Posted in Art, Monk, Story/RP, Tauren on April 17, 2013 | 6 Comments »
Sunwalker Dezco says that he named one of his twin sons “Kor”, after Kor Bloodtusk, and the other after the adventurer who assisted him at Thunder Cleft. I suspect that, should the twins ever appear in some later expansion as larger children, the other one will actually be named “Kang”, after Kang Bramblestaff.
Edit, 3 May 2013: This picture has now been jossed by the publication of the short story “Bleeding Sun”.
Posted in Alts, blogging/bloggers, Monk, Raiding on January 21, 2013 | 9 Comments »
Our Monks having dinged 80 the last time BTH and I played with them, I decided to bring my Monk, Katewatha, to this weekend’s LBR excursion to Wyrmrest Temple. I used her Mistweaver spec because BTH and I hadn’t run any dungeons since early Outland, and I was feeling like I needed to remember how it worked. I don’t know how much I really contributed, but I did have fun!
I surveyed the loot that Sartharion dropped and rolled Greed on the staff and the goodie bag and Need on the Dragon Hide Bag and the Twilight Drake.
I was so surprised when a flurry of “You Won!” boxes popped up on my screen that I forgot to cap it, but here they all are in my bags:
BTH was cooking and called me to dinner just as we were zoning in to the Ruby Sanctum. I tried to get back as quickly as I could, but Halion was already dead by the time I made it. I was sad that I’d missed the fight because it was kind of a fun fight (it just wasn’t quite fun enough to be worth slogging through all the trash to get to it, back in the day) but oh well.
Then JD suggested a turn on the Alliance side to get Repgrind her Twilight Drake, so I quickly logged over to Kinevra, leaving Kate sitting in the atrium of the Wyrmrest Temple basement.
My Tauren being my most-played characters, their server is my richest, and Kate had purchased Artisan Riding as soon as she reached level 70 — so there was, fortunately, no hindrance to her learning the mount.
Posted in blogging/bloggers, happy dance, Miscellany, Monk on December 16, 2012 | 15 Comments »
After seeing that the various toys from Winter Veils past had been added to the toy vendors, I’d been hoping that the Gaudy Winter Veil Sweater would show up on one vendor or another, too. Sure enough, the Smokywood Pastures folks sell it for the princely sum of ~20 copper. While I was cycling through my alts that had been created since last Winter Veil — most notably my Monk and my Pandaren — and taking them to get their Gaudy Winter Veil Sweaters, I got a whisper from Navimie telling me to check my blog email.
A code to redeem? Ooh, what could it be? Oh, my!
I’d been meaning to visit Navi on her home server sometime anyway, so after a bit of confusion about how to find her realm, I was able to give her my delighted thanks in person.
Isn’t he adorable? Not having gotten into pet battling, I haven’t bothered to name most of my pets, but this one definitely needed a special name. And so, thinking of Jackie Chan, I named him Naviechan.
Thank you so much, Navimie dear!
Posted in Fashion, Leather, Monk, Tauren on December 9, 2012 | 4 Comments »
My Monk is finished with Outland and getting well-rested before heading off to Northrend, which means it’s time to update her Transmogrification kits.
Icy Calm (Windwalker)
Spaulders of the Ring, Lo’ap’s Tunic of Muck Diving, Serene Yellow Belt, Clefthoof Britches, Smuggler’s Mitts/Caustic Feelers, Mud Encrusted Boots, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
This is mostly an Outland quest rewards recipe set, but it’s one I’ve always liked a lot. I owe the inspired combination of Serene Yellow Belt + Clefthoof Britches to Draynee’s Jade Monk set.
Misty Moss (Mistweaver)
Wild Shoulderpads, Imperial Leather chestpiece, Green Belt of Hushed Wisdom, Nature-Stitched Kilt, Ranger gloves, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
I replaced the gray-toned Righteous shoulders & gloves that I’d first tried for this set with these green items, and I’m much happier with the overall result.
Remember to keep an eye on my Fashion page, because sometimes I update my “Things My Characters Wear” posts without making separate posts about the new outfits. You can tell which characters I’m actively playing (or at least using for holiday/special event related outfits) by which posts are getting pulled to the top of the list!
Posted in Fashion, Leather, Monk, Tauren on October 27, 2012 | 3 Comments »
A collection of Transmogrification Template Kits actually worn in-game by my Tauren Mistweaver/Windwalker Monk. I will update it whenever I change my in-game TTK. Items that are no longer obtainable are marked with an asterisk (*).
