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Post by Xeraphia on May 9, 2016 16:37:50 GMT -5
WELL. Whatever kills Phaxiera, it will not be Darkshore. My big mouth was not that big that time.
So as I read this thread, I realize I am doing it completely differently this time. I am in Ashenvale at 26, 5 levels earlier than I was on my previous attempt. I also was in Duskwood 5 levels earlier, and although the Darkshire quests went fine, the quests from Raven Hill made me age 10 years before I fled back to the safety of Kalimdor.
Darkshore was generous, with rares always up and on a really short timer (Shadowclaw is under 10mn, Sinslayer would come up every 4-7 minutes, the Furlbog was up three times while I was doing the Grove of the Ancients hub). But it was not sufficient to get me safely into Ashenvale, and so I padded two levels with exploration and starter quests in Elwynn/Westfall/Redridge/Duskwood. I gave up on Duskwood at 24, after three nasty scares in a row.
My last scare was running away from two Worgens, out of mana, with 15% of HP left (understand: two hits before I die), my Gift of the Naaru used up, and when I finally dropped out of combat I found myself surrounded by other Worgens, luckily all out of aggro range. And so I hearthed. Halfway through the Heartstone cast, a Worgen respawns ON TOP OF ME. And so I prayed. I held my breath, stayed perfectly still and prayed Elune, and the Naaru, and the Light, and Lord Taran Zhu, and the Worgen just walked away as my Hearthstone cast pushed to 80% and 90% and before I could breathe out, I was safe and sound in the inn of Duskwood with my heart pounding out of my chest.
Congratulations, Worgens of Duskwood: you just made it on my short list, right behind Murlocs and Gnolls. I hope you're happy.
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Post by Xeraphia on May 11, 2016 0:06:07 GMT -5
And the 30 milestone is reached Ashenvale was no problem overall, save for the Furlbog quest bosses. There are three of them: one I tried once and gave up (Dal Bloodclaw), the other two almost had my skin and needed two tries each (The two bosses from the Dartol's Rod questline). Although not killing Bloodclaw doesn't change much, unfortunately the two others force you to make a choice: take a risk and go for them so you can keep questing, or give them up and the rest of the questline + all this nice XP and find something else to level. I am not sure what I want to do next. I am thinking of giving Desolace a try. Going back to Duskwood will not take me to 31 but it may give me about 10K XP out of the 30K I need to hit 31. Stranglethorn feels like a nightmare right now. Maybe a mix of all of that + exploration. I'll leave it to simmer overnight... And SHOULDERPADS DROPPED!
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Post by Xeraphia on May 13, 2016 21:48:57 GMT -5
*sigh* I hate Stranglethorn. /reroll.
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Post by Xeraphia on Jun 16, 2016 19:41:58 GMT -5
Well... A new job and a twink raid team later, Phax is back in the race, now at level 21. And, I see, with a lot more competition than when she went on her break. To all new Iron Shamans out there, best of luck! I wanted to try it differently yet again this time and rolled a Pandaren instead of a Draenei. I was curious to see how the double rested XP would play. Answer: it does not. And it is absolutely not worth losing Gift of the Naaru. Even worse, the Pandaren somehow, for whatever reason, feels squishier and weaker than the Draenei. At the same level, in the same zone, I am sweating tears and blood to kill a furlbog. Farming Lord Sinslayer is completely out of the question. Elune grant me patience, the Naaru grant me strength, this Shaman deals even less damage than a normal Iron Shaman. I didn't even know there was lower DPS than an Iron Shaman, but I managed to create that. I realize Draenei don't have a racial advantage over Pandaren, but I have no idea why that is happening. Right now, I am debating whether to simply kill off the Pandaren and reroll a Draenei before the inevitable happens and I waste more time, or simply be reasonable and recognize rolling a Draenei will make no difference apart from the Gift of the Naaru and simply level up elsewhere before coming back to Darkshore. Actually, I need more rum. Edit: I just saw that... Draenei do have increased Intellect and Agility. Increased how much? I wonder if that's enough to explain this DPS drop and mana drain. But that's another reason to make me kill the Pandaren... I've got an itch, now...
