Looking for a Few Good Orks

[Nystul]

I just took a quick peek in the canyon, and didn't see any bags anywhere. Given the relative ease with which we found enough bags for 3 of us, I think it must be a server glitch today.

It's not a big problem for now. If the bags still aren't spawning by the time we get together tonight, we can put the harpies off for another time. Since you and Charis are both level 10, we are ready for Thunder Ridge.

[--Pete]

Hi,

That was a fun run, but it ended too soon. Right now the server is down, and if it doesn't come up in a little while, I'll call it a night.

We really need a place to go chat and plan outside the game for situations like this. The forum is too slow, even if we wanted to spam it up with this type message. Any ideas?

EDIT: Silver lining, maybe when it comes back up, it'll start spawning bags again :) And remember to get your Orcsses to an inn -- they all need their beauty sleep (boy, do they ever :) )

--Pete

[Thenryb]

I am with Pete on both counts. That was a bad place to crash. The only thing I have loaded on this computer is Windows messenger and I tend not to leave it running while playing. Address is thenryb@comcast.net

[MongoJerry]

Oh, so it wasn't just me. That was a wierd coincidence where I decided to reboot my computer just before I guess the server crashed. I'm been frantically trying to get back in so that you wouldn't think I was deserting or something. Darn, I guess the run is over. Too bad, too, because we really were clicking on all cylinders tonight and didn't have a single death (that I choose to remember)!

[DeeBye]

We really need a place to go chat and plan outside the game for situations like this.  The forum is too slow, even if we wanted to spam it up with this type message. Any ideas?

What about Lurker Lounge Chat? It seems perfect for what you want to use it for.

[Nystul]

If y'all are still up, the server is back.

[Bolty]

What about Lurker Lounge Chat?  It seems perfect for what you want to use it for.

*hugs DeeBye*

-Bolty

[MongoJerry]

Pretty soon, we're going to reach a, ahem, crossroads in our adventure. We have two more quests related to Duotar and after that all that's left is delivering some letters to the Crossroads in the Barrens. At that point, we have some choices of where to go to spend our next several levels. For those new to WoW, most of the starting areas are designed this way. That is, everyone starts off in an area with pretty well-defined and contained quests. But, by the time you reach double-digit levels, then you start having choices about where to go. In our case, I think we have roughly three choices:

1. Do the quests in the Crossroads itself.
2. Go down to Ratchet, the goblin town by the sea and do those quests.
3. Head to Silverpine Forest in undead lands.

As I have spent very little time west of the Barrens, you'll have to let me know if there are any good areas there for mid-teen level characters. I figured I'd open up the discussion and let people say what they'd like to do.

My general thoughts are that I've already exhausted the Crossroads quests with my priestess, and when I say "exhausted," I mean it was exhausting. Most of the quests are of the kill X number of monsters and bring back Y number of their body parts or pieces of equipment. Unless I'm forgetting something, the only quests that seemed mildly interesting were the ones involving the nearby oases. There's a reason why "The Barrens" was voted as the least favorite area on the official forums.

With that in mind, I suggest the following itinerary:

1. We head to the crossroads to turn in our recruitment letters (you'll get them, don't worry) but don't accept any quests except the one from the apothecary who asks us to deliver a crate of potions to Ratchet.

2. We then head to Ratchet and do most of the quests given there. Sure, it has its own share of "kill X to get Y items" quests, but they're broken up with some interesting and/or funny quests like the Samophlange quest and a long rescue the prisoner escort quest which would be fun to do with our group. Also, I understand there's a warrior-only quest in the area that we can help our warriors complete.

3. After doing a bunch of quests in Ratchet and leveling up a few times, we head back to the Crossroads and help the apothecary again by collecting some mushrooms from the oases in the area. When we return the mushrooms, the apothecary makes a potion that must be delivered to Thunder Bluff, the Tauren city, in 30 minutes. We head over there, drop of the potions, and pick up a quest from a woman nearby who wants us to lay an amulet on her husband's tomb in Silverpine Forest.

