The Paladin Charger Questline...how to (alliance side)

This is one of my "Stuff to get done before Cat" walkthroughs.  The paladin questline is full of nice lore, and I think it's well-worth the gold and trouble.  You start with two quests, the Work of Grimand Elmore and Emphasis on Sacrifice.
So, starting with the work quest, you'll need to go get some stuff.  Grab your Argent Dawn commission and clear Stratholme for holy water.  Ideally grab 10 so you can also do a turn in quest at Light's Hope.  Then you just need 10 Arthas Tears (herb, generally found in W and E Plaguelands), 40 pieces of runecloth, and 6 arcanite bars (made via an alchemy transmute).  Running Strat should also get you to friendly with the Argent Dawn so you can get mana biscuits, head to Southshore, and get your horse food.

At this point you need to get the sacrifice questline done.  Go give some gold, get your censor, and head to the northwestern corner of Eastern Plaguelands.  Stand in green circles, cense them, and slaughter.   Return to your questgiver and prepare for some more dungeon-running

 Then here's the fun bit... Dire Maul West.

Assuming you've never set foot there, the easiest thing to do is to run into Dire Maul East, die, then run back into Dire Maul West.  It saves you running East for the key.
Now, you don't have to do all of West.  In fact, all you need to do is....

kill all the big patrolling tree guys in the first room.  Be careful, they knock back!  Then you head to the next room, down the stairs, and slaughter the boss.  The horse should then show up, talk to it, and get your barding blessed.  Then grab a Azerothian diamond and a pristine black diamond, and head back to Grayson.
Note: I did need to respec Adowa to prot for this, since she wasn't quite high enough level-wise to easily survive as ret.

Now you're almost done.  Just need to get into Scholo, clear down to the Osstuary and do some judging.  I ran into a slight hitch with needing the key to Scholo, and then getting hopelessly lost and then forgetting my satchel.
So, if you need the key here's the wowhead link to the questline
Otherwise, head in, and jump off the walkway to the right.  Kill stuff. Stay close to the wall, take the door on the left, and slowly make your way through the whelps room, down the stairs, and you're where you need to be.  Kill Rattlegore and all the other skelies, then make sure you have your judgements ready to go.  Your order is Wisdom, Justice, Righeousness, Light.
You'll get 2-4 spirits spawning, slaughter them, and repeat till the Aspect pops.  Kill him, switch judgments, and repeat.  The last series spawns slower, so don't worry.  Once the last Aspect dies, the death knight appears.  Kill him, use the soul in your bags (make sure it's in your bags first or it's a long ride back from the bank), and then you have your very own personalized charger.

I ended up waiting till 73 because I am paranoid, and also because I got distracted.  I did end up clearing Scholo by myself, and the only real problems I had were getting lost and forgetting my quest items.  Luckily the dungeon didn't reset, so I was able to hearth, grab them, clean out my bags, and head back.

Children's Week: bugs are annoying

Well, while most people are talking about the alpha Cataclysm leaks, I've been trying to get my pets for Children's week on as many toons as possible.  And I ran headfirst into an annoying (but not game-breaking) bug.  My hunter (and first 80 and former main) did the Northrend Orphan quests when they were first made available last year.  Sadly this means she CANNOT repeat them  for the other faction.  Heck, she can't do the quests for the faction she chose either. Now, I thought at first that this was because she's revered with the Oracles so the Frenzyheart Orphan not being available makes sense.  But after picking these quests up on Lyllea and Adowa, neither of whom has ever heard of either faction, I got rather frustrated.  So I went and killed Timbermaw (wtb Diplomat before Cat).

I had decided that tomorrow I was going to switch factions and try again, when lo and behold, wow.com posted on the subject complete with a couple blue posts, which I am reproducing in full...

We are aware of the issue that is currently affecting the Children's Week quest line in Dalaran which does not allow players who have completed the quest line last year to take part in it again this year. We do not currently have a fix planned to address this issue at this point in time.

source

 Bashlok -- Dalaran Children's Week Quest Line Issue

To clarify, this issue won't be able to be resolved for Children's Week this year. If you completed the quest previously you won't be able to complete it again for the other pet this year.

Now, I understand bad bugs. I accept that my hunter will not be able to get a Frenzyheart orphan. That's okay. BUT, this could have been handled better from the beginning. If you're not meant to repeat the Northrend Orphan quests, having the questgiver say so CLEARLY would have been nice. Or, having a blue post or log in post to that effect. Instead, we get no info for several days and then get told the issue cannot be resolved before the end of the week. While I find that annoying, I'm not going to quit over it. I am annoyed though.

