In the same afternoon, I solo-raided Blackrock Foundry normal, Blackrock Foundry Heroic and Siege of Orgrimmar Heroic. The reason why I raid Blackrock Foundry is to collect the Rylakstalker’s Battlegear, but I went to Siege of Orgrimmar for the sole purpose of collecting the parts required to craft a tameable juggernaut.
While these two raids may have a similar flavor, they are very different:
Blackrock Foundry
Short raid that can be completed within 30 minutes;
It’s easy to navigate through the different rooms;
Except for the Blast Furnace, the bosses don’t require much tactic, which doesn’t break the pace of the run;
The Hunter set looks really nice on an Orc (which is nice since I’m one);
You can run the different difficulties within the same raid lockout and the 3 recolors of the set all look great.
I managed to get a few parts of the normal and heroic difficulty recolors, but Mythic will require a few more ilvls.
Siege of Orgrimmar
The raid is horribly long;
The place is too huge and requires too much running;
There is way too much trash to clear;
Some of the bosses were fun in group but are very boring to solo: Immerseus;
Some bosses were not funny in group and are still boring to solo: Spoils;
The Hunter set is ugly, which removes all incentive to run it again.
I’ve followed an amazing guide by Bendak to find all the parts I needed to craft the Iron Scorpion. I’ll have to go back there 3 more times if I want to craft the pet in all the diferent colors, but I highly doubt that it’ll happen in the near future. I really don’t enjoy running SoO and I’m not such a fan of the Juggernaut pet. I just had to have one, for my collection.
All in all, BF and SoO maybe two Orc-flavored raids, they are very different. The first is a fast-paced raid with a great incentive to return while the second is slow, long and globally boring to run. Blackrock Foundry is already on my farm list while Siege of Orgrimmar is on my “avoid unless absolutely necessary” list.
Something I’ve always neglected a little bit in the game was the entire transmog madness. Not that I don’t like it, to the contrary, I love it. Who wouldn’t want his character to look cute bad-ass?! I guess that I just didn’t have enough time before to dedicate to this part of the game.
Since I had a lot of Marks of Honor sitting in my bags, I kind of started itching to get some of those nice PvP transmog sets. So, off I went to Netherstorm and Area 52 to get some new gear. I’ve bought four in total: the Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Armor, the Gladiator’s Chain Armor, the Warmongering Combatant’s Chain Armor and the Ruthless Gladiator’s Chain Armor.
Time for me to change my everlasting Merciless set! I’ve been wearing that last one for a couple of years now, I guess it’s time to do some laundry…
This is the set I’ve equipped at the moment: the The Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Armor. The thing I like the most about this gear is that it looks very gloomy, as if death is coming for you. Now, I don’t have a lot of guns in my collection so, the one I’ve used is the only one I have that suits this set: Spare Gunship Cannon. I have to admit that I love the little fuse on top of the gun, it looks like it’s ready to explode at any minute.
My second favourite is the the Gladiator’s Chain Armor. I’m not a big fan of the gun I’m using with this set: Pearl-Handled Long Gun. Like I’ve said before: I don’t have a lot of guns in my collection. I have to admit that I was a huge fan of bows before Legion. It’s only after Legion that I started loving equipping guns that much. I guess that I’ll have to start working on expanding my collection.
The third set isn’t my favourite, but I kind of like it anyway: the Warmongering Combatant’s Chain Armor. The gun that suits best with this transmog, in my humble opinion, is the Baleful Rifle. It looks big, mean and like it survived a few wars… just like I like it ^^
Like I’ve said, the Ruthless set isn’t my favourite, in fact, I’m quite disappointed with the looks of it. I had seen a few screenshots on Wowhead of a Troll wearing it and thought: awesome! Until I equipped it on my Orc and realized that it’s way too flashy for a hunter. I’m not a big fan of flashy colours for hunters. You’re supposed to blend in with your surroundings and sneak up on your prey, and not wave around like a flamboyant flag.
