Alt Appreciation – Shaman Week!

Welcome back to Alt Appreciation!

This week is Shamans! We both have Shamans, but not an awful lot to say, so I’ll go first.

My Shaman and I have had a bit of an on-off love affair for over a year. I rolled her as a pure healer – I have never DPS’d on her and levelled purely through instances. I wanted to do this for several reasons: learning the class, experimenting with those awesome totems and to not get side tracked by using awesome lightning to kill the bad guys. She’s my only Draenei and I’ve always found it hard to mog her, nothing seems quite refined enough for her!

Poulette was interestingly, my first 90 in MoP. We were raiding at the time and I was healing (of course), so it was a priority to get her levelled up. However, I found it really tough, there were changes and new spells and CDs which I didn’t understand, so I quickly reverted back to my Mage as a main and raider.

That said, now I’ve had some time to experiment, I do love this healer. I love using totems and I think they have lots of neat tricks up their sleeve. I know people really aren’t fans of the humble restoration shaman this expansion, but she still remains very close to my heart!

My shaman is relatively new, I levelled him with Mrs B as part of a ‘couples project’ with her Monk. I love that he’s a Panda!

I liked leveling my shaman especially through dungeons and spamming chain lightning. Of course, owning Mrs B on the DPS was always a bonus! Since I got it to 90 i haven’t been too enthralled with it. I get bored of healing very easily so have only tried that few times. With elemental spec, I found the rotation rather boring and dislike relying on procs for DPS. I have been thinking about trying enhancement but not too sure yet.

As with anything, I suppose it’s time… and I’ve just started a new Horde DK that I’m desperate to level for some PvP pwnage! Maybe on day in the future I’ll get round to respeccing and finding some love for Burq.

Re-roll, Day 29: DING 90!

Total time played: 2 days 18 hours 21mins

After buying our set of PvP gear, ready for HCs: ilvl 442 (Mr B), 441 (Mrs B)

We have loved every minute of this experience levelling together. It has been enlightening, for the first time questing and enjoying the Warcraft experience right from the start together – seeing zones and quests which we perhaps would not normally do. It has involved a lot of patience and compromise, but ultimately, a lot of fun!

Re-roll, Days 26, 27, 28 (the slog to 90)

Day 26

• Level and % of level: 45% through 87
• iLevel: We didn’t note it down.
• Time played so far: Nor this, sorry!
• Area: Kun-Lai
• Favourite moments: I felt really good that we 2 manned a rare in Kun-Lai – Havak. We both have self heals and as long as you move out the crap it’s do-able.
• Least Favourite moments: none really, enjoying it!
• Instances: none, but we did do Sha!!

Day 27

• Level and % of level: 8% through 88
• iLevel: Mrs B: 413, Mr B: 427
• Time played so far: 2days 14hours 40mins
• Area: Kun-Lai Summit
• Favourite moments: barrel rolling the mobs and setting them on fire was good. Smashing things with the big yeti too – you do the quest then you get it as a daily so 150k xp for the actual quest then 178k xp for a really easy daily quest!

• Least favourite moments: we were doing a pug dungeon and we weren’t paying attention to chat (does anyone??). We were at the bit in Shado Pan Monestary where you need to defeat the initiates and we didn’t realise someone was yelling STACK multiple times. By the time we did realise, he had called us “fag pandas”… totally unacceptable for several reasons I promised Mr B not to get on my soap box about. Once again, the general foul manners of some members really put a downer on our play time. We left immediately and made a cuppa.
• Instances: Shado Pan Monestary (we queued again with a friend).

Day 28

• Level and % of level: 82% through 89!!!
• iLvl: Mr B: 442,  Mrs B: 439
• Time played so far: 2 days 17 hours 38mins
• Area(s): Townlong Steppes til 89 then Dread Wastes (upto Soggy Gamble quests)
• Favourite moments: finding the treasures that gave us 500-715k xp each (Amber Encased Moth for example)
• Least favourite moments: finding the Violet Citron and Volatile Orbs for the quest. Small area and lots levelling so lots ninja’ing as you’re killing nearby mobs. I finally have a matching set of gear but the belt makes it look stupid. Hmph. Some horrid tank who tanked Frost Lord ninja’d my 480 cloak. Was NOT happy!
• Instances: Frost Lord (Midsummer event boss), Mogu’shan Palace and Gate of the Setting Sun

We also upgraded the pieces of gear we had left from the gear vendor at Longying Outpost who sells 408 gear. It’s quite expensive at 33g per piece, but worth it as these mobs hit quite hard!

20% to go!!!!!

Dancing around the bonfire together for our 10% xp buff

Re-Roll Days 24 and 25 (Farming and all sorts)

Day 24

We have been busy! We can’t blog about much else at the moment because we have been levelling like crazy!

