things I’m looking forward to in Patch 8.3

Well! It seems that Blizzard is anxious to clear the way for a 9.0 announcement at Blizzcon.

I pushed to Exalted with the Voldunai earlier in the expansion in hopes that the Vulpera would eventually become an Allied Race for the Horde — and now they are! I know what I’ll be doing the first time I have a good amount of time available to play after Patch 8.3 goes live! I like the Vulpera Heritage Armor, but given the slow progress of the Allied Races characters I already have, I doubt that my Vulpera Mage will get any farther from home than Orgrimmar.

My Goblin and Worgen Mages won’t be getting anywhere anytime soon, so I read the walkthroughs of their Heritage Armor questlines. The Worgen Heritage Armor design and questline almost make me want to boost my Worgen to 110 and start leveling her to 120.

I’m not reading through the information about storyline progression such as the Horde and Forsaken leadership decisions, Tyrande’s opinion on the conclusion of the War Campaign, and the dragonflights. I want to experience those stories fresh when I play them. Besides, there are a few lore things I need to do first — Kamalia’s gotten her Heart of Azeroth to 60 but still needs to do the red dragon questline (and then she needs to get it to 70 and do the blue dragon questline), and I still need to hop into LFR for the last wing of Eternal Palace so I can go do the 8.2.5 Wrathion questline.

I’m glad to see the Vale of Eternal Blossoms restored… even if it is only to come under another form of Old God darkness. I’ll probably play through the Titan Assault events in the Vale and in Uldum at least once, just to see what they’re all about. I doubt I’ll do any of the other N’zoth attack content due to lack of time and interest.

Battle for Azeroth continues to be mostly misses on the raid Transmogrification front for me. I like the Uldir sets. I want the crown from Opulence and the Int staff from Jadefire Masters from Dazar’alor — but the sets? Nope. The Eternal Palace sets have some nice colors and some interesting style ideas, but they aren’t “must have” for me. The Ny’alotha stuff is another great big pile of Nope.

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elves she was and is and might have been

Way back in 2011, Millya of Manalicious* was doing 5-minute sketch portraits (batch 1, batch 2) for her friends, and I requested a portrait of Kaelinda**, thinking that I might use it for digital coloring practice…

Eight and a half years later, I’ve finally gotten around to doing that.

drawing by Stacey Landry; colors by me

~*~*~

* I miss Manalicious and still regret that I didn’t ever commission a watercolor portrait of one of my characters, even though I wouldn’t actually be going to BlizzCon…

** because I’d already gotten a Millya portrait of Kamalia, which has been my Gravatar ever since

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High Elves for the Alliance; Taunka for the Horde!

Over at Blizzard Watch yesterday, Matt Rossi made an argument, one more time, that the Alliance should have High Elves as an Allied Race. It’s a popular idea, and for good reasons.

If the Alliance were to get High Elves as an Allied Race, the counterpart Allied Race for the Horde should be the Taunka.

Like the High Elves already being a long-time Allied Race of the Alliance, the Taunka are already an Allied Race of the Horde and have been ever since Wrath of the Lich King. We already have four types of playable Elves (and a few more types of non-playable elves) and three types of Human (four if you include the Forsaken), so a third type of Tauren shouldn’t be a problem, either. Mr Rossi discusses a compelling story hook for why High Elves could be involved in the concluding sequence of this expansion. The Taunka don’t have a story hook into this expansion, but if 9.0 is a Death-themed excursion to the Shadowlands, the Taunka, who live around the edges of the Lich King’s domain in the physical world, would have a vested interest in the thread of the 9.0 plot involving the schemes of Bolvar-the-Lich-King. And hey, both High Elves and Taunka would be Allied Races that could be allowed to be Death Knights!

If we were ever to get High Elves and Taunka as Allied Races, though, there really ought to be a new model for Taunka women, giving them the same facial structure as Taunka men, instead of leaving them as differently-scaled regular Tauren women like they are now. Just sayin’…

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…but, flying…?

Now that I’ve reached my primary Patch 8.2 goal of obtaining the Tauren Heritage Armor, what next?
Securing flying in Battle for Azeroth zones ought to be the next major goal, right?

I am currently about a quarter of the way from Honored to Revered with the Unshackled, and I’m about 2/3rds done with the “get 3000 XP for your Kelfin buddies” quest.

