Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back today with another Memories of Vanilla post for you!
Last time, I told the story of how I FINALLY hit level 60 in World of Warcraft - grinding zombies and cultists over in the Eastern Plaguelands. And while that was a big milestone for me, it really left me with one burning question:
Now what?
So join me, as I recount the story of how I decided on a goal for my freshly capped shadow priest, as well as some of the adventures that happened as I tried to achieve it! If you like this story, remember to follow my blog for more by adding yourself to my email list below. And, of course, check out my videos over on YouTube, as I put all of this content in a more engaging style over there as well.
But without further ado, let's get right into the story!
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I hit level 60 in the early summer of 2006, basically a full year after I'd started playing the game. However, I quickly noticed that I had no idea what to do. Leika had told me of the dungeons and raids - of Stratholme and Molten Core in particular - so I figured that it would probably be a good idea to run those.
Stratholme
And so, shortly after hitting level 60, I began running the only max-level dungeons I really knew about - Stratholme, Scholomance, and UBRS. Finding groups was pretty easy since everyone always wanted a priest - especially in the dungeons with lots of undead (shackle is OP), but other than "get blues" I didn't really have a goal.
One day, however, this all changed. I don't remember exactly where it was or what I was doing, but I came across a warlock fully decked out in the full tier 0 set - the Dreadmist Raiment. Instantly, I was hooked and convinced myself that I HAD to have it as well. After all, it just looked so...shadow-priesty!
Jandice Barov
So, I chatted with Leika, did some Thottbot searches, and began my long scavenger hunt-like adventure. Along the way, I picked up some great items, like the Starfire Tiara from UBRS and some pieces of the Devout set - you know, the set I SHOULD have been aiming for - but progress was slow.
Eventually, I managed to get a few pieces of the set - gloves, belt, boots, and helm. But I distinctly remember one item constantly eluding me - the shoulders. I must have run Scholomance to farm Jandice Barov at least a dozen times, but each time the shoulders remained out of reach. I was about to give up - after all, the summer was quickly coming to an end and I would be leaving for my year abroad soon, but one day I got a call from Leika saying he was setting up a Scholo group and they needed a healer. I sighed, but agreed to come heal as soon as I got home (I was out at the store with my mom at the time). About 20 minutes later, I was seated at my computer with Silvite in flight up to the Western Plaguelands.
The dungeon was pretty easy to be honest. Since the game had already been out for a while, most of us were pretty well geared (especially Leika), so it didn't take long for us to make it down to Jandice. Our onslaught began, and quickly she fell to our combined might. And there, sparkling on her corpse, I found them - the Dreadmist Mantle.
Needless to say, I got my shoulders...
Dreadmist Mantle
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I hope you enjoyed this short story of my initial goals as a level 60 shadow priest back in the day. Really, I think it's because I had no idea what I was doing that I ended up trying for a completely random set, but it gave my experience that much more meaning. Sure, I wouldn't be able to upgrade them, but to me, it was all about looking badass. And though I never completed the set back in the day (missed out on the robes), it was still a great adventure trying to.
Anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this story and would like to see more in the future, remember to follow my blog by adding yourself to my mailing list below. Also, consider checking out my video content over on YouTube. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates when more content is released, and consider supporting me on Patreon if you'd like some additional perks! There's still quite a bit coming, but until next time...
Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I'm back with a very important Memories story for you.
Ding, 60!
Back in the day, it took ages to get to max level in World of Warcraft. Like...months could go from the time you first created a character until you finally hit level 60. It was a grand adventure, and the feeling of accomplishment upon seeing that final yellow swirl glow around your character was one of the most amazing feelings in all of gaming, in my opinion.
Well after 27 episodes of leveling and adventuring through Azeroth, it's finally time to tell this particular story. Yes, today I'm going to share the story of how I finally hit level 60 in World of Warcraft. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the feels!
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It was the early summer of 2006. School had just let out and I had a decent amount of things on my plate - working part-time, preparing documents and things for my upcoming foreign exchange, and, of course, lots of World of Warcraft time. It had been nearly a year since I'd first stepped foot into Azeroth and I was determined to finally get to 60 and get into raiding before I headed out across the world.
And so, one evening, after finishing up work and taking a much-needed shower, I logged in and looked at my experience bar - just over halfway through level 58. I had nothing to do the next morning. It was time. I was finally going to hit level 60...
The Noxious Glade
The grind began. Having talked with Leika about it before going to work that day, I flew up to Light's Hope Chapel to make my way over to my grinding spot just past the Browman Mill - the Noxious Glade. This area was perfect for my priest, as I could shackle any extra undead I accidentally pulled, mind control the cultists in the area, and collect lots of Scourgestones from the enemies to increase my Argent Dawn reputation along the way. Plus, they dropped lots of cloth for my tailoring, so it was really the ideal place to go.
The grind began. At this point, I was tapped out of quests and I also knew that running dungeons at this point would be mostly futile - as the experience from mobs wasn't really worth forcing my priest into groups. For hours, I ran in a loop around the undead-filled wasteland - mowing down skeletons, ghouls, and cultists as efficiently as I could - all the while watching as my experience bar slowly filled up.
Dread Weaver (My Final Pre-60 Mob)
Around 10:30PM, I hit level 59. My rested experience was all but spent, and I started to doubt if I'd be able to make my goal, but nevertheless I persevered - slaying wave after wave of the scourge forces. Hours passed; cans of Mountain Dew littered the area around my feet; and my eyes and hands grew wearier and wearier.
