Posts
There's a meme going around WoW-blogville where you tag the person who posted the first comment on your blog. My blog is fairly new as I only have, what, thirteen posts? But I was tagged by Absitively and Posolutely of Gnometastic.
The first person to comment on my little blog was K of More Dots! More Dots!
In other news...
I've given up on the Merrymaker achievement and so has my friend Mortice (although he's level 80 and has even run a 25-man so I'm sure he could easily accomplish it). I lost a roll on the hat after I finally found a PUG and that basically destroyed it for me. Winter's Veil will be over soon, anyway. I still want Frijona to have a title, so I think I'm going to go with Diplomat instead. I already have the Sporregar rep, and it just suits her better.
I'll be away from WoW and blogging for the next five days as I will be in the land of freezing temperatures, snow, and dial-up internet. Practically the entire Veritas guild is taking time off as well.
Happy Holidays!
Thoughts on Patch 3.08 - No Love for Locks
I thought I'd cover the changes coming to Warlocks in the upcoming patch 3.08. Oh, look, there's only three! While Bliz has promised to "fix" my beloved class soon, this obviously doesn't cut it. Come on, Bliz, now's good, but before would have been better!
Drain Mana: Now drains a percentage of maximum mana.
Drain mana is pretty worthless for actually obtaining mana. Whenever I try to drain mana from something I hardly get a drop before the mob bites the dust. I'm not sure if this change will help any.
Emberstorm: Now works with Conflagrate.
Emberstorm is a tier 6 Destruction spell and therefor it wont matter to me. Perhaps this will answer the debate of what does more DPS on Destruction locks: shadow bolts or immolate + conflagrate.
Ritual of Summoning: Will now create a summoning portal object which can be re-used for multiple summons for 5 minutes.
This is awesome. Saturday night I was with a group of 40 trying to kill the Horde leaders (we got Silvermoon and Thunder Bluff and then the raid leader had to go). I was the only warlock, and people kept asking for summons. I eventually had to tell people to suck it up and fly over. With a reusable stone I would have been able to keep many of my shards.
Since that's all we got this time, here are some other patch changes of note:
Tapping: All player spells which cause a creature to become aggressive to you will now also immediately cause the creature to be tapped.
This is great for warlocks! I can't count how many times I've had mobs stolen out from under my nose.
The run speed in spirit form has been increased by 50%. Night Elves in Wisp form will now move at 75% speed.
This will make dying suck slightly less.
Racial restrictions on mounts have now been lifted. Night elves on mechanostriders? Tauren on raptors? You’re not seeing things.
So this will make it easier for people to obtain 50 mounts. One of the guild leaders has a human they really want to put on a mechanostrider. The question is, will cloth prices go up as people attempt to gain reputation in other faction cities?
Drain Mana: Now drains a percentage of maximum mana.
Drain mana is pretty worthless for actually obtaining mana. Whenever I try to drain mana from something I hardly get a drop before the mob bites the dust. I'm not sure if this change will help any.
Emberstorm: Now works with Conflagrate.
Emberstorm is a tier 6 Destruction spell and therefor it wont matter to me. Perhaps this will answer the debate of what does more DPS on Destruction locks: shadow bolts or immolate + conflagrate.
Ritual of Summoning: Will now create a summoning portal object which can be re-used for multiple summons for 5 minutes.
This is awesome. Saturday night I was with a group of 40 trying to kill the Horde leaders (we got Silvermoon and Thunder Bluff and then the raid leader had to go). I was the only warlock, and people kept asking for summons. I eventually had to tell people to suck it up and fly over. With a reusable stone I would have been able to keep many of my shards.
Since that's all we got this time, here are some other patch changes of note:
Tapping: All player spells which cause a creature to become aggressive to you will now also immediately cause the creature to be tapped.
This is great for warlocks! I can't count how many times I've had mobs stolen out from under my nose.
The run speed in spirit form has been increased by 50%. Night Elves in Wisp form will now move at 75% speed.
This will make dying suck slightly less.
Racial restrictions on mounts have now been lifted. Night elves on mechanostriders? Tauren on raptors? You’re not seeing things.
So this will make it easier for people to obtain 50 mounts. One of the guild leaders has a human they really want to put on a mechanostrider. The question is, will cloth prices go up as people attempt to gain reputation in other faction cities?
Frijona the Merrymaker?
I have managed to level myself up to the illustrious level 74. While the quests are still enjoyable, I've always been slow to level. Most of Veritas already has a character at 80, and here I am just plugging along.
