Warlords of Draenor - Month 1

Garrisons:
Level 3 Garrisons - Paladin, Warrior
Level 2 Garrisons - Mage, Hunter, Priest, Druid
Level 1 Garrisons - Death Knight, Shaman, Rogue, Alliance Warlock
(Monk is still level 80 for Herald of the Titans)

At the start of the day I'd typically log on all of the characters and empty out their Garrison Cache and leave the Cache alone for the rest of the day. I use Broker Garrison to tell me when the Level 3 and Level 2 have Follower Missions ready to finish. Then I use Master Plan to finish and then assign new missions quick & efficiently.

Gear:
McTacky - Item Level 632/630 (Ret/Holy) from 3 crafted items, 1 raid drop, 3 items from Garrison Missions, 1 item from Salvage Yard, 1 item from a Heroic 5-man and the helmet drop from MC event.

Proving Grounds:
Gold Damage, Silver Healing.

Dungeons/Raids:
Only done three heroic dungeons so far. Went with Guild to Normal Highmaul and killed Kargath and Butcher. Tried a few times on Brackenspore but didn't get it down.

PvP:
Did some of the bonus objectives in Ashran in the 2nd week before they changed the queue system for it. Haven't been back there since.

Professions:
Maxing out Jewelcrafting and Alchemy was very easy. Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Tailoring and Engineering have been a grind and are slowly making their way to max. This week started working on inscription and very pleased with the discovery system and almost discovered all the new recipes in a day and now I am discovering the ones I hadn't researched before. Delaying starting on Leatherworking until I have some functioning barns.

Pets:
I was extremely lucky to obtain Hatespark the Tiny from a fellow guildie after the first guild Molten Core run.
I also collected all the new wild pets of Draenor. Then I had my Mage craft a Elekk Plushie. After the Elekk Plushie was levelled to 25 I began and then finished An Awfully Big Adventure. The Celestial Tournament was definitely the hardest part of it. I still need to finish off Celestial Tournament a few more times for the pets and the Garrison dailies for the pets from that, otherwise I have finished off with Pet Battles for a while.

Mounts:
I built a Stables and did all the pet taming quests to unlock the 6 main trained mounts and the 2 mounts from the achievements (Armored Frostboar and Armored Frostwolf). Once I had all the mounts from the Stables I replaced the building with a War Mill.

Toys:
I'm at 123 toys, there are plenty left to collect and camp for. Haven't actively worked on this during this month.

Fishing:
Maxxed Fishing, did all the fish 100 of each enormous fish achievements and recruited Nat Pagle. Haven't done any of the Nat Pagle fishing for lunkers to buy stuff yet.

Archaeology:
Spent a little time on it and have 5 of 39 Pristine Artefacts done.

Thoughts
Managing my six active garrisons has been the greatest time-sink for me this expansion. But now I have Broker Garrison and Master Plan the time to do this has reduced significantly.

Frostfire Ridge is far more enjoyable now without all the bugs and I would rate it much higher than my initial impressions.

I have highly enjoyed this expansion on the whole and there is so much more of it for me to experience. 5 heroic dungeons I haven't done yet, most of the types of Garrison Invasions, a lot of Garrison Quests, and lots of reputations to grind out.  Warlords of Draenor is just beginning!

Pilgrims Bounty Shopping List

Merry Pilgrims Bounty!

Pilgrims Bounty starts today, so remember to do the dailies because you can get a new toy and a new battle pet (Frightened Bush Chicken & Silver-Plated Turkey Shooter) from inside Pilgrim's Bounty.

Daily Shopping List:
Simple Flour x20
Mild Spices x20
Honey x 100 (all seasonal vendors)
Autumnal Herbs x 60 (all seasonal vendors)
Wild Turkey x20 (kill and loot them outside Undercity in Trisfal Glades)
Ripe Tirisfal Pumpkin x20 (Undercity Seasonal Vendor)
Mulgore Sweet Potato x20 (Thunderbluff Seasonal Vendor)
Tangy Southfury Cranberries x20 (Orgrimmar Seasonal Vendor)

(If you want to skip the Wild Turkey dallies, you only need to buy Honeyx60 instead)

Also if you are doing the normal quests for Pilgrim's Bounty for the first time, have 5 extra of Turkey, Pumpkin, Potato and Crandberry, but don't cook them until you have the quest for them since the quest will only credit you if you cook them while on the quest.

