Galadria The Explorer

Well… not quite yet, but I’m working towards it.  Last night I got my Tabard of the Explorer!  I’ve been working my way around the Eastern Kingdoms trying to get the exploration acheivements and doing the instances as I come across them.  I even corpse walked into Stormwind (it was very nostalgic for me… I really miss being Alliance) and ran Stocks.  If I would have been thinking I would have found a quiet place and fished for a little while.  At some point I was on a flight path and was flipping through my Acheivement tab and realized that I only had 2 spots in Crystalsong, 1 spot in Grizzly Hills, and 1 spot in Storm Peaks before I got the Northrend Exploration Acheivement, so I hearthed and finished that up and ended the night with a new tabard!  I think by the end of this week, maybe early next week I’ll have the Explorer title and the Classic Dungeon Acheivement (unless that one includes Classic raids… that’ll take me a little longer since I don’t think I can solo all of it). 

I’ve really caught Acheivement fever.  I want all of them (except the PvP ones… no desire to beat my head against a brick wall repeadedly for some virtual points that I can’t even redeem for anything).  Yes, I’m raiding (I’ve cleared Naxx on 10 and 25, and OS on 25, the rest are just a matter of time but the ease of raiding is another post)… yes, I’m running heroics… but it’s Acheivements that have captured my excitement at the moment.  I think I’m going to work on the home city faction rep next (The Diplomat I think).  The reputation grinds are going to be a special torture for me.  I didn’t level this toon all the way up.  I only played Galadria to 30 and she was granted the next 30 levels through Recruit-A-Friend, then I played her from 60-80.  The Northrend and BC Acheivements are a little closer, but anything with Classic WoW I’m way behiond on.  The Hubby is at least Revered with all the home cities, I’m barely Friendly with them.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed with how long this is going to take, it feels like a big, fun epic battle.  There’s other carrots motivating me here too.  I’m going to start by doing all the quests I can find for each of the home cities which will get me closer to the Loremaster Acheivements (which I hear are going to be lowered soon) and when I get Exalted with each faction I can buy mounts from each which gets me 18 mounts closer to an Albino Drake for relativley little cash (about 330g for all 6 of each faction’s mounts).  Oh, how I wish I could get a Saber, it’s one of the things I miss most about being Alliance.  Anywhoo, I think I’ll probably be tired of rep grinds so after/while working on that I’m going to work on the fishing Acheivements.  I find fishing very relaxing and it allows me to mulit-task a little.  The Hubby and I like to put a movie on and fish at the end of the night while winding down before bed. 

I’ve got a few guides for Acheivements planed out in my head, so that’s what you’ll probably see from me around here.  I just can’t make myself get enthused about raiding… sue me 🙂  That also means that the raiding guide will be shelved until further notice.  I have an outline written for the Wrath raiding guide, if there’s anyone who wants to work on it please let me know (galadriapriest [at] gmail [dot] com).

As a side note, I wanted to let you guys know about a personal blog that I’ve started: P’ville Girl.  It gets updated about as often as this one does, but I felt like I needed another outlet.  Unfortunatley most of my ideas for both blogs tend to stay in my head and never make it down through the keyboard and out into teh intarwebs.  That’s one of the things I’m going to work on this year.  I’ve got a goal of 1 post/week for both blogs (thanks for the idea and the Christmas card Matt!).  Even as busy as I get I think I can make time for 2 blog posts every week! 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas (please to feel free to insert your holiday of choice here if it’s not Christmas) and are enjoying the New Year!

Vladvin: How Very… Anti-Climactic

After Wednesday night’s ramapge last night was, as the title sugests, anti-climactic.  We went into SSC and struggled on content that is suposed to be on farm.  We wiped once on Hydross… the tanks weren’t switching smoothly (and therefore died) and the healers seemed to be having trouble with not pulling aggro.  The second try was still messy, but he went down.  I got an off-hand, but it was so marginal I don’t even remember the name of it.  There were no DKP bids and I won the roll with a 96.  Lurker also took 2 tries.  People kept dying to the spouts, tanks were going down on the add phase, heals were bad…  it was just messy.  On our way to Tidewalker one of our officers, up and quit.  He said he was done and just logged off.  Out GM talked to him in another vent chanel and he came back, but it was still very strange.  He’s usually a very dedicated player.  I was quite baffled by the whole thing.  When we actually got to Tidewalker things kind of clicked.  He’s usually a boss we have a lot of trouble with.  He’s kind of like Prince, somtimes you just get really unlucky; getting 3 infernals droped right on top of you or getting 5 healers sent to watery graves.  Tidewalker went down in one very smooth shot, but the bad mood/karma damage had already been done for the night and we decided not to continue on to Karathress.  The other Spriest won a DKP bid from Tidewalker, but again I can’t remember what it was.  It was a bigger upgrade for him so I’m glad he got it. 