I prioritize my Kelfin buddy’s quests, because that’s the gate on the zone story questchain. I do those, plus whatever Mardivas puzzle chests are up, and whatever WQs I pass through on the way to my Kelfin buddy’s quests and the Mardivas puzzle chests. I don’t try to do all the WQs in the zone. Although I pick up the Requisition and Bounty quests, I mostly ignore them because even with the nerfs, I rarely manage to complete them “as I go along” while doing my higher priority objectives, and I don’t ever feel like running around the zone looking for those things after I’ve completed my higher priority objectives. I’ve picked up an Unshackled Contract, so I’ve been doing the Zandalar Emissaries again, too — if I feel like I have the time and energy.

I’ll figure out a Mechagon routine when I get there, which won’t be until after I’ve reached Revered in Nazjatar.

Besides various RL events and the uncomfortable realization that the beginning of Fall semester is only about 5 weeks away, so I really need to get back to work on getting my courses set up, I’m getting distracted again by other things I want to accomplish in Azeroth.

Now that I’ve got my (Kalimdor) Tauren Heritage Armor, part of me wants to abandon BfA content for awhile and just level my Highmountain Tauren Druid up to 110 so she can get her Highmountain Tauren Heritage Armor.

Thinking about that reminds me that I want to get Kaelinda up to 120 to get the Sin’dorei Heritage Armor. (There’s my Void Elf to be leveled, too, but she’s much lower priority because I am less interested in the Void Elf Heritage Armor.)

And what about Kaylynda and the whole Alliance side of the story — not to mention recruiting the Kul Tirans?

And then there’s my Tauren Druid, for whom I’ve been collecting a bunch of leather Island Expeditions stuff off of the AH, and my Night Elf Druid, who would like to give being dark-eyed a try…

…But, flying…

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swept along in the storytelling current

This week, I forsook trying to work on preparations for next semester during my kids’ midday naptime in favor of catching up with Azeroth.

I decided to see Talanji crowned first. That was a very well-done piece of story, though I do wonder how the word got out of Rastakhan’s bargain with Bwonsamdi. My inner thirteen year-old is totally shipping Talanji and Rokhan. My grown-up self scoffs at the idea of Talanji needing or wanting a consort or an heir anytime soon, and is pleased with how many women are in meaningful positions of power in Zandalar (and in Kul Tiras, from what I’ve seen of the Alliance story so far). It seems to me like Blizzard is trying to make up for the debacle following the initial announcement of Warlords of Draenor.

Intrigued by seeing the spirit of Vol’jin at the Golden Throne following Talanji’s ascension, I decided to do the Shadow Hunter questline next. I thought the revisiting of the events at the very beginning of Legion was nicely done. The visits with the Lich King and Eyir, and Bwonsamdi’s description of them as his rivals for the claiming of souls, and the hints that there are other rivals that we may not have yet met were great because they made the world of Azeroth feel more connected and coherent. Between those interactions and the unresolved ending of the storyline — we still don’t know what entity whispered to Vol’jin to make Sylvanas the next Warchief, or what entity sent his spirit back, or if those are the same entity or two different entities — I now understand better the speculations about 9.0 being the “death” expansion!

Then it was time to go help Baine save Derek Proudmoore from being brainwashed. I must admit, with my dislike of the Forsaken, it was very satisfying to beat up all those Forsaken mooks on Sylvanas’s big scary flagship! The cinematic was amazing, and I look foward to seeing it again from the Alliance side when I do that War Campaign with Kaylynda. But did we actually save Derek in time? I appreciated Boss Mida getting a cameo at Warsong Hold. I didn’t notice if I could talk to all the gathered leaders before the cutscene. I’ll have to try to remember to look for that when I do the War Campaign with Kaelinda/Kerisa. When I talked to them after the cutscene, only Gallywix and Geya’rah approved of Sylvanas’s actions.

Next, off to Nazjatar. Perhaps the most awesome aspect of Azshara’s power in using the Tidestone of Golganneth to open up Nazjatar is how it also instantly adapted all of those creatures to being air-breathing instead of water-breathing and to the sudden decompression of no longer being under the immense pressure of all that water… Chuckling at the Horde shipwreck being “The Hungry Riverbeast” — the name of the first ship constructed at the Warlords Garrison Shipyard. I’m glad to be working with Lor’themar again. I remember him being awesome in the Domination Offensive and Isle of Thunder storylines in Pandaria. Occuleth continues to be my favorite of the Nightfallen leadership trio. I like Neri Sharpfin, but I’d rather have Vulpera than Gilbins as an Allied Race to correspond to Goblins.

