on mage leveling

Before I get to the topic at hand, allow me to squee just a little bit - a couple of weeks ago, I took my priest to Naxx10 again (run by my friends) and, well, let's just say I got geared up the heezy:

• [Agonal Sash]
• [Heroes' Leggings of Faith]
• And finally, the item I had been drooling over for a while: [Heroes' Shoulderpads of Faith]

Oh man, gentle reader (yes, the one of you that is out there!) you have no idea how long I have wanted my glowy angel wings. And now I have them! (Although I did not realize that the particle effect would look kind of funny from behind, but oh well.)

/end squee

And now: after months of procrastinating (actually, I prefer to think of it as a "vacation" of sorts), I have finally decided to level my first character, Adenine. But not as frost.

...Wait, what?

YES, that's right, she is fire now. She has never been a fire mage. I knew nothing about fire mages. Turns out, it's not as scary as I anticipated.

But before I could set foot in Northrend, I had to do something of the utmost importance:


New haircut FTW! Now moving on...

I read Ekye's mage guide on the Ensidia website (link is over there to the right somewhere). Excellent guide. I decided to go with his 0/51/20 build, for the fact that I will eventually be wanting to use the ever-so-sexy [Frostfire Bolt] as my main nuke (also includes the glyphs he recommended for MAXIMUM DEEPS).

Now, a few observations: one, I forgot how much effin fun it was nuking the shit out of things. (I guess leveling as a holy priest does that to you.)

Two: FIRE - HOLY CRAP WHY DID I NEVER TRY THIS BEFORE?! Seriously. Wow. I love frost, always have, always will...but damn have I been missing out.

Three: I did not anticipate how squishy I would be. Or how quickly I would run out of mana. Hurm. Must remember to investigate further.

Four: Jame's Horde Leveling Guide - okay, not really an observation, but I'm pretty sure that if I tried to level without it I would take much too long (most of the time spent leveling Illythia went something like: *runs around for twenty minutes* "Hurrrrr where's the next quest hub guise?"). As of tonight, Adenine is 72 (I started leveling her about two days ago). My goal right now is to get to 80 as quickly as possible, and this efficient little guide is working quite well for that.

Next post: Old school raiding, and Children's Week!

a good night for leveling

I am a fantastically slow leveler. I don't think that my decision to level holy is the main reason why, I think I just really am that slow. But I'm getting there! I went on a questing spree in Borean Tundra last night and finally hit 74!

Shut up, yes I know I should be 80 right now. WHATEVER DUDES. Just direct your attention to the following picspam!

First I went to explore Wyrmrest Temple and met the Dragonqueen Alexstrasza. I love what you've done with your horns, Alex.

When I first heard about the fabled turtle boats of the Kalu'ak, I knew that I had to see them for myself. And they were everything I ever dreamed of and more. Come on. Giant turtles are immediately For The Win. Also, lol @ the giant [Carrot on a Stick].


I love the Tuskarr. They seem like they'd be the most awesome faction to hang out with.


I kinda wish that I could have my own pack mule following me around all the time. Then I'd never have to say, "Oh crap, guys, I left the quest item in the bank!"


Say what you will about adult murlocs, but baby murlocs are friggin' adorable. (Taken during the quest Oh Noes, the Tadpoles!)


No words, really. (Taken during the quest Surrender...Not!)


Chillin' with the penguins. (/groan)


The D.E.H.T.A quests made me a little sad. I was tempted to not turn in this quest, just so I would be able to continue saving the mammoth calves. Poor little guys!


As I found out, though, it's all good. This little guy will take care of them.



After doing this quest, I kind of want my own mammoth mount now.


Can I keep him?

After I finally hit 74 on Illythia last night, I decided to take a break and level my druid since she was halfway to 46 anyway.


First things first: Off to get a Shave and a Haircut! Sadly, her new hairstyle didn't last long. It was cute, but her original hairdo is where it's at...yo.

Okay! Nooby story time! So I was off in the Badlands doing the questing thang when I decided to finish up the Tremors of the Earth questline. I had just hit 46.

Now, I did not read the Wowhead comments on this quest very thoroughly, just enough so that I knew where to find the items that I needed to complete it. Unfortunately I completely skipped over the part that said that once I turned it in, two HUGE, HONKIN' DRAGONS would IMMEDIATELY spawn with the urge to DESTROY. But more on that later.

So I walked up to the Seal of the Earth, ready to turn in all the jewels needed to...to do what? I'm not sure what I was thinking would happen at the time. I turned in the jewels, sorta stepped back for a moment, thinking I was done, and then...wait, where'd those dragons come from...AHHHH WHAT THE HELL?!

A quick glance told me that the two drakes were, thankfully, non-elites. But both of them were level 50. Both of them had just decimated the poor undead mage who had been sitting nearby at half-health. (Sorry, dude!) And now both of them were after me. GASP.

I thought I was done for, but I decided that I wouldn't go down without a fight.

And it was a long, long fight, spent mostly in bear form. And I had to blow all my cooldowns. And I went out of mana from having to heal myself up so much, but a quick Innervate fixed that.

AND THEN: VICTORY!


That's right!


I was pretty damn proud of myself. And I even scored this: [Blazewind Breastplate].

(Now that I think of it, if I had read all of the comments, I probably would have been like "Oh, wow, two level 50s? I can wait a couple levels until I attempt this so I don't get owned," and then I wouldn't have gotten my shiny new armor.)

Bonus: LOL CHAT.