It has been a month since I renewed my subscription and came back to World of Warcraft after a six month long break. This patch has been highly anticipated with the class changes, new transmogrification system and now the Legion invasion and demon hunters.
I’m very happy with the changes to balance druid and resto shaman but it feels like I don’t have any abilities left to use, my bars have never been so empty. I’m especially happy with the balance druid changes because I really disliked the playstyle in PvE in Warlords of Draenor. The only thing I don’t like is that Starfall is so expensive and that you have to place it on the ground, might take me a long while to get used to it and learn how to master using it. I used to just pop Starfall, pull half the world, kite and dot everything to death, have to find a new way to do that now.
One more thing that’s annoying is that I can’t take good screenshots when using Blessing of the Ancients because when I zoom all the way in I still see the stars and smoke effects from the spell in the middle of the screen.
I almost forgot that I had to buy the Legion expansion to play the demon hunter so I bought it the same day as they became available. It wasn’t exactly cheap, 44.99 euro for the standard edition and 59.99 euros for the digital deluxe edition. I decided to buy the digital deluxe edition because I think the stuff you get is worth the extra 15 euros, I just think the standard edition should have been cheaper because you only get the game.
I’ve been looking forward to playing the demon hunter because I never tried them on the beta. The story and the quests were very interesting though it was kind of what I expected it to be. I’m not sure if I ever could be a real Illidari demon hunter by heart because the story in the quests made me think that Illidan might be insane, I don’t agree with everything he’s done, but I still chose Kayn over Altruis because I think that’s what an Illidari demon hunter would have done. Havoc is a fun spec so I’m planning to play it more in the future, but I don’t know yet if demon hunter will become one of my favorite alts.
The pre-expansion events are always fun, so I was of course looking forward to the invasions and everything that came with them. I have completed the invasions in all of the zones and I’m now trying to collect all the different transmog gear sets.
Today I finally got the It All Makes Sense Now achievement which requires you to collect all the 12 different pamphlets from the Doomsayers in your city. The Pocket Fel Spreader toy haven’t dropped for me yet but I haven’t killed that many Dread Infiltrators. I joined a group to farm it but we looked for hours without finding a single one, so I might just buy the toy at the auction house instead of wasting my time like that again.
I started crafting and selling Tomes of Illusions and Tomes of the Clear Mind to earn some gold. So far I’ve earned at least 80 000 gold over one week. I don’t farm all the materials, so I spend some gold to buy parts of what I need, but I only sell if I get a good profit. I need to earn gold so I can buy WoW Tokens and use them to pay for my game time.
I did the quest in Dalaran with Khadgar which was interesting but much shorter than I thought it would be. It was fun to go back to Karazhan because I have so many good memories from that raid, it is actually one of my favorite raids.
What do you think about the Legion pre-expansion patch, demon hunters and invasions?
BlizzCon 2015 is over after two awesome days. I watched the live stream which was very good except for some panels which they didn’t show there, so I had to read about it later on Twitter and different WoW fan sites. The Legion panels were very exciting and they announced many changes and updates to druids like Moonkin Form update, info about the artifact weapons, class halls and other druid changes. Druids have a lot to look forward to in Legion.
The biggest news for me was the moonkin model update. If you’ve read some of my older posts about moonkin then you know how long I’ve been waiting for this update. I sent a question to Tom Chilton at last year’s BlizzCon where I asked about when we would get an update to the moonkin model and his answer was:
We have given a lot of love to druids over time with their different forms, so the moonkin will have to wait a little bit longer
Then, in September this year, Lore wrote the following on the US forums:
Our current plan is that Moonkin Form will indeed receive a high-res model update in Legion.
They indicated that it wouldn’t be a major update, it would still look like the old moonkin form.
Yesterday at the World of Warcraft: Legion – World and Content Overview panel they showed us this picture of the old and the new moonkin form. Julian Morris, lead game designer, said the new model is faithful to the old original but with a ton of character detail and really expressive.
I’m very happy with what we’ve seen so far because I like the moonkin form, it’s the reason I wanted to start playing a druid when I first leveled one back in The Burning Crusade. All I wanted was an update like the ones bear and cat form got in Cataclysm and it looks like that’s what we’re getting now.
There are a few things I really hope and expect them to add. I want the moonkin form to have unique features for each race, like different looking horns or antlers, maybe fangs on the troll moonkin, different colors and shades, maybe some other features inspired by races and similar to what the cat and bear models got. I also want the colors of the feathers to change depending on which hair or skin color you choose. Like for example if you as a troll choose a white hair color, then your moonkin model will have white and maybe light grey feathers. So basically just like how the cat and bear models work.
Some pictures of the new model were shared a few days ago after someone datamined the Legion beta
AdriaCraft shared these videos of the new moonkin model animations
Another form that’s getting a much needed update is the sea lion aquatic form. It will pretty much the same but updated.