The Winter Veil celebrations have begun giving me another excuse to stop leveling and do something else. I would really like the achievement and have finished two of the minor achievements already. Yes, quite a few to go, but luckily the guild is rather achievement-happy. (Yes, I think it would be funny for my warlock to have "Merrymaker" as a title.)
Are you planning on trying for the achievement?
The Winter Veil celebrations have begun giving me another excuse to stop leveling and do something else. I would really like the achievement and have finished two of the minor achievements already. Yes, quite a few to go, but luckily the guild is rather achievement-happy. (Yes, I think it would be funny for my warlock to have "Merrymaker" as a title.)
Are you planning on trying for the achievement?
On Vanity Pet Achievements
Most people love them. Some people couldn't care less. There is probably a collective of cold-hearted individuals out there who hate them. Unfortunately for them, more and more players will be collecting vanity pets due to two changes: one, the removal of pet carriers as items that take up bag space and their replacement as summoning spells that characters can learn upon acquisition of a new pet, and two, the associated achievements:Can I Keep Him? (Obtain 1 Vanity Pet)
Plenty of Pets (Collect 15 unique vanity pets)
Plethora of Pets (Collect 25 unique vanity pets)
Shop Smart. Shop Pet... Smart (Collect 50 unique vanity pets)
The final one has a reward attached: A Stinking Pet Carrier. I. Wants. One!
Since I'm obviously not alone, WoW Insider included this excellent post on a few fairly easy-to-obtain pets we may have missed. Worg puppies are adorable, so I'll have to finish that quest for sure! The chicken quest will probably be a little more difficult for an RP-er, but I may just play temporary insanity or have Frijona liquor up first.
A few extra tips:
1. The sprite darter that can be obtained in Feralas. Wowwiki has a guide to the quest chain. (Sorry Hordies, this one is Alliance only.)
2. Faction-specific pets can be found in the neutral auction houses.
3. If you completed a quest with a pet reward and deleted your pet, you can get it back by going to a stable-master. Sometimes, however, this doesn't work and you have to open a ticket with a GM.
4. Engineers can make the mechanical squirrel which is bind on equip, so it can be auctioned off. It's a fairly low-level schematic (Sprynklez knows it already).
5. Winter Veil is coming up, with companion pets as presents and rewards.
[Image: A tiny spore bat from Wowwiki. The tiny spore bat is my favorite vanity pet in the game. What's yours?]
How to Woo a Warlock
Asylum recently posted an interview with The Guild's Felicia Day on how to pick up women in WoW.
I decided this needed to be taken one step further. Frijona is perpetually single in the game, partly due to me not wanting to involve myself in anything remotely potentially ERP (that's Erotic RolePlay) related, and partly because I know that Frijona is way too fussy to ever be able to find anyone that would fit her specifications, which are as follows:
1. You must be a human. Fri doesn’t want a partner who will live longer than she will, or that she’s significantly taller than.
2. You must be male.
3. Preferably, your hair is in a ponytail. This is because this is the only attractive human male hairstyle in the game. And yes, the new belf ponytail will work as well. It’s also best if it’s dark brown or black, with no facial hair.
4. You must use magic, or at least know a little, but you may not be a paladin or a holy priest, because there will likely be a conflict of ideals. Frijona does not trust other warlocks to maintain clear-headdedness, so no warlocks. While she respects the mages of her guild, she still sees them as weak and would not want to engage in a romantic relationship with one. This basically leaves shadow priests.
5. You must never eat around her, or at least be very conscious of what you do eat, sticking to small portions of fruits and vegetables. You must never suggest that she eat something or comment on her thinness.
6. Flowers are nice, but Frijona prefers those with powerful alchemical properties. Unique, potentially magical items would be a better gift.
7. Never ask to visit Fri’s apartment. It’s full of junk, anyway.
8. You must not have mindless hatred of the Horde. If you have real reasons for wanting to go to war with them, that might be acceptable.
9. You must respect the fact that Frijona does not appreciate physical contact from others.
And finally…
10. You must not succumb to any flirtations made by Jhorneth (Frijona’s succubus). It is best if you ignore Jho when she is around.
I decided this needed to be taken one step further. Frijona is perpetually single in the game, partly due to me not wanting to involve myself in anything remotely potentially ERP (that's Erotic RolePlay) related, and partly because I know that Frijona is way too fussy to ever be able to find anyone that would fit her specifications, which are as follows:
1. You must be a human. Fri doesn’t want a partner who will live longer than she will, or that she’s significantly taller than.
