Argent Achievement Spam, And Yet More Alt Updates

I finally completed the last of the current Argent Tournament rep grinds last night, setting off five separate achievements and two titles. Cosmetic fireworks aside, this achievement will be needed in patch 3.2 to unlock new daily quests for more champion's seals. The seals, in turn, will reward players with a tabard that offers teleportation to the tournament grounds (where the new dungeons are located) and with the ability to check your mail or bank remotely via your squire non-combat pet.

If you too would like to spam your /guild chat with five achievements at once, Spinks has coincidentally posted a guide on the tournement earlier today.

Ding 40 x 5(6)

In other news, Cheerydeth the Third, the rogue who inherited the name I was saving for my beta Death Knight, only to decide that the released version of the class might seem underpowered compared to its beta incarnation, hit level 40 this morning.

Cheerydeth marks my 5th level 40 character in WoW, behind my Pally (70), Mage (80), Hunter (50), and Warrior (62). If you count the beta version of the Death Knight (80), that gives me significant playtime on six of WoW's ten classes. Of the other four, my Warlock sits at 24, my Shadow Priest is parked at 23, and I played a Druid through level 22 or so in the very first stress test before WoW went into open beta (no talents, since they weren't yet implemented for druids - I have also occasionally taken my wife's level 50 balance druid for a spin). I think my last attempt at a Shaman failed somewhere in the mid-teens, but I deleted that character for some inexplicable reason - I should probably give it another shot at some point, just so I can say that I've taken all ten classes through level 20.

On a whole, it speaks well of WoW's classes that I've found it worth my while to try out each of them. That said, the mage is far and away my favorite - I think I actually have more /played on the mage POST-80 than I do on all the other characters put together. The mage offers a very delicate balance; too little damage and they become very squishy, while too much damage (which is what I've got right now when tackling dailies in ilvl 213 gear) makes fights trivial. When you're actually in the sweet spot of doing just enough damage to beat foes using all the various tools at your disposal, though, you'll never want to go back to hiding behind a pet or under a suit of armor.

To some extent, that may be what appeals to me about the rogue. Having done all three plate-wearers in the 60+ range, I've had a number of opportunities for the stand-and-fight style of melee. Thus, I opted to go with a pure subtlety build - more commonly associated with PVP - that really focuses on my ability to sneak around, try and split pulls, and burst down an unsuspecting foe or two before I can be overwhelmed by a larger group. I can definitely see why the leveling guides all recommend more versatile builds (generally Combat), but my various heirloom items make Cheerydeth tough enough to compensate for the bad situations where a murloc goes running off and returns with a bunch of its friends. (In particular, having a permanent set of scaling daggers makes a huge difference since Ambush requires them.)

Holding Pattern Until the Patch?
Overall, I'm in an odd sort of holding pattern at the moment due to upcoming patch changes. I technically can be farming Champion's Seals on Greenwiz now, but it will be much quicker and more convenient when the patch hits. My Paladin, Rogue, Warrior, Hunter, Priest, and Warlock alts all qualify for mount upgrades when the patch hits (as would any new Death Knights hitting Outland). I could make the attempt at a Shaman, but I'm not really that excited about it; they'd have more available heirlooms next patch, and there are vague hints that the next expansion will offer new races rather than new classes.

It's not bad timing personally - I'm moving next week and expect a large number of home improvement issues for the remainder of the month that will cut into my gaming time. It's just a bit odd that I honestly can't tell you what I'm working for in the game at the moment. I keep doing random PUG 5-mans when the opportunity arises because I have fun doing them, but it's not as if I'm chomping at the bit to actually spend all the shards and emblems on heirlooms. Ah well, the patch will probably be good to go in a month or so, and I'm almost morbidly curious about how Brewfest will unfold.


Incidentally, this game really desperately needs a new title interface. Having a pulldown menu made sense when there were like three titles in the game, and it just starts looking stupid at this many.