Blizzkorean!

I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of the Asian gamers, so it probably comes as no surprise to hear that I was all set to cheer for the Koreans (hey, I'd cheer for an Aussie if there was one! Damn our latency...) while watching the replay of the 2011 Blizzcon WoW Arena finals.

To my delight, the team that won - OMG - also had a hunter in it, so it was doubly fun to watch all the matches they won along the way.

It never fails to inspire me to become better, try the tactics, pick up hints and tricks about how to deal with PvP against other classes.

Unfortunately I haven't been Arena-ing much this year and it doesn't look likely that I'll get a regular team, so I probably won't get to try out the things I've learnt... but one can only hope :)

Free ride

I'm surprised that my recruit-a-friend made it to 2 months; he's the type that doesn't approve of a "subscription"-type game and had only been playing on "free" game time until recently.

However, I now have a handy flying transport for helping lowbies in the future. Woot :D

Ranger Phyllixia

Not bad, huh? This is now my official elven ranger outfit for Patch 4.3's Transmogrification system - I have every single piece in my bags except the bow.

I'd really like to thank Veralynn of Arygos, whoever you are - the previews of full green mail sets was a lifesaver!

My dark ranger outfit isn't quite as matching:

...and I also don't have all the pieces (the shoulders are going to be a killer), but I'm still quite happy with it just the same.

I'll also be scoping out possible transmog gear for staves and polearms, because it's the default item you see - unfortunately I've already asked for Terokk's Quill to be restored for my dark ranger set and Blizz said no... so I'll have to think of something else :(

Too soon, Executus!

Does anyone else think that Ragnaros' summoning animation is nowhere near as epic as the original animation in Molten Core?

It seems.... too sped up, somehow. Too smooth.

I guess you really can't beat the classics...

Camouflage

No, not the spell - my outfit!

I've been trying to find something to wear when transmogrification kicks in, and I figure it's my chance to look like how I've always wanted - a dark ranger, or failing that, a regular elven ranger.

The above is the closest I can get to an elven ranger - a much better attempt than my closest try at a dark ranger, below:

I just can't seem to find a decent matching darkish set... especially the shoulders.

And this isn't even counting the fact that I may not be able to actually obtain these pieces of mail - it's just what I come up with when playing around with WoW Model Viewer.

So if anyone out there has any ideas on pieces of gear to transmogrify - I'd love to hear from you!

Flame on!

Apart from Beth'tilac - I haven't seen what being on the web is like, so can't completely rule that out - the Firelands raid hasn't impressed me visually all that much.

This week, however, the orange finally got interesting: Alysrazor is a fun and fiery fight, not only in execution but also in looks:

Not to mention, Alysrazor drops one of the cooler-looking weapons I've seen for awhile; I really wish Blizzard had kept dual-wielding 1Hs viable for hunters, not just because of the loot potential but for looks as well.

...Can you tell I've been investigating transmogrification a bit lately? :P

Baradin Doesn't Hold

Well, not my gear, anyway.

I'd left the last 2 pieces of Valour Point vendor gear as the two that drop in BH - the Flamewaker's Gloves and Legguards - but even though I haven't been anywhere near VP cap most weeks (I think I've only capped VP once this tier), I almost have enough VP to buy them both and will probably end up doing so, since I haven't seen them drop yet.

Not to mention, PvP gear has been fairly scarce too - apart from the one belt that I won in I think the first or second week, I haven't managed to nab anything.

On the upside, I guess I'm not sick of killing Occu'thar yet - at least I can get VP,  even if I'm having the worst luck with gear.

Now, if only I could remember to check when Tol'Barad is on so I can join the queue...

Brutal Beat-up

I finally convinced a couple of enthusiastic Arena newbies from my guild to do a few games and managed to get myself a new tabard.

It's not really the prettiest-looking tabard (and totally doesn't go with the murloc armour), but I'm definitely keeping this one.

I'm also hoping to continue the 2v2 or 3v3 games - surprisingly our hunter/warrior/mage combo didn't completely fail, even with the warrior not having done Arena and the mage not having done any since lvl 70 on a different class.

Not to mention, it's been a long time since I've been in a triple-DPS team and it's hard for me to call shots in a faster-paced DPS-only match when I haven't even had much practice in the current Arena environment (when did they get rid of the Ring of Valor starting elevator?! I approve! :D).

I don't know if I'll ever make Challenger again, but hey, one can only hope! :)

Rare-ly a dull moment

Three more rare pets have been added to my "tamed" list:

Skarr

Solix

Ban'thalos

Skarr was fairly easy (Silence, Deterrence, Tame) and Solix was easy the second time around (kiting with Concussive Shot/Ice Trap until ~40 energy, then Concussive Shot, Deterrence, Tame), but Ban'thalos was a little tricky.

For Ban'thalos, I used the tree method:

1. Move up, down and around until you can stand right at the tip of one of the trees (the tallest one just behind the quest givers)
2. Turn to face Ban'thalos' path (this is important!)
3. Lay a Freezing Trap in front of you (if you're not facing Ban'thalos properly, it won't be in the correct position to trigger the trap without you moving back and forth - and if you move back and forth, you'll fall off the tree!)
4. Mount up and fly directly up so that you're in range to shoot (again, don't move back and forth, or you won't drop back onto the tree tip)
5. Shoot Ban'thalos and quickly cancel your attack. If you don't, you will melee him before he triggers the trap... and the trap will break.
6. Once trapped, tame away!

I probably won't keep any of these 3 pets... as fun as they were to tame, I still don't like the actual skins that much. I will, however, keep them for awhile until I can replace them with pet skins I do actually want (if anyone sees Loq up on US-Proudmoore, please let me know...).

Let's Twist Again

The interview I did with the Twisted Nether Blogcast is now up for download if you missed the live show: http://www.twistednether.net/2011/08/25/episode-141-rhok-it-yeah/

Here, you will find the answers to how I got my character name, why I started this blog and my preference on cake vs. pie...