It's done. The beta goal has been accomplished. Lvl 70 has been hit, and the flying mount purchased.
General Thoughts:
First things first, how long did it take me? I got the Beta installed and playable on Nov 28, 2006. I hit 70 yesterday, Jan 1, 2007. For the first week, I really only played my Draenai. So you figure, not quite a month to hit 70. That's being fairly relaxed with playing, too. So from just questing and wandering around (most exploration maps give you around 1100xp) you can hit 70 fairly easily. Also keep in mind I spent almost all of my time from lvl 64 onward in a duo party.
As an example of a power grind, if you really want to. From lvl 69 to lvl 70 is just shy of 800,000xp. Nazet started the day with about 20% or so left to hit 69. He finished the day at 70. He wasn't in a rested state, either. I went from 63 to 64 pretty quickly, in one evening of solo questing and running around, while rested. I don't see there being much of a "grind" to hit lvl 70. When I dinged, my quest log still had 15 quests in it, and there were several I didn't pick up as I knew I'd be dinging soon.
Next, Gold. While it doesn't "flow like water" as I've heard in some cases, i'ts not a huge worry. Nazet came over with 600g to his name. Just through questing and vendoring, he was able to buy a 900g mount, and still have 1100g to his name afterwards. I imagine that if we'd hit up instances and whatnot, we'd have had even more. I wanted to power level Eng some, so I bought new mats at PTR AH prices...I spent roughtly 1000g, and never even touched the money I brought over with me. So when I hear folks grumbling about how they already shelled out 1000g for a mount, and don't want to do it again, and could never get their hands on 5200g for an epic mount (Riding costs 5000, mount costs 200, and no, there are no factions you can rep with to reduce that) it just makes me chuckle a little inside.
Storylines/Lore/Questing. To me, this seemed very well done. I'm not too steeped in Warcraft lore, but I do have the basics. Things were pretty well done. A lot of quests (after you get out of HFP) chain, and the questing storylines are interesting an involving. I spent a lot of time chasing down a single quest chain becuase I wanted to know what happened next, as opposed to grouping up my quests and getting all the ones in the same area done at the same time.
Gear: On my way to 70, I replaced pretty much what I thought I would. My ranged weapon, my MH one, my necklace, cloak, both rings, and a trinket. I would have replaced both trinkets, but didn't bother with a popular questline who's finish is the "new" Blackhand's Breadth. A lot of folks I saw at 70 or around it had replaced their T2 with stuff they'd found in instances, but since I've not done any instances other than two very early ones, my 8/8 DS remains intact. I will note, that as I got higher (say 68 ) I saw several quest rewards that made me think "On Live, I'll save that piece to see if I can piece together a better armor set". So the upgrades are definatly there.
Flying Mounts. They are as fun as everyone says. I imagine that most folks will at least pick up the non epic one so that they can do what you can only do while flying (All of Tempest Keep is only accesible by flying mounts, for instance). The non epic one travels at the lvl 40 mount speed, and flies that fast, too. However, flying is faster than running.;)The epic mounts (I'm told) run as fast as an epic mount, and fly at 280%. Pretty speedy.
Annoyances. There are two big ones that stick out in my mind. The first are Fel Reaver type mobs. These are mobs you find all over the place in several zones, but are never lower than lvl 70 elite. They are always aggressive, and they hit like a truck. I never had one hit me for less than 12,000, and I have had a couple crit me for over 25,000.
What makes these especially annoying is that they wander. One of them in a later zone wanders the MAIN ROAD around the zone. That one even packs and Aura of Death. So he'll usually kill you 2-3 times. The Aura is like the green dragon effect. After this guy kills you (Can you survive a 12,000 surprise from behind hit?) he puts a 15 minute aura on you that is an instant death if you get near him again. His pat path does seem to be longer than 15 minutes, but he wanders it erratically, and I've been killed by him and then by his aura elsewhere in the zone. For those familiar with the Horde side of things, I think that these mobs will become the new "Sons of Arugal" for everyone.
