Memories of TBC - Episode 4: Through the Dark Portal

Hey dudes - Silvite Soltis here and today I'm back with the next installment of Memories of TBC: my reflective series of my Burning Crusade adventures.

Last time, I told the story of how I met Thrillseeker - one of my longest in-game friends to date. And though that was one of my fondest WoW memories from 2007, it did take place on Azeroth, and not really in Burning Crusade content. Well today, we're finally ready to step through the Dark Portal and enter the fantastical realm of Outland. I hope you enjoy! If you do, then add yourself to my mailing list below, and leave a comment letting me know what memories you have from back in the day. I'd love to hear your stories as well!

So, sit back, relax and enjoy as I recount my first true Burning Crusade experience...

Memories of TBC
Episode 4: Through the Dark Portal

It was sometime around the early summer of 2007. As usual, the exact date eludes me, but since I was comfortably seated at my final host family's coffee table in Gifu, Japan, I'm sure it was probably around June. My study abroad was winding down at that point and though I was sad to be leaving the country that I'd come to love so much, I was also excited to get my hands on my own copy of The Burning Crusade when I got home.

TBC Free Trial (Advertisement)

Well, as fate would have it, I didn't need to wait - at least not for a taste. You see, Blizzard implemented a free trial of The Burning Crusade to players who hadn't upgraded their accounts by that point. After hearing this news from Leika, I exploded with excitement. Even though it would only be for ten days (and I wouldn't be able to actually level up), I would finally be able to see what was beyond the dark portal for myself!

So on that hot summer day, I fired up the family laptop, activated the free trial, and logged onto my priest to begin my Outland journey. As usual, Silvite was parked in Ironforge, so I had to wait for the long flight down south to Nethergarde Keep, but that only increased the excitement welling up within me. By the time the gryphon had landed, I was quite literally trembling. I mounted my Stormsaber, which I was still mighty proud of attaining as a human mind you, and I headed south toward where the Dark Portal stood.

The Dark Portal (Blasted Lands)

By this point in TBC, the crater was completely deserted. Everyone who was interested in the expansion had come and passed through months ago, but that allowed me to take in everything that was there - the NPCs standing around outside, the two massive statues that I'd seen on the loading screen so many times over the past two years, and of course the massive green swirly portal that beckoned me toward it. Finally, I decided it was time, and I charged forward.

Hellfire Peninsula

After a full minute or so stuck on the loading screen, I found myself on the Stair of Destiny facing an alien world. And while I'm sure many people's first memories of Outland are of the massive army fighting the pit lord's forces at the base of the portal, mine was the sky. The glowing green lights and many celestial orbs high above the zone absolutely enthralled me - especially when I looked down to see the barren, hellish wasteland that was Hellfire Peninsula. Running forward down the first portion of the steps, I found the first quest giver for the zone.

"Take the flight to Honor Hold!" he told me.

"Well alright. I guess I'm heading to Honor Hold." I thought to myself as I hopped on the gryphon he provided. Over the wasteland Silvite flew and again, I took in all the sights I could. There was a road running along the middle of the zone, as well as swarms of elite demons on the ground below. I looked up at the sky again, amazed by its appearance. Why was this world so different from Azeroth? And why exactly were we here? I didn't have the faintest clue about the lore of Outland, but I was ready to find out.

But, one thing at a time! To start, I had some quests to do. Upon landing in Honor Hold, I set about exploring - finding the inn and setting my hearthstone there, running to the top of the keep, and checking out the towers on the outskirts of town. At this point in my adventure, all of the quests and events start to blur together into a mass of Hellfire Peninsula, so I'm not 100% sure of exactly how each bit went over that few days of the trial. Still, there is one quest that I do remember vividly - the gathering quest Waste Not, Want Not.

Tagar Spinebreaker

The general premise of this quest was, and still is, very simple: go gather some wood and metal in the area just north of Honor Hold. However, as I was still a noob even at level 60, this quest took me far longer than I would like to admit. You see, there were lots of fel orcs spread throughout this area that liked to wander back and forth around the edge of the cliff. The casters and normal orcs weren't too difficult on their own, but more than once I was caught off guard by one of the wolf riders wandering nearby. To make matters worse, there was also a level 61 elite patrol, Tagar Spinebreaker, who snuck up on me more than once when I got too far to the left.

The worst part about doing this quest, however, was actually finding the metal and wood. Having taken nearly a year to level to 60 back in Vanilla, I was no stranger to item collection quests, but on the family laptop I was using at the time, I had a very hard time distinguishing what objects were metals for the quest, or part of the broken-down catapults that I couldn't click on. Combine this with the numerous fel orcs swarming the area and my own incompetence as a player back then, and you can see how this quest gave me so much trouble.

Eventually, after probably a full hour of killing orcs and clicking on scenery, I finished that quest and headed back toward Honor Hold to turn it in. And while the reward options weren't useful to me as a priest, I felt great that my adventure in Outland had finally begun...


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I hope you enjoyed this brief story about my first proper Burning Crusade experience. I had many more adventures during that 10 day expansion trial, but since I stopped questing in Hellfire when my experience capped (1 away from leveling up to 61), I'm not really sure where I finally finished. Still, it was fun for sure, and I was really happy to finally step into that crazy outer-space realm. And now more than ever, I'm super-stoked to do it all again when Classic TBC is out!

But anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this post, let me know by leaving a comment down below! Also, consider adding yourself to my mailing list so you don't miss out on more stories like this in the future. Follow me over on Twitter for updates as well, and consider checking out my YouTube channel if you enjoy video content too! Thanks for reading, have an amazing day, and as always...

Take it easy!

Top 5 - Worst Classic Quests

Hey dudes, Silvite Soltis here. And today, I've got another top 5 post for you.

In looking over some of my previous top 5s, I realized that I typically focus on the best things, which is pretty much expected for something called a Top 5. So, today, I thought it might be a bit of fun to rant about just the opposite - the Worst 5 of something so to speak. And since I've been enjoying leveling my dwarf paladin and orc shaman when not raiding BWL, I've been rudely reminded of some terribad quests that exist in Classic.

So, that's what we're going to talk about today: My Top 5 Worst Classic Quests.

Let's get started.

#5 - A Solvent Spirit

Screw these lobster dudes...

Starting off my list is this absolute shitshow of a quest that EVERY player that's ever rolled an orc or a troll has experienced at least once. At first glance, A Solvent Spirit seems simple enough - kill some crabs and lobster dudes along the coast of southern Durotar and collect some items from them. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong.

First off, this is one of those underwater quests for the most part, as that's where most of the crabs and all of the lobster guys are, so that's already annoying enough. But it gets worse - the drop rate of the mucus and eyes is HORRENDOUS. Sure, wowhead might say it's around 30% or whatever, but I can personally attest to having had to grind these sons of bitches for over an hour, which just shouldn't happen on a level 8 quest!

Sure it's not the worst quest in the game, but I hate A Solvent Spirit. But hey, at least the Really Sticky Glue was a nice reward, right?

#4 - Deep Ocean, Vast Sea

Looks easy, right?

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I completely forgot that this quest existed - especially since I haven't been to Darkshore in ages, but Deep Ocean, Vast Sea has got to be one of the most horrendously designed quests in the history of not just classic, but all of WoW. Again, it's one of those underwater quests (luckily the last one on this list, in case you're wondering), which already makes it a pain in the ass to do - especially at like level 17 when you'd try to do it. Some quests like this, though, aren't all that bad - like the Gnomish tools quest in Durotar. Swim down, pick up some items, then swim up.

Oh, if only it were so simple...

No, the ships you have to swim down into to collect the lockboxes from are absolutely SWARMING with murlocs. And not just any murlocs either, murlocs that can apparently see through walls and will eat your face faster than your shitty little aquatic form can help flail away through the water.

So...yeah, this quest sucks. And I'm pretty glad that I haven't had a reason to attempt it in Classic yet.

#3 - Mok'thardin's Enchantment

1.9% Drop Rate? Good luck!

Next up in this list of dumpster fire quests is the Horde exclusive quest chain from Grom'gol, Mok'thardin's Enchantment. Now, we all know that Classic is full of quests that force you to grind mobs for 10 years for a drop, but if you've ever tried to do this chain, you know the true definition of a grind.

It starts off simple enough, as all these quests do: kill some panthers and tigers to collect claws and a fang. The claws are pretty easy to collect - dropping from Shadowmaw Panthers that you'd normally kill for Hemit Nesingwary anyway. The Pristine Tigress Fang, however, is another story entirely - dropping only from Stranglethorn Tigresses at a measly 6% drop rate (and even THAT sounds too high to me). Be prepared to kill nothing but cats for the next 3 hours of your life...

But anyway, you get the fang! Woo! The worst is over, right? Nope! Go get some raptor feathers! Well...that wasn't so bad, actually. Maybe I'm done now...

Nope! Kill gorillas for the rest of your time in STV to find an Aged Gorilla Sinew! Less than 2% drop rate! That oughta keep you occupied for the next 3 days!

Seriously, screw this quest chain. I'm ok with some grinding, but sub 10% drop rates on quest items back to back is no bueno...

#2 - The Beacon Quests (All 3 of them)

It's just a simple escort, right?

Ahh, here it is! The three quests that EVERYONE expected to be on this list! Quests so infamous that they've been complained about on forums and YouTube videos for over a decade, the three beacon quests located in the Hinterlands, Tanaris, and Feralas are among the most frustrating quests ever designed.

The quests themselves are pretty straightforward - loot an item, find the robotic chicken, then escort it to a large open space where it can takeoff (because it can fly, obviously). The actual escort, however, is the biggest pain in the ass ever conceived. Though the chickens have a clear and set path, they aggro literally EVERYTHING near that path. And as if the massive aggro range isn't bad enough, each of these three escort events has set points where groups of between 2-4 mobs will spawn and start attacking both the chicken and you. So if you thought you could solo this at the appropriate level, think again!

But, in my opinion, the worst part of these three quests isn't the mobs or the aggro range - it's the freaking blazing saddles speed at which the chickens run ahead. Seriously, why can't we take a mana break for like 10 seconds after pulling everything in a 30 yard radius AND having 4 mobs spawn and attack us?!!!?!?!??!?!

Needless to say, I hate all three of these damn chicken escorts...but not as much as I hate the number 1 quest on this list! But first, some dishonorable mentions, just for good measure...

Dishonorable Mentions

Bloody Bone Necklaces - So many gd trolls die for this quest that it isn't even funny.

Verog the Dervish - Just how many fucking centaur do I have to kill before he spawns?

