The Interesting Thing About Being A Warlock

...is your sense of character. Is the class inherently evil?
A Warlock's primary elements are shadow and flame...sort of, well, Hellish, wouldn't you say?
They can summon, enslave, banish and even detect demons. Their connection with the netherworld is somewhat suspect. And without doubt, they are the tails to the Paladin heads.
I gotta say, the darkness is what drew me to the class. Flipping through the WoW manual when I first bought the game, I knew that I wanted two things: 1. To make a Horde character, and 2. To make a caster (or some class that used magic). An acquaintance of mine already had a shaman, and I didn't want to copycat, so I was left with Druids, Priests, Mages or Warlocks. So I rolled a Lock because it was a dark magic class, and because I could be Undead. Because really, what's better than a dark magic caster? That's right, a ZOMBIE dark magic caster.
And when I first started, I was like "Oh, hey, he gets some pets to follow him around. That's cool."
SO, 69 levels later, I find myself putting the nature of the class and its spells in perspective.
Not only are we shadowy, fire-flaming summoners of demons, but one of our most basic spells is actually quite insidious. And I rarely even think about it. The majority of Warlock spells require the use of a single reagent: a soul shard. Your healthstones, soulstones, spellstones, firestones, shadowburn, soulfire, and all demons save the imp require a soul shard to cast.
This reagent can't be bought from any vendor. It requires a simple spell to be cast in the final few moments of a victim's (i.e. mob not more than 7 levels below you) life. You cast Drain Soul, a channeled spell which refines the soul of the mob into a single soul shard. Pretty simple.
Anyway, I was doing Black Morass last night, and it wasn't going well. We were trying it with a 70 Rogue, 70 Priest, myself, 68 Paladin and a 68 Shaman. We never got past the first big boss, and kept wiping. I mentioned in passing that I was running low on soul shards, so we went on an extended clearing run to take out the outer trash mobs. The priest was asking me about the shards, and how many I usually started a run with. I explained that I start with probably 30-40 shards, or about 10-20 above my soulbag limit. This gives me the freedom to use as many soul shards as I want without fear of limiting my ability to cast soulwells or soulstones. I then explained that I usually just head to the little Windyreed Village just west of Aldor Rise and clear it out completely in two or three runs. I get as many shards as I need, and am set for an evening of instances if necessary. The priest then mentioned that that was a little creepy, actually. And I had to agree.
I go out and slaughter an entire village almost daily to feed my soul shard need. Now if that doesn't add to the darkness of a Warlock, then I don't know what does.
On a lighter note, those repeated attempts at Black Morass, combined with a few more successful runs of Old Hillsbrad, got me to revered with Keepers of Time, so I picked up my Continuum Blade, which allows me to finally make use of some of the offhand items I've picked up lately. Never been a mainhand-offhand person. Usually just like my staves and wands. But this sword is pretty damn cool :)
Of course, it sadly takes away from the ungodly crit bonus The Bringer of Death afforded me, but it'll make for a new look while I'm leveling enchanting for the +spell damage I hope to learn at some point. It's weird to find myself stockpiling different armor for different occasions now. I have some +crit items, some set items I won't use until I get more for the bonuses, and a few other odds and ends. Never been in a position to have different sets of armor. Welcome to the endgame, I suppose.

Why I love the Horde (QUEST SPOILERS)

Seriously. This was just cool.
The other night I finished up the questline offered by Greatmother Geyah, matriarch of the orcs in Garadar, Nagrand. This questline only becomes available to you after you've completed ALL of the quests in Nagrand, even those not associated with Garadar. I heard about it a while ago, and I'd been itching to start it, just to see the final part. It's a lore thing. Essentially, you are called to the Greatmother because she sees the hesitation in leadership by Garrosh Hellscream, the de facto warchief of the Garadar. (By the way, Geyah was mate to Garad, who let the Frostwolf clan before the first war and the downfall of the Orcs and Dranei.)
The Greatmother starts you on a questline that goes through something like 11 or 12 parts. Most of it is soloable, though at the mid-point you're directed to the Auchenai Crypts. Upon completion of all the quests in the chain, you're directed back to the Greatmother, who tells you the story of her son, Durotan, who died long ago on another world. She's basically crying at this point, and you're given the chance to tell her that you know of Durotan, that he was a great and noble leader, and that his son Thrall, is your warchief and the noble leader of your people back home in Azeroth. She gives you the quest to contact Thrall, and Thrall, upon hearing this, tells you that he will travel at once to Outland to meet his grandmother for the very first time.
It's soooo cool to experience this stuff. I always thought the origins of the Horde were fascinating, but to see this stuff in a quest that furthers the story in the Burning Crusade, and on top of that to be a part of it yourself, was amazing.
Garadar's honor guard lines up to welcome Thrall as he comes into the village, and he comes in and meets Garrosh. He tells Garrosh that his father, Grom Hellscream, was a great warrior. He even has a hologram thing that displays the epic battle with Mannoroth the Destructor, in which Grom sacrificed himself for the Horde. In all, it gives Garrosh the sense of identity he needs to lead his people, and Thrall the closure in finally being able to connect with his long-lost family. Killer quest.
I ALSO DID A BUNCH OF QUESTS in Netherstorm. Got neutral with the Netherwing, along with a sweet offhand item. So I'll now have access to that questline wherein you can grind for the Netherdrake mount. OH WAIT. No I won't. Apparently you have to have the epic flying mount skill in order to even access those quests after the 2.1 patch. Ugh. Ridiculous.
Also, this picture illustrates why I love being a Warlock :)

