Day Twenty Four - 30 August 2010

I spent some time reconfiguring my addons on the laptop. Something wasn't right and I eventually fixed it, but it meant reloading Threat plates and I lost my prior settings. I'll need to fix that soon.

I flew down to Booty Bay and picked up some recipes for Aldonza, took the boat to Ratchet and headed south. I took the Great Lift down, ran to the Feralas flight path then back through the canyons to the Shimmering Flats. I did a bit of grinding on Turtles, Scorpions and Basilisk before I turned in quests. i was close, but not quite level 33. I headed over the hills to get the Gadgetzan flight path, flew back up to Ratchet, sailed to Booty Bay and by the time I'd turned in those quests, I'd dinged.

I queued for another run in Gnomeregan. Things went well until Emi Shortfuse did her thing. Suddenly  folks started running into the cave and killing the troggs there. I tried calling them back, assuring them they'd come to us, but they ended up abandoning unlooted corpses to escape before Emi brought down the house.

I failed to win Grubbis Paws and then the healer and the warlock left!

We three manned the trash until the dormitory. I washed the grime encrusted ring and a bunch of other grimy things, but we eventually gave up. I left the group to finish the ring quest chain. A couple reagent arrangements and a trip to Ironforge got me a new ring!

Day Twenty Three - 29 August 2010

I've discovered that taking screen shots isn't easy. At first. I just was forgetting. then I discovered that each of my computers uses a slightly different key sequence. I'd need to double check what I was doing, adding a delay and resulting in lousy shots. When I get the desktop stable, I'm sure it'll improve.

So I knew I had some comfortable time today. I could run a random LFD. If I got Stocks, at least it would be quick. I wanted to run any of the others. It gave me the Scarlet Monastery Graveyard. We went straight to the final boss and nothing dropped for me:

I lost the greed roll on the Headguard
So that was nice and fast. The Tumultuous Necklace of the Bear dropped from the satchel of goodies. Just the enchantment I wanted!

With that done, I decided I'd like to select Razerfen Kraul. I had to wait a few minutes, but then we got going. Things were going smoothly. The first three bosses succumbed to our might. Overlord Ramtusk dropped just what I wanted: Tusken Helm!We moved on and were getting close to the next boss when my laptop went dark. It's a strange problem and only rebooting seemed to fix it.I'm sorry I left my group in the lurch like that, but I suppose they got another tank before too long. By this time I was just short of level 31 and I had my interest soured by the cranky laptop, so I took a break.

Later I got set up on the good laptop and got threat-plates and some other addons all set up. It was time to run Gnomeregan. The party was looking for XP and was perfectly happy to hunt down every boss. We shared quests and took off. I felt we did fine. The instance isn't easy to navigate through, but we found Grubbis easily enough and nobody got trapped in the explosions. We got to the room we knew had a boss, but couldn't spot him, "Vicious Fallout" just doesn't look like a boss, but we figured it out when the blue dagger popped up. Time to move on.

I didn't have problems with threat or runners, but I was burning through the mana. I had to drink twice and uses a mana potion twice to keep things going. After the third boss, we knew finding the fourth would be tricky, but one party member volunteered and led us down with some fancy jumping. No one misjumped and we got to the Crowd Pummeler. We knew exactly where to go next. Stopping just short of the final boss, his trash defenders line up in a very different way. These guys didn't look like they were wandering around, but instead were resting until released. One party member thought it looked scary and I agreed. They were rather intimidating, but fell quickly enough. Actually, so did Thermaplug. He dropped his shield and I won that. I also got the grime encrusted ring, but folks left before I could convince anyone to run back to the Sparklematic with me. Oh well, I can use another run.

I turned in my completed quests, including the one that gave me Dual Reinforced Leggings. I like upgrades, but I am not a fan of the metal bikini look. I cry!
The Metal Bikini
I realized two other quests required me to return to the part just outside of the Instance to finish (Techbot's brain and the Phial thing) They were surprisingly easy. Still, I will need to return inside to clean the ring.

I celebrated by running Arathi Basin twice, but Alliance still failed to win! Grumble, grumble.

All those quest turn ins and the PvP gave me the XP boost I needed to ding level 32. It was a busy day.

