WoW Journal - Day 6

I log on at 6 pm with some apprehension, but it turns out to be unfounded. Somebody at Blizzard's found the spot where to kick the server, and the game is running perfectly, with neither lag nor crashes. 445 Horde players online, very broad distribution, with the highest level now 37.

After some smithing and AH transactions I move into the Barrens, where there seems to be a neverending supply of quests. Plus there is copper, tin, and silver, everything an aspiring smith needs. Although I'm slowly but surely coming to the conclusion that all profits from tradeskills are immediately eaten up by the cost of training and buying the recipes. The white items you can make with easy to find materials don't sell, and for the items that do sell you need hard to find gems, which you mostly need to get from other players.

I reach level 19 in the Barrens. Then two level 18 guild mates want to do Ragefire Chasm. So I join them, as I now got the one quest that was missing last time. Nobody else joins us, but with me as level 19 tank, and a level 18 priest and shaman we have no problems finishing the instance. No deaths, obviously fewer xp than my first run, but more loot. Harmonious loot distribution between one mail wearer, one leather wearer, and one cloth wearer.

The group is working so well that we decide to go to the Barrens afterwards. We are doing the series of centaur quests, culminating with one of the best quests in the game: Counterattack. In that quest an army of centaurs is attacking a horde outpost, and you are right in the middle, between battling centaurs and horde NPC. You need to battle your way through to the centaur warchief, kill him, and bring a piece of his banner back. Much fun, we end up doing the battle twice. No items as reward for the last step, but the previous step earned me my first ring. And the last step has a huge reputation point award, making me "honored" in Ogrimmar, which reduces the cost of things bought there by 10%. Useful for smithing components, the strong flux now costs 18 silver instead of 20.

I end the day still at level 19, but not far from level 20. Which is good, because I also reach 125 blacksmithing skill, and I need level 20 to become expert blacksmith, which will allow me to progress beyond skill 150.
- posted by Tobold @ 11:59 PM Permanent Link