Blizzard wrote a post about the druid artifact weapons and we learned much more about them at BlizzCon today, notes from MMO-Champion.
Artifact power comes from quest bosses, rare spawns, rare drops, dungeons, raids, battlegrounds, arenas
Artifact traits are unlocked by artifact power. You start with some traits unlocked. You first unlock active traits that you put on your bar
After the active trait there are more choices, some of them passive. Minor traits have multiple ranks, you have to unlock them all to progress into the tree
Eventually you can unlock every trait in the tree. You can keep getting smaller power increases after that, so weapon will get more powerful throughout the expansion.
Relics can be socketed into the artifact to increase power. Increases item level and gives bonus ranks to some traits
Two types of relics for each weapon
You can eventually upgrade your artifact. Dungeon and world content lead up to a big upgrade moment. Upgrade will unlock a new model
You can also get other models and colors from different types of gameplay
Finish questing zones or do something that is significant to your weapon
You have become one of the greatest Druids in Azeroth, deserving of a weapon not only with power—but with a name.
The balance weapon is called Scythe of Elune and the story tells us:
This mystical artifact was created millennia ago from the Staff of Elune and a fang from the wolf demigod Goldrinn. The Scythe of Elune carries a long and unsettling history for druids: those who are not careful enough can easily be overwhelmed by Goldrinn’s spirit, which infuses the scythe. Tied to the origin of the worgen on Azeroth, the scythe is said to possess untold lunar power for the druid with balance enough to keep control.
I think it’s great that each artifact weapon has a story and unique quests, so I’m looking forward to learning more about my weapon and it’s story.
You can read about the restoration, guardian and feral artifact weapons here.
Class halls: The Dreamgrove – a home for druids
There won’t be any garrisons in Legion, but we’ll have class halls which are an area for your class.
Class halls needed to be in a location that strongly represents the class. Dreamgrove is in Val’Sharah where druidism was born in Azeroth
Druids almost had a class hall already with Moonglade. It gets pretty close to meeting the criteria, welcoming a variety of druids, but it could do a better job of immersing them in nature, welcoming feral and guardian druids more
Druids can reach many other natural places in the world very quickly
There is class specific content in the halls
Every class will have their own variation of Death Gate to quickly go to their class hall and back
Class champions are also found in your class hall. You will unfold their backstory over time and see them in the world
You will interact with your Scouting Map in your class hall. It lets you select your starting leveling zone and you come back to it for new content later on
You will find a shrine in your class hall to unlock traits and work with your artifact weapon
There are lots of features and bonuses in the halls. Some are shared among many classes, such as armor stands to show off tier sets you have earned from previous content
Druid changes – Darkmoon Faire Community Amphitheatre Class Changes Q&A
This panel wasn’t part of the Virtual Ticket, so thanks to Wowhead and Restokin for summarizing the most important points, you can read more on their websites.
I expected to see some changes to the balance spec and I was hoping they would do something about the Eclipse bar because I’ve not been a fan of the changes they did in Warlords of Draenor which is why I have barely played my druid this expansion. I just didn’t like the way the Eclipse just went back and forth all by itself and how I had to constantly stare at that bar to know which spells to use. So these changes made me very happy. We’ll get more info about every class here in a few days.
General:
Lots of new talents
Base abilities for druids are pruned – less core abilities that enhance other roles
New talent – Affinity: A secondary spec, weaker than your main spec. Example: Guardian druid with Balance Affinity has Moonkin Form and can do useful damage.
Moonkin:
There have been multiple failures with the balance spec and it’s time for a revamp. Core problem with moonkin is the whole spec is a bar cycle on your UI. You are playing the UI game – that’s done.
Eclipse is gone
Builders and spenders with different strengths and weaknesses and reasons to use them
Focus on DOTs but keeps Moonfire, Sunfire, Starfall
Stampeding Roar is gone for moonkin
Innervate is returning to moonkins as their specific utility and it can be cast on yourself or other players
You can read more about the druid changes in Legion on these sites:
Blizzard Watch had this as a breakfast topic a while back and I’ve been thinking about it since. What do I hope to see at BlizzCon?
My first thought was that I was a bit disappointed when they announced the next expansion, Legion, at Gamescom. The reason for that is that prefer BlizzCon to be the event they make big announcements at. It feels more special when we’re all excited and gathered either at BlizzCon or in front of our TVs or computers watching the live stream and waiting for the big reveal. But that’s not what Blizzard chose to do this time and it’s ok. I did of course watch the announcement at Gamescom and the panel after so I know there are enough of things to be excited about.