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Post by Margothon Lord of the Elements on Jun 16, 2016 21:15:31 GMT -5
I wanted to try it differently yet again this time and rolled a Pandaren instead of a Draenei. I was curious to see how the double rested XP would play. Answer: it does not. And it is absolutely not worth losing Gift of the Naaru. Even worse, the Pandaren somehow, for whatever reason, feels squishier and weaker than the Draenei. At the same level, in the same zone, I am sweating tears and blood to kill a furlbog. Farming Lord Sinslayer is completely out of the question. Elune grant me patience, the Naaru grant me strength, this Shaman deals even less damage than a normal Iron Shaman. I didn't even know there was lower DPS than an Iron Shaman, but I managed to create that. I realize Draenei don't have a racial advantage over Pandaren, but I have no idea why that is happening. Right now, I am debating whether to simply kill off the Pandaren and reroll a Draenei before the inevitable happens and I waste more time, or simply be reasonable and recognize rolling a Draenei will make no difference apart from the Gift of the Naaru and simply level up elsewhere before coming back to Darkshore. Draenei have Heroic presence, this increases their Strength, Agility and Intellect, which scales with level: - Level 10 (+2)
- level 20 (+3)
- level 30 (+5)
- level 40(+6)
- level 50(+7)
- level 60(+8)
- level 70(+11)
- level 80(+13)
- level 85(+15)
- level 90(+17)
- level 91(+25)
- level 92(+30)
- level 93(+35)
- level 94(+41)
- level 95(+48)
- level 96(+56)
- level 97(+59)
Strength and Agility will affect your Primal Strike and auto attacks, increasing their damage, Agility also converts to dodge for mail and leather wearers. Most importantly of all Intellect affects spell power, increasing the damage of your spells, this is why you are feeling the difference between a Pandaren and a Draenei Shaman. If you are looking for something different although i would absolutely go with Draenei, go Dwarf.
Dwarf: Might of the Mountain: Critical strike bonus damage and healing increased by 2%. Stoneform: Removes all poison, disease, curse, magic, and bleed effects and reduces all physical damage taken by 10% for 8 sec.
As i see you like Kalimdor, Troll is also a viable option.
Troll: Regeneration: Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat. Beast Slaying: Experience gains from killing Beasts increased by 20%. Berserking: Increases your haste by 15% for 10 sec.
I went with Dwarf Shaman myself, currently at 33, but i wish i had gone Draenei after getting my Draenei Paladin to 60, i have seen the power of a draenei first hand now, Draeneis are a very powerful ironman race imo.
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Post by Xeraphia on Jun 16, 2016 22:01:53 GMT -5
Ah... thanks for the detailed answer ^_^ I did reroll, and I did go back to a Draenei. I just wasn't feeling the Dwarf. Horde is not an option, as I always end up missing my guild when I play a toon that's not in it I would have ended up killing her or transferring her, with all the iffiness that surrounds race changes. To still shake things up a little, I went to Teldrassil instead of Azuremyst. I like the rares that are always around and I feel there's a lot less running around there. Plus, Teldrassil is home. Let's see
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Post by theironwolf on Jul 1, 2016 22:21:00 GMT -5
i feel draenei is your best bet for shaman or warriors
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Post by Xeraphia on Jan 16, 2017 15:32:28 GMT -5
After a long break from my Challengers, I picked up my Shaman again. I specced her into Elemental (I now realize it made no sense for the Challenge, but there).
With every new Challenger, things become easier and smoother. Phaxiera breezed through her questing, her mob farming, her rare killing. And eventually found herself in Feralas, breezing through a camp of Gnolls (what did I say about Gnolls? Yeah.) Only that was not a breeze, since the camp was backed up against a tree. And a gigantic rock. That her horse could not jump. You can guess how that story ends.