2. You must be male.
3. Preferably, your hair is in a ponytail. This is because this is the only attractive human male hairstyle in the game. And yes, the new belf ponytail will work as well. It’s also best if it’s dark brown or black, with no facial hair.
4. You must use magic, or at least know a little, but you may not be a paladin or a holy priest, because there will likely be a conflict of ideals. Frijona does not trust other warlocks to maintain clear-headdedness, so no warlocks. While she respects the mages of her guild, she still sees them as weak and would not want to engage in a romantic relationship with one. This basically leaves shadow priests.
5. You must never eat around her, or at least be very conscious of what you do eat, sticking to small portions of fruits and vegetables. You must never suggest that she eat something or comment on her thinness.
6. Flowers are nice, but Frijona prefers those with powerful alchemical properties. Unique, potentially magical items would be a better gift.
7. Never ask to visit Fri’s apartment. It’s full of junk, anyway.
8. You must not have mindless hatred of the Horde. If you have real reasons for wanting to go to war with them, that might be acceptable.
9. You must respect the fact that Frijona does not appreciate physical contact from others.
And finally…
10. You must not succumb to any flirtations made by Jhorneth (Frijona’s succubus). It is best if you ignore Jho when she is around.
Wrath Love
Behind the WoW world as usual, today is my third day playing the Wrath expansion, and here are three things that I love already:
1. The quests! I'm enjoying reading the quest content in a way I haven't since Frijona was running around killing Defias in Northshire Abbey. I've been searching for missing soldiers, killing moles, trapping trappers, and riding mammoths. The plot pieces are fascinating and there is so much more to do than collecting 15 pieces of something.
2. The new racial abilities are very exciting. Humans now have "Every Man for Himself" which "removes all movement impairing effects and all effects which cause loss of control of your character." WoW Insider has slightly outdated descriptions of the new racial abilities here.
3. Achievements were one of the first things I noticed when logging into the game again. They allow players to get recognized for doing both amazing feats and completing rather odd tasks. Blizzard gives a solid introduction to what it's about here, and WoW Insider lists a few of their favorites.
Hiatus Ends!
There have been a lot of changes in my life since I last posted, and I think I'm finally in a place where I can play (and therefore update this blog) again. And yes, the existence of the expansion helped a little, too. I'll admit it! I'm intreaged.
The patches look as though they will be finished installing any moment now, and right now playing sounds a bit more amusing than writing.
No offense!
The patches look as though they will be finished installing any moment now, and right now playing sounds a bit more amusing than writing.
No offense!
Taking a Break
I've been making some life changes--I just left my graduate degree program. To keep myself motivated to find a job I've decided a break from WoW until I get a paycheck. Hopefully that will be soon. Meanwhile I'm not going to be doing any WoW blogging, but I will be reading blogs and checking my email at frijona @ live . com (no spaces)!
As Fri says, "Until later, friends."
As Fri says, "Until later, friends."
Ultimate Voidwalker Tanking
I am proud to say that my Voidwalker, Konkath (or KK for short) has main tanked the following Burning Crusade Instances:
-Hellfire Blood Furnace (level 73)
-Old Hillsbrad (level 69)
-Underbog (level 70)
In Blood Furnace, KK main tanked along side another warlock's Voidwalker. Old Hillsbrad is an excellent instance for a Voidwalker tank because Thrall is there to tank most of it. For Underbog, I was just a higher level than everyone else. My guildies had PuG'ed in a ret Pally to tank, but that wasn't working at all, so I came in and told the group that KK would be tanking, and told the Pally to concentrate on DPS. Then I asked the healer if things were going better, and she said it was.
Voidwalker tanking in instances is a little different than soloing.
Voidwalker Tanking While Soloing:
For melee attackers, just send in the Voidwalker, let him taunt the mob, then start dotting it up.
If there are several mobs in a big group, you can either 1) take them all out at once, dotting them all up and then using AoE and/or fear, or 2) pull one with a shadowbolt, sent Voidwalker to attack who will then taunt the mob, but you'll also need him to cast suffering. I like to take suffering off auto-cast in these circumstances.
For casters, again if they are alone you can just send in your Voidwalker and let him at it. Otherwise, you'll need to do what is called a "line of sight" (LoS) pull where you shadowbolt the mob (have your Voidwalker on "passive"), and then run around a corner if you can, or if not just run back really far out of the caster's line of sight or range. Then send the Voidwalker in, and you may need to use Suffering.