Day Twenty Two - 28 August 2010

I had a plan, really.

The plan was to run Arathi Basin on this Call to Arms weekend. And I did. Three games, all lost to the Horde. One game I only joined for the last 3 minutes or so. What I didn't anticipate was that I'd ding level 30 after the third one!

And I have diminished interest in being at the bottom of a bracket.

I considered how to spend some of my 800 honor points, but nothing struck me as critical, so I'll wait a bit.

I took the opportunity to do some travelling and pick up some more flight paths. I grabbed the green bang in Duskwood, the Rebel Camp and then switched to Theramore. I entered the Barrens and remembered that I had the shard from Wailing Caverns. So I rode to Ratchet and picked up that flight path, rode the boat to Booty Bay and grabbed that one. I remembered to pick up a few recipes and parrots for Aldonza to sell before riding the boat back to Ratchet and do the next step in the sharding quest chain. The final step required a flight to Darnassus, so first I rode through the Stonetalon Mountains and picked up the flight path at Stonetalon Peak. That's when I flew to Darnassus to turn in the final quest.

My travel through the Barrens provided an opportunity for a couple nice screen shots, one above the Crossroads and the other just a bit lower down that peak to the Shrine of the Fallen Warrior.
Above the Crossroads



Shrine of the Fallen Warrior
I had some trouble with the laptop and a few other distractions, so I hesitated running an instance. I knew something would pop up. Hopefully tomorrow!

Day Twenty One - 27 August 2010

I was Called To Arms to the Arathi Basin this weekend. Being level 29, it all seemed like destiny was demanding it. We won on the first try and the Honor just flooded in.

Not that I have plans on spending it immediately. I'll probably pick up another trinket as that second empty slot is burning a hole in my pocket... so to speak. Do other folks have this yearning to see slots filled? Leaving my tabard and shirt empty gives me an ache, although not one big enough to do anything about it.

Now with Vertiferrous Fluoride!

I also enjoy seeing all these blues! When I was levelling Martuska, I know I never had many. It might be a residual effect from running around at level 80 and trying to improve my gear score, but on Kallixta, overgearing is just funny. It tickles something.

So I had another empty slot, head, that I knew was there, but was attempting to ignore. After running AB, I decided to do something with all my accumulated cheap iron that Aldonza had been picking up at 25% normal price. I cranked out some green iron items to 170 and then went to buy whatever new recipes were on offer. Green Iron Helm? Well... let's just jump up and down. We will pretend I knew that was coming all along. Oh and those Green Iron bracers I was making to level Blacksmithing just happen to be an improvement?

So I stopped for a minute to do research, just in case I was missing something important. I also checked the Auction House for usable recipes. It just so happened that Shining Silver Breastplate was sitting there with less than 2 hours remaining and while its buyout price was over 10 gold, the bid was only 2. Fine, I'll put in a bid. Since I had jumped on Kallixta without giving Aldonza a peek at the Auction House, I decided I could check on smithing supplies. I grabbed some more cheap stone and iron bars and lesser moonstones. Because of my haphazard planning, I must have made 6 trips from the AH to the forge in the Dwarf Quarter. Is there a closer forge? When I returned to the AH, someone had bumped the price of the Breastplate, but it was down to less than 30 minutes now. With some patience, discrete purchasing and a final bid, I got the recipe for around 3 gold.

After spending all this gold, I felt a horrible spendthrift, but looking at my cash reserves, I realized that I was still doing fine. Aldonza has been making plenty of money plus while the leveling blacksmithing is costing money, it's nowhere near as expensive as expected. Those Golden Rods in particular provided some nice profit.

So while tonight only witnessed Arathi Basin runs, I did improved my wrist slot and got my first helm and I levelled my Blacksmithing to 180.

Day Twenty - 26 August 2010

My decision to title posts by day wasn't fully thought out, but I still like it. At the time I started, Kallixta was an idea and I had an experimental mindset. Now my mind has a much crisper philosophy around her and for all intents, she is my "Main". However, if I plan to only be online for less than an hour, I wouldn't log onto her. Instead I'd log into Aldonza and play with the Auction House. In theory, the time logged onto Kallixta would all be "active", not idle, but I'm not perfect. I've idled Kallixta more than once. Still, I hadn't logged onto her for a short half hour session until last night.