Anyway, you may have noticed that I never show my helm and cloak. The reason is very simple: I love to see the face of my character so, why cover it up? And, cloaks are, in my opinion, too messy for classes that need to be agile. I just can’t imagine my hunter jumping around with a cloak that, most likely, would make her stumble on every occasion.
Lately, I’ve been playing with WoW Model Viewer, it opens the door to so many possibilities, and it’s really fun to use. Expect more silly things like this in the near future…
I had already checked a few times the premade tool to find a group to raid the Black Temple. Unfortunately, between the high ilvl or the “link progression”, I couldn’t find any.
I was about to give up and turn the page, when I found a group yesterday evening. It was, apparently, a few people from a guild called “Starfish” who started a raid and who were inviting people to fill the ranks… That group was awesome! Nobody whined when we wiped, we just laughed and made our way to Illidan. After a few attempts, the Betrayer was down.
While it is true that it can’t reproduce the authentic experience of raiding during Burning Crusade, it was awesome to be in a true raiding environment again. I enjoy LFR but there’s nothing like being in a real raid, with people who know each other. It even made me consider joining a relax raiding guild again, for these evenings of jokes and laughter.
Oh, by the way, if you die after you’ve helped Akama defeat his shade, you can talk to this NPC to be brought back inside of the temple and avoid a long run. Later on, he can also bring you back to the command chamber (the room before Illidan).
Black Temple is an awesome place and I was thrilled to revisit it. Here are a few screenshots I took after the raid:
I’m very happy about the new Timewalking raid and I hope that it’ll be expanded to all BC and WOTLK raids in the future.
I didn’t really write blog posts last year… Between our huge move to Brussels and trying to catch back our delay in Warlords of Draenor, we didn’t have much time for a blog. Instead, I quoted a few screenshots and posted them on social medias. Here are the few ones I could find back in my hard-drive.
This first one was made during my favourite quest from Legion. For an Orc Hunter, what could be more amazing than to spend a night with Rexxar?
This house was the one where Soforah and I were planning to retire (when we were still Alliance Druids). Deathwing (Chr. Metzen) destroyed many places in Azeroth, but Auberdine is the one I’d like the most to see rebuilt (along with Loch Modan). They should also clean the entire Darkshore and restore it to its previous glory. I plan to post something (maybe a video) about that zone and the npcs that were populating it. (like the Absent-Minded Propsector)
I was so thrilled to get the ability to tame mechanicals pets that the first thing I did was to collect them all and rename them. Pullover was the one I used the longest, it was also the one I had the most fun taming.
Warlords of Draenor was also the first time that people were raiding for fishing, and it was glorious! Spending an afternoon with a huge bunch of players, for no other reason than fishing mounts was really amazing. Especially when you catch them both!
If you’ve ever been farming The Eye for Ashes of Al’ar, then you know what I’m talking about…
This has to be my favourite easter egg from Legion. Talking about Game of Thrones, we’re only a few days away from the next season, the wait is almost over!
That’s all folks! I hope that you enjoyed these little souvenirs from my archives.
As requested by Alunaria, we’re about to tell you one of our taming adventures. Take a seat and turn on your second degree because the story that follows is filled with danger and heroism, but it also may or may not have happened exactly the way we tell it.
Sardoken
Most people know me for my natural charm and my magnificent muscled body. But what trully makes me the awesome Orc that I am, comes from my courage, my intelligence and my exceptional strength. When, like me, you’re a natural hero, the challenges of the normal life may not be enough. I mean, come on, any hero already rescued Azeroth several times, it became trivial to me.
One of the reasons why I became a hunter is to tame beasts. What possibly could be more challenging then facing fierce creatures without your weapons, as equals?
Today, my thirst for danger is leading me to the Eye of Azshara. I’ve obtained from a very reliable source that a fierce beast, half lion half hawk, has made its lair on the southern part of the island.
I first carefully prepare my backpack with all the necessary equipment. You see, the secret of a sucessful taming trip lies within the preparation. After having double checked everything, I sneak out of the hut. Soforah, as usual, is still asleep… I jump on the back of my mount, direction The Broken Isles.