In other news, I got my Frozen Shadow Weave Robe crafted last night!  Now I just need some gloves and my head enchant and I will be happy with my gear.  Gloves should happen on this week’s kara run, either Handwraps of Flowing Thought will drop or I’ll have the Badges to get Studious Wraps.

Have a great Friday and I hope your raiding goes smoother than mine did!

Vladvin: I Want Your Flowers!

I’m getting closer to my FSW Robe, I’ve got 5 cloth and a guildie holding a cooldown for me (so that makes 7 out of 14 I think).  My cooldown is up soon too.  My goal for tonight is to get my herbing up to at least 300.  I’m really hurting for cash and it will help a lot if I don’t have to buy flasks.  I’m levling Alchemy on an alt that has been sitting at 60 for a long time.  I have no desire to go back and play that toon but I may need to in order to get some rep recipes. 

We go into TK tomorow night; Al’ar, Solarian, and Loot Reaver.  If we down Al’ar tomorow I think we can call that fight on farm.  It really is an easy encounter, just takes some coordination.  We could stand to be a little cleaner with the add pickup, but it wasn’t a huge problem last time.  I’m praying for some Priest loot, I’m sick and tired of Hunter, Mage, Warlock.  Yes, I know they need gear too but I swear it’s all that ever drops.

Herbing 300, here I come!  Any lowbies trying to level Herbalism on Lightninghoof… I promise to ninja your flowers 🙂

In case any of you are curious, I have been updating my Goals post as I complete them.  If you go check it out, you’ll see that I’m plugging along at it!

Vladvin: Frozen Shadow Weave FTW

Made my boots last night!  That only slightly offset the fact that Handwraps of Flowing Thought didn’t drop off Attumen AGAIN (6 weeks now).  I did however get Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran off of Moroes.  We didn’t make it to Curator so I still have hopes of T4, got a late start and we were all ready to go to bed after Opera.  Put a few attempts into Nightbane but didn’t have a tank who could handle the stance dancing.  There were mentions of drunk Kara on Fri night so I may have an interesting story come Saturday.  I did hit exalted with The Violet Eye so I was able to turn in my healing ring and get the caster one, it replaced my last green.  Now I just need to replace the few blues I have left (chest and gloves).

I’m starting to get comfortable with my damage.  Part of that is all of the gear that I’ve gotten, but I’m also getting more comfortable with DPS’ing.  I’m getting into a rythm with my shot rotation (still ironing it out, but it’s a lot better than it was).  At my worst last night I was only 4th on the charts and I was #2 at my best.

The regular Shadow Priest has parent aggro for the rest of the week so aparently I’m in for raid this week.  I’m quite nervous.  I’ve been told not to worry about my DPS and just make sure I learn how to survive all the fights.  Once I’ve got the fight mechanics down I can start worrying about cranking the DPS out.  As of last night the GM hadn’t decided what fights he wanted to do, but Alar was at the top of the list, if I’m remembering the conversation correctly, it’s a new boss for the guild and if we win, we’ll be tied with 3 other guilds for progression (in competly un-related news, the top guild on our server got Illidan this weekend, very cool!). 

In other news, I think I’m going to follow in Galadria’s footsptes and start at Spell Review series for the shadow side.  This will probably be aimed at the new shadow priest (or to help others understand our class abilities better) and will be old news for you seasoned veterans out there, but I think that’s exactly what Galadria has intended with this blog.

Have a great Hump Day!  Week’s half over.

(get your mind out of the gutter!!)

Vladvin’s Goals

Since I’ve got a lot going on I need to make a list of all my goals. So with out further ado and in no particular order:

Professions:

• Get Herbalism up to 375 – currently about 100, hopefully I’ll save some $$ getting pots and flasks crafted instead of bought (Done!)
• Get Tailoring up to 375 – currently 367 (Done – got to 375)
• Get Fishing up to 375 – currently 75
• Get Cooking up to 375 – currently 100, again I’d like to make well-fed food instead of buying (Now up to 225, collecting those stupid eggs…  I keep finding an excuse to leave the Hinterlands every time I get up there)

Gear: The robe (Kirin Tor Apprentice’s Robes), boots (Ruby Slippers), and off-hand (Jewel of Infinite Possibilities) I have equiped all have spell hit, I need to make up 24 in order to remain hit capped, I’ll get 14 hit with my head enchant also. (To clarify, I’m wantinig to replace these 3 pieces and need to make up the spell hit so I can equip FSW robe, boots and Orb of the Soul Eater)