As soon as we get a portal back to Zandalar stabilized, look who should show up but Magni with some news about MOTHER and the Heart Chamber! How convenient! The Heart Chamber is looking much better now. Very crowded, though… I thought someone said they glimpsed Wrathion during this trip to Neltharion’s Lair? I must not have been looking around enough; I didn’t see the crafty young dragon. Anyhow, with the Heart of Azeroth upgraded, now we can return to Nazjatar.

I’m liking Nazjatar well enough so far, though I’m probably only going to keep pushing hard through it until I unlock the 8.2 War Campaign, which of course is followed up, for me, by the Tauren Heritage Armor questchain. After that, I’ll have to put WoW on the back burner again at least until I’ve finished getting OChem ready to go for Fall. At this point, I’m thinking that I’ll do the new zones & reputations in series, instead of trying to do them in parallel — stay in Nazjatar until I’ve reached Revered with The Unshackled before I go to Mechagon at all.

It feels good to be playing in the freshest current content again instead of lagging behind!

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supporters of Shal’Aran

Some suggestions for non-Shaldorei who wish to show their friendship for First Arcanist Thalyssra and her people. The “of the Nightfall” title is the perfect finishing touch for all of these outfits.

Magic of the Night

Mantle of Closed Doors (H), Felfume Robes, Belt of False Dignity, Silkweave Gloves, Suspicious Slippers, Nightfallen Tabard

Nightstorm

Boughs of Archdruid Van-Yali, Breastplate of the Incendiary Soul (H), Shifting Sash of Midnight, Cinderweb Leggings (H), Earthguard Grips, Sandals of the Insurgent, Shocking Claws, Nightfallen Tabard

Suramar Nightingale

Conqueror’s Nightsong Cover, Boughs of Archdruid Van-Yali, Songbird Blouse, Strap of the Chosen Dead (LFR), Cinderweb Leggings (H), Twisted Wraithtalon Gloves, Rapscallion Boots, Fandral’s Flamescythe (H), Nightfallen Tabard

Night Seer

Hateful Gladiator’s Linked Spaulders, Darkmoon Breastplate, Netherfury Belt, Bloodmail Legguards*, Ebonhold Gauntlets & Boots, Purple Martial Shirt, Element-Infused Knuckles, Shadowbark’s Shin, Nightfallen Tabard

Night Seer II

Hateful Gladiator’s Linked Spaulders, Steadfast Breastplate, Stillwater Girdle, Scaled Greaves of Patience, Bloodbinder’s Gauntlets, Hydra Scale Sabatons, Streamtalker Slicers, Titansteel Shield Wall, Nightfallen Tabard

Nightwell Liberator

Doomplate Shoulderguards, Darkrune Breastplate, Bogslayer Belt, Weaponmaster’s Legplates, Lucidity Handwraps, Thunderpeak Greatboots, Edge of the Cosmos/Black Ice, Rich Purple Silk Shirt, Nightfallen Tabard

Night Knight

Booty Bay Helm, Replica Soulforge Pauldrons & Legplates, Breastplate of Many Graces, Uktar’s Belt of Chiming Rings (N), Sunstrider’s Gauntlets, Fen Strider’s Footguards, Pilfered Ethereal Blade, Revenant Deflector, Nightfallen Tabard

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Hypothetical Allies

One of the things I most appreciate about the implementation of the Allied Races is the ability to Preview all of their customization options on the character creation screen, even if you haven’t yet fulfilled the requirements to recruit them.

Thus, I already know what my Kul Tiran Mage will look like, more or less, whenever I manage to get Kaylynda to level 120, Exalted with the Proudmoore Admiralty, and through the “Tides of Vengeance” segment of the Alliance War Campaign:

Sometimes I like to play around with what my characters of the other Allied Races might look like, were I ever to get around to recruiting them.

It’s nice, on occasion, to be able to use the Dressing Room to show how an outfit would look on a character who is not one of my favored races — a big reason why I keep the Minor Mages around, in fact — and there have been at least two occasions when I’ve wished that I already had that golden-haired Lightforged Draenei.

But even if I do eventually get around to creating all of these Allied Races characters, it’ll be a bright sunny day in Helheim before I ever get any of them besides the Kul Tiran their Heritage Armors. I’m having a hard enough time as-is finding time to work on leveling my Void Elf and Highmountain Tauren for their Heritage Armors.

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