Some random ramblings of a casual Warcraft player on the Lightbringer (EU) Realm.

Wednesday 31 March 2010

Gold Update

Apologies for the lack of recent posts on my efforts in gold accumulation, as I may have previously mentioned, I have been pretty much caught up in gearing up McRaffles and enjoying the company and guild-chat with ‘Single Abstract Noun’. So apart from the odd Eternal Belt Buckle and Chaotic Skyflare Diamond sales, making gold has been put on the back-burner.

Spending gold, on the other hand, has been pretty constant; I recently shelled out about 13,000 gold on the materials, crafting, enchanting and gemming of a pair of ‘Bladeborn Leggings’ which greatly increased my DPS but left me with about 62,000 gold left in the coffers. Considering I started the month with over 100,000 gold in the bank, ending it with almost 40% less is a bit of a bummer. Though when I look at the difference in McRaffles’ gear between then and now, I consider it to be a solid investment.

It’s not all that bad though, I still have quite a few ‘Frozen Orbs’ that I picked up for a song pre-patch. I have also been religiously carrying out my daily epic gem transmute, and even after cutting a lot of them for my own gear, I still have a good amount stashed away for a rainy day. I’m sure that I’ll get back over the 100k in double quick time, but for now I still have a few badge upgrades to pick up, so I’ll carry on with the Daily Randoms for now and try to get back into the AH in the near future.

~McRaffles

Tuesday 30 March 2010

I Need to Score Some Gear!

I had never really cared about Gear Score in the past, and had always religiously ignored the ‘Must have 5k+ GS and Achiev’ trawls in /Trade. I believe, as do most right minded people, that Gear Score does not really count for much in Warcraft. It doesn’t account for player skill (or lack thereof) and it doesn’t account for spec either, so you could be a Combat spec’d Rogue, gemmed and geared for spirit and spellpower and still have a massive Gear Score - that just can't be right.

I have recently been running a lot of daily heroics and spending a shit-load of gold trying to gear up McRaffles as best I can. I make sure that I am properly gemmed, glyphed and enchanted and I keep up with the best rotations using resources such as RogueSpot, Elitist Jerks and rogue spreadsheets. I am certainly not claiming to be best, but I do put some effort into learning fights and pride myself in being able to (mostly) keep out of the fire.

So more interested in how well my gear was coming on than stroking my epeen, I decided to install the Gear Score addon and see how I measured up. Well I wasn’t disappointed; it seems my recent efforts have not all been in vain. Though I already knew this through the spreadsheets, it was nice to get a little extra validation. So happy with my lot, I queue up for and start Forge of Souls as the daily Random Heroic and I see that I can mouse over the other guys in the party and see their Gear Score at a glance, no problems there, we head of and clear our way through the dungeon. After downing Bronjahm, he drops the axe ‘Nighttime‘. As I am currently sporting ‘Quel’Delar, Cunning of the Shadows’ (I still love that name) in my mainhand and ‘Liar’s Tongue’ in my offhand, it wasn’t an upgrade for me so with no enchanter in the party, I just rolled greed. The hunter, for whom it was an upgrade rolled need and won it. It didn’t put me up nor down, however the tank quizzed me as to why I didn’t need it too. I let him know that it wasn’t an upgrade so I just rolled greed. He then told me that according to Gear Score it was an upgrade to my ‘Liar’s Tongue’ and I should have needed it. I told him that Gear Score was wrong and my slow mainhand/fast offhand combination was optimal for me, He still didn’t seem convinced and I felt sorry for the poor hunter who was trying to defend his proper need call.

Anyway, we went on to easily clear the rest of the dungeon and once it was over I promptly uninstalled Gear Score. The addon itself is not the problem; it just grades the items and adds up the score, it’s how people interpret and use the numbers, that’s when the problems start.

~McRaffles

Friday 26 March 2010

Single Abstract Noun

Well I took the plunge the other week, it was a day of many firsts; my first RP Server (actually my first server that was not Lightbringer), my first Horde character and my first Druid. To join Single Abstract Noun, the blogging community guild, I rolled a Tauren Druid on Argent Dawn-EU and raised him to the dizzying heights of level 10. It took longer than I thought, mostly because I was constantly getting caught up in guild-chat discussions.

His name is Maxhorn, I’m not sure what the RP’ers will think of that name but it seemed apt to me. I think I will initially try and level him as DPS but I would ultimately like to end up as a dedicated healer with maybe a tank offspec (another 2 firsts as I have always rolled DPS in the past).