Second, the zones are PACKED, and it seems like everything and their dog can daze you. It is very common to be running along, have something nick you, daze/dismount you, and then find yourself jumped by 3-4 mobs in addition to the one that knocked you off in the first place. Very frusterating to try to get someplace, and get continually knocked off your mount and have to fight.
Overall, I'm really impressed with what I've seen of TBC. I think it'll be huge, and respark a lot of lost interest in the game. There are some bugs and glitches (Several quests that are still bugged and have been for over a month, for instance) but they'll be worked out eventually.
Hunter Stuff:
Pets. Fun stuff, here's the breakdown as I saw it. I ended up using a Nether Ray class pet, and Nazet used a Ravager. I have, however, played with all the pets to some extent. The exception is the DragonHawk. Due to the taming bug, I never was able to get one of these.
Ravager ~ This is going to be the Tank Pet of the bunch, the new Bear/Turtle. Even a couple levels lower than mine, it always had more HP and AC. By the time we were "done", Nazet's Ravager had over 2000AC more than my Nether Ray. The pet could also pretty easily hold against Nazet and I, as long as we didn't go nuts with the damage.
Nether Ray ~ This is going to be a DPS only pet, I think. It does pretty good damage, but has no special ability ATM. It's not much of a tank at higher levels, either. It became a running joke with Nazet and I that my pet was dead AGAIN. I spent a lot of time rezzing and refeeding that Ray.
Spore Bat ~ I could never get "into" this pet. I tried, but even at 62 (first one I could tame) it could never seem to hold aggro or have much in the way of HP/AC. This strikes me as a "show pet" only. I can't ever recall seeing another hunter with this pet.
Warp Dragons ~ These were the much ballyhoo'ed pets of TBC. I think because you have to be at least lvl 63 to start taming them. So they were the 'really new' of the new. I picked one up, and it never managed to impress me. Even at 63 (Even level to me) it had a lot of trouble holding aggro, even against medium to low dps cycles. It had alright HP, but poor AC as well. I think that the biggest thing about this pet is that you would see EVERY hunter in the zone with one. But step outside the zone, and you can't find a single one anywhere.
Overall, the new pets are pretty cool, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of Ravagers around. Other than the two noted, the pets held well against me (a known aggro monkey) until 65 or 66, which is about what one would expect given the level of Growl they are working with. If a new level of Growl is added or discovered, pets could/would easily be able to tank for a hunter of any spec at 70, I feel.
For those curious, this ended up being my final spec at 70. I found it to be a pretty flexible spec that served me well while levelling. The thing that I may or may not change after I hit 70 at Live is Imp. AotH.
Nazet and I tested this. He ran around with Imp AotH and AotH active, I ran around with AotViper. For levelling, I found AotV to be pretty nice, as when Nazet would have to stop and drink, I'd be at 3/4 to 1/2 mana, and I'd regen that back by the time he was ready to roll. My stopping point was my pet. I'd often have to stop and either Mend Pet it, or bandage it (which ended up being faster). So it seemed to balance out. It looks like going with a Ravager and AotV will be a pretty powerful levelling combination, regardless of spec. AotV will be huge in a fight were we are required to DPS as much/hard/long as possible. The reason I question Imp AotH is that after I got it, I rarely had AotH on. If that's a continuing trend, that's 5 points in Imp AotH that could be used elsewhere, as it doesn't proc unless you have AotH up.
Damage output is pretty good. I've changed "cycles" a ton, trying to find something that suits me and my style of play, and still have "work" to do in that area. I am finding it quite fun to experiment, and see how this and that work, or if I can squeeze in this shot after that one, or should I wait for this autoshot, or crank up Steady shot...you get the picture. The "old" way of "one for all and all for one" is truely dead and gone, and we are going to start seeing a lot more individual style and flair in a hunter and their DPS'ing, I feel.
All in all, my feelings can be summed up into this oft-repeated phrase I hear in /general on Hellfire..."Can we go live with this? It rocks!"
I leave you with a picture...