• Level and % of level: 78% through 86
• iLevel: Mrs B: 403 Mr B: 410
• Time played so far: 2 days 10 hours 36mins
• Area: Upto and including the Halfhill starter quests in the Valley of Four Winds – DO THESE! They give 141k xp for tilling a couple of plots!
• Favourite moments: getting a puntable marmot as a quest reward – very fun! Collecting the muddy water in the vial was different – annoying, but different.
• Least favourite moments: clicking those Glade Glimmer’s at the Gilded Fan. Similar to the frightened animals in Hyjal. Meh.

• There was also a 90 hunter one-shotting the mobs we needed to get meat from for skinning. I can’t understand this as he could have let us kill them and skinned them after with no effort. People’s ignorance astounds me.
• Instances: Jade Temple.

Day 25

• Level and % of level: 16% through 87
• iLevel: Mrs B: 415 Mr B: 416 (still owning him on single-target damage though!!!)
• Time played so far: 2days 9 hours 46mins
• Area: Valley then Kun-Lai starter quests at 87
• Favourite moments: Meeting Degu was pretty cool – still need to tame him! We also had lots of fun on the cliff harness.

• Least favourite moments: none, we both enjoy these quests!
• Instances: none.

We’ve both really enjoyed the last two zones… and THE YAK WASH is coming up in Kun-Lai which I love so looking forward to that!

Re-Roll Days 22 and 23. Into Pandaria!

A bit of a long update today!

Day 22

• Level and % of level: 39% through 83
• iLevel: Mrs B: 318, Mr B: 336
• Time played so far: 2 days 1hr 9mins to level 83 / 2 days 3 hours 27mins in total
• Area: Deepholm til 83, then Uldum
• Favourite moments: We both got told off for trying to ride Lady the Camel into Uldum 😀
• Least favourite moments: PC overheating and getting dc’d in the middle of Vortex. I told them he was dc and asked them nicely to wait – they kicked him anyway. Twerps. I left when they did, but now I’m 5% ahead of him in xp.
• Instances: Throne of Tides, Stonecore, Vortex Pinnacle (half of it anyway)

When we hit 83, we went to the AH and bought, for a few hundred gold, a set of 364 gear which boosted us up 100 ilvls and made things much easier.

Day 23 – level 85 and beyond

• Level and % of level: 70% through 85!!
• iLevel: Mrs B: 385, Mr B: 376
• Time played so far:  2 days 7 hrs 43 mins – we had a whoooole day to catch up on a week of no play. We wanted to make the most of the 10% xp buff from Midsummer!
• Area(s): Uldum and Twilight Highlands til 85 BABY!  Jade Forest (upto the end of Pawdon Village)
• Favourite moments: Enjoyed knocking over the Pygmy Scout towers, that’s fun.

Had a good group for Vortex this time too (after a couple of false starts), and we had some fun pulling lots in there. I enjoyed grilling the dockworkers and making them cower in fear when doing the Twilight starter quests! We both think Teng Applebloom looks awesome carrying the kegs of cider too 😀

• Least favourite moments: Twilight Highlands starter quests…yawn. Somehow feels less epic when you can use a flying mount… and I HATE HATE HATE the Twinspire quests in Jade Forest. Bad memories from dying constantly on earlier alts.
• Instances: Lost City of Tolvir, Crucible of Carnage (where a quest reward was the “Very Manly Staff” /giggle), Stormstout Brewery

We hammered to 85 by skipping up zones ASAP and buying gear wherever possible.

Stats

• Time played to 85: 2 days 6 hours 40mins
• ilvl:  Mrs B: 351, Mr B: 346
• He is OWNING me on damage – regularly pulling 30k dps in instances by his mastery critting all the time

We then went to Pandaland! and bought the new gear set from Dawn’s Blossom. This, along with my Spear of Xuen which I upgraded with justice from Archaeology and a couple of crafter blues, took my ilvl up to 380 and his to 370. This changed everything. I am now pulling 50k dps in dungeons, more with AoE, and for the first time… I’M BEATING HIM!!!!! 😀

Us together, Mr B rocking his pink and blue set!

Re-Roll Days 19, 20 and 21 (Pandas and the Cataclysm)

Dinging 80, or stats look like this:

• iLevel: 232
• Time Played: 1hr 20mins

Day 19

• % and level: 34% through level 81
• ilevel: Mr B – 258. Mrs B: 239 I can’t believe I’m so much lower?!
• Time played so far: 1 day 22hours 30mins
• Area: Hyjal – up to the Shrine of Aviana
• Favourite moments: Faerie Dragons! Meep!
• Least favourite moments: wearing the stupid hat in BRC for the quest. So ugly! Barron Geddon quest – where you have to run in and out using the item is annoying.
• Instances: Blackrock Caverns. RAZ SMASH!

Day 20

• % and level: 65% through 81
• ilevel: Mr B 261. Mrs B 260.
• Time played so far: 1 day 23hours 15mins
• Area: Hyjal – up to the Shrine of Aessina
• Favourite moments: Saving the bear cubs! There was also a quest reward called “Treegrip Pants”. This made me lol.

• Least favourite moments: Saving the ‘wee animals’ in the charred areas. So hard to click!!!

• Instances: None – only played for a short time.