4. At that point, we head to Silverpine Forest and spend some time doing stuff there. Again, there are plenty of kill X to get Y items quests, but I like the area, because it's more thematic. There's a small escort quest there where we have to help get a guy get past the ravenous wolves, for example. And there's the town where the inhabitants are people by day and werewolves at night (and we play at night, woohoo!). There are also sorcerers to kill and an island with a castle on it with a big bad boss guy to kill in it.

5. After doing Silverpine Forest for a bit, we can then talk about the idea of doing one of the instance dungeons like the Wailing Caverns or Shadowfang Fortress. But that's way off into the future.

This is all assuming that phase 3 doesn't come out for quite a while or our characters don't get locked when phase 3 does occur. Most likely, we won't get out of Ratchet before phase 3 starts, but it'd be nice to have a general plan of where we're headed.

Comments? Suggestions? Quests people want to try?

[Charis]

I'll be heading out of town (briefly) on business and won't be able
to play tomorrow night, Sun the 23rd. :unsure:

Good luck, and let me know how/what you do!
Charis

[Nystul]

Assuming everyone else can make it, we will forge ahead (at least a little) and leave you a job jar for next week. Nobody could replace Smash, but perhaps Elvira's new pet can make due for a while :)

We have a small bit of killing yet to do in Durotar, which I think will all be out in the open and easy to catch up on solo (harpies and maybe croc hunting). After that it will be time to leave home and see the world, and the number of options available will suddenly be much larger. I think we can divide those options into "full group quests" and "partial group/solo quests", and plan accordingly. Those outdoor loot quests (e.g. crawler mucus) are quite tedious for the full group, but they can work out nicely for catchup weeks. If we have several loot quests available, the partial group can work on loot quests x, y, and z until they get to a certain level, the solo player can catch up by working on the same quests until they get to the same level, and whatever loot is still needed for any of the players can be finished up during the next session when the opportunities arise.

[MongoJerry]

By the way, Azogral has been working on her fishing and cooking skills during the week, and she has a small stockpile of fresh goodies to hand out. So no buying food from vendors until you've checked with Azogral!

[Nystul]

Holiday edition of the orks was quite fun, and productive too. Those elite quests are almost within reach.

Charis, if you are back home and get the chance to play any this week, see if you can catch any of us online to help you catch up. We're up to level 14 now, and have covered quite a few quests in the last two sessions. At this point it would probably be easier to help in game than to try recap everything in a post.

In any case, hope to see you all next week, in the Undercity! Silverpine awaits!

[Charis]

> Holiday edition of the orks was quite fun, and productive too. Those elite quests are almost within reach.
> Charis, if you are back home ... We're up to level 14 now...

Ack! Bangs head! :o

I had a great trip, thanks. Yesterday was frustrating, I was home and ready to play but
my ISP was on the fritz all night!

I'll try to catchup this week, and I may msg you for some help, as I get lost/confused easily.

Charis

[--Pete]

Hi,

I may msg you for some help, as I get lost/confused easily.

Since I'm the one least familiar with the Horde geography, let me volunteer :)

--Pete

[--Pete]

Hi,

We're going out of town and I don't know the details of our itinerary. So if 7 PM Sunday rolls around and I'm not there, go ahead and start without me.

--Pete

[MongoJerry]

I'll try to catchup this week, and I may msg you for some help, as I get lost/confused easily.

I think the most important thing at this point is to catch up as much as you can level-wise. We're all at level 14, so if you can try to do as many quests and/or kill as many monsters as it takes to level up to there, that'd be great. Last game, we decided to end our trip by traveling to Undercity, in undead lands on the other continent. So, this Sunday, we're going to start running Silverpine Forest and doing the quests there. So, basically, you're free to do any quests you want in the Barrens. There are a bunch offered in Crossroads that you can do, or you can go down to Ratchet and do some there.

Also, I have a level 9, almost 10 now, Druid of my own now, so if I'm on at the same time as you, perhaps my Druid could team up with you on some quests.

[JustAGuy]

Hey there Mongo -- is everyone from the LL currently playing the Horde? I got a bit tired with it so I remade my 1st Push Paladin. There's no Alliance Lurker Lounge Guild yet is there? My new Paladin is currently level 19... He's a bit lonely, being all guild-less and all...

