Sholazar Basin

Level 78! And halfway to 79, too! Leveling in Wrath shouldn't be too difficult, really. I'm not spending a ton of time, yet I'm nearly 80. 55-80 in about three weeks of rather casual play isn't bad at all. =)

My most recent zone was Sholazar Basin, which is a jungle much like Un'goro. (Except Un'goro sucks and this doesn't.) The music here is amazing! Nessingwary's hunters are here, and they give a large percentage of the quests. The kill quests here aren't as tedious as those in Nagrand, I promise. =P Lots of great scenery, too. Flew by, though. The achievement for this zone requires 75 quests to get, as opposed to most others that require well over 100.

A look at level 78 Dumal.

Picked up my Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade! Flying in Northrend requires "Cold Weather Flying" training available at level 77 for 1000g.

You can't fly in Dalaran, but you can take off and land at Krasus' Landing, where the flight path is. By mounting up there, I was able to get a nice overhead view of the Mage City. =)

My first step into Sholazar. I wasn't disappointed. ^^

A nice twin waterfall I discovered early on.

(2 above) Shots of River's Heart in the center of the zone. I really like this area. =) The top one is from my ground mount, and the second one is from the air.

'nother 'fall.

Like Un'goro, there are different color crystals lying around. Spires like this one are the source.

(2 above) Two views looking out from Nessingwary's camp.

(2 above) A beautiful lake north of Nessingwary's camp with some nice beaches and falls. =)

A waygate! You actually get to go through it for part of a quest chain. ^^

A neat looking temple called the Maker's... something or other... >.>

(2 above) Views from inside that temple. The top one seems to be some sort of aquarium. O.o

You do NOT want to mess with this chick.

Next up: Zul'Drak, Ruined Temple of the Drakkari Trolls!

Random Screenshots / Quick Update 2

Dumal is 77 now. =) Just about finished in Grizzly Hills. It's been a fun zone; I really enjoyed it a lot. I think I have a couple group quests left before I move on to Sholazar Basin (Un'goro 2, as I've heard it called =P).

Grizzly Hills has been an absolutely gorgeous zone, full of contrast. Snow and grass, tall trees, high mountains, low plains, rivers, waterfalls... it has a ton to offer, and it all comes together nicely. ^^

A field of wildflowers just north of Conquest Hold, the first Horde outpost you arrive at.

Looking down on a beautiful river and waterfall near Conquest Hold.

A really cool hollow log acting as a bridge. Nice details on it, like moss, mushrooms, and grass growing in and around it. =)

View from within the log, looking out the other end.

"The Alliance hereby claims these... mushrooms! And... this tuft of grass!" (Seriously, I don't even know if there's an outpost near here. =P)

I thought the road cutting through this tree was a neat effect.

Grizzly Hills has it all! A small lake, trees, a huge mountain, green grass, white snow... I love it here. ^^

Another nice waterfall pic.

Above a waterfall. You can see the water start to get rough at the end there before it falls off. I liked the foreground vs. background imagery here. =)

I'm guessing this path isn't safe. =P

Eastern Grizzly Hills. These are some Troll ruins.

(3 above) Various views from the Ruins of Tethys, also on the eastern coast.

So I was questing along one night, and got a whisper asking me if I wanted to do some quest. Apparently in Zul'Drak (the zone north of Grizzly Hills), there is a Northrend equivalent of Nagrand's Ring of Blood quest. It turned out to be a lot of fun! THIS was one of the reward options. ^_-

Saw this kitty on my way through Zul'Drak. I thought he was kick-ass, and might be of interest to you Hunter types.

Stay tuned for more. ^^ Oh, and for laughs, check out these graphics bugs that came with the most recent patch. =P

http://i35.tinypic.com/1f8fm0.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/2wgd9hs.jpg

Daejin wa doko ni imasu ka?!

Last Friday's patch to build 8905 really screwed with server stability to the point where you could only really stay online for 5-10 minutes or so before a server crash, and since even Blizzard employees get weekends off (for the most part), it wasn't until Monday that we finally saw some stability.

Not much to report, on that note. Rather than get frustrated by the servers' constant crashing, I took some time off my testing to watch some anime and become more active in the beta forums. Dumal is about 60% through level 76.

Premade level 80 characters are now available on a separate server. We're allowed three. I created a Druid and a Warlock so far. Trying to decide whether to make my third a Shaman or a Priest. These characters start with maxed out weapon skills, and all arena gear available for every spec. Also, 200 Heavy Frostweave bandages and 40 water. They're intended to test the PvP aspect of the expansion, though I believe people have been running the new Naxx with them as well.

Mages, check this out, and enjoy. =)

Ow! It hurts!

Giant nerf bat beating for Death Knights yesterday evening.

We QQed a lot at first, but... after testing some numbers, it seems okay, really. I had one last glorious Scourge Strike crit for 9206 before the newest patch, but those days will be gone forever... *sniffles*

But! This is what beta testing is about. They toned down DKs because our damage was ridiculous. They just seem to have over-corrected it. =P I was critting Scourge Strike for something like 3.2k, which is acceptable. I'm still beating mobs my level with full health afterwards, it's just taking me a bit longer.

The problem is, though... okay, that sounds fine if we look at Death Knights in an isolated vacuum, but... Dumal is level 76. If Daejin were level 76 right now, and he were only getting crits for 3.2k... I think I'd be upset. Scourge Strike is probably an Unholy Death Knight's most powerful ability, on par with a Frost DK's Howling Blast or a Blood DK's Heart Strike. These abilities SHOULD be critting for a lot, right? If a Mage can stand there and shoot out crit after crit of more than 5k, shouldn't a Death Knight be able to expect the same thing?