But it was worth it. It was just after 7:30AM when I killed that final skeletal mage. A yellow aura surrounded my dark-purple shadow priest and I sighed. It was finished. I had reached level 60!
I picked up the phone and immediately called Leika, who was less than thrilled that I woke him up so early on a day he didn't have work. But when I told him I'd capped, he jumped onto his computer.
"Dude, let's go do Stratholme!"
"YEAH!" I agreed. I was super-hyped since it would be my first dungeon as a max level character. I was finally going to be able to enjoy the endgame of World of Warcraft!
Stratholme
When he logged in, I asked him to set up the group while I took a shower since I needed another one after pulling an all-nighter. He agreed and I left for about 20 minutes, sending Silvite off on a flight path back to Light's Hope after grabbing some new spells. However, when I returned to my PC, he'd only been able to find a hunter to join us. Feeling the exhaustion set in, I wearily typed a message to my groupmates:
"Actually guys, I'm super tired from pulling an all-nighter. Leika, let's do this later... I'm gonna hit the sack..."
"Sure thing bud. Good night!" he replied.
I went upstairs, opened my bedroom door, and immediately passed out - with a huge grin on my face.
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I hope you enjoyed this installment of Memories of Vanilla. This particular story is especially nostalgic for me, as you can probably imagine, as it was such a long time coming. Hitting level 60 was such a momentous occasion that to this day, I can't think of anything else in WoW that comes close to the feeling I experienced back then. Sure, Sarth +3 10 man and heroic Lich King 25 were big, but that first time hitting level 60 was just that much sweeter. And it's a memory of a time long past that I'll treasure forever.
But anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this story, let me know by adding yourself to my email list and leaving a comment below. Also, follow me on Facebook and Twitter for content updates, and check out my videos over on YouTube for more! Finally, if you really enjoy my content like this, consider becoming one of my patrons over on Patreon as well, so that I can keep doing what I love in the future. I really appreciate the support. But for now, and as always, take it easy!
Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I've got another Memories story for you.
Felwood Map
Last time, I told about the one event that single-handedly ended my account-sharing escapades with Leika - my (terrible) decision to run Maraudon one afternoon in early spring. Well today, we're going to move north a bit on my freshly obtained, only-me account to a spooky forest zone swarming with demons - Felwood.
If you enjoy this story, remember to add yourself to my mailing list below so you don't miss later stories as well! There's a lot more coming as we approach Classic, but for now, join me as I tell the tale of my bear-slaying adventures in Felwood!
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It was sometime around the end of my 2nd year of high school when I headed to northern Kalimdor. I don't remember exactly what brought me to this zone, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Leika telling me that there was a zone "even creepier than Duskwood." I had actually visited this area once before, only to have my priest get eaten by a diseased wolf or something. But now, I was ready - right around level 48 or 49. And it was time to face this terrifying place.
Felwood
So, I headed over to Felwood, unsure of what the zone truly had in store. As I entered the zone, I was faced with green fel energy and spooky demonic-looking trees all around. I headed up the path, got a few quests from the camp in the southern end of the zone, and began my adventures.
It didn't take long for me to find a goal in this zone, however. As I slayed some random furbolgs to the west of the camp site, I noticed I was getting reputation with a faction called the "Timbermaw Hold". I had no idea what this faction was, but I had a similar feeling to the water pouches back in Tanaris. Something told me that I needed to work on this rep...
Deadwood Village
So, I spent the next few days of my time in WoW running around the furbolg camp, killing everything in my path. It was long and grindy, but eventually, I was neutral with the faction. I still had no idea what, or where, they were, so at around 100/3000 rep into neutral, I gave up and began heading north.
Now, there was a lot to do and see in Felwood, but unfortunately I don't actually remember much of what I did there other than the furbolg grind to be honest. One thing I do remember clearly though is that around level 50 or so, I hit a wall while leveling - no quests that I could do and no idea where else to go. My skinning was also stagnant, somewhere around 230-250. So, instead of using Thottbot like a pro, I did exactly what anyone would do...
I found a nice spot in the forest with a crap-ton of bears in a line and ran back and forth killing and skinning them! What, isn't that what everyone does?
Angerclaw Bears for Days
Yeah so instead of finding some mobs with low health and high exp yield, or farming something that could have yielded valuable items, I sat in Felwood for about 4 days farming bears and skinning them. To be fair, I did make quite a bit from their bones and jaws - both grey items that sold for quite a bit of gold to vendors - but like...I could've farmed demons for Felcloth to craft the Felcloth set... Ahh well. Hindsight is 20/20, right?
Anyway, I eventually reached level 52 or so while grinding the hell out of bears, and so ended the clearest of my Felwood memories. I did the Jaedenar quests while here, of course - including the long escort of the night elf in the cave, but at this point, my mind was all about getting to 60, so I really don't remember much about that event. Sorry for that...
Timbermaw Hold - Where the Ganking Happened...
There is one more event, however, that I do remember extremely clearly from this zone - and it again involves furbolgs. Eventually, Silvite had reached level 55 and was on the northern edge of the zone - right up by Timbermaw Hold. I'd finally gotten the flight path and things were getting much easier finally. As I ran over to the furbolg camp to farm some bear-people for reputation, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye: a flagged level 60 tauren shaman who was nearly dead from running through the tunnel!
