Borean Tundra - Valiance Keep

I logged into the server and ported to Stormwind before clearing my mailbox and getting rid of a few things to make room in my bags. I rode down to the harbour and took the ship to Valiance Keep in Borean Tundra.

My Lich King journey has begun.

Upon arrival, I grabbed the Flight Point and then ran around town unlocking the next level of my professions: Grand Master First Aid, Grand Master Enchanting and Grand Master Tailoring, as well as learning all recipes available to me. It took a decent chunk out of my miserable 500-odd gold stash.

I picked up quests and ran out into the nearby area to fulfil the requirements. I eventually finished those up, as well as the few around the Keep itself. I moved up into Farshire and had to go into the mine a couple of times to complete some quests in that area.

Some ghoul killing and harvester rewiring later and it was back to the farmers of Farshire -- where I hit Friendly with Valiance Expedition -- and then the inn back at town, which incidentally is now my hearthstone home.

The server had three minutes left on its restart timer, so I decided that it would be prudent to log out while in the inn.

--

After the server restart, I logged back in to finish up a few loose ends before I could head down to Riplash Strand, which I will start on tomorrow.

Day 1 of my Northrend experience complete.

I realise that playing for such a short stretch of time means I haven't progressed terribly much, but this is part of my plan. I have been reading the full text of every quest and just strolling through quests I already did in beta. So far it is basically some guff on cultists among the friendlies and some scourge activity. I know that in reading every quest's description and experiencing every scripted event, I will fully experience this new content and appreciate what the development team have done regarding the whole Lich King story behind it all.

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

No Horse Yet

I have been continuing to solo Baron Rivendare in Stratholme for Deathcharger's Reins. So far, I've killed him 18 times with no success.

I have also continued doing lowbie quests and instances for achievements and reputation. I am exalted with Ironforge and over halfway towards exalted with both Stormwind and Gnomeregan Exiles. I have been completely exploring zones and recently got the Well Read achievement.

Not long to go before everyone is levelling in the expansion and I am waiting for it to arrive here so that I can try and catch up!

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Exciting Pre-Expansion Changes

Patch 3.0.2 goes live tonight. The servers have been down for a while already and will continue to be down until everything is completed tomorrow. I'm going to be restless all day as I wait to finish work. I'm excited about these pre-expansion changes!

Here's a summary of what is being changed and added:

• You can no longer get bear mounts from ZA


• Hand of A'dal and Champion of the Naaru titles are no longer obtainable


• The Onyxia attunement and Atiesh questlines have been removed


• Naxxramas has been shifted to Northrend and will not be accessible until the expansion goes live


• Barber shops are available in major faction cities


• Graphics have been updated, including the new shadow engine


• Stormwind Harbor is available but ships don't yet go to Northrend


• Mounts and vanity pets are now trainable and will go into your Pet tab when learned


• The entrance to Caverns of Time: Stratholme has been added, though you cannot zone into the instance


• Badges of Justice, Marks of Honor, etc are now Tokens


• The in-game events calendar has been added


• Achievements should be live -- check Wowhead for a complete list


• Healing and Spell Damage stats have been combined into the new Spellpower stat -- this includes school specific damage (nature, fire, frost etc)


• A lot of armour and items have been changed to reflect the new game mechanics


• Buffs, debuffs and auras are all now raid-wide


• TBC raid monsters have had a 30% health reduction


• New talent trees for all classes


• Introduction of the Inscription profession: scrolls, vellum and class glyphs


• Two new arenas: Dalaran Arena and The Ring of Valor


• Honor-purchased gems are no longer BoP or unique-equipped, so can be sold on the AH

Go ahead and check everything out if you haven't already. This is a huge patch with many playstyle-affecting changes. Everyone's toons will have to be re-treed tomorrow; and there will be a lot to take in.

I was going to wait to roll my Death Knight before picking up Inscription, but people are likely to charge exorbitant prices for everything. At least we have another month to hoard our gold in preparation for levelling to 80.

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Stormwind Harbor Update

I realised that I never put up the updated shots of Stormwind Harbor. So, here they are!

The entrance to the harbour

As seen from the top

A view of the harbour

From the docks looking back towards the city

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

Beta Log: Lichdate 2008-09-11

I played the beta for a bit today. So far all I have really experienced is about as much as I did back in the alpha. I have only played my mage. It has been a mission to try and get addons to work, but quartz, pitbull and fubar all seem to work fine, so that is good.

I like Living Bomb. What I don't like is the mana inefficiency of fire. I also can't see the debuff on mobs so don't know the timer on Living Bomb.

Questing so far seems to be pretty straightforward, although I have had to check Wowhead for locations of certain things. I guess I just don't want to ride around aimlessly attempting to figure out where to go to complete any given quest. But then, once I've done them, when the expansion goes live I will zerg through them easily. :p

I have taken two screenshots. One didn't save. It was just the generic WotLK loading screen. The other one is of Stormwind harbour. I beg forgiveness for my lame UI at the time. I will take more screenies as time goes on, including replacing this one with a better shot of SWH, but I'm about as much of an in-game screenshotter as I am a photographer in the logged out world. That is to say, I don't take many pictures of what I experience. :/

Stormwind Harbor

Unfortunately, Murmer, the premade PvP characters realm, is down, so I can't log my premade mage. Hopefully I will get a chance to test a level 80 mage before the end of the weekend. XD

Edit: Northrend also appears to be down, which means I will be unable to play right now. I guess I'll be logging the live game now. :(

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore

The Return of the Player

When I get back in-game, there are a few things that I intend to do.

Mage

• Reach Exalted reputation with Gnomeregan Exiles, Ironforge and Stormwind.
• Quest with Wintersaber Trainers to reach Exalted reputation and get Reins of the Winterspring Frostsaber.
• Reach Exalted reputation with Timbermaw Hold and Thorium Brotherhood.
  
• Raid Zul'Gurub, Onyxia's Lair, Molten Core, Blackwing Lair and Temple of Ahn'Qiraj for Achievements, to reach Exalted reputation with Zandalar Tribe and Hydraxian Waterlords, and to get both Arcanist Regalia (Tier 1 Raid Set) and Netherwind Regalia (Tier 2 Raid Set) again -- this may have to wait for the pre-expansion patch.
• Level Fishing and Cooking professions -- which makes me wonder: what level NPC will teach you how to be a Grand Master of any given profession?

Priest

• Get attuned for Onyxia, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.
• Speed mine materials for my Shaman's epic flyer.
• Respec PvE healing.

Rogue

• Get enough honour for Merciless Gladiator's Slicer.
• Respec Hemo Swords until the expansion.
  

Shaman

• Get attuned for Onyxia, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.
• Level his Engineering to 375.
  
• Craft his Turbo-Charged Flying Machine.

Druid

• Get attuned for Onyxia, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.
• Reach Exalted reputation with Shattered Sun Offensive.

Paladin

• Reach Level 70.
• Get attuned for Onyxia, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.
• Level her Blacksmithing to 375.
• Wait to level Enchanting -- might get Inscription instead with the pre-expansion patch.

Warrior

• Roll a Warrior and level her as far as I can by the release of the expansion.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I think the most important thing is levelling my Paladin to 70 and getting my Shaman's Epic Flying Mount.

Gaiwyn of Proudmoore