So, if I were in charge of Q&A (or whatever department tries to find bugs) at Blizzard, what would I have done?
Tested the Northrend Orphan quests prior to release with a toon that had done them when they were available last year. Given that the Cat Alpha is ongoing (and most of my manpower's dealing with that) and most of the rest are working with bugs on live servers, it would probably be difficult to find the time. But an hour or two spent testing before this event started would have saved a great deal of player aggravation, GM time, and bad PR now. Plus, if the bug had been found ahead of time, other measures could have been put in place and there would have been more time to fix it. If the bug is something very complicated, Children's Week could have been extended or split. You could have two Children's Weeks, one for Old World and Outlands, and one for Northrend. I'd be like Greek Orthodox Easter and regular/Protestant/Catholic Easter. Two traditions celebrating the same thing, just at slightly different times. After all, given Northrend's relative isolation until recently, there's no reason their calendar and the Old World one would sync.

Just a bit of QQ and armchair quarterbacking on my part, but I really do feel that this should have been handled differently.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

The cataclysm leaks have started...cataclysm screenshot of Deathwing.  Dunno if it's legit or not, but it certainly looks cool.   I do promise not to spam alpha leaks, but I liked the look of this one.  My current plan is to link to others who have posted it rather than post it here, so those who want to avoid spoilers can.

Children's week is underway, complete with bugs.  I just want a little Wolvar to go with my little Oracle, and hopefully when I log back in I can get one.

I may have actually gotten the hang of feral kitty, but killing the ogres in Nagrand is a pita.  Stupid level 80s, stealing my quest mobs.

With the 15% buff live, I need to try to get into ICC again.  I'd like to get beyond Putricide.  Don't really care about the gear, but I want to see the fights.

Injuries stink

So, lack of posts....

Between a shoulder injury (OWIE) and a migraine that's now a week long (also OWIE) there has been very little computer time and even less wow.  But I promise some sort of entry when I get back from Anachrocon, though it may just be pretty pictures.  Hey, it works for knitting blogs ;)

Oh, and raiding changes.  Yay or boo, depending on my circumstances come Cat.  If my guild actually runs 10mans again, which we kinda have been, then big YAY.  I will have to figure out whether I'm healing as disc (yes, I still have 10man healing fear) or going as shadow (which I still fail at) or switching mains.  But I got some time, and I've got some choices.

And have some pretty screenshots while I sneak off to pack (owie).  Yes, I finally got to run Kara...

The Alt Project Update (wow, this has been a long time coming)

So, the Alt Project.  Long-time readers of this blog may remember this idea.  I get one of each class to 30 and then talk about it.  30 was chosen because it was mount level at the time.  Well, since then mount level's been lowered to 20, and all of the alts are at least 20, so I'm calling it done.  So here's my final conclusions...

Druid-> I have my ups and downs with the druid.  The first 20 levels are not fun, but once you get kitty form things pick up.  I hit 60 and respeced to moonkin, which I enjoy in dungeons but not so much running around the world.  I'm currently contemplating respecing back to feral, but I'm keeping my broccoli second spec.  Healing is different from any other class, but quite fun.  This is a great class for trying all the different roles available to you in WoW, and I would heartily suggest rolling one if you haven't already.  LFG queues can be quite short if one of your specs is tree or feral tank, and you should be able to heal in moonkin spec well into Outlands.  Not so sure on tanking in feral dps spec, but I'd guess you can get away with it until 40 or 50 with decent gear.  As far as soloing group quests, I would guess you can, but I have yet to try it.

Hunter-> YAY! Slow to start but once you get a pet it's so fun.  However the first 10 levels are a bit slow, so you might want to wait until Cat to roll a hunter alt.  Also, hunters are dps, and only dps, so lfg dungeon leveling can be slow.  They completely make up for that with incredible solobility.  This is one of those classes that can solo many group quests.

Mage-> Many people in my guild say you have to be a special kind of crazy to love mages. I agree. I lack that crazy. Painfully slow, but explosions are fun. It's also good practice for when your pet can't hold aggro worth a damn and you have to play the burn them down before they hit you game.  As far as lfg goes, playing a mage in a dungeon is nothing like soloing with one, and is great fun.  AOEfest for the win.  You still go squish easily though, so keep an eye on that threat meter or trade water for extra heals. 

Pallies->Make it past the first 20 and they're great. But the first 20 are kinda painful/boring.  Okay, mostly boring.  Then you become INVINCIBLE.  Not really, but a plate-wearing class with self-heals, buffs, and some nice damage abilities is nothing to sneeze at.  Prot pallies are also generally considered the kings of AOE tanking, and pally tanking is quite easy to pick up and learn.  A great class for LFG, as tanking and healing still get quick queues.  This is another of those can solo many group quests classes. 

Priest-> Ranged dps while insanely squishy. Not my favorite thing. I want a pet. Same problem as mage, really, just mitigated by self healing.  But once you get into the higher levels, it gets much much better.  Another good class for LFG, and you can heal in shadow spec until Outlands at least.  Remember your wand and stacks of drinks are your friend in those low levels, and you'll be fine.