Now, being on a PVE server, I wasn't one for PVP at all. Hell, I hated when I got ganked whenever I was flagged (usually after a battleground). But this was basically a free HK! So, naturally, I spammed the hell out of my Mind Blast button! Boom! Direct hit! Down went the shaman, and I relished my honorable kill!
Basically What the Shaman Looked Like
...for about 5 seconds, anyway...
See, shamans have the ability to reincarnate with a decent chunk of health - something that I, as an Alliance priest, never really knew about. As I turned to head down the mountain to get my furbolg-killing on, I was struck from behind by a Frost Shock. Confused, I turned to see that the shaman was alive, and coming for me.
Well...needless to say, I was not prepared. Within 5 seconds of being hit with the frost shock, I was dead on the ground, having been served my just desserts.
I laughed, ran back to my body, and watched as he t-bagged my corpse repeatedly for the next 5 minutes. Once my PVP flag had worn off, I rezzed, targetted him and /bowed. I had found a new respect for the shaman class and never again would I try to gank one.
Well...not in Vanilla at least...
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I hope you enjoyed this story of my adventures in Felwood. It's a zone that I have immense love and nostalgia for because of these two events - the bear farming and the shaman incident. Every time I slay bear-people, I'm sent back to the spring of 2006 and the adventures that transpired in this creepy fel forest.
But anyway, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this story, make sure to sign up for updates by adding your email below. Also, feel free to check out my video content over on YouTube, as I turn all these blog posts into videos when I have time (and I think they're pretty good, at least). Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for additional updates, or just to chat about WoW Classic in your free time. I know that I enjoy talking and nostalgia tripping as much as the next guy, so it could be a lot of fun.
Thank you for reading, and as always - Take it easy!
Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I've got another installment of Memories of Vanilla for your reading pleasure!
Maraudon Entrance
Last time, we dove into the dungeon known as Zul'Farrak for the first time. And while the adventures there were numerous, we eventually finished it up and headed out. Well today, we're going to fast forward a bit to another dungeon. After all, it's been like 13 years, and my memory of time is a bit sketchy anyway, so we might as well jump around a little bit, right?
Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I recount the tale of my first adventure in Maraudon. And, more specifically, the aftermath of my decision to tackle this massive cavernous labyrinth.
It was spring break 2006 - a few days of rest between the third and fourth semester of my sophomore year of high school - and I distinctly remember that I didn't have work at the local pizzeria that day. Waking up at 10AM or so, as you do when you're 16 and don't have school, I immediately fired up my computer and logged into World of Warcraft. After all, Leika was at work and I had the account all to myself for the next 6 hours or so.
And so, I began my adventures - running around in some high-40s zone. I don't remember exactly where I was in the wide World of Warcraft, but I do remember that at some point about an hour after logging in, I got a whisper from someone...
Maraudon Map (This Place is HUGE...)
"Wanna heal Maraudon?"
Well, I had time to kill, and since I'd never done this particular dungeon, I decided it could be a fun experience. So, I agreed. And what followed was among the most painful and intense experiences of my early WoW career...
I joined the group of 4 other adventurers who had clearly all been waiting for a healer for some time. Noticing that they were all around level 50 or so, I figured I might be too low at around level 48. However, they reassured me - saying that it would be fine as long as I stayed around the back of the group. With a sigh of relief, I headed over to everyone's favorite zone - Desolace - and began the first portion of the adventure...finding the entrance to the dungeon.
I had a general idea of where this dungeon was located, having accidentally run into the entrance back when I was questing in this zone a few months back, but nevertheless I ended up getting lost and needed the warlock in our group to summon me. Yeah, I was that guy...but eventually we were able to zone in and begin the dungeon itself.
Now this particular part of the story is quite fuzzy, as there were so many different sub-zones and monsters in this dungeon, but as we progressed (SLOWLY) through the caverns, I distinctly remember three events - the slow-moving slimes, the Satyr boss and loot drama, and the larvae spawning tube. I don't remember exactly what order they came in (even now, the full dungeon is too big and confusing for me to remember), but here's how it went...
Noxious Slime
First of all, the slimes. As we approached this large pack of slimes in one cavern, our tank warned us all not to get too close to them, as they would completely demolish anyone they touched. I, however, tried to keep everyone alive as they broke this rule, and subsequently got healing aggro and died from the slimes as a result. Luckily I was soulstoned, so I was able to rez and we narrowly avoided a wipe, but this was definitely a first. Who puts overpowered, but super-slow moving slimes in a dungeon anyway?
Anyway, after getting considerably lost in this massive labyrinth we came across another room - this time a large purple area with satyrs and treants spread througout. We fought our way through the demons, eventually coming across a room with a single named satyr stood in the center - Lord Vyletongue. Our tank, likely one of the least experienced ones I'd met until that point (which was saying a lot) charged right in, pulling the stealthed satyrs in the process. Oops...
Lord Vyletongue
As a result of the unexpected chaos, we wiped, then made our way back to the entrance. However, in the process of running back in, we all followed one person and ended up in a completely different entrance than the one we'd already cleared. Being noobs, however, none of us really knew why it was different and full of mobs, so we simply began pulling the trash and moving forward - again, as slowly as ever.
