Monday, December 13, 2010

Cataclysm First Week Review

First week has been incredible in Cataclysm for me.  I got to level 85.  My druid is now a worgen. (Reminder:  Header Contest still going on. I have two entries now.)  I got to the point I can start doing heroics.  I have run every 5 man instance.   I got to have my bear ride a camel in HoO in a weird interspecies sex act while singing "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran. (Yes, pic incoming but no video.  Have to respect the camel.)

So after the first week in Cataclysm, I found I love a lot of things, like the camel.  I also found that I could already kill a few things, like when the camel tries to go indoors. (True bug, you go inside, the camel just dies.)   Here is my list of loves and hates after one week in Cataclysm.

My Cataclysm Loves

1) The 5 Man Instances - I'm sure I will be singing a different tune by the next expansion, but these 5 mans are the most fun 5 mans I have done in WoW.  They are challenging and it requires coordination and CC.  Yes, I said CC.  And even when you think your group is going to fall apart miserably, like I did with my last Grim Batol run where our only CC was entangling roots from a boomkin while I was tanking, it came together beautifully with me marking the targets and us getting through each pull carefully.  If the raids are anything like these 5 mans, we are in for some treats. 

2) All the Tabards - Yes, pretty much every faction in game has a tabard to gain rep with.  Even the new equivalent to Sons of Hodir, which is going to make rep grinding so fast since I'm going to be running heroics now to get all geared up for raids.

3) My Server - Yes, although we are a PvP server, the people in the questing areas for the most part have been respectful and letting people finish quest instead of killing each other.  Of course, the first few hours of release, I just went and ran LFD, so the areas were down a little when I went back to questing.

4) Uldum - I like all the new zones with one notable exception, but there is something about Uldum that I just love.  I don't know if it is all the Indiana Jones references, the pretty cool quests, or the best 3 5 mans in the game in my opinion, but it was incredible.  I was honored with the main faction in Uldum, which is Ramkahen, before leaving the area and really close to revered already. 

5) Prices for BoE drops on the AH - If you get an iLevel 315+ piece of gear, you can easily sell it for 300+ gold.  The higher iLevel, the higher you can charge for it.

6) Leveling Fishing and Cooking - They made it easy now.  I am not going out to farm fishing to get it up or make a single cooking recipe, I'm just gonna do the daily quests everyday.  It is a good amount of gold, plus you can make some good gold with the meats from cooking.  I hit 450 fishing before Cataclysm thanks to those dailies. 

7) Leveling Multiple Skillpoints at Once - I love the fact that new recipes for leveling professions can give you up to 5 skillpoints at once.  Yes, I'm looking at your Enchant Weapon - Avalanche.  Gives you 5 profession points for making one.

8) Flying - Something about even flying around in Stormwind to get stuff makes it so much easier now.  This is especially true when you are flying at 310% speed. Oh wait, make that 341% speed because ...

9) Guild Rewards - I'm friendly with the guild currently and we are at guild level 2 as of last night.  The XP increase is awesome and the 10% faster mount speeds are incredible.

10) Portals - Yes, we don't have portals to major cities, but we have portals to all the new areas.  You really don't need much else.  Plus, you have to complete a series of quest to open the portals.  You just don't automatically get them.

11) Spirit Linked Quest - Nothing is as awesome as doing a quest and once you complete it, you see the complete quest thing comes up with your reward and many times, has your next quest.

12) In Game QuestHelper - I have grown to love the in game QuestHelper.  95% of the time, I find it immediately.  Other 5% of the time, I actually have to look at the quest text to find out what I need to do.

13) Worgen Druids - Good God, the night elfs are lame compared to the worgen.  These guys are awesome.  I love the animation for Running Wild where you run at 100% speed in worgen form.  The new forms are awesome with the exception of one, Swift Flight Form. 

My Cataclysm Hates

1) Vashj'ir - What part of the Vashj'ir area do I hate?  Let's start with what I don't hate.  The boat ride going out is pretty awesome when you get attacked by a giant octopus.  Throne of the Tides is not a bad instance either.  Beyond those two things, I pretty much hate everything else about it.  I hate doing quest underwater.  I don't care about a seahorse mount since I'm a druid and have aquatic form and the speed buff.  But my biggest complaint is the complete and total headache it is to find the Earthen Ring Quartermaster to get the tabard.  First off, in Deepholm, right where you come out of the portal, there is a giant Earthen Ring center with everybody from Earthen Ring right there.  Thrall is right outside Deepholm controlling the Malestrom, damn it.  Why is the quartermaster not there and is instead in a cave you can barely find without circling the area for about 15 minutes?

2) PUGs - I really am not looking forward to running heroics with PUGs.  I have a feeling it is going to make me want to pull my hair out tanking them.  I have started marking everything in anticipation of heroics, but it still doesn't stop an overzealous DPS from hitting X first instead of skull.  Hopefully, I will find some guild mates to run heroics and decrease the number of PUGs I have to deal with.

3) Varian Wrynn's Son - I mentioned above that to get to certain areas, you have to unlock them through a quest chain.  To get to Twighlight Highlands, you have to do a series of quest in Stormwind.  Not only do you have to do these quest, but you have to drag along Varian Wrynn's son with you.  Just one small problem though.  The little bastard keeps getting lost.  I'm walking around the ship intimidating people to get info on Twilight's Hammer and he just disappears.  This means I have to go all the way back to the the castle, pick him up again, then go back.  Then he is bugging me about taking him to the Twilight Highlands.  I wish you could take him into a BG and get him killed by the Horde.  Horde, next time you come into Stormwind to invade and kill our leader, could you kill his son while you are at it?  It would be great.

4) Worgen Swift Flight Form - This is the smallest of complaints, but the worgen swift flight form looks exactly like the night elf druid swift flight form.  It would have been nice for a little change to make them more worgen like.  Especially considering the trolls got a bat.

There are so many things I haven't done yet, like Tol Barad, the new Wintergrasp-esqe zone in Cataclysm.  I have not done heroic Deadmines or Shadowfang Keep, both of which I have heard are incredibly difficult now.   I have not stepped into my first raid yet with my guild. (Although if I can get some heroics under my belt, I may be able to go tonight.)  So overall, I love Cataclysm and can't wait to continue to play it and get into some raids, battlegrounds, and heroics.       

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