I land close to the entry of the cave. From now on, I must be extra careful, any wrong move could lead me to my death. The challenge has begon and my instincts have kicked in. I check the direction of the wind and I mask my scent, I don’t want the beast to detect my presence. I walk close to the walls, very slowly, almost motionless.
I see the animal and I realise that it’s probably the most dangerous one I’ve ever faced. I keep in the shadow, watching its every move. The plan is forming in my head, I’ll have to jump on it from above and maintain it to the ground. If I give it a chance to open its gigantic wings, I’ll be dead under its sharp talons.
The time for action has come and jump as high as I can. I’m probably ten meters above the ground when I let myself fall on the beast’s back. I try to keep away from its head, I don’t want to give it the opportunity to bite me. The beast is angry and tries to turn, but I manage to stay on top. Unfortunately, I slip on the feathers. Even if I quickly manage to get back in position, the creature is fast and it has the time to bite my left boot. I feel the pain and the warm blood leaking off my foot but I don’t have the time to think about it. I mentally supress the pain and double the strenght of my grip.
After what felt like hours, the beast starts to tire and, suddenly, it gives up. I roll on the floor and I take a few minutes to recover. When I finally get back up, all I can see in its eyes is respect. That beast will follow me anywhere and it will defend me until its last breath. A bond has been created.
After limping back to my Wind Rider, I head back home. Tonight I’ll celebrate another victory and I will probably be the admiration of the entire Durotar.
Soforah
As usual, when Sardoken finally decides to get out of bed, half the day has already passed… It’s been pretty quiet lately and that is what scares me the most. No hut on fire, no broken bones and no jailtime yet… Or my man is finally calming down, or the next catastrophy is about to happen. Knowing him, I would bet on the latter.
After the breakfast, I see him gathering a few things from around the place. He’s still very silent, he only had his third cup of coffee. When he’s not watching, I quickly check the content of his bag: A bottle of Dwarven Ale, a piece of stinky cheese and a steamy romance novel. Oh my, it must be quiet the expedition he’s up to. When I ask him what his plans for the day are, he answers “Listen, pumpkin pie, there are times when an Orc has to be alone. What I’m about to do requires extreme concentration. Not only would it be dangerous for you, but you would risk to put us both in danger. That’s why you’ll have to wait for me. But don’t be afraid, I’ll be very careful. You know me.” That’s usually when I start to panic.
He explains me that someone very reliable gave him a map to a secret cave where a fierce creature has made its lair. He’s gonna head there and tame the beast. A reliable source, huh?! It seems like he’s been hanging with Marcel again… I’d better add some real equipment to his backpack, I don’t think that sharing a pic-nic or reading a naughty Tauren novel is a very good way to harness a dangerous beast.
I also quickly checked that secret map of his, I’m not gonna let him throw himself in I don’t know what crazy plan that local drunk, Marcel, has put in his head this time.
After a rather long flight, I land not too far from Sardoken’s landing location. As I suspected, his preparation consists mostly in drinking his beer and taking a nap. When, finally, he decides that the time has come for some action, I follow him to the cave. You would think that anyone willing to tame a dangerous beast would try to keep his scent masked and be as silent as possible. Well, if walking with a piece of dalaran blue in your hand as only equipment means being prepared, then Sardoken was as prepared as he could be.
What follows is suitable for the faint of heart, because no blood was shed and no violence whatsoever happened in that cave. Sardoken simply walked in as he would enter any bar from town, and walked to the creature as if they were friends from way back. The one thing that you must know about my man, is that beasts love him. I don’t know if it’s because of his charisma or the smell of his feet but, where most adventurers would be shred to pieces, all Sardoken gets is furry balls of affection, a few good licks and a ton of drool. It didn’t take long for the beast to even start chewing on his boot, letting his big toe come out. Another pair of boots ruined by a very “dangerous” taming adventure.
