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Post by Discordiankitty on May 22, 2016 22:43:27 GMT -5
Hi all. I've been enjoying the blogs here, and have realized that keeping one of my own might be the best way to remain sane while attempting this challenge.
I've always kinda wanted to achieve Ironman, ever since I heard about it years ago, but I've only recently gotten serious about it. What started off as a small experiment has now become an obsession. The problem is I reached level 50 on one of my first attempts (before dying because of lag, of all things, death rage arrgh!) and that has kinda given me the idea that I really, really can do this.
I've chosen to play a blood elf hunter. I've always been Horde, and have recently being working on Loremaster, so I know Horde side quests really well, which helps. My main is also a hunter, a BM with that gorgeous Loque'nahak spirit beast for a pet, so playing an unspecced hunter has been a unique challenge that has really helped me get better at the class. And while it's frustrating to die and start over, in all honesty I don't think I've enjoyed this game this much since I started playing.
The highest level I've achieved so far has been level 60. I was super excited about it, got flying, got my new bow, and then absolutely idiotically took the Maximillion quest in Un'goro Crater that puts you on the back of a horse and expects you to throw stones at the Devilsaur Queen. I don't know if the quest bugged out or if I just have really bad luck, but by the time I got to her, what felt like Un'goro Crater's entire "dragon" population was after me and my health was already three-quarters gone. In a blind panic I clicked "dismount" and tried to play dead. Too late, I was already dead. (Not that playing dead right under an angry devilsaur queen would have helped much anyway, but still.)
For the most part, my "danger zone" has been between levels 20 and 30, because this is when it's most possible to die from being attacked by two creatures at once. Once I have freezing trap and play dead, it's pretty much smooth sailing with only a hiccup here and there. If I die between the levels of 30 and 50, it's usually been because of something really stupid. (like going AFK in Andorhal, thinking it's safe because it's a village, only to come back and find that I've been killed by a Minuteman. Needless to say, I don't really make mistakes like that anymore.)
My current ironman is level 32. I've just watched Garrosh Hellscream throw Krom'gar off a cliff for what feels like the five hundredth time. Next up would usually be the Cape of Stranglethorn, but my level is a little low for comfort, so I'm going to be swinging by The Hinterlands first.
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Post by Lyssan on May 22, 2016 23:32:21 GMT -5
You seem to have the right mindset for this challenge. As long as you keep that "play dead" button handy you can go all the way. As for the Devilsaur Queen quest, its better to skip it completely or do it at 61 when mobs are squished.
Good luck! ☺
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Post by Discordiankitty on May 23, 2016 5:42:31 GMT -5
Thank you so much! I really hope I make it. I don't think I'll be trying the Devilsaur Queen quest again though.
Whenever I have a character to level, ironman or not, I take it through the Cape of Stranglethorn. The questline is fun, especially when you get to the pirates bit, plus there's always that tantalizing hope that a Hyacinth Macaw will drop. It never has yet, and this time was no different, but a stray tiger did drop a Razzashi Hatchling, which is sitting on the auction house, where I hope it sells, or at least has a chance to expire, before my character dies.
(How is it I've done this questline about a hundred times and yet I only realized today that "Our Mortal Enemies", when you have to kill ninjas for the pirates, is because, you know, pirates vs ninjas? Man I'm slow sometimes.)
Cape of Stranglethorn took me neeearllyyy to level 40. Literally one bar away. So frustrating! I resisted the temptation to tackle Rippa, the level 44 rare elite, and moved on. Usually around here I go to the Western Plaguelands, but I've decided to go with Ferelas instead this time. Honestly I'm sick of the Plaguelands altogether, and if I never do the Eastern Plaguelands quests again it'll be too soon.
By the time I reached Ferelas I'd hit level 40. Just 20 away from my current record. Fast mount and mail armor ftw! 40 is definitely one of my favourite milestones.
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Post by Discordiankitty on May 23, 2016 14:17:36 GMT -5
I want to say I know and accept it, but it'll probably come as a soul-killing shock as you say.