Voidwalker Tanking in Instances:
Since the Voidwalker can't take as many hits as regular warrior, pally, and druid bear tanks, you'll want to make sure you can get CC on most of the other mobs or use an off-tank (a ret pally, fury warrior, and hunter's bear pet can work in this role). Get the party leader to make you leader or convince them to mark all the mobs as to who will tank or CC what and let everyone know what order it should go in. Whatever your Voidwalker is tanking should be killed first. If there is an off-tank, that should be killed second, but try and get your Voidwalker to grab aggro from the offtank using suffering. You also may need to use suffering if someone else grabs aggro from the Voidwalker. If you grab the aggro, you should save the suffering cooldown and use soulshatter on yourself. If there is a pally in your group, get them to cast blessing of salvation on everyone but your Voidwalker and the offtank--this will help immensely. Finally, if your Voidwalker is about to die and your healer is out of mana, sacrifice him! Then drain tank and hope the healer can gain enough mana to keep you alive.
Final note: Using your Voidwalker as a main tank is really hard and should only be done if there are no better tanks available. You should also try to stick to instances that are a bit lower level than you are so the bosses wont seem to hit so hard. It's best used for helping a bunch of low-to-mid 60 friends be able to go through instances when otherwise no tank is available.
-Hellfire Blood Furnace (level 73)
-Old Hillsbrad (level 69)
-Underbog (level 70)
In Blood Furnace, KK main tanked along side another warlock's Voidwalker. Old Hillsbrad is an excellent instance for a Voidwalker tank because Thrall is there to tank most of it. For Underbog, I was just a higher level than everyone else. My guildies had PuG'ed in a ret Pally to tank, but that wasn't working at all, so I came in and told the group that KK would be tanking, and told the Pally to concentrate on DPS. Then I asked the healer if things were going better, and she said it was.
Voidwalker tanking in instances is a little different than soloing.
Voidwalker Tanking While Soloing:
For melee attackers, just send in the Voidwalker, let him taunt the mob, then start dotting it up.
If there are several mobs in a big group, you can either 1) take them all out at once, dotting them all up and then using AoE and/or fear, or 2) pull one with a shadowbolt, sent Voidwalker to attack who will then taunt the mob, but you'll also need him to cast suffering. I like to take suffering off auto-cast in these circumstances.
For casters, again if they are alone you can just send in your Voidwalker and let him at it. Otherwise, you'll need to do what is called a "line of sight" (LoS) pull where you shadowbolt the mob (have your Voidwalker on "passive"), and then run around a corner if you can, or if not just run back really far out of the caster's line of sight or range. Then send the Voidwalker in, and you may need to use Suffering.
Voidwalker Tanking in Instances:
Since the Voidwalker can't take as many hits as regular warrior, pally, and druid bear tanks, you'll want to make sure you can get CC on most of the other mobs or use an off-tank (a ret pally, fury warrior, and hunter's bear pet can work in this role). Get the party leader to make you leader or convince them to mark all the mobs as to who will tank or CC what and let everyone know what order it should go in. Whatever your Voidwalker is tanking should be killed first. If there is an off-tank, that should be killed second, but try and get your Voidwalker to grab aggro from the offtank using suffering. You also may need to use suffering if someone else grabs aggro from the Voidwalker. If you grab the aggro, you should save the suffering cooldown and use soulshatter on yourself. If there is a pally in your group, get them to cast blessing of salvation on everyone but your Voidwalker and the offtank--this will help immensely. Finally, if your Voidwalker is about to die and your healer is out of mana, sacrifice him! Then drain tank and hope the healer can gain enough mana to keep you alive.
Final note: Using your Voidwalker as a main tank is really hard and should only be done if there are no better tanks available. You should also try to stick to instances that are a bit lower level than you are so the bosses wont seem to hit so hard. It's best used for helping a bunch of low-to-mid 60 friends be able to go through instances when otherwise no tank is available.
Frijona Goes to Karazhan
My first Karazan run was fun and successful! We downed Attumen, Moroes, Maiden, and Opera (Oz). We only had one wipe on Maiden, and other than that we did fabulously, getting the four of them done, plus the gold carrying patrons in less than three hours. He's a screenshot of me standing over Moroes's corpse:
(This also gives you a chance to see what all my gear from the previous post looks like!)