The Messenger Quests in Lakeshire - Because I'm not a goddamn mailman!

#1 - The Horde Onyxia Attunement

Ok so...this might be super unexpected, especially after I praised the hell out of the Alliance's Ony attunement chain, but GOD DAMN the Horde's questline is awful. First off, you can't even start this chain until around level 58, as the very first quest involves running Lower Blackrock Spire. Then, after finishing that admittedly straightforward quest, you're tasked with going back to Upper Blackrock Spire to kill Rend - meaning after running all the way back to Orgrimmar you have to get back to UBRS - hopefully with someone who has actually assembled the damn Seal of Ascension.

Ok, to be fair, this isn't all that bad for Classic. But hold on, it gets a LOT worse...

After finishing the first portion and turning in Rend's head, which triggers a much sought-after world buff that only Horde gets, you get the super-fun task of tracking down Rexxar somewhere in Desolace.

God...dammit.

He could be ANYWHERE along that path...and more...

If you play Horde, you've probably noticed that there is literally someone asking where Rexxar is at least 3 times every hour in LFG chat. This is because his patrol around Desolace and Feralas is absolutely massive and he could be anywhere at any point. Luckily, you'll have a mount by the time you do this quest, so it's not as bad as leveling in Desolace, but still...screw finding this guy, alright?

Anyway after talking with him, you end up having to go all the way across the map to the Western Plaguelands, then back into UBRS to collect dragon eyes. If there's ANYONE else on the quest in your group, good luck getting enough eyes in one run! They drop 2 at a time and only one person can loot them from any given mob, so you might have to run it more than once to get all 20 needed.

But you know, that's still not too bad if I'm being honest. The worst part is yet to come.

Here's Emberstrife...

After collecting a bunch of eyes and finding Rexxar again, you need to find and talk to some dragon in Dustwallow Marsh, who tasks you with finding and killing 3 unique drakes in different corners of the world. Because that's how everyone wants to spend their evening - putting together a raid group to run around the entire world map to kill 3 mobs. Then, to make matters worse, you have to go BACK to Dustwallow Marsh, back to that dragon in the cave to turn in those 3 quests before you can pick up ANOTHER quest to go and kill a dragon in the fucking Wetlands!

So, you get over to Hammerfall, run down into the marshes to the south, get to Grim Batol and pray to god that Axtroz isn't bugged. Oh yeah as if running all over the place and killing random named dragons everywhere isn't bad enough, the quest itself is bugged to hell - with the skull very often not showing up on the corpse for one or more people on the quest! This literally happened to me FOUR TIMES.

A drake without a skull...apparently...

Now I know what you're thinking - "Maybe you didn't have the right Test of Skulls quest." But no, I had done the 3 drakes, gone back to the Marsh, and had picked up Test of Skulls - Axtroz. It was all for naught and I had to abandon the quest after joining two different raid groups and pulling several of my guildies in to help me finish it. Luckily, someone re-shared the quest after I dropped it and I was able to loot the skull after disabling ALL my addons and picking up the quest, but it literally made no sense.

Anyway, yeah, I've got a bit of a personal vendetta against this quest chain, but hell, it's my list and I'm sticking to it. Fuck the Horde Ony attunement quest. I much prefer Jailbreak!

Oh, and after you finally finish all the drake quests, you have to go find Rexxar again, do UBRS a 3rd time, and get the Drakefire Amulet by finding Rexxar a fucking fourth time for good measure. GG Blizz. GG...

Final Thoughts

So, yeah, there you have it - just a few of the worst quests Classic has to offer. Interestingly, I actually had quite a challenge thinking of quests to fill this list with, as the game has so many really interesting ones that are much more memorable. But, as you can tell, there's still some crap mixed in among all the gems... Obviously, it goes without saying that these are all my opinion, and I'm sure that there are many other terrible quests in the game. So, if you think I missed any terrible quests, or if you have your own Worst 5, let me know by leaving a comment down below.

Anyway though, that's it for today. If you liked this post and would like to see more, feel free to add yourself to my mailing list below, so you don't miss out on any other posts in the future. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates on new content, and check out my videos over on YouTube if you prefer to watch this type of content instead. Have an awesome day, good luck with your questing adventures, and as always...

Take it easy!

Top 5 - Classic Horde Leveling Zones

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here! And today, I'm pleased to be back with another top 5 list for you!

As we all know, World of Warcraft Classic has a lot to offer for anyone who decides to pick it up and play. But no matter if your goal is raiding, PVP, or just to enjoy some good old fashioned RP, you're going to have to level up a bit. It's basically unavoidable...unless you're doing some level 1 gnome raids on Orgrimmar, that is...

Anyway, since I've already talked about some of the more well-known quests, I thought it might be fun to talk about some of my favorite leveling zones again now that Classic is out. Plus, I've been maining Horde this time around, so I've definitely a different perspective on things than I used to. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I tell you my Top 5 Classic Horde Leveling Zones.

#5 - Stranglethorn Vale

Stranglethorn Vale

Stranglethorn Vale is a lush jungle with a rich backstory, great quests, and one of the greatest soundtracks of any zone in Classic. It is also the only zone that is unavoidable while leveling (so long as you're not solely dungeon grinding, that is). No matter whether you're playing Horde or Alliance, you'll find yourself in this jungle eventually...