Feralas was easy but Thousand Needles is haaard. I eventually hit a brick wall when "Freewind Brave" wanted me to kill an elite NPC that's so beyond out of my league. (Freewind Brave obviously hates everyone and everything as a result of what's happened to his home and is taking it out on unsuspecting questers by getting them killed. My only comfort is I got him killed several times before giving up on the elite.) At level 45 I'm not sure if I want to risk going ahead to Tanaris or see if I can manage a few more levels first. Last thing I feel like doing is visiting freaking Eastern freaking Plaugelands and that godsdamn bloody worgen woman with her never-ending questline, and by now I know the Tanaris quests well enough to not be met with *too* many surprises, so I'm calling it a night and will see how I feel in the morning.
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Post by Discordiankitty on May 25, 2016 3:25:36 GMT -5
Ah man. I just got to level 58 and died. Was distracted for half a second. The Ironhide Devilsaur in Un'goro Crater attacked me and I was too slow to play dead. I'm going to have to take a break for awhile for my own sanity.
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Post by Discordiankitty on May 25, 2016 3:39:06 GMT -5
I think my problem is that I've been rushing things and allowing this to become so consuming that. I'll take a week or so, then maybe roll a character again, and then only work on it a little bit at a time. I've really enjoyed what I've learned, and I've reached level 60 at least once which I'm proud of, but it's time to play a character that can die without the whole world coming to an end for awhile. I'm going to go back to Loremaster as my main focus. At least for now.
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Post by Discordiankitty on May 29, 2016 1:31:20 GMT -5
Alright, I've taken my break, and I'm ready to start over.
I'm changing my strategy a tiny bit. After I finish an area, my plan is to fully explore other areas that are the same level, at least until level 35. (I've seen advice to explore areas level 35 and above once you're 60 and can fly, so planning on doing that.) This is partly to collect flight paths that I'll use once Midsummer comes around. I'm also actively hunting rares now, where before I'd only kill one if I happened to come across it.
My journey begins, as usual, in Tristfal Glades. Without doubt the hands-down best zone for a Horde to start in. The questline pretty much goes in a simple loop, plus it's filled with rares that respawn quickly.
I'm hoping to be level 60 by the time Darkmoon Faire begins, so that I can make some easy XP when I'm trying to reach level 61. A week should be more than enough time.
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Post by Discordiankitty on May 30, 2016 7:35:51 GMT -5
I'm in my early 20s, so it's still ridiculously early days. I can't help but reflect that playing a Blood Elf really is probably the least useful race for Ironman, though I have learned how to use Arcane Torrent like never before. But that just makes me want to do this on a Blood Elf more.
Silverpine Forest is another great zone for an Ironman hunter to level in, with plenty of rares and a straight-forward questline, plus dogs to tame. It also means I'm constantly close to Undercity, which is good because this is the only Horde city in which you can buy a crossbow, and the crossbow you get at level 16 is easily the best hunter weapon until level 21.
The only really challenging bits is the Forsaken Front, where, if phasing glitches out, you can find yourself alone against a mob of elites, and The Lord Godfrey, Lord Walden, Baron Ahbury quests, which have the same basic problem. The fights against General Marstone and Lorna are particularly risky, and I like to be level 22 and kitted out in Cuirboulli Leather before attempting them. General Marstone is especially dangerous, and if I get aggro from him I have to run. Lorna has a nasty habit of taking off half of my health at the first hit.
At level 20, it's time to get riding (yay!) and I pop by Orgrimmar and do the Blown Away quest, for what that's worth.
After I'm done with the Silverpine Forest questline, I'm level 22. And after I'm done exploring Ghostlands, Azshara and Northern Barrens, I'm about half-way through level 23. I got a little bit of a fright after killing Humar the Pridelord and every single lion around him attacked my pet, but it wasn't hard to run to Ratchett before their attention turned to me. I'm not sure about this exploring method though. It does take an insanely long time.
Hillsbrad Foothills is next, another zone with plenty of rares and a straight-forward questing progression. That dreaded Yeti hangs around, but I've become expert at avoiding him. In fact, I've become expert at all these quests, so I don't expect to die here.
Please let these not be my famous last words.