So I’m of course looking forward to BlizzCon. I’ve watched the stream every year and this year won’t be any different. The plan is to buy the virtual ticket, watch the stream with my boyfriend, eat some good food like pizza or tacos, some snacks and stay up all night to watch the whole thing.
There are many things I’m looking forward to learn more about. Legion is number one of course. I can’t wait to learn more about the story, Demon Hunters, dungeons and raids, transmog changes, PvP changes, the artifact weapons, class order halls and I want to hear some music! Another big thing which I have waited for a long time but I’m not sure if they will say anything about at BlizzCon is the Moonkin form model update. I hope we get to see some sketches to see what they got in mind. I would love if they add different features for each race and different color options you can change like hair or skin color.
The second thing I’m looking forward to is the Warcraft movie trailer. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever. Those who attended BlizzCon last year got a sneak peek, but the rest of us haven’t seen anything but the trailer teaser they just posted.
Then there is Overwatch. I haven’t tried it yet and I’m not sure if it’s a game I would like or not because my aim is terrible, but it looks interesting and I would of course like to play it if I got the opportunity.
I’m always looking forward to the contests, especially the costume contest, because it’s fun to see the amazing costumes people have made. I’m disappointed there is no sound panel or art panel this year, those are my favorite panels, but I hope they put in some sound and art in the Legion panels.
What do you hope to see at BlizzCon this weekend? Will you be there in person or are you planning to watch the stream?
My favorite thing to do in WoW at the moment? Rated battlegrounds!
After clearing Highmaul normal and some bosses on heroic I didn’t feel like raiding anymore, because that’s what I’ve been doing for years now and I’ve always wanted to get more into PvP and rated battlegrounds. Luckily I’m not a raider anymore so I can do whatever I want. Last time I did rated battlegrounds was in Cataclysm when rated battlegrounds were introduced to the game but back then the queues were so long and it was hard to find a team unless you had high rating from arena which I didn’t have. I’m actually not a fan of arena, it might be because I suck at it and I don’t like being focused so battlegrounds are more my thing cause I can usually hide and blast down my enemies one after one without anyone noticing.
I had already geared my druid with the Primal Combatant PvP gear you purchase for honor. Gearing up for PvP are very easy these days because you have a chance to get PvP gear in the boxes you get from winning events in Ashran and from winning Ashran by defeating the opposite faction’s leader. Plus you get honor and conquest points from completing objectives and events. So I did Ashran until I had enough conquest points to buy the Primal Gladiator weapon and I spent the honor on the Primal Combatant honor gear parts I missed.
I find rated battleground teams to join in the looking for group tool in-game. Most groups expect you to have the Primal Gladiator weapon and at least full Primal Combatant PvP gear, some might want you to have experience or rating. But there are groups for everyone. I always do at least 3 wins every week. The reason for that is that you have a chance to get a piece of Primal Gladiator gear from the 3 first wins every week.
At the moment I’m looking for groups to increase my rating which is around 1600 right now, but my highest is 1700 and I would like to find a group of good players who want to see how far we can get. I met many different kinds of players and groups. Most are very friendly, well-behaved and good players, but some are directly the opposite. When I find a group I expect them all to know their class and how the battlegrounds work. A good leader who can explain tactics like who should go where and a target caller is also needed. Besides that I expect people to stay a while and not give up just because we lose one game.
Most rated battleground teams seem to love balance druids these days. I’m not sure why, but it might be because we do pretty good damage, we can run fast and crowd control. I’m not the best PvP player but I’m not bad either because I think I’ve done well in most games I’ve played. I always try to damage the right target, CC a target that I think needs to be CCed like a healer, slow and root enemy flag carrier, knock enemies down from Lumber Mill in Arathi Basin, sneak around and try to capture bases.
I don’t have a lot of experience from moonkin PvP so I’m always looking for advice and feedback, and I check other player’s talents and glyphs on Armory. I might not know everything about why this or that talent is the best but I chose the talents I think are the best and those I feel fit my play style the best. Which talents I decide to choose also depends on which battleground we get, but most talents stay the same for all battlegrounds.
Talents I use in all battlegrounds:
Displacer Beast: I’ve finally gotten used to this after being a fan of Wild Charge (which I used in all forms) for a long time.
Ysera’s Gift: Most players I’ve seen uses this one right now so I chose to go for it as well but I might swap it if I feel it’s needed.
Ursol’s Vortex: This is my favorite because it’s ranged and I can use it with Solar Beam to interrupt healers or to slow players down. But I think you can choose whichever you feel works the best for you.
Nature’s Vigil: Most players go for this one because it makes your damaging spells heal injured team members.
Euphoria: This shortens your balance/eclipse cycle and reduces cast time on Wrath and Starfire.