Touch of Blue
Phantasmal Headdress, Ranger Pauldrons, Grizzly Jerkin, Brown Belt of Humbling Gravity, Earthborn Kilt, Hewn Kodo Gloves + Uninsured Bracers
The most recent time BTH and I ran a dungeon with our Monks, I was appalled at the state in which I’d left Kate’s Mistweaver set after our previous dungeon session. She needed something better, asap!
The Grizzly Jerkin + kilt (most often Earthborn, but sometimes Jinxed Hoodoo or Kurenai) combination seems to be quite popular for female monks. I’ve seen outfits using these two items as core with varied accessories at a few different Transmogrification sites. Here’s my take on it.
Silent Leaf
Silentleaf hat shoulders & chestpiece, Serene Yellow Belt, Yeti Hide Britches, Craggy Handgrips, Luring Footpads, Spear of Xuen
The Silentleaf items are obtained by questing in Kun-Lai Summit.
These shoulders have a similar look to the iconic Rogue T5 Deathmantle Shoulderpads, without being quite so menacing.
The bottom half of this ensemble is identical to Kate’s earlier “Serene Grizzly” Transmogrification kit.
Grace of the Plainshawk
Plainshawk set with Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Ogre-Hunter Boots, and Spear of Xuen
This recolor of the crafted Misthide set is readily obtained by questing through Valley of the Four Winds.
Mystic Devotion
Headband of the Coiled Serpent/Adventurer’s Bandana, Bonechewer Shoulderguards, Wolf Rider’s Padded Armor, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Mystic Sarong, Blacksting Gloves
Other leather-wearing classes will probably want to use the Burning Blade Devotee’s Cinch.
Although Wowhead no longer lists the Mystic Sarong as being part of his inventory, I indeed obtained this Mystic Sarong post-Patch 5.0 by camping the Dark Iron Entrepreneur in Arathi Highlands.
Icy Calm (Windwalker)
Spaulders of the Ring, Lo’ap’s Tunic of Muck Diving, Serene Yellow Belt, Clefthoof Britches, Smuggler’s Mitts/Caustic Feelers, Mud Encrusted Boots, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
This is mostly an Outland quest rewards recipe set, but it’s one I’ve always liked a lot. I owe the inspired combination of Serene Yellow Belt + Clefthoof Britches to Draynee’s Jade Monk set.
Misty Moss (Mistweaver)
Righteous shoulders (gray)/Wild Shoulderpads (green), Imperial Leather chestpiece, Green Belt of Hushed Wisdom, Nature-Stitched Kilt, Righteous (gray)/Ranger (brown & green) gloves, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
I’d been looking forward to getting to Hellfire Peninsula with Kate so that she could acquire this lovely kilt. I like how nicely the Imperial Leather chestpiece complements the kilt. The Righteous gloves worked well, but the Righteous shoulders… not so much. I’m happier with the overall look using the green-toned shoulders and gloves.
The Imperial Leather Belt might be a good choice for other leather wearers.
Hidden Serpent (Windwalker)
Reporter’s Shoulderguards, Spore-Covered Tunic, Green Belt of Hushed Wisdom, Blazerunner Leggings, Craggy Handgrips, Colossal Treads
If you’re not an Herbalist, the Gypsy Tunic, a green version of this chestpiece style, also works very well, though the overall effect is brighter. For other leather wearers, I recommend the Excavator’s Quarry Belt.
Warchief’s Wiseman (Mistweaver)
Puncture-Binding Spaulder, Prospector’s Chestpiece, Serene Yellow Belt, Warchief Kilt*, Fuzzy Gloves + Princess Poobah’s Bracelets, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
The Warchief Kilt dropped in old Scarlet Monastery. I’ve had this one in the bank for several months now, while I was trying to decide which character to bind it to. The Flamestrider Robes from BRD are a full-length version of this style that would make a very similar outfit with the same accessories.
For other leather wearers, I recommend the Prospector’s belt. For races who wear shoes, the Prospector’s boots or any other dark brown-black boots would be appropriate.
Serene Grizzly (Windwalker)
Defiant Spire Shoulderguard, Grizzly Jerkin, Serene Yellow Belt, Yeti Hide Britches, Craggy Handgrips, Luring Footpads, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
For other leather wearers, I recommend the Hillman’s or Batskin belt.