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Post by Discordiankitty on Jun 2, 2016 5:29:40 GMT -5
You're right, Trolls, Orcs and Undead are great, and Blood Elf is probably, as I said, the worst race. But hey, everyone has their freakish little personal challenge. Some people refuse to do dailies at all, others try levelling without a pet. I'm going for the first Blood Elf Ironman. After almost dying in Stonetalon Mountains because of getting too close to some Alliance guards, and then dying anyway because I very cleverly walked off a cliff, I've decided to entirely abandon my fully explore other areas strategy. It wastes a lot of time for very little reward anyway. On the other hand, actively hunting rares in any given area really does pay off, especially early on. At this point I've experimented enough to know what I consider to be the best route through vanilla zones, and I would recommend this to anyone playing Horde: 1-5: Whatever starting area you begin in. 5-12ish: Tristfal Glades 12ish-20+: Silverpine Forest. Be careful of the giant at the Forsaken Front (he's killable but dangerous) and of General Marstone who, if he decides to attack you instead of the NPCs that are supposed to be helping you, will kill you VERY quickly. Early 20s to late 20s: Hillsbrad Foothills. DON'T GO NEAR THE YETI. Late 20s to early 30s: Stonetalon Mountains. Don't fall. Don't try kill the big fish. Really don't fall. Early 30s to mid 30s: The Hinterlands (Make sure to pick up the OOX-09/HL Distress Beacon quest as it's tons of basically free XP, though you will get attacked by three mobs who hit quite hard so do be mindful of that. You may have to farm a little after questing, depending on your luck.)Mid 30s to late 30s: Cape of Stranglethorn (After you're done in the Cape of Stranglethorn, swing by Ferelas to pick up the OOX-22/FE Distress Beacon quest from the Feral Scar Yeti, who have an extremely high drop rate. As before it's tons of basically free XP.)Late 30s to early 40s: Western Plaguelands. You could do Ferelas instead, but the next step basically has to be Eastern Plaguelands so sticking to the area just makes more sense to me. Just be careful - don't assume that Andorhal is a safe place to leave your character - I did that once and came back to find a Minuteman had killed me. Early 40s to mid 40s: Eastern Plaguelands (I really do hate it, but trying to quest in Thousand Needles is a waste of time. The quests just aren't suited to an ironman.) Mid 40s to late 40s: Tanaris (Grab the OOX-17/TN Distress Beacon, you'll likely get it while questing unless you're VERY unlucky, and turn it in for XP and the pet, which you can put on the AH for quite a hefty sum to potentially solve any gold problems your ironman might have in the future. I have yet to sell one of these before dying, but hope springs eternal.)Late 40s to early 50s: Felwood Early 50s to mid 50s: Winterspring (it's right next to Felwood so might as well) From here things aren't as set in stone. This is what I've been going with: Mid 50s to late 50s: Swamp of Sorrows - From Light's Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands, grab the flight the goblins want to put you on - a rocket that you will be tossed off if you log out while on it so DO NOT LOG OUT until the flight is over - to Fuselight by the sea in Badlands. From there, swim to Bogpaddle. It's a slow route, but it's infinitely safer than trying to run through Alliance territory like Duskwood.
- I went to Swamp of Sorrows the first time because I read that the Primed Musket, one of the only 2 weapons that are an improvement over the gun bought from a vendor at level 31, drop here. I picked up the other one, the Recurve Long Bow, instead. This time around I've been lucky enough to find and buy both off the Auction House already so I don't need to bother trying to farm them. But the questline is simple and there's no nasty dangerous surprises, so I'm keeping it in my route.
Late 50s to 60: Un'Goro Crater. Here's the issue. I've died in Un'Goro Crater twice now, both times because of some stupidly overpowered dinosaur that killed me before I had a chance to even play dead. The first time was fine, part of a quest that can easily be avoided, but the second time the dinosaur caught me ON the road on the way to the VERY FIRST little camp. That's insane, and has made me not want to go back to Un'Goro Crater until I'm at least level 61. So instead I'm considering either working Burning Steppes or Blasted Lands into my route. I haven't decided on which one yet - It will depend on my level when I reach the end of Winterspring. So yeah. At the moment, I'm level 43 and heading into the Eastern Plaguelands. I'm still confident that I will be able to be around level 60 by the time the Darkmoon Faire opens up. Reeeeaaallllly hoping this will help me avoid Un'Goro Crater, but we'll see if I survive past 60 this time. There's always another cliff to fall off after all.