I don’t get a lot of time on Max, though the time I do spend on him is a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting experience, due in part to the relative newness of everything and to a greater extent the constant banter and varied discussions going on in the guild-chat.

~McRaffles


Thursday 25 March 2010

How EPIC Am I?

Well I am now officially ‘Epic’; I mean I now have the achievement for having ilevel 213 or above items in all slots. I only got it after playing about with Aldriana’s Combat Rogue Spreadsheet to see what would be my next best upgrades for spending frost badges. I noticed that I still had the Ice Striker’s Cloak equipped and found that upgrading it to the Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape would up my DPS by about 500 made the exchange a no brainer. So off I go and part with 50 of my hard won frosties and ping up comes the achievement.


~McRaffles

Friday 19 March 2010

Quel'delar - Cunning of the Shadows

I finally got it - Quel'delar - Cunning of the Shadows (I love that name) is mine, all mine. I hit a couple of stumbling blocks on the way, all my own fault obviously. First off, after all the initial running about, including my first foray into the Horde area of Dalaran, disguised of course. I found myself directed to the Pit of Saron to reforge the sword; I got the 5 bars of infused Saronite required and the hammer from the first boss and cleared the rest of the instance. It wasn’t until I was back in Dalaran that I realised that I hadn’t actually ‘Forged the Sword’. Damn, another 20 minute wait for another party – hold on a second, I thought, I’m a Rogue, and what do Rogue’s do best? Stealth of course. I wasn’t sure if it was possible but I thought I might as well give it a try – 5 minutes later – sword forged – woot!

The next part of the quest, to Temper the Blade in the Forge of Souls went without a hitch. Not so the following bit, in the Halls of Reflection, for one, I couldn’t get in – then I realised that I hadn’t finished and turned in the freeing the slaves quest in the Pit of Saron. After running it again to free the remaining couple of slaves and turning it in, I finally get access to the Halls of Reflection. I promptly enter, activated the sword to fight it and even after blowing all of my cool-downs, I die a horrible death at its hands blade. So I have to get another group together and we easily take it down (and clear HoR into the bargain).

The last couple of quests were easily soloable but still fun after a quick trip to Quel'danas Isle, a jaunt into the Sunwell I finally returned to Dalaran and picked up my new shiny sword. The quest-line was not actually as epic as I thought it would be but I don’t really mind – I’ve got the sword.



~McRaffles

Thursday 11 March 2010

Rats!

I was doing Jewel of the Sewers, as my Fishing Daily last night, and the Giant Sewer Rat finally dropped for me. I had never actually fished solely for him and had actually resigned myself that the RNG gods would probably keep him from my side.

I also got two achievements for the price of one, I Smell a Giant Rat and Plethora of Pets. Even better, when I turned in my daily, I got the Bone Fishing Pole as well (So much cooler than my Jeweled one).

Not a bad haul from a 5 minute daily, I’m sure you’ll agree.

~McRaffles

Tuesday 9 March 2010

The Battered Hilt

As you probably already know, as part of my rogue gear-improvement regime I was on the look out for a reasonably priced ‘Battered Hilt’. I only recently (last weekend) raised my gear-score high enough to be able to participate in the Icecrown 5-man heroics (a requirement for the Battered Hilt quest chain).

So there I was sauntering through Dalaran on a lovely spring evening, feeling not a care in the realm. I had recently successfully ran both The Violet Hold as the Daily Random Heroic and The Oculus as another random Heroic just because I had the time.

So happy with my lot I was scanning the normally banal script that is known as Trade Chat and up pops a line that sparks a little interest – “WTS [Battered Hilt] /w me an offer”. Now The Battered Hilt usually retails on my servers AH at anything between 15 – 18k. I have seen them being offered in Trade for 12 -14k. Now I don’t consider myself a complete tight-wad, but those prices seemed a little high for my tastes and being a canny Scot I am always on the look out for a bargain, so I whisper back “I’d like to offer 9k”. Now obviously I expect this to be turned down flat, but you’ve got to kick off the negotiations somewhere. So I wasn’t surprised when, after a long pause he came back with “Could you go a bit higher?” Just to show I wasn’t a pushover I said, “No sorry, that was my offer”. You could have knocked me down with a feather when he replied “Ok, go on then”. I was stunned, could this be happening?, was it a joke? Well I wasn’t hanging around to let him change his mind; I quickly ported to Stormwind to meet him and the exchange went without a hitch. I am now the proud owner of a shiny new old and rusty Battered Hilt.