[Bolty]

My new Paladin is currently level 19...  He's a bit lonely, being all guild-less and all...

That's your own bloody fault - this is a HORDE phase, remember? :-)

-Bolty

[Nystul]

Since we are nearly ready to deal with elite areas, and in general some of the quests are demanding more teamwork, I thought it would be good to have a sub-thread to discuss group combat tactics. Sometimes when people try to explain these things from their perspective in game, it gets lost in the hectic muddle of the game. Here maybe we can take a little time to read and respond to each other's thoughts on the matter.

I'll start by organizing some of my thoughts and ideas by class:

Rogue- Yeah, that's me. I intend to take point when things get rough, but I don't plan on actually pulling most mobs. Rather I will usually be waiting in stealth for someone to pull the mob past me so that I can apply a garrote from behind. When we have to lure multiple humanoids, I can sap one, knocking it out for 25 seconds. That is not something I can do once the battle has started, so it's important that you give me the opportunity to do it when needed. Otherwise, my deal is pretty simple: stand behind the enemy and do a ton of damage.

Warriors - Especially in the instances, this is completely different from soloing as a warrior. If we pull one mob, one warrior has to taunt it. The other warrior would then be free to use battle stance. If pull more than one mob (with the full party), then both warriors need to go defensive and each taunt one (actually in this case the second warrior shouldn't need to taunt much since nobody will be attacking that mob, but will need to essentially stall the mob for as long as possible). Once you have bloodrage, having enough rage to taunt multiple times should not be an issue. The more you can taunt, the more aggressive and effective everyone else can be. When you don't have any tanking responsibilities, you play around quite a bit with the options in battle stance. Don't forget about hamstring, especially against mobs who run for help. Don't forget about your buffing skill either. This is a pretty heavily melee-oriented group, so having that power shout up helps not just you but 2-3 others as well.

Warlock - Maybe the best class to pull in this group, once we get aggro management down. The shaman could do it too, of course. Actually, they can both do it at the same time as long as communication is good about which mob is getting nuked. If we pull too many mobs for the warriors to handle, maybe the warlock is the next best class to stall one. If the voidwalker is up, this is an obvious choice... voidwalker stalls a mob, while everyone else (including the warlock) focuses on the primary target. If you go with imp (which for any other purpose than stalling may be the better choice) it would be harder... you'd have to pretty much devote yourself to casting fear on that enemy until the primary target dies. If the warriors are controlling all mobs, you are pretty much free to nuke things, curse things, and collect soulshards as needed.

Shaman - I really don't know much about this class. It's a safe candidate to pull mobs. Obviously the most important aspect with this party mix is keeping yourself alive (at least until level 20) and secondly keeping everyone else alive. I guess if you can succeed in doing that, we'll go far :lol: Otherwise, totems and dishing damage. If a tough mob is attacking you, it can be hard for you to heal yourself or others quickly, right? If that's the case, you should probably not try to tank unaccounted for mobs. I can do that with evasion if absolutely necessary. Better to focus on finishing whatever the warriors are fighting.

General thoughts - The idea with pulling (or at least my idea, most gamers don't seem to share it) is to bring the battle to the group, not the other way around. For a rogue to use backside attacks, this is especially important. Also, this applies even against ranged attackers. The person pulling a ranged attacker can run behind the group and keep running until the ranged attacker moves within melee range of the group (yes this really does work, as long as nobody else does something to draw aggro before the mob approaches the desired location). Now, this means the warlock, shaman, and possibly imp will get hits in before the warriors. When I play as a tanking warrior in that situation, I use bloodrage when I see the my caster teammates starting to cast. The when the mob I am responsible for gets close, it's one right click on the mob followed by spamming taunt until I get a few "Not enough rage" messages. This will be enough to lock the mob on you (for a moment) in spite of not having the first attack. Maybe at some point one of our warriors will invest in a ranged attack, but I don't think it is necessary.

Those are my ideas. Anyone else? Feel free to tell me all the stuff I am totally wrong about too :)

[Nystul]

Enjoy your trip :)

And if you do get back before bedtime on Sunday, you know where to find us!