The only problem I had was my inability to keep Roar feared without him killing me, which he did after the third fear ended. Next time I'll probably have someone get aggro off him before starting the fear so he goes to attack someone else while I cast fear. Other than that, I asked everyone for advice--but they all just said I did a really great job and asked me to come back to finish it on Saturday! I'm really looking forward to it, and I trust that if I needed to change tactics they'd tell me.
As for loots, most drops were, of course, plate, but I did get the Wicket Witch's Hat which looks pretty awesome, and my Violet Signet from reputation.
Coming Soon: My next post is going to be on the hideousness of shoulder armor. If you have any screenshots of characters in really ugly shoulder armor that doesn't match, please send them my way! Comment or email frijona @ live . com (no spaces).
(This also gives you a chance to see what all my gear from the previous post looks like!)
The only problem I had was my inability to keep Roar feared without him killing me, which he did after the third fear ended. Next time I'll probably have someone get aggro off him before starting the fear so he goes to attack someone else while I cast fear. Other than that, I asked everyone for advice--but they all just said I did a really great job and asked me to come back to finish it on Saturday! I'm really looking forward to it, and I trust that if I needed to change tactics they'd tell me.
As for loots, most drops were, of course, plate, but I did get the Wicket Witch's Hat which looks pretty awesome, and my Violet Signet from reputation.
Coming Soon: My next post is going to be on the hideousness of shoulder armor. If you have any screenshots of characters in really ugly shoulder armor that doesn't match, please send them my way! Comment or email frijona @ live . com (no spaces).
Easy-Peasy Gearing for the Newly 70 Warlock
I thought getting myself geared to start raiding in Kara was going to take me a very long time. Thanks to some very helpful guild members (one in particular who basically researched everything for me) I’m already set to go, and it hasn’t been long at all since I hit 70! Here is what I have and how I got it, in case any other affliction warlocks are ready to step up their gear and don’t want to do all the research that Belfonisis did for me!
1. What are the required stats?
For Affiction warlocks, here are the required stats suggested by fellow Affliction-specced warlock and Veritas GM, Aimi:
Self-Buffed
Spell Hit: 80 (Less with the suppression talent.)
Spell Damage: 600
HP: 6500 - 7500
Mana: 7500
Crit: 10%
And in case you’re a Destruction lock, here are Aimi’s suggested stats:
Spell Hit: 80
Spell Damage: 550
HP: 6500 - 7500
Mana: 8500
Crit: 20%
(Note that Aimi suggests speccing Affliction for Kara. We belong to a ‘we wont tell you how to spec’ guild, though. I tried the dark pact/ruin build for about a week, but didn’t get nearly the DPS I get with Unstable Affliction. Also, she didn’t provide any info on what a Demonology warlock ought to have, and since I’d personally never spec Demonology myself, I haven’t bothered to look that up. If anyone knows this, please comment and I’ll add!)
2. What does my gear give me?
Spell Hit: 78 (+ Supression)
Spell Damage: 657
HP: 7760 (with Imp buff)
Mana: 8335
Crit: 12%
Visit Frijona’s amory profile for more info. (Note that this will change as I continue to upgrade my gear.)
3. The gear, and where to find it
Head
Hydromancer’s Headwrap – This is a quest reward for slaying Warlord Kalithresh in Steamvault (non-heroic). The quest is called The Warlord’s Hideout and starts with the Night Elf who sits inside Colifang Reservoir. He’s not the easiest boss to kill, but other than that it’s a generally fun instance which isn’t too hard to find people to go with. I ran it at level 68. Go ahead and ignore the socket bonus, as it is pretty pointless.
Neck
Torc of the Sethekk Prophet - This necklace gives a big spell crit boost. It’s also a quest reward for the quest Brother Against Brother, which takes place in Sethekk Halls. This instance also gives Lower City rep, which you’ll need for your shoulders!
Luminous Pearls of Insight is another option, which drops from the final boss in Underbog. I’ve seen it drop at least twice, but then again Underbog is my favorite instance and so I run it whenever I can.
Shoulders
Dreadweave Mantle - I chose this piece for three reasons: 1) the hit rating, 2) it’s fairly easy to get, and 4) it’s less hideous than the other option, which is blue and white and does not look warlock-ish at all:
The other, uglier option I mentioned was Spaulders of the Torn Heart, a reward for one of the longest quest chains in the game.
Back
Ogre Slayer’s Cover - Not my best piece, but pretty easy to get just from helping out that Broken in Nagrand who keeps getting captured by Ogres. Even though it’s not that spectacular, I couldn’t find an upgrade that was worth any effort.
