Lethal Shots

With the release of WotLK right around the corner, its time to wrap up loose ends and get ready for the new level grind in Northrend. A while back I put together a list of things I want to get done before Northrend opens up. With the announcement of the official Wrath release date, We are now on a definite timeline. Knowing that, I felt it was time to revisit my list and see what I have accomplished and prioritize what I have left.

1. Acquire Nether Ray
2. Acquire Nether Drake
3. Max Engineering
4. Max Fishing
   
5. Make Turbo-Charged Flying Machine
6. Level Shaman alt to 70
7. Build back up gold reserve
8. Become Karazhan attuned

I have crossed out things I have accomplished so far, and as you can see I have several left to do. I am confident Karazhan attunement will happen. I am almost done, my next step leading into Black Morass. I am about 25% of the way through Revered with the Netherwing, so I will most likely have a Nether Drake soon. I have about 10 points to go and my fishing will be at 375. And as to building my bank account back up, that one is hard to predict. Finishing the Netherwing grind will help. And having maxed Engineering, I can now sell all the ore that I mine. I can’t say how much I will have by Wrath, but I will do the best I can.

Now the one thing on my list that I am unsure about is my Shaman. I am not a fast leveler in the least, which makes me highly doubt he will be 70 in time. Realistically, I think I will have him in Outland.

I don’t plan to put everything else on hold to complete my goals. I still plan to raid when I can, and help guild mates when they need it. When wrath hits, I will have to revisit my list and see how I did.

Professions in WoW lack something. Not something really specific, but just….. something. I think the best way to describe it is usefulness. Now I know there are exceptions. Enchanting is arguably the most useful profession in the game (and Inscription is looking to come in a close second), Jewelcrafting is great for getting gems cut, Tailoring has bags to make and sell, and Alchemy is handy for Potions, Elixirs, and Flasks. But other than Enchanting, there are alternative sources. Potions can be bought or come from random drops, gems can be bought from rep vendors, and the largest bag available comes from a vendor.

And think about other profession. The biggest draw to Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailoring is the high level crafted gear. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice gear, but it is either BoP or requires the wearer to have the profession to equip it. And once you gear up to a certain point, there is no reason to keep the profession any longer. And don’t get me started on Engineering. Having maxed Santyn’s Engineering, I can speak from experience on this one. (I chose to max it because I wanted a Turbo-Charged Flying Machine, knowing that it was a bad decision gold wise.)

And in the case of potential profit, there is next to none. Gems, bags, armor kits, and scopes provide some return, but more often than not you can make better profit by selling the raw materials than the crafted item, leaving little incentive to actually craft any items. Even when leveling quest rewards are often better than anything you can craft for yourself.

Now I’m not asking for a whole revamp of the profession system, but with Wrath right around the corner Blizzard has the perfect chance to help fix some of the problems. I would love to see more versatility with crafted items, actual items that people want yet don’t have to make for themselves. I want to see a vibrant player driven economy based around crafted items, and not just at end game but throughout the whole leveling process. I know it can be done, it is just a question of whether Blizzard wants to do it.

What I envision though is not crafters chasing one recipe after another, but people working with crafters closely to create the items needed. Less simply replacing items and more upgrading items. If there is a great level 70 set, I don’t want to simply replace it. Instead, as I level I gather mats, maybe some specific ones through quests, and then seek out a crafter to upgrade the item. And not just once, but continually throughout the leveling process, 1 piece at a time. Ideally, a set gained at level 20 could be upgraded every few levels and carry clear to end game.

But I’m not saying this has to be the only option. There should still be quest rewards and random drops. I just think that my idea would add a whole new level of depth to the game, and make crafting professions more worthwhile.

I have avoided a lot of Wrath news, so I really have no idea what Blizzard is doing with professions in the expansion. I just hope that they have the same idea as me.

Matticus issued a challenge the other day, wanting to know what makes your class the best lover. Now we all know that Hunters are, but for the sake of argument I decided I should provide a few reasons.