Basic Brown Leather
Robust Shoulders, Kranal’s Vest, Serene Yellow Belt, Duskwatcher’s Leggings, Hewn Kodo Gloves + Uninsured Bracers, Stolen Talrendis Boots, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony/Staff of the Hidden Master
I made this Transmogrification kit for Katewatha before I had enough gear to make a separate set for each spec. Most of the items are starter and secondary zone quest rewards with several equivalents.
For other leather wearers, I recommend the Superior or Hyena Hide belts.
Posted in Achievements, Alts, Kamalia, Monk, Pandaren, Professions on October 13, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what IS this about Patch 5.1 so soon? I’m not even half-finished with the out-of-the-box stuff yet!
Another week has come and gone and Kamalia is still not ready for LFR. Although she has tended her garden diligently each morning, the other Tillers dailies — and all the dailies in other places, as well — went undone during the first part of the week while I was busy with alts. BTH and I started our Tauren Monks and, fully kitted out in +XP heirlooms, we are blasting through the levels. We’re gaining about ten levels per session, having reached level 33 in three sittings. We’ve run a couple of dungeons and I’m really enjoying how different the Mistweaver healing style is from all the other classes. Rolling is so much fun! When I returned to my Pandaren Mage after having begun playing my Monk, I found myself wishing that she had Roll instead of Blink. Upon arriving in Orgrimmar and seeing how Garrosh greets the Huojin, I wondered how Varian greets the Tushui. So I have started a second Pandaren Mage to find out. That disrupts my neatly arranged set-up of faction parity and spec distribution among my Mages, so if I decide to keep this character, I’m thinking she’ll be an untalented pseudo-Ironman. And, of course, it was the Darkmoon Faire this week. I worked pretty hard to get the professions of my Monk and my Huojin Pandaren Faire-ready. Then I spent a couple of evenings methodically working through my roster to bring almost all of my characters to the Faire.
Mid-week, BTH asked me to craft a chestpiece for him. I was all set to go get the pattern and do it… and then I realized that the pattern was behind the Golden Lotus: Honored gate and I was still three days of Golden Lotus dailies away from crossing that threshold. Oops. Guess I should have been doing at least those dailies. I should be able to get the pattern today, though.
I re-set Kamalia’s hearth from the Shrine of Two Moons to the Lazy Turnip in Halfhill because she was spending most of her time there anyway. I recently reached Revered with the Tillers and expanded my garden to 12 mounds of soil. It occurred to me the other day why Juicycrunch Carrots sell so briskly — everyone must be trying to butter up Jogu the Drunk so that they can get free crop forecasts. Kamalia herself has been devoting all of her carrot crop to that purpose. I’m wondering if getting a crop forecast is really necessary, though, because it seems that the only reason that I haven’t yet gotten Listen to the Drunk Fish is that Farmer Yoon hasn’t yet asked me to plant some pink turnips for him.
Posted in Alts, Monk, Pandaren, Professions, Questing, Raiding on March 19, 2012 | 2 Comments »
You guys. I am so excited to play Mists!
I thought the teaser silhouette of Ms Pandaren looked great, and I’m entirely pleased by the full model screenshots. She’s cute, confident, capable, and curvy, and a good complement to the males of the species. I’m going to have to have at least two Pandaren characters, just so I can have both a black one and a red one! Good thing I already want to have at least two Pandaren characters, so I can have one be Horde and the other be Alliance, one a Mage and the other a Shaman. Hmm, black Horde Mage, red Alliance Shaman… yeah, I think I like that. 
I’m relieved that Monks have been simplified by the removal of the light orb/dark orb system and the restoration of an auto-attack. I have enough trouble juggling runes on my DKs and Holy Power on my Paladins, and the Monk system, as initially described, sounded even more complicated. I’m still planning to roll a Tauren Mistwalker Monk and a Blood Elf Windwalker Monk.
Even though I haven’t tried to have one of each class all on the same server for some time, the eleventh character slot is very welcome. I like to have one character slot open on each server just in case I want to roll a throwaway level 1 alt for some purpose or other, or to move characters around, and I’ve rearranged which characters are on which server just to avoid having a server be completely full. Having another slot will give me some more breathing room.
I’m glad that questing will return to more of the “here are three storylines, do them in any order you please” model. I’ve enjoyed the Cataclysm stories I’ve played through so far… but I’ve missed having 10-12 quests in my log at any given time, with it being my choice which group to do first.