Chest
Imbued Netherweave Robe. This is part one of the crafted set. The materials required are:
6 bolts of imbued netherweave
2 netherweb spider silk
1 rune thread
It’s also not that expensive on the AH. I can’t really see a reason why anyone wouldn’t want this set. I suppose if you’re Aldor, you can get Anchorite Robes, but I would advise against going Aldor so you can get the trinket from Scyers. Plus, if you have this robe you can’t complete the set.
Wrist
Shattrath Wraps - Another quest reward from the quest The Soul Devices. The red socket is great, since better gems come in red varieties than in blue (which most of my socketed items have).
Hands
Tempest’s Touch - This is a quest reward for Return to Andormu which you complete after running Old Hillsbrad, which is an amazing instance, that’s full of great lore. My voidwalker tanked this instance (along with Thrall). (Sometime I’ll have to write something about voidwalker tanking in instances.)
Waist
Sash of Serpentra - This is my only boss drop item. It’s amazing for the +17 hit rating. If it doesn’t drop for you, I’d suggest:
Girdle of Ruination - A crafted belt that is very mats-heavy. The sockets will allow for adding +hit. I’d suggest waiting until you get to 70 and have your flying mount for farming the following mats:
10 shadowcloth
16 primal fire
1 primal nether
Legs
Imbued Netherweave Pants - Part 2 of the set! Uses the following mats:
5 bolt of imbued netherweave
2 netherweb spider silk
1 rune thread
Or you could search it out on the auction house.
Feet
Imbued Netherweave Boots - Part 3. These look rather ugly if you have to look at them, so having the robe instead of the tunic is my advice in this case! I never saw this one on the auction house, but that doesn’t mean you wont. Mats:
4 bolt of imbued netherweave
6 knothide leather
2 netherweb spider silk
1 rune thread
Finger
Cenarion Ring of Casting - This is from that quest in Colifang where you have to find all of the missing Druids. Not one of my best items, but like the cloak there aren’t many good ring upgrades that are easily available.
Band of the Guardian - Yet another quest reward! This one is from Hero of the Brood, which is completed in Black Morass, which like Old Hillsbrad is lots of fun! Although, I would not recommend having your voidwalker tank this one.
Trinket
Scryer’s Bloodgem - This is the awesome trinket from getting revered with the Scryers. This gives you improved spell hit rating by 32. Also, Scryer’s rep is easier to get these days due to the daily quests. The signets are actually pretty cheep on the auction house!
Glowing Crystal Insignia - Another quest reward, this time from Overlord Gorefist. It was a while back, but I’m pretty sure I soloed this quest. Hordies do a different quest and get Ancient Crystal Talisman.
Another option, essential if you are destruction specced or if you have no brains—I mean went Aldor:
Vengeance of the Illidari - I chose Insignia because as an afflicion specced warlock, damage done is more important.
Staff
The Bringer of Death - This staff not only looks completely shadow and awesome, but it’s a bind on equip world drop! This means you might find it on sale in the auction house. Mine was a gift from a guild member. There is no reason for you not to have this staff.
Wand
Nesingwary Safari Stick - Since all the 70 warlocks in my guild, and many of the mages as well, have this wand, I’m not going to bother to link any others. It makes finishing all those boring animal killing quests in Nagrand worth it.
There you have it! I managed to obtain all of these items in less than three weeks, while it took me over three years to get to 70. If anyone has pieces I’ve missed and would like added, be sure and comment!
Coming Soon: The gems and enchants I’ve used, my first trip to Kara (tomorrow!), balancing raiding and RP, and why Bliz should make an option to hide shoulder armor.
1. What are the required stats?
For Affiction warlocks, here are the required stats suggested by fellow Affliction-specced warlock and Veritas GM, Aimi:
Self-Buffed
Spell Hit: 80 (Less with the suppression talent.)
Spell Damage: 600
HP: 6500 - 7500
Mana: 7500
Crit: 10%
And in case you’re a Destruction lock, here are Aimi’s suggested stats:
Spell Hit: 80
Spell Damage: 550
HP: 6500 - 7500
Mana: 8500
Crit: 20%
(Note that Aimi suggests speccing Affliction for Kara. We belong to a ‘we wont tell you how to spec’ guild, though. I tried the dark pact/ruin build for about a week, but didn’t get nearly the DPS I get with Unstable Affliction. Also, she didn’t provide any info on what a Demonology warlock ought to have, and since I’d personally never spec Demonology myself, I haven’t bothered to look that up. If anyone knows this, please comment and I’ll add!)