1. We Put Our Mark on You – Once we decide we want you, we hit you with our Hunter’s Mark. Now it’s just a matter of time until we have you.
2. Furry Companions – Its a well known fact that chicks dig pets. And pets are a Hunter’s thing.
3. Agility – Hunters stack agility for many reasons. We’ll leave it to your imagination how this works out in the bedroom.
4. MQoSRDPS – Hunters specialize in one thing, Massive Quantities of Sustained Ranged Damage Per Second. Which only makes sense since we are even better at providing Massive Sustained Quantities of Lovin’.
5. Make it Last – When a Hunter is called on to perform for an extended period, he is prepared with Efficiency to help maximize his performance time.
6. Instant Recovery – Even after an extended period of lovin’ when he is completely exhausted, all a Hunter has to do is pop Readiness and he is ready to go again.
7. The Sweet Spot – A Hunter simply has to proc Expose Weakness and he immediately finds his companions most sensual areas for maximum pleasure.
8. Get What We Want – When a Hunter wants to do something and their partner says no, all he has to do is hit them with Distracting Shot and proceed without any interference.
9. Group Play – When a Hunter finds himself in a situation where he needs to please more than one, he just pops Multi-Shot and can take care of 3 at once.
10. The Wild Side – When things get old and it’s time for some excitement, all a Hunter has to do is release The Best Within.
11. Spontaneous – When the mood strikes, a Hunter might not be in the best spot to act on it. That is where his Resourcefulness kicks in, allowing him to find a suitable spot to let the love flow.
12. Quick Exit – When things start getting too serious, all a Hunter has to do is Dis-Engage and slip out the door, safe to play another day.

It took some time. It took some money. But I did it. I maxed out my Engineering. And what does hitting 375 Engineering get you? Why a shiny Turbo-Charged Flying Machine of course! Here is a few pics of me and my new mount.

Here I am parked on the ground in Shat.

Here I am hovering right above the ground. (Not much difference from parked is it?)

And lastly, here I am flying above Shat.

I have a confession to make. My first character was not a hunter. I started playing WoW back in May 2007. I was browsing the net one day and saw that Blizzard was offering a 10-day free trial of WoW, so I decided to give the game a try.

Several hours worth of downloading later, I logged into my trial account and was faced with the choice of choosing a server. This was completely unexpected. I had no idea that you got to choose what server to play on. So I just told it to suggest a server and went with the suggestion. Not very exciting, but that is how I came to call Antonidas home.

Next came the character select screen, and being a brand new account, the only option was to click the button to make  new character. Now this was much more along the lines of what I expected. I then did probably the most boring thing I could have done. I made a Human Warrior. I had done no research into the game. I had only the vaguest ideas of what each class did, and didn’t have a clue about racial bonuses. I played that guy to level 11, and he never left Elwyn Forest.

I have a somewhat varied gaming background, which includes everything from 8-bit 2D platformers to the latest and greatest FPS. I always loved RPGs and have played every Final Fantasy up do date (excluding XI) and most other Square / Enix RPGs. So when I got started in WoW, I had all my old RPG experiences and habits in my head, and assumed that WoW would be very similar.

And I couldn’t have been any more wrong. I spent hours grinding Kobolds by Northshire Abbey trying to save up enough copper to purchase white items from the vendors there. I had no idea that the better gear came from quest, let alone that questing was the most efficient way to level. It took over a week to get him to level 11 and I was having next to no fun.

Instead of just giving up, I decided to try another class. I got smart and started to do some reading. After researching for a bit and trying a few other classes, I decided on a Hunter. I wasn’t sold on the class from the start, but I decided to hang on until level 10 to see if it got any better when I got a pet. And let me tell you, when I got my first pet was when I fell in love with the class. No other class I had tried could hold a candle to Hunters. And it got better as I leveled. By nature, I am a solo player. I prefer to do as much in game as I can solo, and the Hunter class has allowed that. Between having my own personal tank, being able to track mobs, and several abilities to help out with my survival in general, I was able to solo the vast majority of my way to 70.

Now don’t get me wrong, I spent most of the way to 60 as a Huntard, but with the help of some wonderful guildies, and the guidance from several Hunter bloggers, I feel I have become a true Hunter. And I will always be a Hunter. Don’t get me wrong, I have several alts that enjoy to play immensely, but I always find myself wishing I had one Hunter ability or another, and I always come back to my him. He will be the first character I level to 80, will always be my first choice of character to raid with, and will always be the character I have the most fun with.