The Uncute Pugs

Started this weekend on Gnomcot, thinking I'd bring him up a bit in level, but then I got distracted by the little Night Elf I moved over to that server to consolidate my Alliance characters. Should be easier having an alchemist over there to aid Gnomcot in his as-yet potion-free travels.
Got my first taste of Alliance grouping and instances the other day. I was fighting (and often dying) in near the southern village in Westfall when I got an invite to Deadmines. I agreed to be the offtank. We had a 20 NE Warrior, a 16 NE Priest, a 16 Gnome Mage and a 15 Human Rogue. We wiped once on the elite ogre near the first set of doors. Then the group just up and disbanded.
Gee, thanks.
As much as I enjoy the lower levels, I'm really not looking forward to pre-40 grouping. Most are still learning their class, but I've found that there are a lot of situations where one member will yell at another member for not playing correctly, and then explain how their main is of that class, so they obviously know how to do it. I don't fancy one player trying to 5-box deadmines by telling the other four members how to play their respective classes. I got that crap from the other Warrior, who was also telling the Mage and the Priest how to play.
People have no patience for leveling the third or fourth time around. They've gotten to 60 or 70, and they know what the endgame holds for them, be it in PvE or PvP. They've got those goals, so they have their next trek to 60 all planned out. All they need to do is race to 58 and enter Outland so they can start the green machine with the multitude of quests and items.
The problem with this is that no one wants to go through that path at the correct pace. People see their friends or guildmates at level 70, and assume they can be powerleveled upward. Think about it. How many people actually find a group for Ragefire Chasm these days? I mean a 5-man crew of levels 10-16 that takes the time to play through that dungeon at the appropriate difficulty? No many, I'd wager. They stand around in Orgimmar begging higher levels to power them through it. Some even pay gold, which is ridiculous.
The social aspect of this game is grouping with people of similar interests...in this case, completing the quests in RFC or Stockades or Deadmines or Blackfathom Deeps. It's proportionally as hard for a level 16 crew to take down Van Cleef as it is for a level 70 crew to down Murmur. But those level 16s either can't find a good group, can't work together, or won't take the time to try and find a group, instead opting to beg a 60-70 player to race them through in 15 minutes.
It's not a rant; it's an observation, and I think it's a more visible problem now that the Burning Crusade has arrived. There are now two general factions within the World of Warcraft: those who are in Outland and those who are not. Those who have not yet gone through the portal are feeling left out. The old world is empty. Zul'gurub, Molten Core, Ahn'Qiraj and all that other stuff is largely a casual game now. The real fun seems to be in Outland, so everyone left in Azeroth either must solo, deal with impatient PUGs or beg for powerleveling, because they believe that life begins when you roll through the Dark Portal.
Sure it does, but there's a whole lotta fun to be had before then.

Metatalk ftw

Wow 4 Life baby.

OK, So Maybe It's Not All Bad...

Heh, so yeah, maybe I will roll with Mercot a little more often than I thought.
Had a really fun Caverns of Time: Durnholde run tonight. I was only on for a minute to check an Auction item, and then I saw the call for one more party member in guild chat. Figured what the hell, I like that instance...
Start was a tad rough; we wiped twice before we even entered castle grounds. Partly because the warrior couldn't taunt the adds quickly enough, and partly due to a respawn bug. But we sighed and rezzed and got it together. Worked out very smoothly from there on out. :)
Very nearly revered with Keepers of Time now. And I always like seeing my human form...can't tell from this screenie, but I've got a sweet baldy mullet.

OK, back to Gnomcot. Onward to Westfall. And when I found a certain little farm with certain winged buzzards strutting around, I of course had to try it. God, if I never hear a Gnome do the chicken dance again, it'll be far too soon. But it was totally worth it.