I’m pleased by the profession updates. The Cooking specializations are an intriguing idea. More fun glyphs are fun! Just looking at the Druid-specific examples that were shown, how am I ever going to choose the very few that I will need to fill my limited number of glpyh slots, without sacrificing something critical for combat like the glyphs that affect Rebirth? I’m particularly happy about the new profession-integrated factions — the Anglers and the Tillers and especially the Lorewalkers. Though not much was said about the Anglers, I do enjoy Fishing. The Tillers thing sounds like a pleasant little mini-game — even though I have studiously avoided getting involved with FarmVille and its ilk on Facebook — and I really like the idea of being able to cultivate some of my own ingredients and reagents. The Explorer’s League and the Reliquary really should have been doing what the Lorewalkers will be doing for Pandaria Archaeology for Kalimdor/EK Archaeology all along. The various other factions look interesting to me, but I’ll have to wait until I see some examples of their rewards to decide just how interested in them I will be.
So, we have the Taunka on the northern continent and the Yaungol on the southern continent. Tauren live all over current Kalimdor, but not in the Eastern Kingdoms. This implies that the first Children of the Earthmother, the earliest Shu’halo, the proto-Tauren, ranged over the full length of primordial Kalimdor, but kept to the western half of its breadth. They must have interacted relatively peacefully with the Kaldorei, who also still inhabit current Kalimdor, so perhaps it was Trolls in the east who limited their latitudinal range?
The Virmen clearly re-use the Gorloc skeleton and hopping animation. I bet the Wolvar would hate them. And find them very tasty. But if we relocated the Frenzyheart from Sholazar Basin to the Valley of the Four Winds, they would probably soon become a pestilence themselves.
Lately, I’ve been thinking that I probably won’t get involved with current-content raiding in Mists unless the T14 armor designs for my favorite classes are really something special. Scenarios and Challenge mode dungeons, though, that I could see myself getting into as my endgame play, instead of progression raiding. I’m particularly interested in the cosmetic armor rewards from winning the silver Challenge medals, of course.
Speaking of raiding, if Garrosh Hellscream is going to be the “end boss” of Mists, with the Siege of Orgrimmar being the big raid of the final patch of the expansion, I hope that there will also be significant things that non-raiders can to to contribute to his downfall. Also, Vol’jin totally needs to be the NPC to deliver the final killing blow, a la Maiev in Black Temple or Tirion in ICC.
Finally, I’m getting really tired of Old Dragonface on my loading screen and the current loading screen music. I often hit “mute” when I’m doing a lot of flipping back and forth between various alts because I don’t want to have to listen to the opeing bars of the loading screen music over and over and over. The tidbits of music that play in the videos when the Mists of Pandaria logo appears are wonderful, and I’m looking forward to a new loading screen and new loading screen music.
Posted in Alts, Art, Mage, Monk, Pandaren, Shaman on October 23, 2011 | 4 Comments »
I expect that I’ll be rolling at least four new toons come the Mists of Pandaria: Horde-Pandaren Mage (because I have 6 Alliance Mages but only 5 Horde Mages), Alliance-Pandaren Shaman (because I have 4 Horde Shaman but only 2 Alliance Shaman), Tauren Monk, and Blood Elf Monk. My Tauren Monk will be a Mistweaver, possibly with a Brewmaster offspec, and she may very well be a reroll of Katebeka (currently a level 20 Prot Warrior). I’m imagining a barefoot Blood Elf Monk Windwalker with the stern face and the long braid hairstyle.
I’m excited about Pandaren/Pandaria. I’m also excited about the new Monk class. I’m a bit worried about the new talent trees; will I still recognize my Resto Shaman after the 5.0 talent trees go live? I have mixed feelings about the removal of the ranged slot. On the one hand, Ketura the Hunter’s pirate costumes won’t be quite the same without the cutlasses & scimitars, and I’d finally identified the rifle carried by the Bluffwatchers on the TB-to-Org zeppelin to complete Keija the Warrior’s Bluffwatcher RP set (it’s the Flawless Arcanite Rifle/Tribute Gun). On the other hand, I think having wands be a main-hand weapon for casters is a fabulous idea. The PVE Scenarios and Dungeon Challenges sound intriguing. I might rename a few of my best-liked companion pets, but the Pet Battles are a minigame I don’t see myself getting into in the slightest.