I think it’s safe to say that no harm will come in his way today. I silently backtracked to my mount and headed back to the village where my man would join me triomphant this evening. My man, the hero.
I was very excited when I heard that there would be a new scenario, The Deaths of Chromie. At first I didn’t want to be spoiled and refused to read anything about it. Little did I know that it isn’t just a simple scenario, it’s quite an event…
There are portals to unlock, a reputation to level,… and, most important: you can run the scenario as much as you want! Since I never read anything about it, I didn’t know that last fact so, when I started the scenario and saw the timer at 15 minutes, I panicked. So much to do in such little time… I’m going to fail! Once the 15 minutes were over, I realized it was repeatable and, with a sigh of relief, started running it over and over again.
If I were to give any advice… unlock the portals first! You’ll have to go to the dragonshrines to kill and collect stuff which will lead to having to kill an end boss. Each time you’ll defeat the related Dragonshrine for the first time, a portal will unlock. There are four in total, my favourite being “The Culling of Stratholme”. I don’t want to spoil too much so, I won’t go into any details!
The ultimate goal of the scenario is to defeat 8 timeways in one attempt. I haven’t gotten that far yet. I’m first leveling my reputation with Chromie in order to unlock more of her talents, which will make her stronger. My reputation has currently reached “Epoch-Mender”, only one more left after that (Timelord), and then I’ll finally make my attempt for a speed run.
In the meantime, I hope you’re all having as much fun as I do, and good luck on the speed runs!
Another great project from Z & Cinder! This time, we get the opportunity to show what’s in our bags.
Sardoken
I use Arkinventory to sort my bags. It’s my all-time favourite addon, the one I couldn’t live without. You just have to define a few rules, then it sorts your bags into groups. I use the same profile for all my characters, that’s why I’ll only show you Sardoken’s bag.
Soforah
As you can see, I’m far from being as neat and tidy as Sardoken (in real life and in game ;p). I use the default bags, which are filled with whatever clutter I find and which I’m not sure whether I should keep or get rid of.
All in all, we may have a very diferent way to organize our bags, but their content is pretty much the same. Our only wish is that we would have less clutter to carry around, like the treasure maps,… Crafting materials could have a tab of their own, where they would stack infinitely (like in Guild Wars 2, I believe). And, last but not least, we should have the possibility to upgrade the backpack. Maybe will we see it in a future expansion pack.
Last week-end, I’ve finally unlocked all artifact traits for Titanstrike. By doing so, I could buy the Tome of the Hybrid Beast from Pan the Kind Hand (the stable master from Trueshot Lodge). Upon use, it allows the player to tame Feathermanes, a family that includes hippogryphs, gryphons, owlcats, wolfhawks, and wyverns. If you want to know more about these pets, follow this link to Petopia.
Since I had already completed the quest line to obtain the Beast Master class mount, I was particularly interested in taming the brown Wolfhawk named Varoudnir. There are 3 different Wolfhawks and they are all located on the uninstanced version of the Eye of Azshara.
Each of them is located inside a cave.
Their respawn timer is between 15 and 30 minutes and they are not especially hard to tame. Now I “just” have to unlock every trait for the other Hunter artifacts, so I’ll be able to get all the color variations of the class mount to match my Wolfhawks…
Bonus objective: Guess the name I gave to my new pet. Hints in this video.
We stumbled upon a few bloggers doing this challenge from Z & Cinder, and it got us thinking about what a day in the life of Soforah and Sardoken would be like.
Sardoken’s day
Just like everyday, I don’t wait for the sun to rise, I get up and I do my exercises: one thousand push-ups (on one hand) and 5 rounds of Orgrimmar, I don’t even break a sweat. What did you think, that I had these fabulous muscles for free, it takes a lot of work, you know?!
Then, I go to the market to buy some groceries. My awesome new tattoos don’t go unnoticed, a group of young nymphets scream when they see me, but I’m used to it and I don’t even look at them.