![[Image: Beta2.jpg]](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/Mirajj/Beta2.jpg)
EDIT: I have found at the Pet Trainer Growl 8, Stamina 11 and Armor 11. However, your pet has to be lvl 70 to learn these, so my observations based on my experiences stand, as your pet will never outlevel you (Mine's currently 68, and half a bubble from 69, for instance)
General Thoughts:
First things first, how long did it take me? I got the Beta installed and playable on Nov 28, 2006. I hit 70 yesterday, Jan 1, 2007. For the first week, I really only played my Draenai. So you figure, not quite a month to hit 70. That's being fairly relaxed with playing, too. So from just questing and wandering around (most exploration maps give you around 1100xp) you can hit 70 fairly easily. Also keep in mind I spent almost all of my time from lvl 64 onward in a duo party.
As an example of a power grind, if you really want to. From lvl 69 to lvl 70 is just shy of 800,000xp. Nazet started the day with about 20% or so left to hit 69. He finished the day at 70. He wasn't in a rested state, either. I went from 63 to 64 pretty quickly, in one evening of solo questing and running around, while rested. I don't see there being much of a "grind" to hit lvl 70. When I dinged, my quest log still had 15 quests in it, and there were several I didn't pick up as I knew I'd be dinging soon.
Next, Gold. While it doesn't "flow like water" as I've heard in some cases, i'ts not a huge worry. Nazet came over with 600g to his name. Just through questing and vendoring, he was able to buy a 900g mount, and still have 1100g to his name afterwards. I imagine that if we'd hit up instances and whatnot, we'd have had even more. I wanted to power level Eng some, so I bought new mats at PTR AH prices...I spent roughtly 1000g, and never even touched the money I brought over with me. So when I hear folks grumbling about how they already shelled out 1000g for a mount, and don't want to do it again, and could never get their hands on 5200g for an epic mount (Riding costs 5000, mount costs 200, and no, there are no factions you can rep with to reduce that) it just makes me chuckle a little inside.
Storylines/Lore/Questing. To me, this seemed very well done. I'm not too steeped in Warcraft lore, but I do have the basics. Things were pretty well done. A lot of quests (after you get out of HFP) chain, and the questing storylines are interesting an involving. I spent a lot of time chasing down a single quest chain becuase I wanted to know what happened next, as opposed to grouping up my quests and getting all the ones in the same area done at the same time.
Gear: On my way to 70, I replaced pretty much what I thought I would. My ranged weapon, my MH one, my necklace, cloak, both rings, and a trinket. I would have replaced both trinkets, but didn't bother with a popular questline who's finish is the "new" Blackhand's Breadth. A lot of folks I saw at 70 or around it had replaced their T2 with stuff they'd found in instances, but since I've not done any instances other than two very early ones, my 8/8 DS remains intact. I will note, that as I got higher (say 68 ) I saw several quest rewards that made me think "On Live, I'll save that piece to see if I can piece together a better armor set". So the upgrades are definatly there.
Flying Mounts. They are as fun as everyone says. I imagine that most folks will at least pick up the non epic one so that they can do what you can only do while flying (All of Tempest Keep is only accesible by flying mounts, for instance). The non epic one travels at the lvl 40 mount speed, and flies that fast, too. However, flying is faster than running.;)The epic mounts (I'm told) run as fast as an epic mount, and fly at 280%. Pretty speedy.
Annoyances. There are two big ones that stick out in my mind. The first are Fel Reaver type mobs. These are mobs you find all over the place in several zones, but are never lower than lvl 70 elite. They are always aggressive, and they hit like a truck. I never had one hit me for less than 12,000, and I have had a couple crit me for over 25,000.
What makes these especially annoying is that they wander. One of them in a later zone wanders the MAIN ROAD around the zone. That one even packs and Aura of Death. So he'll usually kill you 2-3 times. The Aura is like the green dragon effect. After this guy kills you (Can you survive a 12,000 surprise from behind hit?) he puts a 15 minute aura on you that is an instant death if you get near him again. His pat path does seem to be longer than 15 minutes, but he wanders it erratically, and I've been killed by him and then by his aura elsewhere in the zone. For those familiar with the Horde side of things, I think that these mobs will become the new "Sons of Arugal" for everyone.
Second, the zones are PACKED, and it seems like everything and their dog can daze you. It is very common to be running along, have something nick you, daze/dismount you, and then find yourself jumped by 3-4 mobs in addition to the one that knocked you off in the first place. Very frusterating to try to get someplace, and get continually knocked off your mount and have to fight.