2. What does my gear give me?
Spell Hit: 78 (+ Supression)
Spell Damage: 657
HP: 7760 (with Imp buff)
Mana: 8335
Crit: 12%
Visit Frijona’s amory profile for more info. (Note that this will change as I continue to upgrade my gear.)
3. The gear, and where to find it
Head
Hydromancer’s Headwrap – This is a quest reward for slaying Warlord Kalithresh in Steamvault (non-heroic). The quest is called The Warlord’s Hideout and starts with the Night Elf who sits inside Colifang Reservoir. He’s not the easiest boss to kill, but other than that it’s a generally fun instance which isn’t too hard to find people to go with. I ran it at level 68. Go ahead and ignore the socket bonus, as it is pretty pointless.
Neck
Torc of the Sethekk Prophet - This necklace gives a big spell crit boost. It’s also a quest reward for the quest Brother Against Brother, which takes place in Sethekk Halls. This instance also gives Lower City rep, which you’ll need for your shoulders!
Luminous Pearls of Insight is another option, which drops from the final boss in Underbog. I’ve seen it drop at least twice, but then again Underbog is my favorite instance and so I run it whenever I can.
Shoulders
Dreadweave Mantle - I chose this piece for three reasons: 1) the hit rating, 2) it’s fairly easy to get, and 4) it’s less hideous than the other option, which is blue and white and does not look warlock-ish at all:
The other, uglier option I mentioned was Spaulders of the Torn Heart, a reward for one of the longest quest chains in the game.
Back
Ogre Slayer’s Cover - Not my best piece, but pretty easy to get just from helping out that Broken in Nagrand who keeps getting captured by Ogres. Even though it’s not that spectacular, I couldn’t find an upgrade that was worth any effort.
Chest
Imbued Netherweave Robe. This is part one of the crafted set. The materials required are:
6 bolts of imbued netherweave
2 netherweb spider silk
1 rune thread
It’s also not that expensive on the AH. I can’t really see a reason why anyone wouldn’t want this set. I suppose if you’re Aldor, you can get Anchorite Robes, but I would advise against going Aldor so you can get the trinket from Scyers. Plus, if you have this robe you can’t complete the set.
Wrist
Shattrath Wraps - Another quest reward from the quest The Soul Devices. The red socket is great, since better gems come in red varieties than in blue (which most of my socketed items have).
Hands
Tempest’s Touch - This is a quest reward for Return to Andormu which you complete after running Old Hillsbrad, which is an amazing instance, that’s full of great lore. My voidwalker tanked this instance (along with Thrall). (Sometime I’ll have to write something about voidwalker tanking in instances.)
Waist
Sash of Serpentra - This is my only boss drop item. It’s amazing for the +17 hit rating. If it doesn’t drop for you, I’d suggest:
Girdle of Ruination - A crafted belt that is very mats-heavy. The sockets will allow for adding +hit. I’d suggest waiting until you get to 70 and have your flying mount for farming the following mats:
10 shadowcloth
16 primal fire
1 primal nether
Legs
Imbued Netherweave Pants - Part 2 of the set! Uses the following mats:
5 bolt of imbued netherweave
2 netherweb spider silk
1 rune thread
Or you could search it out on the auction house.
Feet
Imbued Netherweave Boots - Part 3. These look rather ugly if you have to look at them, so having the robe instead of the tunic is my advice in this case! I never saw this one on the auction house, but that doesn’t mean you wont. Mats:
4 bolt of imbued netherweave
6 knothide leather
2 netherweb spider silk
1 rune thread
Finger
Cenarion Ring of Casting - This is from that quest in Colifang where you have to find all of the missing Druids. Not one of my best items, but like the cloak there aren’t many good ring upgrades that are easily available.
Band of the Guardian - Yet another quest reward! This one is from Hero of the Brood, which is completed in Black Morass, which like Old Hillsbrad is lots of fun! Although, I would not recommend having your voidwalker tank this one.
Trinket
Scryer’s Bloodgem - This is the awesome trinket from getting revered with the Scryers. This gives you improved spell hit rating by 32. Also, Scryer’s rep is easier to get these days due to the daily quests. The signets are actually pretty cheep on the auction house!
Glowing Crystal Insignia - Another quest reward, this time from Overlord Gorefist. It was a while back, but I’m pretty sure I soloed this quest. Hordies do a different quest and get Ancient Crystal Talisman.