Because of the low drops rates per Pilgrim's Bounty I recommend doing them on all alts. Teaming up with a Mage will make traveling in-between Org-TB-UC faster.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 8

 

Day 8 - Stables Level 2 then I was off to do the last questing zone of 6.0, Nagrand

 

Nagrand was the same as ever before, very nice looking, good music, great atmosphere and a many unfocused stories. The Us vs Warsong Clan story is supposed to be going on, but the majority of the quests I found had nothing to do with the plot like Gorgrond.

 

But when the quests were on point they were very good, but the rest of the zone is hit or miss. The Quest design I found was good, not as grindy as I had been led to believe  (other than Ironfist Harbour).

 

I also had some issues with the story that I won't go into here because it would be spoilers.

 

With a Nagrand Cherry On Top

Nagrandeur

 

TLDR - Strong story when on point. Weak the rest of the time.

Nagrand gets 2 and a half out of 5 Phoenix Insignias

Warlords of Draenor - Day 7

Day 7 - Barracks to level 2. I also maxxed out my Mining and Jewelcrafting to 700/700 skill level. I built a stables and it gave me a quest to go to Shadowmoon Valley. My daily fishing quest also wanted me to head over there.

 

 

Before heading out to Shadowmoon Valley, I had to fix my transmog. With both my Holy and Ret sets sharing several pieces of armour, I had to go with a single transmog.

 

I was surprised to find a neutral Orc town, Exile's Rise, run by the Shadowmoon Exiles. I grab the flight path then do the stables quest.

I ended up exploring the whole zone, killing all the rares and collecting all the treasure I see.

TLDR - Full of Alliance, No Blood Knights

Shadowmoon Valley gets 1 out of 5 Phoenix Insignias.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 6

 Day 6 - I hit level 100 early on and upgrade my garrison to level 3. I pushed my Pet Menagerie to Level 2, but I haven't done the pet fight daily there yet.

 The rest of the time, I was questing in the Spires of Arak.

The story expanded on the history of both the Apexis and Arakkoa civilizations. It is also about three gods and the major impact each of them has on the Arakkoa in their history. It was a compelling story that adds depth & context to the older Outland Arakkoa Content.

One of the quests Hot Seat was bugged for me. I was inside the crystal so I couldn't see anything. Luckily if I grouped with someone else who was doing it, I got quest credit. The rest of the time my time in Spires of Arak was bug free.

The Goblin Town, Pinchwhistle Gearworks, not as compelling story. It had the usual Goblin levels of humour but it just felt like filler.

Spires of Arak has plenty of jumping puzzles too. If they added flying to Draenor it would entirely ruin the fun. But I know plenty of people who don't like jumping puzzles.

Arak Star
Between Arak and a Hard Place

TLDR - Strong Story, Zone itself is interesting, Quests above average.

Spires of Arak gets 4 out of 5 Phoenix Insignias.

I was level 100 just after I started this zone.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 5

 

Day 5 - After a few chores in the garrison, I head off to Talador.

This expansion has been very kind to me. First with all the Frostwolves content. I have been a member of the Frostwolves guild since 25th Jun 25, 2009 (and my warrior Atain has always been part of that clan in his backstory). 

 But now in Talador we got Blood Knights. Lady Liadrin, Blood Knight Matriarch, is leading the Sunsworn (Belf Magi/Rangers/Blood Knights) in Talador to fight the Burning Legion in Auchindoun and the Iron Horde in Shattrath City. As usual I will avoid spoilers as to the shape this story takes, but I loved it.

The quests weren't as strong as Gorgrond, but leveraged with a far more compelling story. Wonderful music again.

 

McTacky's Note To self: I really need to get a Son of Animus to fit in with my fellow Blood Knight peeps. A good Blood Elf must always keep up with the latest in fashion and Blood Golems are so hip right now.

 

You have become unfashionable Sunreaver Micro-Sentry!

 

I want More Talador
Don't Let the Tala-door ...

 

TLDR - Story excellent, quests strong.