Eventually, we made it back to that room with the treants and satyrs. We carefully moved up the stairs to where Lord Vyletongue was located, this time ready to take him on. Using cc, line of sight, and careful kill targeting tactics, we defeated him and were rewarded with a dagger that had some bonus shadow damage as a chance-on-hit effect. Being a shadow priest, I instantly rolled need. After all, more shadow damage was always a plus, right?
Well...not exactly. See, we had a rogue in our group who was less than thrilled when I received a melee weapon. After all, the chance-on-hit was for MELEE attacks, not spells. And while I didn't really know the difference, he clearly did. Calling me a ninja (which, I mean, is fair), he dropped group and we had to head back out to find a replacement.
The Larvae-Spawning Tube
We'd been in here for a while now - getting lost and fighting slimes for something like 2 hours, but hey, I was enjoying it. I still had plenty of time until Leika would be getting home, so I could play to my heart's content! Eventually we got a replacement and headed back inside, making our way into a large orange room with a bunch of larvae creatures. We passed through with relative ease, but as we continued toward the water elemental boss, we kept getting attacked by randomly spawning larvae spawns that we thought we'd already killed. After about the 4th time this happened, we decided to backtrack and found that they were coming from a strange tube structure hanging from the ceiling. Definitely weird, but right-clicking on it destroyed it, and we were able to progress.
Time was flying by as we made our way down to the waterfall and into the final stretch of the zone. It was around 3PM by the time we started working our way up the rocky slopes and caverns that marked the near end of the dungeon, and I was super-eager to see the ending to this amazing place. However, as we made our way up a massive hill, a message popped up.
"Disconnected from server."
Weird. Naturally, I immediately logged back in and was greeted with my character on the screen. However, within a few minutes, it popped back up again...
"Disconnected from server"
Uh oh.
The Entrance to the Final Chamber...
Yes, Leika had gotten home from work. I had spent all afternoon running around Maraudon with this group and would not be able to finish it...or COULD I?
I called him up, explained the situation, and begged him to let me finish the dungeon. He wasn't in a great mood that day, but after a few minutes of begging, he agreed to let me have another hour or so, just to finish it up.
Delighted, I logged in, explained to my group that I had had some internet issues, but that I'd solved it (smooth lying, buddy. Don't wanna tell people you're breaking ToS!), and we moved on.
The final stretch of the dungeon was brutal though, with all mobs being significantly more challenging than they had been until then. Somehow, though, we persevered - albeit very slowly. Eventually, the last room was all that remained - with Princess Theradras waiting on her island in the middle.
Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Leika. Another hour had somehow passed as we slaughtered crocolisks and rock elementals... I answered, saying that we were literally at the princess despite having 2 more packs of stone giants standing between us and he very angrily told me that he didn't care. But, being the bro that he was (and through my pathetic begging), I convinced him to give me another 10 minutes.
Princess Theradras
It was do or die...
I told my group that I had to go to work in 10 minutes and that we HAD to finish this up now. We pushed through with renewed speed and swiftly pulled to that final boss. Now, through sheer dumb luck or whatever it was, I managed to keep up our tank despite nearly being pushed off the island into the water below. 8 minutes after the phone call from Leika, the princess fell. Collecting our loot, I sighed and thanked the group for the fun just in time...
I hope you enjoyed my rather long story of my adventures in Maraudon. This story in particular, while a bit foggy in my memory, is one of my fondest memories of classic WoW. Back when I had the time and reason to adventure in a dungeon for hours on end, not knowing what to expect with each turn. Also, it is the single event that resulted in Leika giving me the second account, paying to transfer Silvite from the first account to it. I don't remember if that was a feature when the game first came out, or if it came later, but I do remember that it was possible then. After all, Silvite made it safely from Account 1 to Account 2 somehow. And it only took 72 hours! Blazing speed!
All joking aside though, I'm really glad that all this happened, as eventually it meant I could play with my friend and brother, but it also meant that I now had to pay for my own account. No biggie - I had my local pizza job to take care of that $15 every month! And take care of it it did!
But anyway, that's it for today! If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog for more in the future. Check me out over on Facebook and Twitter, and watch my videos over on YouTube if you're interested in video content too! Thanks for reading, and as always...
Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again with another episode of Memories of Vanilla for you all.
Zul'Farrak
Last time, I told the first half of my first ever experience in Zul'Farrak. And while some of the memories in that were fuzzy (like...I think I might've remembered the wrong boss for the Bad Mojo Mask...), today's continuation is still clear as day. So join me, as I finish off my first-ever Zul'Farrak adventure!
Before we get into it though, remember to follow my post by adding yourself to the email list below. You won't want to miss what's coming up, I promise! But with that out of the way, let's dive back into it, shall we?
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Stairs Event (We'd Just Completed)
So we'd just finished off the pyramid stairs event and slaughtered our former NPC allies in cold blood just to loot a quest item from them. Taking a short break for food and mana, I wondered what could be next. After all, we'd been in here a while, and yet I still hadn't finished two of my quests. I began to ask in party chat about Gahz'Rilla's Electrified Scale and the Tiara of the Deep, but halfway through my question, our warrior began running down the hallway to the right and I figured I might as well just follow and see.
The hallway was simple enough, with only a few trolls patrolling back and forth as we charged through. However, as we reached the end of the hallway, I failed to stop running as my allies had - a lesson I should have learned in Scarlet Monastery - and went right into the room beyond...