• Finish Frozen Shadoweave set (Robe and Boots)- currently have shoulders (Done!)
• Trinket(s) – Darkmoon Card: Crusade, Audacity, or Hex Shrunken Head and I have the Icon; I need to pick one and go get it (Done – got the Card for a great price and flew over to Thunder Bluff to go to the Faire!)
• Ring(s) – As soon as I get exalted with The Violet Eye I can trade my healing ring in for the caster one(Done)  ; Mana Attuned Band, Ashyen’s Gift, and Seal of the Exorcist all have spell hit, we’ll see which one comes first.
• Back – Ruby Drape of the Mysticant would be nice but it never drops and there’s several in front on me in line for that one, so I’d take Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran, Cloak of the Black Void, or Sethekk Oracle Cloak(Done – got the shadow cloak).
• Gloves – I’d like T4 to drop for me or Handwraps of Flowing Thought (5 Kara runs and no dice on either), Studious Wraps are nice too. (I now have T4 and Studious Wraps but I still want the Handwraps…)

Reputation:

• Get exalted with the Aldor – just dinged Honored yesterday
• Get Exalted with Cenarion Expedition – for ring, currently about 8k through Honored
• Finish Kara quests and get exalted with Violet Eye – one more run and I should be exalted(Exalted, just need to finish quests now)
• Revered with Shatar for Head Glyph(Done)

Enchants:

• Head – Glyph of Power, need rep(Done)
• Shoulders – I have the Honored Inscription, need rep to get the Exalted one
• Chest – Restore Mana Prime, when I get Frozen Shadoweave crafted (Done)
• Back – Subtlety, when I get the gear (I got the Shadow Cloak, I need to get the mats together now)
• Bracers – Spellpower
• Gloves – Major Spellporwer, when I get the gear
• Feet – Vitality, when I get Frozen Shadoweave crafted (need to get mats together)

Other:

• Gems – need to get +9 dmg in all slots, currently have some of the +7 and one MP5 gem because I wanted to fill the slots and Living Rubies were ridiculously high on the AH (Done – Living Rubies finally came down to reasonable prices and I swapped out the +7dmg ones for +9 dmg ones)
• Epic Flyer – this is a pipe dream at the moment, but still worth putting on the list.
• Dailies every day – I try and do the Skettis, Ogril’la, and BG dailies every day but I didn’t make it very often over the break, I’d like to throw in the daily instances but I just don’t have the time between raiding and RL and all the above mentioned things. (Been doing good so far, can’t always squeeze in the BG daily, but I’m getting the others)
• Talent build analysis – I’m using a cookie-cutter build for the moment, I need to take some time and see what is going to best fit my playstyle
• Addons – there’s a couple that I’m looking at, that’s one of the posts I have in mind, all of my addons and my UI (actually that’ll probably be 2 seperate posts)(Done – installed the addons, fiddling with settings)

And if that’s not enough, I’ve got RL too!

New Gear

Thanks to some wonderful generosity, I have upped my Shadow damage by almost 300 and I’m now hit-capped.  I got my Spellstrike set made, and my Frozen Shadoweave Shoulders made.  That allowed me to get and equip the Orb of the Baby Eater… ahem  Soul Eater (that’s a warlock joke for the uninformed out there).  I also got the Mind Blade from Kara on Sunday and (again very generously) was given Soulfrost on it, I was kind of thinking of getting Spellsurge to add to the Mana Battery-ness, but when Soulfrost is offered you don’t say no 🙂  You say “yes, thankyouthankyouthankyou” and walk away with a smile!  I also picked up a belt off of Illhoof last night, I’ll put it in here when I can remember the name, I don’t need the crit but it was better than the quest green I was wearing!  Now I need to work on a ring and trinket, get my Frozen Shadoweave set finished, and I think gloves and a cloak and I’ll be just peachy-keen (all part of the Goals post I hope to have finished tonight when I get home)!

First day back at work… ugh..

Best of 2007

Matticus just did a post on what he thought the best of his blog was in 2007 and I like the idea! So to follow in his footsteps, here goes:

Galadria Starts a Blog!

I started this blog after reading Ego and Kirk. I had been writing random articles about my thoughts and expirences and just had a few laying around. I gave it a try and had no idea how much I would enjoy it. Writing this blog has made me a much better Priest!