Those I swap between are:
Typhoon: I see Typhoon as a must have in Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm even though they put up walls around the middle in Eye of the Storm it’s still possible to knock someone down if they stand in the right spot. In Arathi Basin Lumber Mill is exactly the same as in a normal battleground so you can knock people off the edge and it might help your team win that base. This talent can also be useful in Silvershard Mines to knock enemies away from the cart you’re controlling.
Faerie Swarm: I choose Faerie Swarms in battleground where I need to be able to slow down targets, like enemy flag carrier in Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks. It’s also great for preventing targets from using stealth or invisibility. But I choose it for the slowing effect. This can also be useful to slow down players in other battlegrounds.
Incarnation: Chosen of Elune: I think this talent is the best choice for increasing your damage so I use this one in most battlegrounds.
Force of Nature: I find this talent very useful in capture-the-flag battlegrounds like Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks because it instantly roots your target, it has 40 yards range, 3 charges with a short cooldown. The damage is a bonus. This and Faerie Swarm has been very useful in many battlegrounds I’ve played but it might not be needed if you got other players in your team which are very good at slowing targets, and you still got your normal Entangling Roots, Cyclone and Incapacitating Roar/Ursol’s Vortex/Mighty Bash.
My glyphs are usually the same in all battlegrounds. These are the ones I find most useful but I like to try new ones every now and then.
Major glyphs:
Cyclone: 5 extra yards on Cyclone is a must.
Barkskin: Gives you extra survivability by reducing the chance you’ll be critically hit by 25% while Barkskin is active.
Shapemender: Heals you for 5% of your max health every time you activate a form. Not sure how good this glyph is but I’m testing it out.
Minor glyphs:
Grace: Good to reduce fall damage in all forms.
Stag: I like the stag, otherwise no good reason to use it, people rarely use me as a mount.
Stars: I love being a moonkin but sadly in PvP being a big owl makes you the target everyone wants to kill. You might also fool some mages and shamans thinking they can Polymorph and Hex you when it looks like you aren’t in any form.
So my talents and glyphs will look something like this.
BGs like EoTS and AB with Typhoon for knock
Max slow for BGs like WSG and Twin Peaks
The first picture shows my talents for a battlegrounds like Eye of the Storm and Arathi Basin where I want Typhoon to knock players down. The second picture shows my talents for Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks where I want Faerie Swarm and Force of Nature for maximum slow on the enemy flag carrier.
In Battle for Gilneas and Deepwind Gorge both Faerie Swarm and Typhoon can be useful because Faerie Swarm can slow players down and Typhoon can be used to knock people away from the flag on a base when you’re trying to capture it. I think Typhoon also works to interrupt players trying to capture the base and other casts/heals. Force of Nature can also be used to slow and to interrupt other players trying to capture a base.
These talents can also be very useful to slow players down when trying to get your hands on the orbs in Temple of Kotmogu, my least favorite battleground, and in Silvershard Mines to knock players away or slowing them to prevent them from getting close to the cart you’re controlling. But Incarnation: Chosen of Elune is also a good choice if you don’t need Force of Nature to root players.
I’m always trying to become better at playing moonkin in PvP, but I don’t like practicing in normal battlegrounds because most players there don’t even know the tactics, their class or they don’t care enough to do their best and it’s hard to do good when the rest of your team don’t do their part. So I think the best way to get better is to just do more rated battlegrounds and that’s what I’ll continue to do.
Halloween has never been a big thing here in Norway, at least not when I was little, but it’s getting more and more popular every year. I’m not sure if the kids here celebrate it yet by going trick or treating but I know we never did. Though I have been invited to some Halloween parties where we had to dress up. So I think some people celebrate it but I’ve never seen people decorating their houses or garden except if they’re having a party.
I would love to dress up as some of my favorite characters, the only problem is that I don’t know where to get the costumes. I don’t think I’ll be able to make the costumes myself because I’m not that skilled in crafting stuff and I doubt I have the time and patience to do it. I guess one can find anything on the internet, but I don’t think it’s worth to spend a lot of money on an expensive costume I’ll use once or twice because when can I dress up except for Halloween?
But, if I could choose any five characters to dress up as it would be these:
1. Moonkin: I would love to dress up as a moonkin because they look funny and everyone likes a big feathery owl.
2. Jawa: The jawas are actually one of my favorite races from Star Wars. They seem so mystical with their hoods, glowing eyes and weird language but I think they’re awesome so I would definitely dress up as a jawa.
3. Arya Stark: My favorite character from Game of Thrones, both the show and the books. I like her because she’s not a typical girl and she’s smart and brave. I think I would have been like her if I lived in that world.
4. Link: I’ve always wanted to dress up as Link because he was my favorite character when I was younger.
5. A witch from Harry Potter: Not necessarily Hermione, but inspired by her and what she wears in the movies.
Which characters would you dress up as for Halloween?
Syrco Owl 