Now, I didn't pull EVERYTHING in that room, but I did pull more than we could handle with my noobish auto-running. Within 15 seconds, our group lay dead on the floor of what would eventually be our final room in the dungeon. Sighing, we all ran back and pushed forward through the cleared dungeon - hoping to God that nothing would respawn on us as we ran. Luckily, repops hadn't emerged yet (other than random patrols that we may or may not have missed), so we made it back in due time. Buffing up, I apologized and promised to stay back this time as our tank prepared for the pulls...
Carefully, as if he were now a pro or something, our warrior marked and pulled each pack back into the hallway for us to deal with. Our other caster dps (who might actually have been a warlock and not a mage, since I know he got the Bad Mojo Mask earlier) and our hunter cast some CC on the incoming trolls, and one by one, they fell. As one particular troll fell, I noticed a named mob walk in front of our party - Hydromancer Velratha - and I guessed that a boss fight was imminent.
Hydromancer Velratha
This was confirmed when eventually, after all the nearby packs were safely slain and piled in a heap in the hallway, the question was asked again: "Ready everyone?" Now I wasn't entirely ready, not knowing what was coming, but again, I sheepishly nodded in real life...and typed "Yep" in party chat. The Hydromancer was pulled - again, back into the hallway - and we went to town. She cast some nasty AOE spells which hurt quite a bit, if I remember correctly, and had a totem that I always tried to kill, but never really had success in hitting. But after about a minute of wailing on her, she fell. And with her demise, I looted the Tiara of the Deep!
One down, one to go!
Our warrior proceeded to pull the remaining trolls in the room - pack by pack just as we'd done with the first few before the Hydromancer. Eventually, we all moved into the room and got ourselves into position. The caster, hunter and I all stood to the right of the pool; the warrior, directly in front; and our druid healer, right next to the gong. One final time, the words lit up in chat...
"READY?"
We all nodded. This was it. The final boss! "Let's go!"
The gong rang out with a crash through the speakers, and immediately I was blown away - for out of the pool of water emerged a giant, 3 headed hydra: Gahz'rilla! I knew that he must be it - the way to get the quest item I needed for that sweet sweet 3% mount speed increase. Carefully, after waiting for at least 2 stacks of Sunder Armor, I began my spells.
Gahz'rilla
Honestly, the fight wasn't too spectacular, although we did almost wipe due to the tank getting knocked back out of range of our druid. Luckily, he managed to pull some crazy healer magic (probably Swiftmend now that I think of it) and our warrior survived, but not without some serious positioning issues. We all scattered to get into better places quickly and resumed our assault. Soon enough, the giant lizard fell. And with it, our adventure in Zul'Farrak came to a close.
I looted the scale, said thanks to my group, and added several new people to my friends list. With a smile 10 feet wide, I hit my Hearthstone and said goodbye to the desert trolls...for now...
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I hope you enjoyed this two-part story of my first adventure in Zul'Farrak! Like I said, dungeon stories are always really fun and epic, and this is especially true the first time one runs through them. You might have noticed that we didn't actually kill the last bosses of this dungeon - Ruuzlu and Chief Ukorz Sandscalp. Well, when we were doing the NPC-killing after the stairs, we accidentally (or unknowingly) killed the goblin as he ran away, thus he never opened the door to the final bosses. This was back when he could be attacked, and so...we kinda screwed ourselves over on that one.
Anyway, that's it for today! If you enjoyed this, remember to follow my blog, as well as check out my content over on YouTube! Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates too!
Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again for the next installment of Memories of Vanilla.
Tanaris Map
Last time, I took a break from Silvite to talk a bit about my warrior, Aoyamamotoko. And while it was fun to reminisce about her for a bit, I'd like to continue with Silvite's journey a little bit for now. We've spent a long time in the jungle and the dungeons of Scarlet Monastery, so since I've finally caught up to getting my mount and whatnot, today we're going to head over to the desert wasteland of Tanaris.
Before that though, remember to follow this blog for more updates as they come out, as well as subscribe to my YouTube channel for more classic content. I really appreciate all the support so far, and look forward to making even more once classic is finally out.
But for now, let's get on with the story...
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Handsome Devil, Ain't He?
Silvite was around level 42 or 43 by this point, though honestly I don't remember exactly. I know that around this time, I was spending a lot of time on my warrior though, so it was probably a while after getting my mount. Leika had told me that once I had a mount, the best place to level was the neutral zone of Tanaris - again another zone with a goblin hub. I was starting to get sick of those little green dudes, but I couldn't tell him that - he loved the goblins.
Anyway, following his advice, I took the boat over to Theramore and made the long trek through Dustwallow Marsh, down through the Barrens, and all the way through the winding valley of Thousand Needles. Remember, this was well before the Cataclysm ruined the zone, so I was able to enjoy the journey rather well on my shiny new mount.
Gadgetzan
As I passed through the Shimmering Flats, Leika pointed out a small pass in the mountains - the entrance to the desert. Running up the path, I was greeted with the sight of the goblin town of Gadgetzan - as well as several flagged Horde players standing just outside the entrance. Luckily I was on a PVE server, so I was able to simply run into the town, ignoring their /chickens and other taunts as I did so.
By this point, I could tell that I was sold on this zone for one reason alone - there were so many quests! As I ran around the small town, I saw exclamation mark after exclamation mark - all quests I could pick up and immediately begin doing to continue my leveling journey! I set my hearthstone at the local inn, grabbed the flight point from the NPC outside the southern side of town, and began my next adventure.
