Questing the Cataclysm

I’m happy to report that my two 80 toons were transferred to their new server successfully, and all their “stuff” seems to be intact (yes, Hyacinth Macaw!)

My Hunter was still stuck in Dalaran but I have a massive “bank” re-organization to plan in order to accommodate all the extra items I brought along with the transfers.  I might have to create a bank alt just for additional storage space.

My Priest was still working on the Cata quests underwater somewhere – I really need to find a guide or something that gives me some idea of where I am and where I should be going!

I finally dinged 81, then went to talk to an NPC at some ruins, killed Lord Something-Something Naga, then…..nothing.

No follow-up quests, no “go talk with so-and-so”, not a quest in sight.  I don’t know if that’s all there is in this zone or if I missed something somewhere.  So…I just sent my Priest back to Stormwind for now.

The Cata quests themselves are all too familiar so far – “kill x of y to get z” variety with the occasional vehicle or “interactive object” diversion.

A Seahorse Mount

Anyone who has been reading this blog knows how I feel about vehicles quests….ugh!

The only time I’ve ever been excited about a vehicle quest is the one that rewards the Subdued Abyssal Seahorse mount – yes, a Seahorse to ride around under water!  I couldn’t wait to get that one!

Subdued Abyssal Seahorse

Unfortunately, wanting to do the quest didn’t mean I was better with vehicles.  I failed subduing the seahorse a couple of times before I realized I was trying to mouse-click the arrows instead of using the number keys….Duh!

But I finally got it, and it is by far one of my most favorite rides!

Subdued Abyssal Seahorse Mount

The rest of the quests I’ve completed – all in all – are comfortable and familiar.  The only real challenge is the higher level mobs to deal with especially if one happens to aggro 3 or 4 at once (stupid green crabs!)

I suspect that I’m probably getting killed more than the average Shadow Priest because I haven’t quite worked out the optimal spell priority and I’m not quite sure how to use a few of the new “goodies” yet.

One thing I’ve noticed about WoW since I’ve been playing – if one is motivated to learn their class, play the game well and be a valuable and productive “team” member, one must invest a lot of time in research.

Don’t get me wrong – I love research, and with a complicated game like WoW research can be just as much fun as playing.

I just haven’t done this much research on anything since working on my Master’s Degree at Graduate School.

So…when I get my newly transferred toons organized in their new home, I have quite an impressive research list:

• Shadow Priest – have a decent talent build, need to find out how to use it!
• Disc Priest – to smite or not to smite?  Need a few talent builds to try out
• Holy Priest – need to learn *everything* and decide if Holy might be better than Disc
• Resto Shaman – still a “baby” at level 16 but might as well start learning how to play a Shaman sooner than later
• Hunter – way behind the curve – running a BM build for now but need to try out MM or SV, learn to play with Focus – generally, starting from scratch

Yes, I’m chomping at the bit to create a female Worgen, but I think I’ll have to wait a while until I at least get my Priest up to 85 and max out the professions again – especially Engineering with the new pets!

Leveling Shaman Style

With my Priest currently stuck on the Cata quests, it was an opportunity to use her Tailoring profession and have her create a few Frostweave and Netherweave bags, find the Heirloom gear, pick out a few “basic necessities” (including all the extra pets I’ve collected from the Oracle eggs and a White Kitten) and send them off to my Shaman.

Oh, what a difference it makes to have a couple of 80s supporting a new toon!

The Heirloom gear was originally for my Priest so I will need to find out what the best gear would be for a Shaman, but for now it’s better than all those gray and white items.

Now that she’s level 16 and has a few decent gear pieces, I’m ready for the Looking For Dungeon tool.

I believe there have been a few changes made to the LFD – the only thing I’m worried about is getting nothing but Deadmines for a very long time.

Yes, there are decent gear options in there but the Deadmines at such a low level can be excruciatingly painful and take hours to complete.

So….I think I’ll hold on that until the weekend when I can be sure I have at least two or three hours of uninterrupted “Deadmines” time.

Until then, I’ll continue questing and leveling up her professions.

I did make a run to pick up all the city Tabards for Stormwind, Darnassus, Gnomeregan and Ironforge to help accelerate the reputation grinds in the LFD.  I hope this will get my Shaman the cat ride fast!

Represent and 100 Fish Achievements

Since my last stop was Ironforge (and it was getting late), I decided to work on leveling her fishing (and by extension, cooking) skill in the Forlorn Cavern in another attempt to catch Old Ironjaw.

I didn’t catch Old Ironjaw, but I did fish up a surprise – The 1 Ring!

The 1 Ring

I hope this doesn’t mean I’ve blown all my “fishing” luck and will never catch Old Ironjaw!