Status Report II: The Statusing

Status so far as Aeth heads for Glory of the Hero:

• Chaos Theory - Done!
• Respect Your Elders - Done!
• Volunteer Work - Done!
• Better Off Dred - Possible, but tricky.
• Less-Rabi - Possible, but tricky.
• Abuse the Ooze - Done!
• Zombiefest! - Untried.
• Experienced Drake Rider - Definitely going to need a group for this.
• Ruby Void - Arcane mage Needs Group Badly!
• Amber Void - GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!

Oh, and From Hell's Heart I Stab at Thee.

The last was more or less a fluke.  There was a small (9? 10?) person group that a guild mate put together to try for this, so I jumped in.  We did 3-4 attempts, and at one point, managed to get the whale shark down to something like 94% before we all died in a horribly gory frenzy of blood and entrails.

Figuring out we knew what was going on, we jumped back in for another attempt, sure that we knew what was going on, and that we'd nail it this time.  I switched to fire spec on Aeth so I could scorch and move and "tank" the shark in a pinch, and we were off!

Two minutes into it, we were making some good progress - it really did look like we knew what we were doing - when my wife comes in, plops down on the bed next to me, and says, "I just got off the phone..."

Now, I'm not the most sensitive, empathic guy in the world.  I can be rather dense some times.  OK, a lot of the time.  In this case, however... everything in her tone, her posture, her words were clear even to me.

"Hey," they all said,  "Yeah, you, knucklehead. Put down the laptop.  Forget the stupid game.  Remember that whole 'love, cherish, honor' thing you promised a couple of decades back?  Yeah, this is what you were babbling about.  Now get hoppin', bozo!"

Which, in a rare fit of sanity, I did.

I think I saw Aeth become shark chow about 4.2 nano-seconds after I took my hands of the keyboard.  Didn't even take the time to say anything in chat.  I felt bad, but... a dozen strangers vs. my wife?  Sorry, guys.  House isn't on fire, but it's a RL emergency just the same.

Turns out that we have a close friend is going through a really, really, really rough spot, in multiple areas.  We kind of had an inkling of it, but this evening was the first time said friend had an opportunity to talk to my wife and lean on her shoulder about it... and afterwards, my wife needed to debrief and lean on me in turn.

So, a while later, I hop back on and find myself floating in the briny deep.  I scroll back through the chat log to see who it is that I need to apologize to for bailing on them without notice, and... holy cow!  They did it!  There's the guild announce for the achievement!  Wait, what's my name doing there?

Quick check of the achievements tab... and yes, there it is.

They not only downed the whale shark, they managed to do so on the attempt that I had to bail on. 

Apparently, they did have it nailed down.

Way to go, guys!  Thanks for carrying me :-)

You Learn Something New Every Day

Huh.

Apparently, there's a bank in Theramore now.

Who knew?

Status Report

Status so far as Aeth heads for Glory of the Hero:

• Chaos Theory - Untried.
• Respect Your Elders - Done!
• Volunteer Work - Done!
• Better Off Dred - Possible, but tricky.
• Less-Rabi - Possible, but tricky.
• Abuse the Ooze - Untried.
• Zombiefest! - Untried.
• Experienced Drake Rider - Untried.
• Ruby Void - Untried.
• Amber Void - Untried.

The hardest part about last night's efforts were getting past Prince Taldaram.  Oy!  Possible to solo, but just barely.  I ended up popping my Baradin Footman's Tags just before the first Vampric Embrace; then I used an Ice Block to survive the first flame spheres.  I just ate the next vampric embrace, but immediately afterwards, I popped Mirror Image so I could use Evocation to regain health.  I did my best (Blink & run!) to dodge the second flame sphere summons, and after that, popped all my cooldowns (Arcane Power, Time Warp, Tirande's Favorite Doll, etc.) to burn him down ASAP.  Ended up with the Prince down, and Aeth's health at something like 5k.  A very close thing.

Going back through WotLK content, I'm surprised at how gimmicky even the 5-man bosses are.  Well, not so much surprised, as in intrigued... with a couple of exceptions, their gimmicks aren't trivializable, even for an incredibly overgeared powerhouse like Aeth.  Most BC dungeon bosses go down so quickly that their mechanics don't really even come into play, or if they do, they can simply be ignored.  I wonder if that was a conscious design decision in Wrath, or if it's something that has just more or less evolved from the design process at Blizzard.

Moving Right Along

I've spent a couple of evenings earlier this week in Karazhan, working on Aeth's reputation with the Violet Eye. 

One run through all the way up to the chess event, followed by another partial run, got me to within about 1k of exalted.  Finishing off the quest chain that ends with killing Nightbane on the Master's Terrace let me finish that grind and got Aeth all the way to 999/1000 exalted... which means she now has 49 exalted reputations.  Only one more to go!

What to do now, though?  Just about the only way Aeth has of grinding out additional reputations is through raids - Molten Core, Ahn'Quiraj, Black Temple, etc.  Well, gee - Kara wasn't horribly difficult, honestly.  How hard could Black Temple be, really?

Two very quick deaths in the Black Temple in exchange for 36 rep makes it pretty obvious that the answer is something like "pretty freaking hard for a squishy mage".  Ouch.  Maybe a bit more thought will help divine the answer here...