By intention, I logged in, travelled to the WSG Quartermaster, bought my cloak and equipped it, switched to my one-hander and logged off. I considered a quick run into a battleground, but I wasn't on the good laptop and I was tired.


I don't think I've mentioned before. The original main computer with WOW has problems and won't allow me to re-install. Therefore I can only play on either my son's nice laptop or my daughter's older laptop. I can't remap keys without negotiating with them. Martuska is on the original account. This was originally my son's account, but is now my daughter's and I've got my own Vanilla WOW account. I could still play Martuska, and I will on occasion, but only if my daughter isn't on. I also can only play when one of the laptops is free, at least until I can get WOW re-installed on the good desktop machine. Oh yes, there is another desktop that we use to run WOW on, but that has less memory. Still, if I get desperate, maybe...

Entering the 30-39 bracket

Razorfen Kraul
I was sketching out a plan for my next few sessions with Kallixta. On the list included upgrading her equipment, either through quests or dungeons. Despite already running RFK once, I noticed on Cassandri's Razorfen Kraul guide that I had missed optional bosses, quests, and loots. I'll need to go back.
  • There is a quest chain that starts at the Thousand Needles great lift and requires a run to Feralas, kill the final boss of RFK and yields a nice blue.
  • There is a quest from Ratchet, but it's probably not worth a special run for itself. I may want to go to Ratchet anyway, but not just for this quest.
  • There are a pair of quests that start inside the instance, but after the final boss. One is an escort quest back to the beginning. The other just requires a item return, but it's easy to overlook.
  • Possibly drops include a mail head piece (Tusken Helm), a necklace, a ring and bracers.
Leveling
Besides RFK, I'll be visiting Gnomer and its tasty rewards. I don't yet know if I want to repeat visits to these two dungeons or instead just level with quests until SM opens up to me. According to the strategy I've been following, I'll respec at level 30 to full protection.

PvP
My earlier visit to the AB Quartermaster got me thinking a bit deeper about how to spend some honor points. In particular, I think the Caretaker's Cloak might be a good investment since any such blue drop in an instance would have way too much competition. The Arathi Basin trinket would be good if I includes its usage in a macro. Otherwise I'll forget it too often, probably.

Day Nineteen - 25 August 2010

Playing without a Plan


I logged onto Kallixta without a plan. I hadn't thought past my previous plan, so having completed BFD and Stocks, I didn't know what to do.

Well, I had some ideas. I needed to finish up the Stockade Riots questline. I had turned in Thredd's Head, but still needed a couple of Clara's Fresh Apples for the next step. Having a mount at this level makes this whole business of dashing around (and outside of) Stormwind so much simpler. It's still a bit of a pain having to run up and down the halls of the keep. I remember the pain of soloing these two as a Mage and I'm so happy being a Paladin on occasions like this. It was also brought home just how long ago it was that I did this as Martuska. I'm sure it wasn't the King that gave me the final blue reward. Was it his son?

With the new ring


That was some easy XP and nice reward for a few minutes of running around. It sparked a memory of a prior plan to gathering quests for upcoming instances. In particular, there are several quests for Gnomeregan and at least one requires getting the first punch card prior to the instance itself. So, I have a fresh plan for the next few minutes!

The dash across western Dun Morogh by horse meant I could finish Explore Dun Morogh. Soloing my way through the first hall of Gnomer was simple and I got a Yellow Punch Card in no time at all.

Picking up the Achievement as a side effect reminded me of another minor plan. By doing all of these Dungeons and not quests, I hadn't been collecting flight paths. I had entered the Wetlands before to mine Incendite Ore, but never made the long trek to Menethil Harbor. By horse it wasn't that painful. I rode the boat to Theramore and picked up the green arrow there. I even waited for the boat to Northrend before remembering that Kallixta is on a Vanilla account and aborted that trip.

After another long ride, I made it to Refuge Point in Arathi Highlands for the flight path there. Seeing the Quartermaster made me check my Honor Point total and pencil in some PvP time onto my sketchy plan. Since I couldn't immediately buy a trinket to fill my last slot, I postponed any purchase at this time.