Overall, I'm really impressed with what I've seen of TBC. I think it'll be huge, and respark a lot of lost interest in the game. There are some bugs and glitches (Several quests that are still bugged and have been for over a month, for instance) but they'll be worked out eventually.
Hunter Stuff:
Pets. Fun stuff, here's the breakdown as I saw it. I ended up using a Nether Ray class pet, and Nazet used a Ravager. I have, however, played with all the pets to some extent. The exception is the DragonHawk. Due to the taming bug, I never was able to get one of these.
Ravager ~ This is going to be the Tank Pet of the bunch, the new Bear/Turtle. Even a couple levels lower than mine, it always had more HP and AC. By the time we were "done", Nazet's Ravager had over 2000AC more than my Nether Ray. The pet could also pretty easily hold against Nazet and I, as long as we didn't go nuts with the damage.
Nether Ray ~ This is going to be a DPS only pet, I think. It does pretty good damage, but has no special ability ATM. It's not much of a tank at higher levels, either. It became a running joke with Nazet and I that my pet was dead AGAIN. I spent a lot of time rezzing and refeeding that Ray.
Spore Bat ~ I could never get "into" this pet. I tried, but even at 62 (first one I could tame) it could never seem to hold aggro or have much in the way of HP/AC. This strikes me as a "show pet" only. I can't ever recall seeing another hunter with this pet.
Warp Dragons ~ These were the much ballyhoo'ed pets of TBC. I think because you have to be at least lvl 63 to start taming them. So they were the 'really new' of the new. I picked one up, and it never managed to impress me. Even at 63 (Even level to me) it had a lot of trouble holding aggro, even against medium to low dps cycles. It had alright HP, but poor AC as well. I think that the biggest thing about this pet is that you would see EVERY hunter in the zone with one. But step outside the zone, and you can't find a single one anywhere.
Overall, the new pets are pretty cool, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of Ravagers around. Other than the two noted, the pets held well against me (a known aggro monkey) until 65 or 66, which is about what one would expect given the level of Growl they are working with. If a new level of Growl is added or discovered, pets could/would easily be able to tank for a hunter of any spec at 70, I feel.
For those curious, this ended up being my final spec at 70. I found it to be a pretty flexible spec that served me well while levelling. The thing that I may or may not change after I hit 70 at Live is Imp. AotH.
Nazet and I tested this. He ran around with Imp AotH and AotH active, I ran around with AotViper. For levelling, I found AotV to be pretty nice, as when Nazet would have to stop and drink, I'd be at 3/4 to 1/2 mana, and I'd regen that back by the time he was ready to roll. My stopping point was my pet. I'd often have to stop and either Mend Pet it, or bandage it (which ended up being faster). So it seemed to balance out. It looks like going with a Ravager and AotV will be a pretty powerful levelling combination, regardless of spec. AotV will be huge in a fight were we are required to DPS as much/hard/long as possible. The reason I question Imp AotH is that after I got it, I rarely had AotH on. If that's a continuing trend, that's 5 points in Imp AotH that could be used elsewhere, as it doesn't proc unless you have AotH up.
Damage output is pretty good. I've changed "cycles" a ton, trying to find something that suits me and my style of play, and still have "work" to do in that area. I am finding it quite fun to experiment, and see how this and that work, or if I can squeeze in this shot after that one, or should I wait for this autoshot, or crank up Steady shot...you get the picture. The "old" way of "one for all and all for one" is truely dead and gone, and we are going to start seeing a lot more individual style and flair in a hunter and their DPS'ing, I feel.
All in all, my feelings can be summed up into this oft-repeated phrase I hear in /general on Hellfire..."Can we go live with this? It rocks!"
I leave you with a picture...
EDIT: I have found at the Pet Trainer Growl 8, Stamina 11 and Armor 11. However, your pet has to be lvl 70 to learn these, so my observations based on my experiences stand, as your pet will never outlevel you (Mine's currently 68, and half a bubble from 69, for instance)
~Not all who wander are lost...~