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Post by Discordiankitty on Jun 4, 2016 10:03:56 GMT -5
So, for the first time, I've managed to reach level 61!
At level 59, I did wind up going to Un'Goro Crater, but only had to do one or two quests before I hit 60. After that, and after grabbing flying and my new bow, I headed straight to Hillsbrad Foothills to do the Plants vs Zombies knockoff questline, then to Arathi Highlands for the first aid quest. Next, I fully explored every Vanilla area for levels 35 and up, did the first couple of quests in Outland (there's about 4 or 5 go here and speak to this person quests before any action begins), and finally, I explored all the Outland zones except for Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley.
I just killed my first dinosaur in Un'Goro Crater. Oh my sweet lord. I can't believe how powerful I am in Vanilla zones now!
I'm so nervous I actually feel slightly nauseated.
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Post by Discordiankitty on Jun 5, 2016 18:32:40 GMT -5
So it's time for a break. The squish was ridiculously fun. I got my revenge in Un'Goro Crater, did the Silithis quests (skipping the one that flags you for PVP) and finished up with the Blasted Lands quests. Then I kinda just flew around and killed mobs that I used to be scared of. Immature? Maybe. Fun? Hell yes.
Next step is Outland, but before I venture there I have to go back to working a little on Loremaster with my other characters so that I have a basic idea of what to expect. (At the moment, levelling in Hellfire Penninsula with a monk that *should* be overpowered - death. Death seems to be what I can expect. I'll probably start with Zangarmarsh when I go back to my Ironman anyway though.)
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Post by gnumbers on Jun 5, 2016 19:26:24 GMT -5
So it's time for a break. The squish was ridiculously fun. I got my revenge in Un'Goro Crater, did the Silithis quests (skipping the one that flags you for PVP) and finished up with the Blasted Lands quests. Then I kinda just flew around and killed mobs that I used to be scared of. Immature? Maybe. Fun? Hell yes. Next step is Outland, but before I venture there I have to go back to working a little on Loremaster with my other characters so that I have a basic idea of what to expect. (At the moment, levelling in Hellfire Penninsula with a monk that *should* be overpowered - death. Death seems to be what I can expect. I'll probably start with Zangarmarsh when I go back to my Ironman anyway though.) Early Zangarmarsh has a number of mobs that are very vulnerable to kiting. If your class can kite, that's a huge help in getting early levels in BC.
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Post by Discordiankitty on Jun 5, 2016 23:15:16 GMT -5
Thank you! I'm playing a hunter, so kiting is definitely in.
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Post by gnumbers on Jun 6, 2016 2:58:02 GMT -5
Thank you! I'm playing a hunter, so kiting is definitely in. Plus, there's plenty of mushrooms which make kiting much easier. Also of note: * Rather Be Fishin' is a Level 64 quest that's available at level 62 at the Orphanage in northern Shattrath City. The eels are hilariously underpowered and will be the weakest quest NPCs you will run across in the entire Burning Crusade expansion by a large margin. (They also give greatly reduced xp when killed.) * The caves in Zangarmarsh has an invisible mob that seems to have a thing for killing iron Hunters. Never met it on my Rogue, but the trigger may have something to do with AoE and/or pets. * Most of Hellfire Peninsula isn't that bad if you know what to look for (at least from the Rogue perspective)...but it only takes missing one patrolling mob to ruin your day, and HP has lots of patrollers, including the overpowered Fel Reavers. However, don't do any questing there if your aggro dump is on cooldown.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2016 8:30:55 GMT -5
So it's time for a break. The squish was ridiculously fun. I got my revenge in Un'Goro Crater, did the Silithis quests (skipping the one that flags you for PVP) and finished up with the Blasted Lands quests. Then I kinda just flew around and killed mobs that I used to be scared of. Immature? Maybe. Fun? Hell yes. Next step is Outland, but before I venture there I have to go back to working a little on Loremaster with my other characters so that I have a basic idea of what to expect. (At the moment, levelling in Hellfire Penninsula with a monk that *should* be overpowered - death. Death seems to be what I can expect. I'll probably start with Zangarmarsh when I go back to my Ironman anyway though.) Did you get my email response from Friday? Just wondering if you're still interested?
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