I next headed for Southshore and the small accumulation of discovery XP actually got me to ding 29!

With Southshore's flight path, I was uncertain of my next move. I wasn't ready for more riding to someplace else when I remembered the fishing pools just off the docks. I should explain that I enjoy fishing sometimes, but usually when I can multitask. I'll watch TV and listen for the splash. I'll fish on Kallixta, but it's very much a low priority thing. Still, there were Oily Blackmouth just waiting for me and the first to get pulled flashed the Old Gnome and the Sea achievement! I emptied three pools. I wasn't sure if I could find something else to do while waiting for them to respawn.

This is when I decided to queue for Arathi Basin. The recent visit to Refuge Point made it easy to just push the PvP button and jump in. I had done some research on AB and knew as a level 29, I wanted to visit now and before I moved brackets again.

I couldn't tell you much about the Alliance team, except there were at least 3 paladins and we all were happy to buff the others with their preference. As the gates opened, I found myself the first to the Lumber Mill flag by a small margin. I still don't know what I'm supposed to do when fighting a hunter and pet, but I became very good at finding someone less than 50% health and finishing them off! I need to improve my awareness of my allies and heal some of them. I wasn't particularly good at strategic awareness, but someone would spam the /BG with suggestions and I'd run off to the suggested location and help. We won an Arathi Basin Victory and I was middle of the board in most things, too low at healing and I did have one cap, so I felt pretty good.

I was back to Southshore and the fish hadn't respawned and I didn't want to wait anymore, so I hearthed back to Stormwind. I did the sell, mail, repair stuff and realized I had some tasty clam meat to cook. The Auction house didn't have any more obvious food to cook, but I did raise my cooking enough that I thought it useful to check with the cooking recipe vendor. I bought 4 recipes I didn't know and had Lunch Lady flash.

It was nice to have several small achievements to measure an evening without a plan!

Casual Comfort Zone

I am the epitome of a casual WOW player. I limit myself to a few hours a week. I should have a structured schedule and know when I can play and for how long, but that doesn't happen over the summer. With the kids in school, it might change. Still, I've only so many hours I want to devout to a game. I want to do well at it, but there is no way I can spend the time I'd like.

I've been playing since my older son brought home Burning Crusade. My wife knew I'd enjoy it. Hell, I knew I'd enjoy it, but I already had plenty of hobbies I enjoy. It took 2.5 years for me to level Martuska to 80 and I enjoyed it, but I only played inside a comfort zone. I'd push on occasion and that zone did grow, but I never pushed hard.

Things changed last December, which is when I made a concerted effort to finish leveling Martuska. I discovered the ease of LFD and Northrend Dungeons. And after making 80, I discovered there were a lot of areas I hadn't explored and didn't want to with her. Being a Frost Mage is great for PvE, but I'd need to respec to raid and I hated being a glass cannon in PvP. I wanted to expand my comfort zone and I made the decision to do it from the bottom instead of the top.

Thus I rolled up Kallixta. I already knew some things where inside my comfort zone: PvE Questing, RolePlay, Guild Chat and the Auction House. Kallixta has the purpose of deliberately pushing open my comfort zone to explore areas inside WOW that I'd previously avoided, especially PvP. To support my PvP interest, the overpowered Paladin seemed useful. The hybrid aspect also worked well with my recent enjoyment with the new LFD tool. I could queue as Tank or Healer or DPS as my interest bounced and the shorter times for Tank or Healer definitely appealed.

So, Kallixta has a much stronger purpose than Martuska ever did. I was more driven with her and determined I would explore more corners without fear.

And there is fear. I don't mind being a bit of a noob, but I hate not improving. I will study to ensure I have some idea of what I'm doing, but things need practice and I hate the embarrassment in that L2P period.

Martuska is an achievement whore, but Kallixta can't be. I'll go a little out of the way to pick up another 10 points for Kallixta, but she will never grind just to complete something. She'll never have a sparklepony.