I must admit that for a second or two I actually thought about flipping it for a profit, but as I really need a better main-hand sword, I decided to go for it – I’ll let you know how the quest goes.



~McRaffles

Monday 8 March 2010

Rogue Gear Upgrades – Part II

As intended, I spent a fair bit of cash this weekend. I bought the materials for both the Knightbane Carapace and the Bracers of Swift Death and got them crafted. I picked up a pair of Footpads of Impending Death for 11k. I shelled out about the same again on The Runed Band of the Kirin Tor. I then dropped 50 Emblems of Triumph on the Mark of Supremacy. I also crafted and socketed about 7 Bright Cardinal Rubies (the last of my stock). Including enchantments the whole lot set me back around 25k. All in all, I thought it was quite a decent upgrade for a fair price in my opinion.

I then decided to baptise the new gear in blood, so I queued up for the daily random and lo and behold I was dropped into The Forge of Souls for the first time ever. I don’t think that my gear-score allowed be to be considered prior to my upgrades. Well we nailed it, I wasn’t even sure of the boss strategies, but I certainly know enough not to stand in the fire and that seemed to be enough as we cleared it in no time at all. 

I need to do a bit more research before deciding on what to go for next; however I am looking at the Bladeborn Leggings from crafting; Duskstalker Shoulderpads, Dexterous Brightstone Ring and the Crimson Star from Emblems of Triumph; Herkuml War Token, Cat Burglar’s Grips and Vengeful Noose from Emblems of Frost (If I can ever get that many) and the BoE’s; Wodin’s Lucky Necklace and the Drape of the Untamed Predator. After some, most or all of that, I will then go for the Battered Hilt and start that particular quest chain for my new sword.

I am down to about 75k now, but I’ll hopefully start building it back up soon.

~McRaffles

Friday 5 March 2010

Rogue Gear Upgrades

This week I have mainly been running random dungeons! I decided that as my gear is still lacking on McRaffles, and as I don’t have the time to raid anymore, I am going to try and acquire as many upgrades from badges; BoE’s or crafted epics as possible. This is probably going to put a major dent in my funds, but what’s the use in having it if you’re not going to use it? I did some research and decided that my first priority would be to upgrade my head and chest, as they were only ilevel 200 (Helm of Vast Legions and Heroes' Bonescythe Breastplate). So I have been running the daily random for over a week now and will keep doing so until I get enough badges for the upgrades. I have only had a couple of bad pug runs (mainly childishness and inexperienced tanks pulling way too much) but for the most part it has been a very positive experience.

Last night I landed in Heroic Trial of the Champion after the Champions and before Paletress. It was a quick run with no real problems and after downing the Black Knight I was very happy to see Mask of Distant Memory drop, with no other leather wearers in the party and it being an upgrade for me, my need call was uncontested and I was the proud owner of a shiny new helm. The fact that it makes me look like Hannibal Lecter is by the by. I jumped over to StoneKold and created a Relentless Earthseige Diamond and a Bright Cardinal Ruby and posted them to McRaffles. After socketing I headed up to the Ebon Hold to shell out 120g on the Arcanum of Torment enchant.

I have decided to just buy the materials and get someone to craft me the Knightbane Carapace as my new chest piece, so that will mean that I can spend 50 of my 65 accumulated Emblems of Triumph on a Mark of Supremacy to replace my old Mirror of Truth.

I’m also seriously thinking of blowing an almighty stack of cash on both the Runed Band of the Kirin Tor and a Battered Hilt (if I can pick one up for a reasonable price) , that should keep me going for a bit.

As I have not really been playing the auction house my 100k has not really moved that much, expect a big chunk to be taken out of that by my next update.

~McRaffles

Monday 1 March 2010

100,000 Gold!

Another major gold making milestone achieved yesterday, 100k gold; I am so happy! I must admit that when I started to seriously try to accumulate cash in late December, I didn’t think that a little over two months later I would be sitting on all this gold. It has been a lot of fun but very time intensive for a ‘Casual’ player and I was beginning to miss the challenge of upgrading my characters.

I am no means going to stop with the gold getting, but I may slow it down a little as I run more heroics to gain more emblems. On that subject, I was running ‘The Old Kingdom’ last night as the daily random and we decided to do all the bosses – I didn’t know that I hadn’t done them all before but after we took out the boss down by the mushrooms – up pops a couple of achievements – I must admit, I didn’t actually see what they were, but after I get a bunch of guild gratz I check my achievement summary and see ‘Champion of the Frozen Wastes’. I honestly didn’t even know I was close to it – bonus!


~McRaffles