• My first post was on August 15, 2007 and I’ve written 66 posts since then.
• I’ve had 310 comments and I’ve loved the feedback (and hated the ~2200 spam comments)
• I’ve had about 17k views total and my best day was 311 views (Dec 7 if anyone is curious)

The Best of the Holy Light

As Matticus did, here’s what I think are the best of what I’ve written, in no particular order:

• Galadria’s Holy Priest Raiding Guide – I think this one tops the charts. I put a LOT of effort into this guide and I think it’s a great starter for any priest starting out raiding.
• Little bit of Theorycraft
• Spell Reviews: Pshycic Scream, The Mind Spells, Binding Heal, and Frisbee
• Soloing as a HealPriest
• Your Creepy, Crawly, Best Friend
• Alchemy and You
• Understanding Your Tank

Updates and Changes

As I mentioned in my Merry Christmas post, I’m no longer raiding with Galadria and that’s primarially why my posting has been non-existent. The toon that my blog is based on isn’t being played. The guild my RL friends and I started has collapsed. We were not ever able to make a 2nd Kara group, let alone gett 25 for Gruul. We all sat down one night and had a come-to-Jesus-meeting and it came out that we all wanted to progress further but everyone except me (not QQ’ing, just stating fact) wanted less responsibility. That doesn’t work. We all agreed that more was needed (recruiting, ZA, raid management) but no one wanted to do it. Therefore we agreed to not schedule any more guild raids and let everyone look for raiding opportunities elsewhere. The guild wasn’t going to last forever anyway. Most of us have decided to level toons on another server to play with another RL friend who has a guild that’s almost into BT. I haven’t quit the game but since I’m not playing Galadria I just don’t have much to write about. I’m still reading everyone’s blogs and I’ll comment when I’ve got something to say but for the most part I think I’ve said all I have to say. I may post every now and then (my Review on Starshards is still sitting in my Drafts half finished) but it will by no means be regular posting. However, I do believe that Vladvin has decided to start his own blog (I offered him this one, but he said he’d rather start from scratch, Holy Light doesn’t really work for a Shadow Priest) and I’ll let you know when his site gets off of the ground.

I’m very sad that my blogging seems to be comming to an end. I have so throughly enjoyed this process and I thank all of you for reading my humble little corner of the blogosphere. I’d espcially like to thank Ego and Kirk for giving me something to aspire to and much inspiration. Matticus and Kestrel for sending many readers my way and helping show me how to be a good blogger. BRK, Rashtag, TJ, and BBB for making me laugh every day. There are many more but my brain isn’t working properly at the moment. I’ll take that as a hint to close this post and wish all of you a Happy New Year! I hope all of you are safe, happy and warm this holiday season!

And for your enjoyment, my hubby and my shoe-eating puppy on Christmas Morning:

Puppy and Hubby (it’s really big so I’ll link it)

Goals and Priorities

For the last month or so my buddy Rashtag over at Need More Rage has been slowly chipping away at his list of Goals and Priorities.  I’m jealous…  I have several things I want to accomplish, but they just seem to be nothing more than idle desires at the back of my mind while I’m keeping my dearest companion (read tank) alive in Kara.  So, in order to force my self to be productive, I’m going to post my goals for Galadria and update you all on my progress (thrilling… I know).  In no particular order:

1. Get exalted with the Aldors – I want that enchant and that spellthread!!!!!!!!!
2. Get the recipe for Ironshield Potion, Captian Skarloc dropps it in Heroic Old Hills.
3. While I’m at it, get exalted with Keepers of Time – a couple of guildies want Flask of Supreme Power.
4. Get exalted with Cenarion Expedition – for Flask of Distilled Wisdom, again a couple of guildies want that one.
5. Buy my Epic Flying Mount – I’ve already got the rep with Shatari Skyguard to get the Nether Ray, just need about 3500g more… that’ll take no time at all!
6. Get the recipe for Whitemend Pants – just because it chapps my hide that I don’t have it.

There we have it people!  Galadria’s Goals and Priorities!  I’ll keep you up to date on my progress.

Just for fun:

“But wouldn’t it be great if number one this Christmas wasn’t some smug teenager but an old ex-heroin addict searching for a comeback at any price? All those young popsters come Christmas Day, they’ll be stretched out naked with a cute bird balancing on their balls and I’ll be stuck in some dingy flat with me manager, Joe, ugliest man in the world, fucking miserable because our fucking gamble didn’t pay off. So if you believe in Father Christmas, children, like your Uncle Billy does, buy my festering turd of a record. And particularly enjoy the incredible crassness of the moment when we try to squeeze an extra syllable into the fourth line.”

This is one of my favorite movies, and true to Hollywood, the old ex-heroin addict tops the charts and sings naked on TV (if that doesn’t give it away, I don’t know what will)