Talador gets 5 out of 5 Phoenix Insignias.

I was level 99 when I finished this zone.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 4

Day 4:  Lumbermill, Storehouse and Gem Boutique are all upgraded to level 2.

 I returned to Gorgrond and discovered there were some new quests! It seemed that by choosing the Sparring Pit, the quest giver had been phased out earlier. With it all fixed, many of my issues about the zone having a weak story was resolved. While the story is still not as strong as Frostfire Ridge, the quest design is excellent.

 

 

The local Pet Tamer, Cymre Brightblade was a difficult fight with two of the pets being able to restore their health to full after dying. After several attempts I made a team to defeat the powerful archaeologist.

Putting the Gore in Gorgrond

Gorgrond Monster Hunter

 

 With the additional quests plus the ones I hadn't done yesterday filled out the zone a lot more than what appeared to only be scattered with Bonus Objectives & Monster Hunting without much of a story connecting them. There was now a story and the movement though the zone was cohesive.

 

I didn't encounter any quest bugs today which was good. The Quests and the Monster Hunting was fun, but the story in the end still let the zone down.

TLDR - Quest design excellent, but story is weak.

Gorgrond gets 3 out of 5 Phoenix Insignias.

I was level 97 when I finished this zone.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 3

 

So I began my third day in Draenor!

 

 

The first thing I did was camp out the slow spawn rate Fishing Shack Quest. Eventually I got my four kills and unlocked the shack and then upgraded it to level 2.

 

There was a 'debate' in General Chat. Should you take a Mining Node if a fellow Horde is near it. I am on the side that you wait and see if that Horde is a miner or not before touching that node. I learnt that lesson way back in the day in Badlands during Classic.

 

With Frostfire Ridge finished, I headed over to Gorgrond. The story here is no where near as strong as the Frostfire Ridge story, but I enjoyed the quests here.

 

I caught a couple more new pets and managed to reach Level 95 before having to log out for a few hours.

 

 

When I came back I found myself in a 17 hour queue to get back in.

In the end I was in the queue from 5pm to 8:44pm, with a server shutdown scheduled for 10pm.

 

 

During the hour-or-so I was able to play, I managed to hit Level 96 and saw more of the green side of Gorgrond.

 

I haven't finished the zone yet, so no rating yet.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 2

So I logged in for my second day of Warlords of Draenor!

 At the start of my second day I head to my garrison and finish the previously bugged quest.

After doing some quests I push my garrison to level 2 and are able to choose some buildings. Jewelcrafting, Supply Depot and a Lumber mill. Upgraded Mine to Level 2. Was unable to finish off the Fishing Quest because the respawn rate is low and a lot of people are camping it.

 

I showed my Lumbermill guy what a Tree looked like. I don't think his hat is Health-And-Safety approved

You'll Get Caught Up In The... Frostfire!

I ended up finishing all the Frostfire Ridge Story. I won't be posting spoilers, but you get to know a group of characters from the Frostwolves over the coarse of the zone and aid them in a series of quests. The quests themselves were over-crowded I'll have to do the zone again on an Alt to fully appreciate them. The quests being overcrowded and buggy didn't help either.

I finished the day at level 94.

TLDR - Liked story & garrison. Didn't like bugs at chokepoint quests.

Frostfire Ridge gets 3 out of 5 Phoenix Insignias.

Warlords of Draenor - Day 1

 

8:45pm Server Time: We all receive the quest and head to our nearest copy of Khadgar.

 

Adventure in Tanaan Jungle with McTacky's Boss, Lady Liadrin. They are both holding their Quel'Delar. Did some quests with my guildie Biship.

 

McTacky under a stone with the Frostwolf Carving. It is near where the garrison should be, but a bug prevented the quest [Establish Your Garrison] from being completed.

 

 There was a server restart, but everyone was removed from Draenor. No one on the Saurfang Server could get back on to Draenor. Transfer Aborted: Instance not Found.

This situation is still ongoing at the time of this post.

But you could still queue for dungeons so I went and did Bloodmaul Slag Mines twice with guildies Navi, HK, and Xyn before midnight. I had fun in the dungeon!

I got to level 91 though the Dungeon and Pet Battling in Pandaria.