Gadgetzan Water Survey (Destination)
If I'm not mistaken, the first quest I did was the one where you ran off to the west of town to check some water pool in the troll area near Zul'Farrak. Not really knowing what I was doing, I ran around the area like an idiot for a while before figuring out what to do. However, immediately upon completing the task, I was jumped by a couple of scarabs or something and killed. What a great way to start the zone...
Wastewander Assassin
Anyway though, the quests I remember most clearly from my adventures throughout Tanaris were the ones with the Wastewander Bandits, as well as the several named ones. For some reason, I really wanted to farm Gadgetzan reputation while I was here, so collecting the water pouches for the repeatable turn-in became kind of a side-quest in and of itself for me. So for a few days, at least, I headed out of town and began killing bandit after bandit to turn in water pouches - even though the reputation was really not all that necessary. Eventually Leika told me that it was basically a pointless endeavor and that I'd get more reputation if and when I leveled in Winterspring, so I stopped. But for a while there, I had a blast slaughtering dudes out in the desert. And...getting ganked by the stealthed rogue mobs...
I hope you enjoyed this short story of my memories of original Tanaris. I know this particular installment is a bit less narrative than my other installments. I think that stems from a general trend around this time of my adventure of me playing more with the goal of leveling faster to 60 rather than grouping with others or trying to achieve a big goal that I was close to reaching. Yeah, I know that killing bandits for reputation in the desert is anything BUT fast, but hey - I was still as noobtastic as ever.
Either way though, that's it for this installment. If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog for updates in the future. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and check out my YouTube channel. We're over 100 subscribers there now, which I feel is an incredible feat and I really appreciate all of the support. Thank you to everyone who's helped to make that possible!
But anyway, that's all I've got for today. Check back again soon for more, but for now...
Hey dudes! Silvite Soltis back with another MoV for you!
Zul'Farrak Loading Screen
Last time, I wrapped up my story of how my ragtag team of adventures saved the baby gryphon, Sharpbeak, from evil forest trolls and acquired the all-important Mallet of Zul'Farrak. And while that was a crazy adventure with a very specific goal, I feel like it's important to backtrack a bit and talk about my first experience with everyone's favorite troll-themed dungeon. So, let's rewind a bit back to level 45 or so and put on some nooby goggles to head across the world to the legendary instance known as Zul'Farrak.
Here we go!
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The first time I went to Zul'Farrak was a chilly day in early 2006. I clearly remember that, though I don't think it was quite winter anymore at that point. I'd just gotten to that point in the "Saving Sharpbeak" quest chain that required me to get "Nekrum's Medallion" from the instance, and considering that I'd gotten a few more quests by that point, it seemed as good a time as any to go for it. However, I distinctly remember that I didn't want to heal, as I was getting pretty tired of being a healing tool at this point (especially since I felt like such a badass bringer of death with my Shadowform), so I set out to find a group as a DPS for a change.
It wasn't too hard to get a group, but it did take a while. About 20 minutes into my spamming of Tanaris general chat and killing some local wildlife, a druid whispered me asking if I'd set up a group if he healed it. So long as I didn't have to heal, I was fine with it. Thus the long campaign truly began. I knew we'd need a mage and a tank - that much was standard dungeon procedure to me at this point. But how to get them to join?
Well...just keep spamming, of course!
I could be mistaken about this next part, but if I'm not wrong, there was a channel called "World" chat at this point, allowing all players in the world to chat with each other at all times. Using this channel (or maybe Trade, I can't really remember at present), I managed to find a hunter, warrior, and mage to fill out our team. With a team of 5, we all headed down and over to the instance.
Or...that was the plan, at least.
Zul'Farrak
Unfortunately, I had no idea where the instance actually was, despite my many adventures in Tanaris and the multitude of quest leading me there. Sheepishly, I asked the druid if he could guide me there, as I'd not done it. And man, he was a bro about it, running out of the instance and all the way back over to me in Gadgetzan to guide me to the nearby instance. Eventually, (something around an hour after I'd initially set out to find a group, mind you) the five of us were stood inside and ready to begin. As was custom, I passed the lead to our warrior, who proceeded to pull without marking anything - leaving us scrambling to clean up.
Well, not ideal, but it worked. We managed to take out the first and second packs without significant issue. "Not too bad!" I thought to myself as I sat to drink after the third pack.
Well...not yet anyway.
By the end of that first hallway, our tank had begun marking a mob for sheeping and a kill target for us, which made things go even more swimmingly. We progressed along the sandy structures at a fairly brisk pace, pausing briefly for mana only every other pack or so. But the problems were about to start. As we approached that fountain at the split in the road, we were faced with our first hurdle - patrolling mobs in a small space. Until now, we'd had a decent amount of space to work with, pulling back along walls and out of sight. Here, however, there was no escaping the wandering troll troops as they approached. When one troll got low, it began running toward the patrols and instantly grabbed another 4 or so for us to deal with.
I'm not sure if we recovered from that or wiped to be honest, but I do remember sighing as I died from pulling aggro with an ill-timed Mind Blast. Either way, whether we wiped from that or not, we moved onward - passing CAREFULLY around the corners, through the paths, and over to the big open room with all the scarabs with that one boss patrolling around.