I've also decided Kallixta will have a public blog. I've used a private blog before, partly as a personal diary and notepad and that practice can probably been seen in this one, but I'm also going to push my comfort zone by making this public. Although I know it will never be a high traffic site, I want it to be something more. I want it to have some usefulness. I want to be proud of it. It must be interesting.

Well, that was a rambling post. I doubt I'll do that often.

Day Eightteen - 21 August 2010

I've been worrying I'd level out of being able to LFD either BFD or Stockades, but I had remembered their level ranges wrong. I queued up and managed both.

I won no greed rolls in BFD. I managed to share some quests and found the dead quest giver. None of the bosses were difficult. It only got hairy because of runners attracting a few more adds, but never too many. So Blackfathom Deeps has been added to my achievements. After teleporting from the end to Darnassus, I turned in some quests and one gave me Arctic Buckler as a nice reward. It's my new shield, after having carried that ugly turtle shell since Wailing Caverns.

I next queued for Stocks, The prior instance made me aware that we didn't have much for crowd control, especially since so many prisoners want to run. We'd just turned the corner for the East Hallway and Kam Deepfury when the runners and adds got to be too much. The healer stopped paying attention to me and then dropped the group. We wiped and started the long run from the graveyard outside Stormwind. The new party members wanted XP, so while we didn't do the West Hallway, we did make sure to gather anyone we saw. We continued a bit after Stormwind Stockade popped up.

I managed to ding level 28, but two dungeons was enough for one night.

With my new Buckler

Day Seventeen - 16 August 2010

I want to overcome my worries over logging on for a couple hours on a week night. Too many lowbie dungeons take too much time that I'm afraid to push the Random Dungeon button without knowing I've a few hours of uninterrupted time.

After queuing for BFD for several minutes without seeing anyone else in the queue, I did it anyway, switching to random. Razorfen Kraul popped right away.

The healer was another Paladin that didn't talk or bless. I did all the initial buffs. We had a Drainei shaman, a gnome warrior and a warlock. The first encounter didn't go well. Instead of just two, runners gathered more and soon there were ten dead bodies, one of which was Kallixta. I don't think I received a single heal except for the health potion I drank. I whispered to the paladin, trying not to make a big deal of it. He still said nothing and didn't even rez me. It took the shaman to do that.

We continued to struggle with runners that wanted to gather more adds, but no fight got quite as hairy as the first one. And the healing paladin would only select need, so we kicked him after the first boss. We were doing fine with only four (and the shaman healing), and the new healer showed up sometime during the second boss! Welcome to the party.

We were enjoying ourselves after that, despite the difficulty in runners. If I tried to keep something back to hit runners, I'd lose aggro to the shaman! I passed on most stuff. I won a chest on a /roll, lost the Corpsemaker - Two-Hand Axe to the warrior, and maybe the shield Heart of Agamaggan, too. All I got was cloth, gray junk, my satchel and level 27. Oh, and An achievement

The satchel yielded Earthbound Handgrips of the Soldier

With a bit of time after the instance, I grabbed the Iron Ore Aldonza had picked up and leveled Mining to 154. One skillup short of Smelting Gold!

With the new Iron Bars and some plans picked up cheap, I produced 7 Green Iron items that might show some return. My Blacksmithing is now 163.

I really need to do BFD before it rolls off.

Day Sixteen - 14 Aug 2010

This was a 'Tying Up Loose Ends' day

Starting in Ironforge made it easy to do the Incendicite Quest and level my Mining to 137 while killing enough spiders to ding 26. This also gave me stacks of spider parts and silk. That should yield a few gold from the Auction House. The gooey legs helped level my cooking, too.

I managed to learn my new level 26 spells. I forget that step too often.

I knew I might not get to Black Fathom Deeps today.

I wanted to finish the level 20 Paladin quest. I already had the wood from Deadmines and the hammer from Shadow Fang Keep. Careful reading told me I didn't go inside an instance for the other two parts. I journeyed across Loch Modan (twice) to visit the Ogres of Mo'grosh Stronghold and found the ore. The final piece required a boat ride to Darkshore and a ride to just outside the instance. I noticed just how much there is after the swim and before the actual instance gate. While the gem dropped quickly, I also managed to gather the brain stems. Turning those quests in gave a nice XP hit. I now have a new 2 Handed weapon.


Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick


With my Mining improved, I also spent a bit of time leveling my Blacksmithing. I think the Golden Rods and stuff I made my actually give a profit! That won't happen again for a while.

Day Fifteen - 13 Aug 2010

I ran three dungeons today. First up was Shadowfang Keep, but I forgot to look for the paladin quest item. I didn't notice before already queuing up for Deadmines. That was an excellent group, working well except for the Warrior that needed on everything, even greens. We kicked him before the end and 4-manned Edward. We then went for Cookie and instead of passing, like I'd been doing, I greeded and won a blue cloth shirt?! I tried giving it away, but the others declined. I don't know why.

Kallixta turned in Edward's head for the blue Leg armor. I think this must have been when I dinged 25, but didn't notice.

I did a little Role play at the Stormwind Cathedral. Someone was running an afternoon prayer service. I got to chat with one person as we gathered and then we had a nice service. I only figured out how to log chat at the end. I was also slow to figure out this laptop's function key and how to make screen shots.

After a break Kallixta returned to Shadowfang Keep. I grabbed the "Jordan's Smithing Hammer" this time. No one complained with my speed, although I needed to stop for mana myself a few times. The healer called herself a noob and the mage agreed. My health was never in any danger, but the healer seemed very low on mana. I had to ask the mage for water and she seemed to only produce one at a time. She gave me a stack of 5 which didn't last long. I won a nice blue chest piece, a blue one hand sword and a blue two-handed axe, all upgrades.

My new chest and pants with the Arced War Axe over my shoulder

Day Fourteen - 10 Aug 2010

Kallixta got the Paladin quest going, dinged 24, grabbed her new spells and headed into Deadmines. The healer dropped at the start of the buzzsaw encounter. Somehow we survived without healing, but while waiting for a new healer, folks dropped. I had my wood pile, so fine. She's got what she needed.

I want to hit SFK next, but it was too late tonight. If DM is still on my LFD after that, I'll return to get VC's head. I did gather some of the next quests.

Notes on 20 Something Dungeons

Deadmines: Kallixta has already done this once and has the blues she want. The quest for VC's head will yield another blue: Legs.

SFK: There are blue 2-Hand weapon drops and only the Paladin quest.

BFD:
There is a 2-step "Corruption" chain quest, starting in Stormwind in the Park
Kallixta should be sure to get the two quests in the Craftsman Terrace.
There are plenty of blue mail and weapons in this instance.

Day Thirteen - 9 Aug 2010

I don't know when Kallixta hit level 23 as it was already that before logging in. Again the point went into Diving Strength.

I trammed up to Ironforge to get the start of the Level 20 Paladin quest. Part of its chain is running Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep and other dungeons, so I wanted to get started before they disappeared from LFD. It meant I spent time riding around for both this and a couple other quests, to Northshire Abbey and Redridge.

In chat, I talked about "commuting". It seemed odd returning to Ironforge. Kallixta appears to feel more at home in Elwynn Forest, although she was disgusted at the slovenly habits of human librarians. There were books left on the floor both in Stormwind Keep's library and at the Abbey. It mades it difficult to be [Well Read].

Next steps: visit Daphne in Westfall (and protect her from attack) and reattempt the traitor escort. There's another tram ride to Ironforge before being ready for a 2nd run of DM. There's also a quest to pick up in Auberdine before BFD.

Notes on Backstory

Kallixta was living in Aerie Peak with her father when the Third War broke out. Her father was a diplomat and merchant representing Ironforge among the Wildhammers at the time. As the war developed, he went off to Kalimdor in support of efforts there, before dying in the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Kallixta was old enough to be left behind with plans to return to Ironforge.

Kallixta's journey home included witnessing first hand the horrors of the plaguelands and the efforts by the remnants of the Silver Hand to fight the undead. She was impressed by those that, despite Arthas, continued to follow their purpose.

Kallixta subsequently travelled south to Stormwind to undergo paladin training.

Kallixta's mother is a Master Blacksmith and her work ethic influenced Kallixta's own. Undoubtedly her profession choices derive from her mother.