It was extremely frustrating because I was on my way to turn in three quests that would have dinged me 44 and I ran into this camp looking for my way to the quest turn-in. And because it's the furthest I've taken an Ironman, save for my first try who died at 64.
At the same time it's encouraging because that's the furthest I've taken an Ironman -i.e. I'm learning to wrap my head around this challenge (OK, I don't learn fast. Fine. No need to point it out. I'm smart. Ish. Kinda.)
Still numb with shock, I re-rolled. Just so I would not think about it. New Phaxiera is level 8 (yaaay...) and will be specced Resto (makes more sense). The breezing will be less breezeful, but I'm already looking forward to it.
I need a hug.
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Post by Crystalpall on Jan 16, 2017 16:04:13 GMT -5
Hugging you! Rerolling asap is the best you can do to numb the pain, so good job. Good luck with your further journeys!
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Towny
Challenger
Posts: 299
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Post by Towny on Jan 16, 2017 21:12:00 GMT -5
Good luck with your new challenger
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Post by Xeraphia on Jan 17, 2017 21:58:37 GMT -5
Thanks!
Now level 21 and just hit the Grove of the Ancients hub in Darkshore. I was expecting speccing in Resto would make it a lot harder than it was in Elemental, but so far I've seen no difference, since the Flame Shock-Lava Burst still applies. And I'm loving the Riptide -instant HoT? Yes please.
Also, I tried yet a fourth starting combo, clearing Azuremyst then heading to Darkshore. It works: Azuremyst gives a great leg up to Darkshore, without making it irrelevant.
Alright, back at it! o/
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Post by Xeraphia on Jan 19, 2017 19:19:43 GMT -5
And 32 after milking Ashenvale! It was easier than usual, even the 3 furlbog bosses that used to give me a heart attack were a walk in the park. The Forest Song hub looked meaningless but ended up accounting for almost two levels, so there was that.
I'm still liking the Resto spec. I assume I'm going to have to change that at some point, but for now it's a safe and high DPS spec.
Phax went shopping, new armor, new axe, all ready to... I'm not sure actually. I'm tempted to go to Desolace. Either this or hit Stranglethorne, but I do hate this jungle. I'm also terrified of Stonetalon. Another option would be to milk exploration XP and early starter quests XP in Eastern Kingdoms (I still haven't set foot there) to gain a level or two before heading to Desolace, but this feels like adding drops of water into an ocean. I always hit this snag after Ashenvale... I still don't have a favorite way to go from here. Maybe the quests in Duskwood are still worth doing at 32?
Decisions, decisions...
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Post by Ironworgen on Jan 19, 2017 21:43:32 GMT -5
... but this feels like adding drops of water into an ocean. I'm still amazed that anyone thinks that easy, safe(r) experience is a waste of time. Playing naked, I do ALL quests, but I realize that Iron is not the same as Naked so not as much caution is necessary. Even still, with the latest expansion, quests several levels below current level offer significant experience. I would say better safe than sorry, but that doesn't seem to be the new generation's approach. Tortoise and the Hare. Speed kills.
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Towny
Challenger
Posts: 299
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Post by Towny on Jan 19, 2017 21:44:07 GMT -5
If you don't like STV maybe try Arathi, nothing to treacherous up there as long as you stay away from the 2 horde bases at the far east & west of the map
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Post by Ironworgen on Jan 19, 2017 21:48:19 GMT -5
If you don't like STV maybe try Arathi, nothing to treacherous up there as long as you stay away from the 2 horde bases at the far east & west of the map Agreed about Arathi. Also, provides easy access to Hillsbrad and Plants vs. Zombies. If you are interested in exploration experience, then you can do Hillsbrad, Silverpine, and even Gilneas (which doesn't even have any mobs, great place for some role play). May be Horde zones, but the threat has always seemed pretty minimal to me, but do be careful just in case.
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