I love Stranglethorn Vale for a few reasons - the massive number of beasts to kill and skin, the jungle-music that adds to the atmosphere, and the wide level 30-50 range to name a few. But my favorite aspect of STV after playing through this zone as a Horde character this time has got to be the sheer number of quests it provides - especially for my faction. Trolls and Tauren alike can start questing here, as I said, at around level 30 or so, killing tigers and panthers for Hemit Nesingwary Jr. up in the north. You continue killing trolls, raptors, and pirates for quest givers in Grom'gol and Booty Bay for ages - always having something to do - while constantly hearing that relaxing jungle beat in the background. It's really no wonder this was at the top of my list last time I thought about the different zones of Classic.

Grom'Gol

STV has its issues - the gankfest it is on PVP servers, the stretches of few to no quests for some levels, and the massive size of the jungle to name a few. However, it is without a doubt one of the quintessential zones of Classic leveling. And with Grom'Gol having a near perfect position in the middle portion of the zone, it becomes all that much better for the Horde.

#4 - Thousand Needles

Thousand Needles

Thousand Needles is, without a doubt, my most unexpected entry on this list. Nevertheless, it was one of the more memorable and fruitful zones I quested in on my troll's journey to 60. Though somewhat confusing and definitely very large geographically for a pre-40 character, it is chocked full of interesting and useful quests.

Darkcloud Pinnacle

First off, you have the Darkcloud Pinnacle quests, which basically ask you to climb up on top of the massive pillars of the zone and take on the Grimtotem clan head-on. If you weren't careful, you could tumble into the valley below, adding an extra element of danger to these quests - especially when doing the escort.

Secondly, there are tons of centaur here, right around Freewind Post, which are excellent for farming Silk Cloth - an item that my tailoring desperately needed around level 28 or so. These mobs are close together and die fairly quickly, which makes it a nice, relaxing place to farm exp when you don't feel like scouring the world for new quests to do.

Shimmering Flats

Finally, the absolute best part of this zone, from a leveling perspective anyway, has got to be the Shimmering Flats: a large open space with more quests than one can even hope to complete in one sitting. Sure, it's pretty far away from Freewind Post, but it's only a little ways from Gadgetzan to the south, so traveling to and fro isn't too bad. Of all the subzones (zones within zones), this is probably my favorite for this reason - quest central!

#3 - Un'Goro Crater

Un'Goro Crater

Un'Goro Crater is a large circular crater in the southernmost part of Kalimdor. This zone is a prehistoric paradise! Home to tar beasts, devilsaurs, and Nintendo spoofs, it is right up there in my favorite zones of all time! It's the only zone in this list that is purely neutral too, so Alliance players, rejoice! You too can do all of the quests here! At least, I'm pretty sure you can...

When leveling my priest in November 2019, I actually nearly forgot this zone existed - only going sometime after level 50. I arrived at Marshal's Refuge with only a handful of quests in my log: mostly dungeon quests for ST that I'd never complete if I remember correctly. But as soon as I picked up the quests here and opened up my map to see where to start, I was blown away. Questie (yes, I use the addon because I'm casual AF) lit up the entire map with so many icons that I could barely see the actual map underneath. It was pretty ridiculous.

Devilsaurs are Dangerous

Needless to say, I was busy in this zone for a long time. But the number of quests isn't why it's so good for leveling - there are lots of zones filled with quests. It is the complete overlapping of the quest items and objectives that make it so amazing. You can leave Marshal's Refuge, run around for an hour picking up soil, dinosaur bones, and ooze samples constantly and STILL not be done with the quests. There are plenty of quests with specific locations to grind in, that's true, but you can easily progress on 3 or 4 other quests while running there and back. And then running to the next area and back. And again. And again.

Combine this amazing questing experience to the nice green color of the zone, the terror of being trampled by a Devilsaur, and the deep, foreboding soundtrack this zone utilizes to keep you on the edge of your seat, and you've got one hell of a leveling zone!

#2 - Feralas

Feralas

Feralas is, most definitely, one of my favorite zones of all time now. Having played Alliance for so long, I feel that I never really appreciated just how epic it is - probably because I always had to wait for that damn boat to get anywhere! As a troll this time, however, I really got to enjoy this lush rain forest the way it should be experienced.

Like most forests, Feralas is green, so it's already a wonderful zone in my book. The music is pleasant, (a mix of STV and Barrens music if I'm not mistaken), and the entire zone is covered in a dense humid-looking fog. It's far away from Orgrimmar, which makes going to town to learn new skills a bit of a pain, but it's got a town with a mailbox, flight master, and everything else that we sometimes take for granted in World of Warcraft. It's this town, I believe, which makes Feralas such an amazing zone for Horde leveling compared to the Alliance.

A Lush Rain Forest

Camp Mojache is located in the eastern part of the zone, literally on the road. There are MANY great quests offered here, but their location is key - many of the Horde quests for Feralas are right around the Camp. There's the epic gnoll quest (yes, I said it) directly to the south, the ogre quests to the north and south-west, and the Muisek quest chain which has objectives all over the map just to name a few. Best of all, there's no need to take the boat to the islands housing Feathermoon Hold for Horde! It's really just an awesome zone to go relax, kill yetis, fish, or do whatever else you want on your journey to 60!

#1 - The Barrens

The Barrens

Because of course it is! The Barrens is, without question, the most iconic Horde leveling zone in World of Warcraft. Though it's pretty dull and colorless - a drab brownish yellow that blends the grasses and rocks together for the most part - the music, quests, and most importantly players of this zone make it an absolute must for anyone leveling a Horde character in Classic.

