immediate right. Swim under water in the little alcove and that is where you will find Lorgalis’s Manuscript for the Knowledge of the Deeps quest. From here swim right again and go to the next alcove, swim under water and come up on the other side of the wall. In this cave is where you will find the next boss; Lady Sarevess a level 23 Elite. She will be surrounded by level 20-23 Elites.

Leave there and continue swimming right, skip the next alcove you see and swim under the second. In that cave you will find Argent Guard Thaelrid, he will give you the quest Blackfathom Villainy. He is a gray-ish, wounded night elf lying face down on the ground. On a side note you can do these quests anytime as I did, they offer a great deal of Argent Dawn Rep. Now leave there and swim… wait for it… right, the next alcove is where you will continue on in the instance.

Follow the path until it comes to an intersection, straight ahead is the next boss, Gelihast. He is a level 24 Elite and is surrounded by levels 20-24 Elites. He is a dual-sword wielder, so make sure your tank has a shield and relatively high block/parry/dodge rating because of his devastating Attack Speed. Next to Gelihast is a table with a orb on it, click on it and you will receive a buff called Blessing of Blackfathom. From there take a left and in either the first or second cave on your left will be the next boss; Lorgus Jett. He is a level 24 Elite and will have level 22-24 Elites around him. He’s an easy caster that has shaman spells, but falls rather easily compared to a heavy-hitting melee mini-boss. (Note that he may appear in other parts of the instance, his spawn is random.)

Now continue on down the path until you come to the next cavern. The first left down the path offers a locked chest at the end. Now from here I recommend you clear the area of all the mobs, when you are done with that go back to the circle pillar in the middle of the room. From there look at the entrance to the Temple door and jump into the water heading in that direction, go under the water and swim into the underwater cave. In there you will find Old Serra’kis, a level 24 Elite. Finding him is definitely harder than fighting him. You might want to kite him out into the cave and fight him on dry land.

Now get back up to the path and head for the Temple. In there you will find Twilight Lord Kelris, a level 24 Elite. Be sure to clear the entire room before attacking him. If you don’t, whatever mobs are left will attack you as soon as you attack him. Around the Shrine wear he was kneeling you will notice four unlit fire bowls, called The Fire of Aku’mai. To get the doors open you will need to light these. WARNING: Only light one at a time. Once one is lit you will be swarmed by a lot of mobs, so only light one then kill all the mobs and then light the next until all four have been lit.

The doors will open and you can proceed on. Follow the path until you come to Aku’Mai. He/she is a level 24 Elite that is able to wipe out a tank who is not properly protected with gear and buffs and an unattentive healer. Poison effects whittle away at the tank’s health even more, but it should also be noted that fear and traps can be effectively used to buy time to heal.

Now that Aku’Mai is dead go to the end of the cave and receive another blessing, at that time a Dwarf named Morridune will appear and offer a port to Darnassus. If all of your quest objectives are complete, take the port and go turn in all of your quests.

Blackfathom Deeps is an instance that can be ran through very quickly if you have the right group and there is some pretty nice loot for all classes. For High level Enchanters it also can be a very nice place to stock up on a lot of blue items to disenchant.

Leveling With a Buddy

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I have been lucky as of late. You see I have had the opportunity to level with a buddy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j2xEwEHbrE[/youtube]

So as I was saying; since about level 30 Protectr and I have been questing together. I usually like to play it solo and every once in a while, and only when necessary, I group up. Well I had no idea what I was missing. Grinding these last 17 levels or so have been some of the most fun that I have had in WoW to date.

There are many advantages to working in a pair; the obvious being that you can kill mobs much faster and complete quests at a very high rate. There are other advantages as well. For me it has provided the opportunity to get better at not pulling aggro from the tank. Protectr is a dang awesome tank, but I still have to be careful to not come in too soon.

Protectr is a Protection spec Draenei Paladin and Phrixus is a Demon spec Human Warlock (AKA awesome). We are a great team, though I had to learn not to go all out with my spells. I SS him and provide a healthstone and depending on the area I bring out which ever demon will be the best suited. He Buffs and heals me when needed. Protectr will go in a grab aggro on up to 5 mobs and I wait a bit, send in my Demon and start DOTing away. The only hiccup occurs when he says to run and I let my (over)confidence get the best of me. I generally don’t die, but that’s only because he runs back and saves my butt.

While I think that any combination of classes will make the game more enjoyable; for the best effect one should find a class that is symbiotic to your own (e.g., DPS finds a healer, healer finds DPS, and Rogues reroll). So for my money nothing can beat a Pally-Warlock duo… well except a Warlock-Warlock duo, but that would be like having two Supermans and that just wouldn’t be fair.