The Wall Approacheth

So I started Gnomcot last week in anticipation of the Metatalk discussion this Thursday. I picked him because 1. Though my Horde roots have been sown in utter loathing of the tiny little buggers, I do secretly enjoy the quirkiness of the Gnome race, and 2. Warriors are the single class I have yet to even read about.
I know that Warlocks live to keep them honest in terms of aggro management, but that's about it.
So it's been interesting to play around with the class over the last few days.
Looking past his squeaky emotes and dandy demeanor, the little Gnome is quickly becoming a favored character among my alts. At level 10, he's an accomplished Apprentice Miner and Blacksmith, with the full Copper set. Yeah, that's right. COPPER, baby. Defias scum, ye have been warned.
But he's entering the danger zone. Statistically, most of my alts never live past level 17. Bottom line, I've never had as much fun with a character as I have with my Warlock. Until now.
I love that I can charge into a group of 3-5 mobs, rock the Thunderclap, Rend, and Heroic strike until either they're dead or I run like a girly-Gnome until I'm out of combat. I love the "chink!" sound mobs make when they're hitting my COPPER, baby armor. I don't have to pile up all that leather and / or mail in my bags...I can freakin' wear it now. Innumerable weapon proficiencies, even if they have to be trained.
I don't know...maybe it's just something new. Maybe I'm tired of the Warlock for a change. All I know is that I'm liking the Warrior, enjoying the Alliance's change of pace, and even getting in on a little RP once in a while. It's weird, but RP to me feels like when you used to "play pretend" as we called it when we were kids. You've got nothing but your imagination, and you're making it all up as you go along. Very interesting, the stuff that I've seen so far. And that's only at the tiny inn in Goldshire.
ON THE HORDE TIP, I finally hit 350 in tailoring with Mercot, and was forced to choose between the Shadoweave, Spellfire and...well, whatever the healing thread is for the last 25 tics of the profession. I've seen a lot of Warlocks rocking the Frozen Shadoweave set, but for some reason it never appealed to me. It wasn't even an aesthetic thing. The name just seemed stupid, and the stats aren't that great, either. Why does a Warlock need a frost spell boost? Of course it made sense when found the trainers in Lower City. The Frozen Shadoweave and Spellfire sets are interchangeable between Mages and Warlocks. Shadoweave carries +Frost and Shadow boosts, while Spellfire carries +Fire and Arcane. Just so happens that a Mage can probably make better use of either.
So I chose Spellfire. Why? 'Cause fire is cool, and because of all the +crit bonuses. I've heard it said that Demonology Locks should be more concerned with baseline damage than with chance to crit, but damnit, I like seeing that percentage go up. :)
And I'm more Destruction than Affliction, so hey, why not? In any case, I don't think I'll be on with Mercot for more than the occasional skill session for a while.

It's a working title...

...and I only started it to be able to post on other blogs. Gets around the troublesome Anonymous filter.
Not sure if I'll keep up the posts. None of my other blogs have endured over the years. I think the single most successful was my Myspace blog. But...well we all know how that ended up. Adspace. Spamspace.
So...a little bit about me.
RL, I'm a 25-year-old years old, have a great girlfriend, two cats and a reasonably fulfilling range of interests spanning from TVonDVD to comics to books to select current TV shows to film(EDIT: 2008 ) . And of course that all-encompassing time-suck, the Internet.
OL, I'm Mercot, a level 70 Undead Warlock in the World of Warcraft.
I first saw WoW in February of 2006, over the shoulder of a friend's brother. I was like, "THAT'S Warcraft?!" Previously, I had known Warcraft as a weird little RTS game that seemed far inferior to my preferred Age of Empires 1 or 2. I never had a real computer of my own, or at least one that could barely run more than AoE 2, so I pretty much consoled my way through video games up through last year. But when I saw WoW, I was amazed at the level of detail in the gameplay. Particularly the art style. But I was poor, and all I had was a 4-year old Dell Inspiron laptop.
I didn't land a decent job until a few months later. Weighed the stats of an Xbox 360 versus the more expensive (and more versatile) game-worthy PC, and ended up buying a custom-built box off Craigslist.
Bought the game, installed it and, of course, got hooked. Took me a month to get to level 15 or 16. :)
Didn't hit 60 until December 26, 2006, and then I dinged 70 sometime in early Feb 2007.
So basically, this is my first real "computer game" after roughly 6 or 7 years of being out of the PC loop. My first RPG was Kotor (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) on the Xbox, so I at least had an idea of how an RPG played.
But I can't describe how massive WoW first seemed to me in terms of scope, detail, design, gameplay...and the list goes on. Most of it was basic MMO stuff - the lingo, the mechanics and the pace. But having only played on a console previously, I had to learn how to play an MMORPG in addition to the actual game, World of Warcraft.
I'm sure this story is relatable for millions of other players.
So...today. I'm still learning. I feel like I've mastered my Warlock and the PvE game style. I've done as much 5-man and solo content as my play schedule allows. My non-gamer girlfriend tolerates roughly 3-4 nights per week, on which I usually focus solely on WoW.
For me, WoW is, to quote the poor dude on Tyra Banks's talk show, an escape. But it's designed that way. It's another world, largely separate from our own. I've explained it to non-gamers as a hobby, like fine-tuning a classic car. Except that car is your character, and you can create other cars for other capacities and build them up as well.
Not sure if that works as an analogy.
Anyway, like I said, I started this blog as a way to post on Metatalk, WoWcast.net or other Blogger sites if I wanted. Screens and other posts may follow, but I'm making no promises.
Also, in anticipation of the Metatalk discussion on April 12, 2007, I created a Gnome Warrior on the Scarlet Crusade server. His name is Gnomcot. I leveled him to 7 and parked him in the Stormwind Park.
Also got a chance to observe to real RP in Elwyn and the Stormwind square. Very interesting stuff. It was also my first real exposure to the Alliance from the other side of the faction tracks. Night elves (at least the RPers that I encountered) are kind of jerkish.
But that could have just been their character. :)