Similar to STV, The Barrens spans a wide range of levels. Players come here directly either from Mulgore or Durotar around level 10 and may continue to quest here into the 20s. Upon your first trip to the Crossroads, a site of considerable world PVP back in the day if I remember correctly, you pick up around 10 quests to complete - many of which overlap each other similar to Un'Goro later on. You continue questing until you get to around level 17 or so, when many of the quests you end up getting are no longer for The Barrens, but rather a place called Wailing Caverns - the Horde equivalent to the Deadmines.

Bramblescar

Like I said, there are many reasons to love The Barrens: music, quests, and more. But what really makes The Barrens the best Classic leveling zone for Horde players is the community...

In other words, Barrens Chat:

"Has anyone seen Mankrik's wife?"
"Anal [Thunderfuy, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker"

[Insert random political statement here]

Even months after wrapping up my priests quests here, I still love it every time I fly through this zone and glance at my chat box. It always makes me smile...or cringe, depending on the topic of the hour.

Sure, every zone of Classic has its merits, but as a leveling zone for Horde players on a 15 year old internet game, the Barrens reigns supreme.


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So there you have it - my Top 5 Classic Horde Leveling Zones. Honestly, all 5 of these, and many many more, are great zones to level in as underlings of Thrall or the Banshee Queen, but these ones in particular were the ones I enjoyed the most - especially Feralas and The Barrens. It was especially hard to choose which of those two would be the #1 spot.

You might have noticed that I excluded the starting zones, as well as the "max level" zones. This wasn't entirely intentional, as I simply did not feel that the Horde starter zones held up as well as later leveling zones (especially Mulgore), nor did I think that the endgame zones were as enjoyable for leveling. Still, I would like to say that I do love most of the zones in Classic, and you should too! The game is a masterpiece and the zones each have their own unique aspects to enjoy. That being said, let me know which zones are your favorite for leveling by leaving a comment down below. I'd love to hear what you have to say!

But anyway, that's it for today. If you liked this post, why not add yourself to my mailing list? Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for other updates, and check out my videos over on YouTube if you'd like to see more of my content in the future. Thanks a lot for reading, have an awesome day, and as always...

Take it easy!

My Journey to 60: A WoW Classic Story

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here. It's been a while, huh?

Well, I've finally done it. I capped my troll priest over on Mankrik US a few weeks back, dabbled in dungeons, and finally gotten to enjoy some Molten Core and Onyxia as relevant content. But unfortunately, that's meant that I haven't really been making content like I should have. Sorry for that.

But, now that things have settled a bit, I thought it might be a good idea to get back into the swing of things. And what better way to resume my content creation than by making a quick snapshot of my Classic journey thus far?

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I recount my adventures in Azeroth over the past 4 months...

The Early Days

The Beginning

End of Day 1.

The first day of Classic was amazing. I had only recently started a new job over here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and since it was 6AM when the game launched, I ended up not being able to play until I got home in the evening. But oh man! Once I got home, I logged 3 and a half hours straight. Not much if you compare to others, but it's what I could manage. I got to around level 10 in that first session and I enjoyed every minute of it. Best of all, I had little to no competition for mobs because of the early morning hours on Mankrik. It was pretty much the best launch I could imagine.

Over the next week or so, I leveled slowly - finishing off Durotar on the 2nd day of play and moving into the Barrens. Somewhere in the third day or so, I knocked out Ragefire Chasm as well, much to the dismay of my wife. See, I had forgotten just how long Classic dungeons took and estimated I'd be in there for between 30-45 minutes. After all, it wasn't particularly long or difficult, so I assumed it would be quick. An hour and a half later, however, I realized just how different the game was from my memory...

Anyway, I progressed pretty slowly, as you all know. Silvite the troll priest hit level 18 or so somewhere in the 2nd week after the game's launch and I managed to knock out Wailing Caverns shortly after that. The next few weeks, however, proved to be quite challenging...

Levels 20-35: The Grind (Weeks 2-6)

Leveling through a mix of The Barrens, Ashenvale, Thousand Needles, and even a bit of Hillsbrad, I came to realize just how annoying this level bracket could be. Quests were sparse and many of them took me all over the map. Combine this with the fact that I was trying to juggle my new job, my content creation, AND my family and you can imagine just how frustrating this portion of the leveling process was.

To be honest, this portion of the leveling is already quite blurry to me, as I basically ran all over the world frantically trying to find Silk Cloth for my tailoring while also completing whatever quests I could find in the ~40 minutes I could play each night after my kids slept. One thing that I do clearly remember, however, was my first SM Library run - completed in the early hours of a Sunday morning before my family woke up. I didn't have any idea of how long this dungeon would take - only that I really wanted to do it. So, with my priest at level 34, I found a group, made my way over to the dungeon, and got ready to clear it...

That dungeon wasn't particularly challenging - as any of you out there who have run it at this point probably know. But it was epic. And from the final boss, Arcanist Doan, I received two items: the Robes of Doan and, just like my first priest, the Hypnotic Blade. This was definitely one of the finer highlights of my leveling journey...