Day 21

• % and level: 3% through 82
• ilevel: Mr B 261. Mrs B 260.
• Time played so far: 1 day 23hours 15mins
• Area: Hyjal… of course. We set ourselves in Deepholm before we logged.
• Favourite moments: I love the quest: Hyjal Recycling Programme where you have to pick up the arrows. I love the name of the quest and I also love that – for once – the arrows are really clear and easy to see.
• Least favourite: none, just plodding on.

Re-Roll Day 10 and 11 (We Believe We Can Fly!)

Day 10

• Level: 60 (almost 61!)
• Gold: 5g (didn’t sell anything!)
• Area(s): Hellfire Penninsula
• Favourite quests / moment: I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!!!! Getting your flight master license after so long having to run feels EPIC!
• Least favourite quest/ moment: I pulled a lot of the ogres collecting the metal, which caused me to die. Wasn’t impressed. Hellfire generally isn’t my favourite… /yawn
• Instance(s): Hellfire Ramparts – we both like this one, it’s short, easy to do and relatively interesting. In one run, with rested and quests, we did almost an entire level.
• Favourite ability: FLYING!

A Panda on a kite looks brilliant!

Day 11

• Level: 63
• Gold: –200g – we bought flying and zen flying. Even in-game she’s spending my cash…
• Area(s): Hellfire Penninsula, Terokkar Forest (at 62)
• Favourite quests / moment: none, Outland is meh.
• Least favourite quest/ moment: By Any Means Necessary: you know the quest with Empoor? The one which is really buggy and he takes ages to spawn along his route? That one… spent ages trying to find him!
• Instance(s): Hellfire Ramparts – multiple times…, Blood Furnace, Slave Pens
• Favourite ability: I love my meditation cloud. I can’t decide whether to fly or zoom on my awesome cloud!

For now, dear readers, Keep Calm and Meditate…

Re-Roll, Days 8 and 9 (Mrgl)

• Level: 53
• Gold: 44g
• Area(s): Searing Gorge (til 49), Burning Steppes (til 51) then Swamp of sorrows
• Favourite quests / moment: the Lunk quests are always fun, watching him lumber alongside you and making you feel guilty about killing things!!
• Least favourite quest/ moment: any in Swamp of Sorrows… /yawn. We also kept accidentally pulling the PvP horde guards which got us into trouble.
• Instance(s): Zul Farrak
• Favourite ability: I bought Glyph of Unleashed Lightning which enables me to cast Lightening Bolt whilst moving which is awesome. 300g though, madness!

Day 9

• Level: 58
• Gold: 20g ish
• Area(s): Swamp of Sorrows then Blasted Lands (at 54) then Hellfire Penninsula at 58
• Favourite quests / moment: shooting the Fleshripper bird things out of the sky at the beach near Nethergarde Keep. The sailor’s got in the way a bit though. The murlocs at Netpool are always cute.

• Least favourite quest/ moment:
• Instance(s): Sunken Temple, Blackrock Spire
• Favourite ability: Earth elemental totem which is pretty cool.

Outland, baby!

Re-Roll, Days 6 and 7 (How We Survived Deathwing)

Day 6:

• Level: 46
• Gold: 15g
• Area(s): Eastern Plaguelands (til 44) then Badlands
• Favourite moment / quest: Flying on the cannon from Plaguelands to Badlands is always awesome, but also knocking the Billy Goats off the cliff was so fun, even the quest is funny – Ready, Set Goat! There was also a quest reward item called “Wooly Goat Punchers” – gloves. Lol.
  

• Least favourite moment / quest: Neither of us enjoyed finding the eggs and killing the little whelps for Rhea. And I felt guilty about stealing Nyxondra’s eggs
• Instance(s): Dire Maul – the other bit. Meh.
• Favourite ability: SPINNING CRANE KICK!!!

Day 7

• Level: 48
• Gold: 6g
• Area(s): Badlands, Searing Gorge
• Favourite moment / quests: Temple of the Watchers  and the Wardens quests / games are always pretty cool – completely different to killing stuff like usual. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the quest line with Deathwing – finding the clouds, riding the motorbike, punching him in the face etc. I like the idea, but the clouds take ages to find!

• Least Favourite moment /quest: Waiting for bosses to spawn due to everyone levelling /yawn
• Instance(s): none
• Favourite ability: N/A

Re-roll, Day 3 (Tigers, Tigers, Tigers)

• Level: 30
• Gold: 46g 19s – we ran a lot of dungeons!
• Area(s): Darkshire, Northern Stranglethorn Vale
• Favourite moment / quest: Lashtail Hatchling (I love how cute she is, following you around and eating the basilisks!)

• Least favourite moment / quest: I didn’t really like the drearyness of Darkshire and the ghosts and worgens….
• Instances: we grouped with guildies and ran Scarlet Monastery about a million times, Maraudon, Stockades and Gnomeregan
• Favourite ability: I finally got Chain Lightening. Still can’t beat the missus on single target dps… even though I own her on AoE!