Theka the Martyr
Now, of course, someone warned us NOT to AOE because we'd be overwhelmed with scarabs. But, come on! It's vanilla! Someone (probably the hunter) HAD to do it. Thus as we attempted to kill the troll boss guy, we got roflstomped by about 30 scarabs and wiped.
Good times...
Well, fortunately for us, we'd only been in here for about half an hour at this point, so we still had plenty of time to finish the dungeon. So, we ran back in, back over to that boss, and CAREFULLY pulled him backwards into the hallway to avoid a repeat of the previous attempt. With him dead, we continued along the hallway straight over to the Witch Doctor's room.
Now, it may not have been customary to do this back then (and it DEFINITELY isn't now), but for some reason we were instructed to run over all of the graves before we attempted to fight the boss in order to get rid of the adds. Again, I don't remember if this actually did anything for the fight, but I remember that as we killed all the undead trolls that spawned, I got too close and aggroed the Witch Doctor from outside, resulting in him spamming us with spells while we attempted to clean up the mess of death.
It wasn't pretty, but somehow (maybe after wiping once), we managed to kill everything in that room and get our loot - the Bad Mojo Mask! Super-hyped up, I smashed the need button! And within seconds, I received...
Bad Mojo Mask
Absolutely nothing.
Again, much like Whitemane's Chappeau, I was beaten by our local mage for this amazing headpiece... Aww man!
Well...by this point I was getting pretty used to it, so we pressed onward without issue. By this point, I was getting really tired of this instance, but hey - the end had to be close, right? And so, we moved around the corner and were greeted with a MASSIVE pyramid structure and several troll huts with packs of mobs, patrols, and a whole bunch of adventures just waiting to be had.
Our tank pulled the patrols first, clearing a path up to the pyramid. However, our mage (yeah the guy with the shiny new mask...) mentioned that for 'the event' we'd better have everything cleared. Curious, I asked:
"What event?"
"Oh! You're new here, huh? You'll see! :)" he replied.
"Ok..."
With surprising speed and ease, we cleaned out all the mobs wandering outside, including a random patrol that was wandering around a different path off to the south-west. Slowly, we headed up the steps of the pyramid to face him - the Sandfury Executioner.
Now, I expected this to be some big epic boss encounter, but he just kind of fell over. One of my party members looted him, picked up the key, and ran over to the cages that lay just beyond.
"Ready?" he asked us.
The Stair Event
Clearly everyone else was ready, so I went along with them and watched as the doors swung open and out stepped a group of 5 NPCs. As they walked over to the edge of the steps, I gasped in real life at the sight of what was happening at the base of the pyramid: hundreds of trolls had just spawned. And before I could gather my composure, they began running up the steps towards us...
Luckily, they were mostly non-elites, so even though there were several running up at any time, we managed to pick them off fairly easily. Still, I felt uneasy as the pack below never seemed to get any smaller, despite the increasing size of the waves of approaching enemies. Eventually, I managed to sit for a moment to drink and catch my breath, but as I did so, I watched as two particular trolls spawned at the back of the pack - Nekrum Gutchewer and Shadowpriest Sezz'ziz.
A Sandfury Cretin
With new strength, we pushed through the final waves of troll mobs and began our attack on the troll leaders. Somehow, despite all the hardship and lack of mana, we managed to defeat the two and were rewarded with some basic loot stuffs and a quest item (yay Nekrum's Medallion!). Mission accomplished!
Well...not quite. Again, one party member asked "Ready?". To this, I just sighed and sat to drink before nodding. Without any idea of what was going on, I looked on in amazement as the NPCs we'd just saved turned red and began attacking our group. Our mage managed to sheep one add while we burned each of the others in some sort of order, but it was pretty much a huge free-for-all. Ahh well...we can't all be epic gaming legends, right?
Anyway, Sergeant Bly and his companions (including the goblin that tried to run away) fell, and we looted yet another quest item from his corpse before we continued our assault. After all, there were still two objectives left for me at this point - Gahz'rilla's Electrified Scale and the Tiara of the Deep. Naturally, I had no idea where these items were, but I followed the team as they ran down the last remaining pathway...
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I hope you enjoyed this tale of adventures in Zul'Farrak. Originally, I'd intended for this story to be one installment by itself, but as I worked, I realized that it's just too much for one post. So, I decided at the last minute that I should save the ending for another story. After all, dungeons are just too epic to tell about in one sitting, right?
Anyway that's it for today. If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog for the conclusion! Also, check out my YouTube channel for similar content in video form. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates or to chitchat about Classic WoW. And no matter where you are or what you're doing...
Hey dudes! Silvite Soltis here today with ANOTHER top 5 list.
Vanilla WoW is known for many things - the community, the epic-long dungeons and PVP battles, and the awesome leveling experience to name a few. And while I've covered a few of those in previous top 5s, there's another important aspect of the game that I haven't really touched on yet - Loot!
Loot and gear are among the most important items in any MMO. And of course World of Warcraft is no exception. And while we've had many (and I mean MANY) different gear sets over the years, I feel that those introduced back in Classic are among the most popular and artistically inspired pieces we've ever seen.
That being said, there are an absolute ton of great sets spread throughout the game, including dungeons, raids, and crafted gear. So, to start, we're going to head back into Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Onyxia's Lair, Ahn'Qiraj, and Naxxramas to talk about my picks for the TOP 5 Classic WoW Tier Sets. Keep in mind that these are all my own personal opinion and mostly focus on their appearances, so don't be offended if you share a different view. We're all different people with different tastes after all, so instead of starting a flame war, feel free to share your own top 5 in the comments! I'd love to hear what you have to say.