Levels 36-40: The Longest Mile (October 2019)

Enjoying SM

Somewhere in the early 30s, I dabbled a bit in Stranglethorn Vale, everyone's favorite questing zone. Being on a PVE server, I can truly say that I enjoyed every minute of my time there. However, around the middle of the 30s bracket, my quests there were drying up and I needed to find a new area to quest in. And so, I headed to another level 30 zone - Desolace.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Back before Classic was out, I dedicated one of my Memories of Vanilla stories to this barren wasteland of a zone, saying how enjoyable I found it back in the day. But my god, this place SUCKS so bad for Horde. The flight path is all the way in the south, the quests are spread out all over the place, and you don't even have a mount to make this even the slightest bit better. I tried really hard to enjoy my time here, but it...just sucked.

But wait, there's more!

Because I was starting to feel more pressure to game less while at home, I played less for about 2 full weeks in this range. It wasn't until my school went on fall break in mid-October that I was finally able to speed up a bit. At that point, I was around level 37 or so and I wanted more than anything to hit level 40 and get my shiny Emerald Raptor mount.

Razorfen Downs

And so, this last stretch began. The first day of the break, I managed to hit 39 by running some of the various wings of Scarlet Monastery and questing in STV. Pretty good, but not enough. The next day, I knocked out Razorfen Downs, hung around killing pirates outside of Booty Bay, and finally dinged that magical number - 40! This meant that I could finally run down to Sen'jin Village and...



...not get my mount because I was 20 gold short. GG...

The Mount

I was a bit bummed out that I couldn't get my mount as soon as I hit level 40, but since there wasn't much else I could do about it, I just continued questing and selling literally everything I acquired - other than cloth, that is. It was a long and arduous level, but shortly after reaching level 41, I knew I'd have enough. I traveled to Orgrimmar, put some greens and a blue item that I'd looted off some random mob in STV into the auction house, and logged out for the day.

Got My Mount!

The next morning, I was surprised to see that ALL of my auctions had sold overnight, and so I made the final journey on foot that any Classic character has to make - the run to the riding trainer. As you can see on my YouTube channel, I recorded the occasion as I bought the skill, then my Emerald Raptor mount. I was PUMPED! And even now, this is still one of the best feelings I've experienced in Classic.

...But that's old news now, isn't it?

Fabulous Feralas - The 40s

The rest of my fall break was devoted to getting as far into the 40s as I could. I set an ambitious goal of reaching level 45 by Friday, but by Wednesday I'd only hit 41. Needless to say, I didn't achieve this goal with my pace of play. I did, however, get to fully enjoy what is now one of my favorite zones in Classic: Feralas. As a Horde player this time around, I got to experience just how awesome this zone is for leveling. Loads of the quests are near Camp Mojache, there are tons of ogres with cloth and beasts to skin, and the entire zone is a vibrant green - my favorite color. Every time I left this zone to quest somewhere else, I found myself longing to come back. I really enjoyed it...

But anyway, other than Feralas, I dabbled a bit in the Hinterlands and Tanaris - a zone I really enjoyed back in the day. The desert scenery was nice and the quests were plenty, but soon enough my week off was finished and I had to say goodbye to my long WoW sessions at a mere level 44 - only slightly over the real 'halfway' point of the leveling process.

The Blurry Levels - 45-50

The Infamous Stairs in Zul'Farrak

I made it to level 45 or so by the middle of October, about a week after Dire Maul's release. I managed to run Zul'Farrak around this time, knocking out all of the quests that I'd been working on in Tanaris, and then made my way over to the Hinterlands for an extended stay. This beautiful forest was serene and great for my level range, but to be honest, I don't really remember much about what I did here. I killed a bunch of trolls and wolves and owlkin, I think, but yeah. It just...sorta happened.

Eventually I hit level 50 and I began planning for the endgame. I wondered just how early I could start running BRD to get gear and quests knocked out; what gear could I afford in the auction house; and where the heck I could quest next. After a while, I decided to go to what is now another of my favorite zones in Classic: Un'Goro Crater.

Un'Goro

Un'Goro: A Great Place to Quest!

I didn't realize this the first time I leveled in vanilla, but this zone is absolutely PACKED with quests. Though there are no humanoids to kill, and thus no cloth for my tailoring, the sheer number of quests I was able to collect and work on simultaneously made this an absolute must stop zone for my leveling adventure.

While in this lush prehistoric jungle, I made friends with a druid who I ran into repeatedly, got killed by a bunch of silithid while rubbing some lotion on a crystal, and tried to solo Blazerunner at level 54 only to get absolutely demolished. All in all, it was good times and I'm actually really looking forward to doing it again with an alt at some point.

So, the lesson of my leveling journey thus far is this: do Feralas and Un'Goro no matter what.

The First BRD Run

Knocking Out Some BRD Arena

When I hit level 53, I knew I would be pretty much good to go for most of, if not all of, Blackrock Depths. And since there's a ton of loot in there for priests, I started searching for groups. The first time I ran this dungeon was in early November. The goal was simple: get the Shadowforge Key for everyone in the group. Our tank, a warrior, was level 60, so things went really well to be honest. We made our way through the arena where the Ban'thok Sash dropped (I passed so the mage could get it because I'm a nice guy), then progressed up towards the statue where one puts the hammer to get the key. Some party members had already gotten the hammer from Fineous Darkvire in a previous run, but since a couple of us hadn't, we continued toward him.


