VanCleef Assault

[Lissa]

Three of our characters got together tonight to go after VanCleef, but didn't have enough people to make a go. So we're going to schedule for this Wednesday starting around 8:30 to 9 Eastern/5:30 to 6 Pacific. Right now, the group consists of a lv 21 Rogue, a lv 22 Druid, and a lv 22 Paladin. If anyone is interested and has the quests for the Deadmines (Defias Brotherhood - VanCleef, Underground Assault, Oh Brother, and Collecting Memories [the last three are gotten in the Dwarven District in Stormwind]).

[DeeBye]

I'm a good possibility. Lvl 25 Mage, but I might be higher by then.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Level 20 Paladin. Schedule willing, I'll be there.

--Pete

[Bolty]

My mage, Bolty, would love to take a shot - but doing so on a work night that late is impossible for me (a successful run can take 3-4 hours). Good luck!

Now, anyone up for some Gnomeregan action this weekend?

-Bolty

[JustAGuy]

I have to apologize for that; a bunch of people just showed up at my house and *demanded* I come out with them. I just hate the "pop in" visits, especially when 6 guys, show up, and then 2 two more following that.

So yeah, my paladin (Ackland, level 23 now) was all ready to go, when this happened. What really sucks is that I must travel to Toronto on Wednesday, and will be subsequently on-call thereafter. My participation in this latest excursion can't be confirmed, as of yet. :(

[LavCat]

After we finish with van Cleef, I have a score to settle with the Blizzard Guardian on the Burning Stepps.

[LavCat]

I just found Gnomergan last night. As I recall I may have one quest there. What quests (and from where or whom) should we pick up before such an assault?

[Bolty]

There are six initial quests that will have you venture into Gnomeregan. You probably won't have access to them all until you're around level 27. Most can be found in Tinkertown, part of Ironforge (my favorite city!). Shoni the Shilent gives one out in the Dwarven District, but I believe only once you've completed his assignment in the Deadmines (right?) to get the parts off of the Shredder.

Gnomeregan is not what you'd think of if all you've played are the Deadmines or Stockades instances. Gnomeregan is VAST - it dwarfs (pun intended) Van Cleef's hidey-hole. You do not approach Gnomeregan as a "one-time-through" instance. In fact, the quests there will force you to enter it more than once. At some point, you get a key that will allow you to enter a "back door" for the instance, skipping some of the initial way. Consider it a savepoint.

So any group that's formed would not be sweeping through the whole instance in one trip. It's not possible. Along with the 6 initial quests, more appear along the way *in* the instance, which is pretty cool. So you'd want to leave yourself an extra free quest slot. I ventured in there on Saturday and we played for about an hour and a half. During that time I completed two of the six quests, and we failed one of the in-instance quests (a brutal escort quest where your group is mobbed by 6-10 creatures at once with a tiny break in between). It was a lot of fun. We didn't stop because we died, either, so difficulty-wise, it wasn't bad. I know that later on, it gets pretty insane though. The quest to defeat Gnomeregan's end-boss is still orange to my level 31 priest, and I bet it's a challenge to a solid group of 35's. Since Gnomeregan is so big, the level range is fairly large - the early stuff is level 27-28ish.

Roane (Zaira) had said that it's more of a "hunting zone" than a linear quest-type Deadmines-style area, and I agree. So it's not like we'd be setting aside a 5 hour block of time for this - more like a 3 hour "let's see how far we get" style romp.

-Bolty

[LavCat]

I just checked, and I have two active Gnomeregan quests: Gyrodrillmatic Excavationators and Tinkermaster Overspark. When I was last in Tinkertown, some levels ago, there were several silver exclaimation points, and these might now be the quests in question.

By the way, you made the same mistake I originally made with Shoni. She is a girl, or at least that's what a gnome NPC once told me.

[Crusader]

I am almost finished with gnomeregan, but I'll gladly come along for the excellent experience and encrusted items (I still need an amulet!). I did tinkermaster overspark today, he's a level 35+, pretty funyn encounter. We had a solid party. 30 priest, 33 warrior, 33 paladin (me) and 3x mage (33 iirc). we had a 35 paladin for a while but he left. With these 4 we beat overspark. You have to be careful he hits you the right way (no spoilers, muahahah!). The collection quests are the only real pain in Gnomeregan. I now have to do the escort quest, get more green goo, and the last punch card machine. But as I said, I mainly go in there for the experience.

So, some this week, mayhaps? try to do it early on the day and I may be able to join you. (I live in the Netherlands, as you will recall).

[Lissa]

Well, we almost made it, but due to a bug (Triblade fell through the floor and out of the instance) we ended up failing on Smite. With no res, Smite was able to finish us off. Probably the fastest time from start to Smite that Bolty has seen (it took us about an hour to hour and fifteen minutes to get to him).

Let's plan for another assault on Sunday at Noon Pacific/3 pm Eastern.

[DeeBye]

Well, we almost made it, but due to a bug (Triblade fell through the floor and out of the instance) we ended up failing on Smite.  With no res, Smite was able to finish us off.  Probably the fastest time from start to Smite that Bolty has seen (it took us about an hour to hour and fifteen minutes to get to him).

Let's plan for another assault on Sunday at Noon Pacific/3 pm Eastern.

Here is a screenshot of the fateful last moments. I took this screenshot while lying dead. So sad :(


Here is a super bonus picture of Bolty sitting in a mine cart. I don't know what he was doing, but I snapped a screenshot because it looked like fun.

[Tal]

Sorry to hear that guys. I'd join you this Sunday but have to work. :(

[JustAGuy]

I'm available to join the Sunday assault. I can resurrect, heal as well, and I'm quite a nice tank; I can put money down that we'll beat it this time. Well, I *would* put money down, if the servers weren't so wonky.

But, if there's room, I'm ready for some Cleef action.

[LavCat]

I still don't quite know what happened. I lagged out of the game, and eventually got back in. But I still could not loot the corpse I had been trying to loot at the time I dropped. I heard one of the gnomes of our party shouting (such as gnomes do), saw a green glowing light, and woke up in the Westfall graveyard -- alive, much as I reported in the other thread.

With a bit of difficulty I made it back to the area of the deadmines where the foreman spawns. An elf warrior was in the same vicinity, and she and I were just barely managing to keep the passage clear. My problem was that being a bit distracted I could not find the entrance to the instance. I still think I could have made it back to the party if you had been more patient.

I should be able to make it to the next attempt this weekend, hopefully with a new video card.

[Bolty]

I still think I could have made it back to the party if you had been more patient.

Lav, I tried to tell you in the game - that's just not possible. The monsters in the instance respawn, and we were *very* far down. All that way we had gone would have been filled in with monsters again. It was impossible for you to get back to us without having the whole team fight BACK up to the start of the instance and fight BACK down again.

-Bolty

[Tal]

Lav, I tried to tell you in the game - that's just not possible.  The monsters in the instance respawn, and we were *very* far down.  All that way we had gone would have been filled in with monsters again.  It was impossible for you to get back to us without having the whole team fight BACK up to the start of the instance and fight BACK down again.

-Bolty

This is probably the only thing I don't like about that particular instance. It is by far too difficult for that early in the game. If I had my way only the patrols would respawn in the instance.

[Bun-Bun]

I'll most likely be available to try again. If I can avoid excessive running of the Misty Marathon, I should be level 24 by then. And ... I have a tabard now! Sheer stylishness abounds.

[JustAGuy]

Aren't the Tabbards just the coolest?

Styles!

[--Pete]

Hi,

They are really nice, but what's the significance of the artichoke?

--Pete