I get back to our home and I do the chores. I try to remain as silent as I can, I wouldn’t want to wake up Soforah who’s still dreaming (probably of me). I know that I spoil her, my friends don’t even know how to cook or how to clean. But she deserves the best, and I think we can safely say that this is exactly what she gets.
After having prepared her breakfast, I write a little note to my pumpkin pie. I let her know that I’ll be spending the day honoring the flame at the bonfire of Suramar. My old friend Marcel, probably the holiest guy I’ve ever known, has been asked to take care of it. I’ll be back before dawn.
I then take a windrider to Meredil and meet my old buddy. Very respectfully, we share a drink and memories of the past.
At that moment, I notice a young Night Elf girl approaching silently, a bucket in her hand. She thinks that she goes unnoticed, but nothing escapes my keen eyes. I also see three Suramar guards closing in on her, but she’s so focused on not spilling the water, that she pays no attention to them.
Horde or Alliance, it doesn’t matter to me. You see, I’m made of pure hero material, I can’t let a lady get in trouble. It’s a good occasion to practice my blind shooting, so I fire a shot over my shoulder, using only my hearing, not my sight. As expected, the bullet kills all three guards at once.
I walk to to the poor thing, she’s still shaking, but I sense that it isn’t out of fear anymore. I understand what’s going on… Like so many before her, she’s falling for my natural charm. Eventhough I can’t understand her language, I know that she’s probably offering herself to me. And, just like so many before her, I respectfully decline. You see, this magnificent Orc is already taken. I could get her name though… Alunaria. Well, little elf, your name will be on the list of my broken hearts.
An hour later, guess who decides to show up. Yep, Soforah finally got out of bed. She missed the action, but I feel better knowing that she was safe.
Soforah’s day
It’s eleven in the morning, and I’ve already done so much. The shopping is done and the dinner is ready for this evening. Sardoken, as usual, is still sleeping. He snores so loud that the cuttlery on the table is moving on its own.
I’d say that I do the chores silently, but honestly nothing could wake this slumbering Orc, only the smell of his coffee. It’s nearly noon when he finally decides to show up. He drinks what he calls his morning cup of Joe, I call it a bucket. Before I realise, he’s already gone and he has left me an almost unreadable note: Marcel – Bonfire – Suramar. My man, the poet.
I’d better go there myself, you have no idea what these two are capable of. Let me describe you the famous best friend of my husband: You already knew green Orcs and brown Orcs, but you propably didn’t know about red Orcs. Well, to my knowledge, there is only one. Marcel drinks so much that he’s permanently red-faced and his nose is deformed by the thousands (millions?) of beers he drank in his life. I don’t think that I’d hurt his feelings by calling him “the local town drunk”, he’d probably take it as a compliment.
While I love my man, I also know that he is not a saint. These two together is the perfect recipe for disaster. If we would want to get rid of the Legion, we’d just have to send these two with a few bottles of beer. Few are those who could survive it. Fortunately, I’m one of them. That’s why I’m heading to Meredil.
My mount hasn’t landed yet, but I can already hear their laughter. As I approach the place where the flame is located, I almost trip over the empty bottles they’ve left behind. Here it is, the mighty scene of Sardoken and Marcel “honoring” the flame. They can’t even stand anymore, so drunk they are. All they can do is singing songs that would violate the most sinful ears. This bonfire has to be the most unholy in the entire festival.
Not far from them, I notice a young Night Elf approaching the fire to extinguish it. She didn’t notice the three Suramar guards closing in on her. I can’t expect my two heroes to do anything. In the state that they are, they probably can’t see anything anymore.
As I start to run, I ready my bow. My arrows reach their aim almost before my wolf could take care of the hostiles. The Night Elf says something, but I don’t understand her language. However, I can see that she’s grateful. She drops her bucket as a way to say that she won’t desecrate this fire.
I pick up the bucket and spill its entire content on Sardoken, who can barely stand. I drop him on the back of my mount and bring him back home, where he falls in a deep coma, until the next day…