When we got to Lord Incendius, we hopped down, thinking it would somehow be a shortcut, instead of just making our way through the golem room we needed to go through. And so, after he died, we had to pull every single mob of the golem room in order to run back to the statue. Still, it was experience, so I didn't complain.

I didn't get my Senior Designer's Pantaloons that run, but I did get them in the 3rd run I did later that week (I did early BRD like 4 days in a row, mind you). For that first run, I was fully satisfied with just getting my key. I logged off that night with a smile on my face, then had trouble sleeping because I couldn't stop thinking about WoW...

The Final Stretch - 55-60

Ahh, what's often considered to be the longest mile. In mid-November, I only had 5 levels to go to hit that sweet, sweet level 60, and I did everything I could to get ready. As soon as I hit level 55, I picked up my MC attunement quest and got my Princess quest chain started, snatching up some nice shoulders in the process. I bought gear from the auction  house with raw +healing that I ended up not even equipping because I'd eventually get better items before going full holy. And I did quest after quest after quest.

Of course, this was aided by the fact that my wife was abroad for work for about 10 days, so there was little to no pressure NOT to do dungeons during this time. I smashed out dungeon quests, most of the Ony attunement, and the last few levels during this time. But the most badass memory I have was on the Thursday, November 21st.

I had set up a group for BRD to knock out the MC attunement and to NOT kill the Princess at the end. Tanks were scarce, so I ended up just taking 4 other level 60s and healing it myself of course as a level 57 shadow priest. We steamrolled most of the dungeon with ease, but halfway through the Lyceum at the end, the dreaded timer came up: SERVER SHUTDOWN IN 15:00.

All of a sudden, it became a race against the clock. We smashed our way through those dwarf packs, accidentally losing a torch and messing up that whole bit at the end where you have to light those braziers. Somehow, we finished it though, and sped into the last hallway. The big lava giant guy was easy enough, but with only 8 minutes remaining when we entered the final chamber, we didn't know if we could make it.

The "tank" pulled pack after pack - knowing full well that we needed to clear the entire room before engaging the boss. Whenever the dps started killing the final mob, I was already near the next pack and spamming my Morning Glory Dew icon. With 1:15 left on the clock, the final mob fell and I shot my wand at the Emperor of the Dark Iron Dwarves.

Down he went. I somehow reminded everyone not to kill the Princess, hoping that somehow we'd make it. And luckily, we did. Loot popped up - caster robes. I needed them while running frantically over to the princess of Ironforge with less than  30 seconds left before the servers shut off. I clicked through the dialogue, thanking God that there was no 'wait for me to say a million  things before you can accept the next part' shenanigans like some quests have. And then, just as I hopped off the throne and said thanks to my group, I got disconnected.

Yeah...that was probably the most epic moment I've had in Classic so far. Not gonna lie...

Just Made It...

Level 60 - What Now?

Ding!

I reached level 60 on November 23rd, exactly 15 years after the game initially launched. And for good measure, I made sure to cap in EXACTLY the same place with EXACTLY the same type of mob that had given me that final yellow swirly around my character 13 years ago - the caster guys in the Noxious Glade of the EPL. And, of course, I recorded that event and uploaded it to YouTube right away as well.

My First Molten Core Raid. 11/24/2019

Though I was excited to finally reach level cap, I also realized that the game was only just beginning for me here. I'd managed to get attuned to Molten Core and I'd recently swapped guilds to a newly formed guild that had better raid times for my unique geographical and family situation, but I still needed to get gear that wasn't terrible, finish my Onyxia attunement, and actually start raiding.

My First Onyxia Raid, 12/1/2019

Well, luckily I managed to do all of those things within one week of capping. And though I'd like to be able to say I can raid regularly and get geared to the tits, I'm not sure what my future in the game looks like. Still, it was a hell of a journey and I'm hoping to continue raiding MC and Ony for months to come, but stories like that will have to wait for another day...

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed my long, adventurous tale of my priest's journey to level 60. There are, obviously, many more things that happened along the way, at 60, and things still to come, but I feel that I've included most of the most important and enjoyable memories here. I would like to thank everyone who has been supportive in my journey to 60, including my wife who dealt with all of my gaming, and my YouTube subscribers who have been left without regular content for a few months now while I've been playing a 15 year old video game that we all love. If YOU liked this story, remember to check back later for more stories and content, as there's definitely more coming in the weeks ahead. Also, consider checking out my YouTube channel and follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks again for reading. And as always...

Take it easy!

Silvite Today (12/14/2019)

Memories of Vanilla #27 - How to Become a Guild Officer

Hey dudes, Silvite Soltis here. And welcome back to another episode of Memories of Vanilla - my reflective series of my early adventures in World of Warcraft.

The Deadmines

Last time, I told about my warrior's bo staff and how exciting it was to bonk enemies in the face with a wooden stick. Well today, we're going to continue that story a bit with another warrior story. One of daring and adventure in every Alliance player's favorite leveling dungeon, the Deadmines.

Before starting though, remember to follow my blog by adding yourself to my mailing list below, should you enjoy my content. There's a lot more coming between now and August 27th, and I'm sure you don't want to miss out on it! But with that out of the way, let's get right into the story:



Back in 2006, I was a guild officer in a small, casual leveling guild on Whisperwind called "The Guardians of Azeroth." I don't remember why or how I became an officer - likely just the fact that I was one of the few members that was online all the time - but I do remember that around this time, we were looking to expand and bolster our ranks.