• Bloodsail Buccaneers - killing Blackwater Raiders - 5k+ of them - to get to Exalted, then start in on killing 1600+ Booty Bay Bruisers.  Then worry about repairing reputations with the neutral Goblin factions.  Ouch.
• Darkmoon Faire - monthly quests.  Should get to exalted the next time it shows up.
• Ravenholdt - farming junkboxes.  Need about 800 more to max out at 999/1000 exalted.
• Hydraxian Waterlords - Molten Core - vanilla 40-man raid.
• Brood of Nozdormu - Ruins of Ahn'Quiraj - vanilla 20-man raid that gives almost no rep.
• Brood of Nozdormu - Temple of Ahn'Quiraj - vanilla 40-man raid.
• Ashtongue Deathsworn - Black Temple - BC 25-man raid.
• Scale of the Sands - Hyjal Summit - BC 25-man raid.
• The Ashen Verdict - Icecrown Citadel - WotLK 10-man raid.
• Avengers of Hyjal - Firelands - Cata 10-man raid.
• PvP Factions - no.  Just... no.  Holy cow - 3k+ WSG battlegrounds? Augh!

Hmm.  When "wait for a couple of weeks" and "farm junkboxes until your fingers bleed" are your two best options... maybe it's time to try and put together some classic raids.

Speaking of which, Aeth got to go along for a normal Dragon Soul raid last night, as we're trying to help out a guild mate who wants to get his Fangs of the Father.  It took a bit of effort to get everyone on the same page and down Morchok, but it was actually pretty simple.  What can I say?  I've got some good guild mates.  I'm happy because another weekly DS raid will give me and my erratic schedule a chance to pop in and raid with my guild.

Since I'm willing to wait to grind rep, and raids take time to organize and are kind of catch-as-catch-can for me, I'm obviously going to have some time to work on other things.  Like, say... Glory of the Hero? 

Yeah, yeah.  I know.  That's so last expansion.  Still, I've only got a handful of achievements I need for this meta, and it was pretty simple to knock out Consumption Junction last night.  Which leaves Aeth needing only ten more WotLK heroic dungeon achievements:

• Chaos Theory - Looks like it might be tricky, but possible.
• Respect Your Elders - Definitely soloable.
• Volunteer Work - A "kill them quickly!" achievement?  No problem.
• Better Off Dred - Potentially soloable... with 4 stacks of AB up, Aeth can probably one/two shot the raptors.  The problem will be collecting them quickly enough.
• Less-Rabi - Hmmm.  Can I kill him in 15 seconds, with one interrupt?  Let's see!
• Abuse the Ooze - Definitely possible to solo.
• Zombiefest! - Definitely possible to solo, but also definitely easier in a group.
• Experienced Drake Rider - I need to ride an Emerald and Ruby drake.  Huh?  Oh, yeah - I've done this about a billion times on Laenshield, not Aeth.  Huh.
• Ruby Void - Possible? Maybe. Certainly easier with a group.
• Amber Void - Possible? Maybe. Certainly easier with a group.

I'll give the easier looking ones a try tonight or tomorrow, and maybe see if I can pick up a partner or two for the ones that would be easier to accomplish in a group.  Oh, and maybe unpack my Baradin Footman's Tags and see if that's a help as well.

Onward!

Kill It... Kill It With Fire.

Who's A Pretty Kitty?

More to come but... for now, know that while I may hate to admit it, I'm Barbie-ing pretty hard right now.

Why, you may ask?

Well - just take a look at Aeth after her solo run through Karazhan last night...

Why, yes - that's Aeth wearing a classic Masquerade Gown and Gloves of Saintly Blessings.  The absolutely cute little shoulders that compliment the gown are a Thistlefur Mantle.  The weapon that's slung over her back, glowing with arcane energy, is (indeed!) The Bringer of Death.  That fell staff is complimented nicely by the simple curves of Corla's Baton.

Seriously?

I stumbled on this look entirely by accident, but man, I like it.  I like the fact that she looks elegant, eldritch, and dangerous all at the same time.  Most of all, though?

I'm ab-so-lute-ly ecstatic that I no longer have to deal with a monument the size of a small boat sitting on each of her shoulders.

That, alone, makes transmogrification a win for me.

The fact that Aeth's just plain gorgeous now is a bonus :-)

One Hundred Percent

Archaeology achievements?  100% complete!  And apparently, I now belong in a museum, or something.

With two rares to go, I shifted my emphasis from Kalimdor to Northrend.  I figured that since I had found zero Vrykul or Nerubian rares, I'd probably have a better chance of getting one of those projects relatively quickly if I worked in areas I'd not done much in before.

Looks like that was a good guess.  Night before last, I solved the Vrykul Drinking Horn for rare #19, and a push last night netted Aeth the Blessing of the Old God for rare #20.

Also, providing evidence that the RNG has a sense of humor, after getting the Blessing for rare #20, I cleared out some Night Elf fragments that I had remaining... and now have Tyrande's Favorite Doll queued up for the next time I want to do some digging.

Once that happens, Aeth may finally get to replace the tree stump she's been dragging around for the past couple of months.  The wonderful thing?  When she finally gets a better trinket, I can pass this along to Laenshield or even Aeven.  Yay for account bound epics!