Another option, essential if you are destruction specced or if you have no brains—I mean went Aldor:
Vengeance of the Illidari - I chose Insignia because as an afflicion specced warlock, damage done is more important.
Staff
The Bringer of Death - This staff not only looks completely shadow and awesome, but it’s a bind on equip world drop! This means you might find it on sale in the auction house. Mine was a gift from a guild member. There is no reason for you not to have this staff.
Wand
Nesingwary Safari Stick - Since all the 70 warlocks in my guild, and many of the mages as well, have this wand, I’m not going to bother to link any others. It makes finishing all those boring animal killing quests in Nagrand worth it.
There you have it! I managed to obtain all of these items in less than three weeks, while it took me over three years to get to 70. If anyone has pieces I’ve missed and would like added, be sure and comment!
Coming Soon: The gems and enchants I’ve used, my first trip to Kara (tomorrow!), balancing raiding and RP, and why Bliz should make an option to hide shoulder armor.
Ding!
With WOW blogs, I automatically have the best excuse for updating: I've been too busy playing. First of all, I finally hit 70! I managed to get a screenshot of the lovely light enveloping my body:
Then with the help of some of my fellow officers I bought my ebon griffin, which I named Shadowwing. I then proceeded to fly around Wildhammer Stronghold like an obvious n00b. (If you click the link, that's my GM behind me on his ebon griffin.)
I also started writing in a new RP on the official forums called Missing in the Night. It's most of the same folks that are writing in A Dangerous Haul, plus some new faces, so it should be great!
Then with the help of some of my fellow officers I bought my ebon griffin, which I named Shadowwing. I then proceeded to fly around Wildhammer Stronghold like an obvious n00b. (If you click the link, that's my GM behind me on his ebon griffin.)
I also started writing in a new RP on the official forums called Missing in the Night. It's most of the same folks that are writing in A Dangerous Haul, plus some new faces, so it should be great!
A Strange Sight
My guildmate, a Gnome Mage named Jancey, showed us this:
And this:
They just needed to be shared.
And this:
They just needed to be shared.
A First Post
Who am I and why am I doing this?
Very good question! I'm Frijona or "Fri" at least, that's the name of my main World of Warcraft character. The name is pronounced "Free-ho-nah" not "Fry Jonah" or anything like that. I play on Moon Guard, because I enjoy RPing and experiencing the game fully through exploration of the lore. Frijona Spindrella, the character, is a very skinny warlock, generally antisocial, who hates food and eating as well as anything mechanical. She loves the Sporelings and has vowed to protect them and she wears their tabard. (A huge pain of a rep grind but completely worth it to wear a mushroom!) She's a grand master herbalist and currently at 372 Alchemy. I'm planning on going for Potions mastery. (That's Fri on the left with the dragon who is cramping her style. This was around level 60 when I was doing the Onyxia attunement.)
As for the "why"? I enjoy writing. I enjoy playing. It seems like the perfect combination! I hope to make my own blogger layout in the future, but for now I picked this one because of all the dots. Oh, Fri is currently Affliction spec'd, but I'm thinking of going dark pact/ruin once I hit 70. My goal is to hit 70 next month in-between semesters while I have some time off!
As for my alts: my main alt is Sprynkles, a level 22 Gnome Rogue. She has sensory quirks, loves soft things, hates scratchy things, and also loves sparkly things. She's a blast to play, and I had her in the battleground for a while at 19 but I burned out of that quickly.
Also on alliance side, I have Eadwacer, a level 14 Draenei Hunter. I named her after the Anglo Saxon poem Wulf and Eadwacer. (I have a BA in English literature.) My plan is to eventually get her a wolf pet, but I'm being very strict, RP-wise, as to how I level her. More on her and what I'm doing in a future post.
Horde side, I have Nabine, a level 10 Belf Mage. Nabine has been of various classes and appearances (she was a rogue first, then a hunter, then a mage, and then I changed her appearance twice). I haven't really fleshed out her personality yet. My friend and I created a couple Horde characters to play together. Mine is Keiva, a Troll Shaman. His is an Orc Warlock. It's amusing, because his main is a Shaman and mine is a Warlock, and we didn't plan this that way. They're currently at level 4, given that trying to coordinate playtimes with someone you only know in WOW isn't exactly easy.
My fiance also plays. He's a Gnome Warrior named Handlebarlo. His story is that he lost his memory after escaping Gnomer. He was rescued by Frijona when she found him unconscious in the snow. He's level 43.
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