Some abilities are extremely underpowered right now, namely Death Coil, which gave me a 613 crit last night. XD I was critting for about four times that amount before. For its cost of 40 Runic Power, 600 crits are definitely not worth it. Death and Decay took a beating, too. Used to be like, 200 damage each second, now it's like... 80?

Hopefully things get straightened out soon. Though, if they don't, that's more encouragement to level my Mage or my Shaman. =P

News Flash - "Tanking specs"

To do the Death Knight community a favor, after reading the forums and realizing that there is a GIGANTIC misconception about DK tanking:

FROST IS NOT THE "TANKING" TREE!

All Death Knight specs have differing defensive talents providing the players with different ways to tank depending on how they spec. Blizzard intends this. Blizzard does not want Death Knights to have a "Prot" spec.

ALL DEATH KNIGHT SPECS CAN BE VIABLE FOR TANKING!

Thank you for your attention, and feel free to spread the word. And come WotLK release, be confident when that Unholy Death Knight is your tank for Utgarde Keep; he'll do fine. =)

Note: I do realize that in one of my early posts, I myself touted Frost as a tanking tree; I was under the same misunderstanding that most people are/were, and I apologize for spreading those foul lies! ^^"

Making Progress

Things are moving along nicely for Dumal. He's currently level 75, and more than halfway to level 76. The leveling speed feels comfortable, though in the middle range of a bracket, it usually does. I'm sure 79 to 80 will feel like hell. =P

Upon completing all the quests in both Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra, I moved on to Dragonblight. I had only done the Moa'ki Village quest hub (featured briefly in an earlier post), so I had a ton to finish up here. I think there are roughly 135 quests in Dragonblight, though Borean had over 150. =P Most of the quests are extremely interesting both from a gameplay perspective and a story/lore perspective. I still have yet to be disappointed. =)

Dragonblight is a place where dying dragons go to live out their last days. Like the dragons' Florida. ^_- (Except cold. And strife-ridden.) You interact a LOT with the various dragonflights and their aspects, even doing quests for Alexstrasza the Life-Binder and her consort, Krasus (Korialstrasz, in dragon form). Chromie (from Andorhal) makes a reappearance, as a servant of Nozdormu, the Bronze Dragonflight, and Ysera's off dreaming as usual, though trouble is brewing there as well. The Blue Dragonflight's Aspect, Malygos, is crazy, and is stirring up all sorts of bad stuff. =\

Enough chat, though. Leave a comment if you want to know more. =) Here are some random pics. I'll caption them, as usual. ^^

Geyser Fields, Borean Tunrda. The Gnomes really eff'd this place up! Death to the Alliance!

A Scourge outpost in Borean Tundra. Creepy necropolis overhead, with a few elite group quest mobs inside.

A taunka village. The taunka are a race VERY similar to Taurens, except they're half bison, I think? Instead of cow?

Nothing says "Welcome!" to a Horde member like a pair of these. ^^ Saw these looking for a Horde outpost in Dragonblight, and got all excited. =P

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a Horde outpost.

Some neutral Nerubians outside Azjol-Nerub, a new instance which, for the time being, is closed off for repairs. =\

So I get lost down in these caves, and stumble upon THIS! Looks like an Ahn'Qiraj kind of place!

(3 above) Upon entering the instance portal, this turns out to be Ahn'kahet, an old Nerubian city. Looks really cool, I think. ^^ Should be a fun instance for 73-75. (Reminds me of Zanarkand, on a random note. >.>)

A nice, snowy scene in Dragonblight.

LOVED this quest turn-in text. XD

(2 above) The Wyrmrest Temple. This place takes my breath away every time I see it. This is where you'll find most of the Dragonflights and Aspects. Even a representative of the Black... *shudder* She's mean. =(

Naxxramas now floats in the skies of the eastern Dragonblight. I'm... not impressed. XD

An Undead Spy in New Hearthglen. >.> On a completely unrelated note, there's a guard named Molder at the Forsaken town of Venomspite, Dragonblight... >.>

(3 above) Shots of the Emerald Dragonshire, where Ysera lies dreaming.

Guess she made it out of Andorhal alright. =)

Trolls! :D

(2 above) Shots of the Obsidian Dragonshire... that of the Black Aspect... they actually request help since the Scourge has overrun the place, but they don't seem too thankful. I guess when your master is Deathwing, you kinda forego the whole "kindness" thing. =P

THE WRATHGATE. Leads to Icecrown where Arthas is. >=) (Though Icecrown is the last zone that has yet to be open to the beta testers.)

Stepped briefly into Crystalsong Forest; seems pretty. =)

Dalaran, as seen from the ground, floating in the skies above Crystalsong.

How... original. =P I wonder if Illhoof knows the Goblins stole that design. ^_-

I... have no idea where this was, but it was somewhere in Dragonblight. =P Beautiful, though!

(2 above) Shots of the Ruby Dragonshire, of the Red Aspect. Scourge got in here, too. =\

(3 above) Shots from and of the bridge leading out of Dragonblight into Grizzly Hills. Having done all the Dragonblight quests, I chose to complete a quest I had leading me here, and I'll end up making this my next zone. I keep hearing it's a lot like Canada... >.>

Likin' it already. =)

An Alliance outpost? =P Man, the Horde sure seem to have a ton of pride out here!