Notes on Traits

Here I makes some notes to myself about Kallixta's personality for Role Play potential.

Four Diamond Words: Methodical, Tenacious, Lawful, Civil

Kallixta despises those that are whimsical and impetuous. They lack follow through and have no purpose. Instead she thinks if everybody just developed a plan, things would work out so much better.

It isn't sufficient to have a plan, though. It's important not to be diverted. Kallixta will never give up, but stubbornly stick to a plan and see things to their end.

All must be devoted to the higher good and that's where laws define things. Kallixta does not believe the end justifies the means. Arthas's culling is the perfect example of how good intentions can result in evil.

As a diplomat's daughter, she knows that politeness can yield rewards. Kallixta can be chatty, but strives to be courteous, even when talking to one she despises. There may come a time when words fail, but until that point is reached, she'll keep a civil tongue.

Day Twelve - 7 Aug 2010

I applied to guild Saga. I was contacted while at the Auction House and introduced to their OOC channel. It was a funny and diverse group.

I ran two more Warsong Gulch runs. The first was a Call to Arms and with the win awarded 500 Honor Points! The second run was a loss. With my new HP and traveled to the vendor and bought the Trinket and Necklace.

I ended the night skilling up Blacksmithing to Expert and sLvl 148.

Day Eleven - 6 Aug 2010

Busy evening!

Although the travel time was long, Kallixta rode through Darkshore and Ashenvale (making some exploration discoveries on the way) to the Silverwing Outpost outside Warsong Gulch. Martuska had never had to find a PvP Vendor and I needed to lookup where the hell to go! She spent 100 Honor Points for the Protector's Band ring, but should have just run a couple games and bought the Trinket, especially as this was a "Call to Arms: Warsong Gulch" weekend, but felt uncomfortably low at 21 in the 20-29 range.

The queue for Wailing Caverns ran over 8 minutes even as Tank. It was an excellent group from my perspective. We had a rogue that knew the route and a warrior that made an effective off-tank. Kallixta never saw a health problem except for the first Boss pull when I didn't get to Lady Anaconda before she hit a squishy too much. The two squishies included one warlock and it's clear I don't understand how they work.

Kallixta got the blue tank shield from the neutral Turtle boss and then the Boots off one of the penultimate bosses. Somewhere along the way she dinged 22 and earned more than one level of XP. At least one other party member dinged, too. One squishy left after the last boss, but before the event. We had a perfectly fine substitute for the last piece.

Folks left, but Kallixta did some fishing in the cavern and caught about 5 Deviate Fish. The drop rate seemed like it was around 12% and they showed a value of over 1 gold each. We'll see how well they auction.

Hearthing back to Ironforge, she organized her loot, sending much to Aldonza. She equipped the new boots with a medium armor kit and swapped the shields. She then tackled the accumulated stone and ores to skill up Blacksmithing to 102. She really should make a couple more Silver Rods for enchanters before the next batch of items.

This comes from Wow Head.

Day Ten- 4 Aug 2010

Aldonza noticed that the Auction House pricing was much better suited to skilling up Blacksmithing. Kallixta got up to sLvl 87 on the items sent by Aldonza.

With the newest talent point, Kallixta finally invested in the Protection Tree!

Day Nine- 1 Aug 2010

I ran Deadmines.

The healer failed to notice my healing needs and let me die twice. I kept getting others that wanted to be tanks, not melee DPS. I did get Taskmaster Axe, Smite's Reaver and Cookie's Tenderizer.

I did some fishing in the canals of Stormwind and cooked up the results. This helped level my professions a bit. [Expert Fisherman], [Expert Cook].

I decided to drop Skinning for Blacksmithing, but Rough Stone was selling for 900% too much. It can wait.

Oh, and somewhere in Deadmines, I apparently hit level 21! I didn't notice until later.

Day Eight - 31 July 2010

I tried doing some pre-Deadmine quests. Running around on my new Charger and picking up [Tin Ore] made it easy to earn [Explore Westfall]. I don't think I ever went into the Gold Coast Quarry much before, at least not as a Miner!

I failed the Defias Traitor escort as solo. The Traitor took off after a runner and attracted too many adds.