But with that out of the way, let's get into the list...
#5 - The Earthshatterer
K so, as a person who basically only ever played Alliance, I'll be the first to say that I absolutely adore the shaman sets - all of them, to be honest. And while the first two tiers are a bit too colorful (and purple) to give me the impression of what a shaman should be, the tier 3 set LOOKS shamanistic to me. Glowing magma shoulders with somewhat sinister looking eye effects make this set look really fantastic. If I ever saw someone wearing this in a battleground, or even just out in the open world back in late 2006, I knew to steer clear.
That being said, it's definitely among the sets I saw the least back in the day - only really getting a good look when it was redone for Wrath of the Lich King's tier 7 and 7.5 sets. Still, it's an awesome looking set that I'm really excited to see my guildmates get in the future.
#4 - Battlegear of Wrath
Ahh, the classic warrior - with gigantic shoulderpads and a freaking axe on its helmet. The tier 2 warrior gear is definitely my favorite warrior set of all-time. Though it may be a bit too colorful for what one might imagine a badass fantasy warrior wearing, I think that's part of the aesthetic of this gear. The glowing green on the shoulders and the full-head coverage (complete with horns and blades) make this set just exude an aura of power and importance.
If your tank had this set, you knew you were well-protected. And if you play a warrior in Classic, you should be damn sure to run Onyxia and BWL every week to fill out this skull-covered mass of metal awesomeness!
#3 - Nemesis Raiment
Speaking of Tier 2, here's another set that I love from that era of raiding - the Nemesis Raiment for warlocks is one of the most badass sets of cloth armor out there. Not only does it get the shadowy feel of warlocks with its dark purple and fel-green color, but it also has demonic glowing skulls for shoulders and the helm. Plus, it's got massive horns on the top, which makes basically everyone wearing this set a full head taller.
Compared with the rainbow fabulosity of their tier 1 set, I feel this is a much more accurate representation of the edginess of the warlock. Sure, it might not offer as much protection as the warrior's Wrath set, but for a warlock dabbling in demonic energies and shadow magic, a sinister outfit like this will suit the bill just fine. If I played a warlock in Classic, this would have to be my endgame goal...
And I'd spam the hell out of Shadowbolt to get there...
#2 - Dreamwalker Raiment
The only druid gear I really like in Classic, the Dreamwalker Raiment is one of the most visually appealing sets in all of World of Warcraft to me even to this day. I was overjoyed to get the tier 7.5 version on my tauren back in WotLK, but I always wished I could have gotten the original back in the day for one reason above all else.
It's FREAKING green. Like...super green.
Yeah it's a bit of a personal preference, but I really love the color green. Add into the mix that the whole idea of druidism is about nature and ties in with the emerald dragonflight, and one can really start to see how well this set matches with the class aesthetic.
When I set out choosing a main for WoW Classic, I was actually really torn between two options - troll priest or night elf druid. And while in the end I chose to go with a troll, I can say 100% that this set was a very big influence on my heavy consideration of the druid class. Love it and really hope to see a lot of Tier 3 druids from 2021 or so - especially in my groups!
Honorable Mentions
Judgement Armor
Plagueheart Raiment
Frostfire Regalia
Vestments of Faith
Bloodfang Armor
Dishonorable Mentions - ALL OF THE AQ40 SETS!
#1 - Vestments of Prophecy
Vestments of Prophecy
Alright, so this is probably super-unexpected for a lot of people, but my ABSOLUTE favorite classic WoW tier set has got to be the Tier 1 priest gear - the Vestments of Prophecy. While the other sets in this list (including the honorable mentions) all have a special place in my heart, the priest tier 1 is just way closer to me.
There are a few reasons for this. Number 1, it's the only set that I got any pieces of back in the day (bought the belt from the auction house right around the launch of the Burning Crusade). As such, it's a got some sentimental value. Number 2, and more importantly, it just looks like how one would imagine a high-priest to look - whether in reality or in fantasy. The shoulders look like religious garments. The robe is embroidered in gold and silver, and the helm is more of an extension of the back, rather than a hat of some sort, making the character look more high-ranking in my opinion - especially when combined with the epic healing staff, Benediction.
But honestly at THIS moment, I think the biggest reason that I love this set so much is that it's the set I see myself wearing the longest upon reaching 60 in WoW Classic. As a dad with two small children, I probably won't be able to commit much time to hardcore raiding. And as such, I'll probably be an MC raider for a good chunk of WoW Classic's lifetime - assuming I can manage to raid at all. So, while I'd love to raid all the way up through Naxxramas, I feel that this set will keep me looking sufficiently badass no matter what comes my way. Sure, it might be a silly reason, but it's what I've got to look forward to. Plus, like I said, Benediction with this gear looks super-badass. So...yeah.
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So anyway, that's my list of the Top 5 Classic WoW Tier Sets. I'm sure that as we move forward through classic, my views will change as I see more and more gear, but for now I'd love to know what you think. Summer is fast approaching, so let me know which sets you think look the coolest by posting a comment below. If you enjoyed this list and would like to see more in the future, follow my blog by adding yourself to my email list below. Check out my videos over on YouTube, and feel free to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates.
But anyway, that's all for now. See you next time, and as always...