So, in an effort to do this, the GM and I decided to hold a test for interested participants. As far as I recall, exactly one person expressed interest - a level 35 warrior named Liberate.

Twin Cruel Barbs

And so, we had our candidate. Now what we needed was a test to see if he was worthy of the title of "Officer." Well, at this time, my warrior was around level 17 and I was planning to stop leveling at 19 to do some BG twinking, so I thought it would be cool if I could snag twin Cruel Barbs from the Deadmines in order to wreck some face in Warsong Gulch. And since Liberate was level 35, I devised what I thought would be a unique test of his skill.

He would have to run my warrior, Aoyamamotoko, through the Deadmines.

So, with a plan in mind, the instructions were given and we headed over to the dungeon. Within minutes of arriving outside, we stood at the instance portal, ready to face the challenge ahead.

Liberate moved in carefully, pulling packs of mobs back into the entryway and taking them down one by one. To be honest, though, I busied myself with looting everything rather than actually paying much attention to how he was doing. Moving through the caverns, we defeated each boss in time, though much like my initial run of the dungeon on Silvite, I accidentally pulled the patrols that spawned behind us after one of the bosses' demise. Oops.

Edwin VanCleef

Eventually, after wiping about 3 times from the high damage that elite mobs can inflict even on a level 35 warrior, we made it to the ship at the end of the dungeon. This was the final test. I stood pretty far back as Liberate ran forward and cleared the pirates and their parrots, only following when he beckoned me over. At last, we stood in front of him - Edwin VanCleef. It was the final test.

Liberate charged in and quickly dispatched the two bodyguards before focusing on VC himself. Throughout the fight, he got pretty low due to the damage of the additional bodyguards that spawned, but with some Sweeping Strikes and Retaliation, he was able to finish them all off. The boss fell, a new officer rose, and a nooby warrior got a shiny new sword.





I hope you enjoyed this story of my first guild's somewhat ridiculous officer-promotion protocol. It's one of those experiences from back in the day that I'll never forget. Liberate stayed with our guild all the way through vanilla, though we did part ways sometime around the beginning of TBC when our guild basically fell apart. I did meet him again later on during the daily grind on the Isle of Quel'Danas towards the end of that expansion, though, and we have been friends in the game ever since. Hell, he might even be reading this right now.

But anyway, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this story and would like to see more in the future, follow my blog by adding yourself to my email list below. Also, consider supporting me over on Patreon so that I can continue creating content like this and my videos in the future. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates when more content is posted, but until next time...

Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #26 - Ao's Staff

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here with another fun story for you!

Warrior Time!

After talking about Silvite's grande adventures in high-level dungeons and zones for the past few installments, I thought it might be time to revisit my alt, Aoyamamotoko, back in Westfall for a bit. After all, vanilla was a time of learning in many different ways and I can definitely say that I learned a lot from leveling a warrior. It's an interesting class with a lot of different skills and intricacies involved, and I'm really happy that it was my first real alt because of this.

Anyway, sit back, relax and enjoy as I tell the story of Aoyamamotoko and her bo staff.

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What I Thought Warriors Looked Like...

I have no idea when this story takes place in the timeline of vanilla, but I do know that at this time, Ao was traversing the plains of Westfall. I'd just finished some quests around one of the farms in the zone and was heading over to Sentinel Hill. I'm not sure why, but I had made it my mission to kill any living thing along the way - probably to try and collect Goretusk livers or something. But on the corpse of one fallen foe, I found a green item - a staff.

Donatello

Now, my image of warriors was that they were badass metal-wearing sons-of-bitches who ran up to enemies with swords flailing about. However, noticing this staff had some strength on it, I decided "eh, what the hell" and equipped it to see how it looked. Immediately I was hooked.

My New Best Friend (for about 5 levels)

See, this staff was super basic - essentially just a stick with some wrapping around the middle. But it reminded me of my favorite Ninja Turtle from my childhood - Donatello. When I considered this alongside the fact that my previous weapon was some white quality quest reward from Elwynn Forest, I knew I wasn't going back. This was my new weapon for a while.

And so, my purple warrior with blue-green hair set off across the plains of Westfall with her new bo staff - smacking to death any enemies that dared to cross her path. Of course, using a staff as a warrior wasn't without its challenges though. In the beginning, I had no weapon skill, and subsequently died to about 3 mobs before I could finally reliably hit them. Still, it was good times. 

More than once, I noticed a /lol from random players as I 'donked' mobs across the face with my wooden ally, but being the carefree noob that I was, I shrugged it off. After all, I'm sure I was making lots of mistakes other than using a staff, right?

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Anyway that's pretty much it for my story of my bo staff. Looking back now, it's not so much of a story, as it is a fun little memory of my noobishness in early WoW. To be fair, I have learned now that using a staff with higher damage IS actually the correct choice for a warrior, but considering my reasons for doing it back in the day, I think I was just lucky.

But that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this super-short anecdote of my warrior alt's bo staff adventures. I did eventually replace it when I was chain-boosted through the Deadmines in an attempt to collect twin Cruel Barbs, but that's a story for another time. If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog by adding your email to my mailing list below. Also, leave a comment telling of your nooby stories of early leveling in vanilla or beyond. I look forward to reading them. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates as well, and check out my videos over on YouTube for more content. I'm sure you enjoy that as well.

But for now guys, take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #25 - Frightening Felwood

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!