Rogue->Not wowed by the other mechanics, but sneaking rocks.  Again, as only dps you'll have LFG queue issues, and with the squishiness, I'd wait till Cat when they get a self-heal.  On the other hand, no class rules PVP quite as completely as rogues do, so if PVP is your thing I would certainly recommend trying it.  If you're curious about how rogues play, but don't want a toon limited to melee dps, roll a druid and go feral kitty.  It's not the same, but gameplay is similar.

Shamans->Not quite as awesome as pallies, but still quite fun. Plus you can do either melee or ranged dps.  You can heal as elemental till 60, and once you get the totem bars things simplify dramatically.  Just remember to put totems down, and heal self as needed and you should be good.  Not many LFG issues, since you can queue as heals or dps.

Warlock->Doom and pets! More DoTs! This is probably the closest to the hunter class, so no wonder I find it fun.  Again, the dps lfg problem rears its ugly head, but this is a very soloable class, so just go quest while you wait for that queue to pop.  Do watch aggro in dungeons, remember no excessive life tapping, and switch out your voidy for another pet when lfging. 

Warriors-> This class is the quintessential tank class, and most people in lfg will expect you to tank.  This is not my favorite class by a long shot, but it does have its moments.  Just make sure you have some health potions on hand, especially for those first levels.  Stance-dancing is also an option, and can be quite useful.  To anyone wanting to hit stuff with a weapon, the warrior's a great class.  I just don't really like hitting stuff with weapons.

Final Thoughts: I'm not a melee dps fan, so warrior and rogue aren't really my favorite classes.  Mage is a bit squishy, but seriously go run a 5man before you give up on the class.  Trust me, it's completely different and a lot of fun.  Shamans and pallies are a bit bewildering at first, with all the buffs and hammers and auras and totems, but once you get those figured out they're fun.  Warlocks and hunters are always great, and probably the classes I would suggest to brand new players who want to dps at range.  Melee dps would be rogue or warrior, since pallies are a bit boring for those first 20 levels.  I'd suggest a pally or druid for someone who wanted to tank (nothing against the warrior, but both pallies and druids are a bit more flexible role-wise), and for a healer I'd suggest druid or shaman.  Given the pally's lack of group healing, something I find rather frustrating, I wouldn't suggest them, and priests, well, slow-leveling combined with squishiness means I would save them until 3rd or 4th alt. 

As far as where my alts are, the rogue is being ignored, the warrior's now a cloth bank alt, the mage is hanging out at 30 till further notice, the shaman's being leveled slowly as is the pally, and the DK and druid are in a holding pattern till the shaman and pally are done, or until I respec the druid and try feral again to see if it's more fun.

Dear Blogger

Why, oh why, won't you let me comment on my own posts?  GRRRRRRR!  And yes, I am in class and should be busy writing a document on how to construct a widget.

Anyway, this is a response to a comment on my Druid Forms post by Oakstout.

He said...
"I have to agree! I finally leveled up my druid to 80 and although the boomkin form was fun for a while, its kind of silly to still have to use it. But Blizzard has kind of painted themselves in a corner because a lot of talent bonuses are dependent on those forms to work, like the extra int in Boom form and the extra Healing in tree form, etc.

If they take away the tree form then you have to still give resto druids a talent that lets them have extra healing ability even when they aren't in tree form otherwise they will pretty much gimp the class to some degree, wouldn't you think? "

And I say...

I do agree that they'll have to be careful when rebalancing the class, but I suspect that since they're redesigning the tree as well they'll be okay in the end.  Plus they can always fiddle with the mastery bonus to buff further if needed.

And I love the idea of tree form being a bit like heroism, but for when you need more healing now instead of more dps.  In fact, imagine a raid-wide healing buff when a druid shifts into tree form.  That would be very nifty indeed.  I can just hear a healing lead yell "Tree now!" over vent. 

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I am all for a new tree form, and like an Ancient of War, well that just sounds really cool.  I will be much happier with druid forms if they give the rest of them a facelift.

Yay for trying to make pallies viable raid healers.  I think the trick there's going to be balancing that with their ability to tank heal.  I'd love to see it where a good pally can raid heal a 10 man.  The tanking and dps changes are eh, but I think giving crusader strike early on is a good idea.  The early pally levels are, well, BORING, and getting a button to hit will help.

310% speed mounts now trainable.  Since I don't have a toon with a 310 mount, I don't care all that much, but it will be nice.

I have to say that the more they talk about the revamp of zones, the more I look forward to it.

I want another character slot for Cat, Blizz!  Oh, and new player models.  PLEASE?

As far as sparkleponies go, I want one.  I want to get my baby shammy off her elekk.   It keeps getting her stuck in random places, like bank entrances, covered bridges...

Yes, I am still fail at shadow, and still not in a happy place regarding the main.  I ran Naxx last night, cleared two quarters and Saph and KT, but this was the best moment of the night....

That is a Mr Bigglesworth kill by my Little KT.  It was great.

Oh, and I randomly discovered the Underbelly while taking my druid to get her shoes shined in Threads of Fate.  Weird.