Finally got my Rogue to level 60, picked up flying (yay!) and went to Outland.

Level 60

Level 60

I’ve been doing the Love is in the Air dailies for most of my characters, so I noticed that my Rogue’s Chemical Company quest was now in Terrokar Forest instead of Winterspring.

Okay, no problem – I was heading out there anyway, so I skipped Hellfire Peninsula and went straight to Shattrath City.

The Chemical Company was just a little outside near some hills.   I estimated I could do the quest in about 1 minute – kill 5 mobs, throw the bomb – in and out.

I was wrong.

It took 20 minutes because I kept getting killed.  I stopped counting after 12 deaths.  My armor was orange and red.  I couldn’t get close enough to throw the bomb without dying.

After the first 4 or 5 deaths it was clear my “usual” approach wasn’t going to work.  Stealth, sneak up behind, sap, pick pocket, ambush, etc., etc.

Those buggers can apparently see through stealth.  I swear by the Light of Elune they can detect stealth.  They are also so close together I’d have three attacking me at once.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the blue moths flying around close enough to notice a Rogue getting attacked by three Chemical Company lackeys and wanting to join in the fun.

No point trying to run because they will follow you all the way down the path and if they don’t reach you their perfume spray will get you.  No, Recuperate doesn’t heal fast enough.

And with the very quick respawn rate, forget about running back from the graveyard and getting a few seconds of cleared path to throw the bomb.

Yeah, that was fun.

I was tempted to just drop the stupid quest at that point (there was no one in the guild logged in who I could bribe to come help me) but I thought no – this was a golden opportunity to really test out my Rogue skills and see if I could defeat the Evil Chemical Company mechanics.

I switched to Combat spec, equipped my sword, read up on a few Combat tactics and tried again.

It made a big difference – I died faster.

So back to Sub spec.  Eventually I got the stupid quest finished – run in, throw the bomb and run off a cliff knowing I was going to die anyway.

It would have ended there if I didn’t notice that I was getting some very sweet loot and coins from pick pocketed lock boxes.

My greed got the best of me – it was too good to pass up.

I stealthed and went around pick pocketing the more isolated mobs around the edges.  I eventually figured out the optimal range I could get close enough to pick pocket without attracting any attention or anyone detecting me.

The whole miserable experience motivated me to level up as fast as possible just to have a fair shot at getting that stupid quest completed.

I went back to Hellfire Peninsula, picked up the usual quests and promptly got stomped into the ground by the Fel Reaver while I was minding my own business killing buzzards.

Yes, it was a good day to die – several times.

I gathered up enough Love tokens to get a Truesilver Shafted Arrow and a Lovely Dress Box that had a Lovely Black Dress in it.

Perma-Peddle

Perma-Peddle

I eventually got up to level 63.  I probably would have leveled faster if I simply did the quests, but I would get caught up in the Pick Pocket game and refuse to leave a quest area until I pick pocketed every single mob that looked like it might have a pocket.

Lovely Luck Is On Your Side

Lovely Luck Is On Your Side

I usually get only a few coins, some poisons and a grey item or two but I can’t help it.  With the Glyph of Pick Pocket and Glyph of Pick Lock I’m a pick pocketing junkie.

I suppose it’s because I get something.  Even getting junk is better than the disappointment of running stuff days, weeks, months and years with nothing to show for it (I’m looking at you, Holiday Boss drops!  Where’s my Toxic Wastling??  My Headless Horseman’s Mount??  My Frigid Frosting??  My Lump of Coal??)

Each little lock box I pick pocket is “free” stuff and more than a few times I’ve opened a box to find a recipe I don’t have or a green item to sell.

So I guess I won’t be leveling as fast as could…unless there is a Pick Pocket Support Group somewhere in Azeroth…