Midnight Begins

Good news, Midnight opens with a quest called Midnight, not the dread Meet Arator Ka’resh/Maw quest.  Whew.

It has you search for Liadrin’s (image) near wherever you might be, in my case Dornogal.  She’s a blazing image who asks you to come and help defend the Light and Silvermoon.

 

What follows is a rather epic battle sequence in Parhelion Plaza and its surrounds.    You join the forces of Light, including several familiar characters.   I'm only going to Silvermoon and stopping so I have no idea if you ever see them again here.   

 

 

 You’ve various tasks in addition to fighting through legions of the Devouring Host.

 

Fighting by your side is Arator, who was surprisingly useful as a fighter and healer for my Druid but not so much for my Rogue.   Happily nobody died, and that’s all that matters to me. 

 

Arator has daddy issues and no wonder.  His father Turalyon is yelling (literally) at Arator constantly.   Arator makes side comments about his father as you go along.   He didn’t bother me as he did in the Meet Arator sequence, though, and I can work with him. 

 

I think the sequence took me an hour or so, but it was all interesting and manageable.   I’m thinking all of the classes I’m bringing to Midnight will be able to hold their own here. Except.

I thought my Rogue could have trouble. I sent her second to test her mettle.  She didn’t get through the Twilight Highlands pre-patch event, but has a few pieces of gear dropped for others.   She had a harder time than my druid, but thanks to plenty of potions and her stealth, she did fine.

Also, in this opener, there are armor rewards galore that are item level 120, so she wasn’t  at a disadvantage for long. 

My plan is to send everyone through the opening sequence before I do anything else, then they’ll all move on together.   I like it so far.

Next up is my Paladin. 

 

Meandering Monday 3 2 26

 Oof, Google tried to lock me out of my teeny blog.  Hasn't happened for awhile.  Oh well, if I'm suddenly writing on The Last Chapter again, you'll know why.  Otherwise:

Midnight at 5 pm

Why isn't Midnight releasing at Midnight?  That seems like a simple marketing tool.  Who are these guys?

Meet Arator

The Dread Meet Arator Quest--I could only stand to do it on a few characters as it drags you first to Ka'resh, then The Maw.  Surely once the expac goes live later today they won't make anyone go through that first.  Gack.  That would kill the starter experience if anything would.

Umbric The Annoying

Umbric!  I do not want to hear his voice ever again.  Champion! Blah blah blah.   

Forum Rats

The comments on Arator match my feelings about him.  How old is this guy?  Some say a teen in elven years, some say he's a 40 year old guy.  

Apparently Follower Dungeons are required as part of the quest line somewhere.  Lots of complaints about the tank and how the NPCs pull every single mob.  I think they used to be better, but recently when I've been using them for my tailor, every mob gets killed and the Hunter in particular runs over and grabs extras.  The Healer is too busy hopping around like a rabbit to heal.  The AI could use some tweaking.

Here are some of this morning's topics.

Transmog

The one time "free" transmog is finally available.  I almost wasted it but saw the tiny print just in the nick.  I'm not ready to set everyone right quite yet.

Lovely Suramar

I saw a somewhat aerial view of Silvermoon City, and thought to take a screenshot or two of Suramar, that other large elven city.

Screenshot Saturday

 I was uninspired to take pictures this week.  Sometimes one is a slug.

 

I have been running my Tailor through Follower dungeons, looking for amounts of cloth or cloth making materials.  My forum searches advised Darkflame Cleft and The Priory of the Sacred Flame as having humanoids who can drop cloth.

Darkflame is ok, I've run that numerous times.   The Priory is filled with humanoids but drops little, though it does have nice looking Arathi Overgrown Arch for your garden at the last boss.  Surprisingly The Stonecore is great, it just seems to go on forever.   Do not expect to get a single piece of material in Cinderbrew Meadery, just a window at the end, and a prolonged amount of time in the Buzz Barns with BEES.  I hate bees.

 Alliance House

How to fill a screenshot Saturday?  Why how about a look at my houses.  I'm still not doing any structural work as I've read some rooms can get stuck and you can't remove them.  Oddly I'm at the max for the outside of my Alliance House because I've not gotten to level 5 yet and I'm doing my best to create a privacy screen at the outside of the yard.  Notice though the person behind me has enlarged his house and you can see it whether you want to or not.

 

On the Horde Side

 

 

Ten posts for February by the very skin.  Got it though!

Atheren's March 2026 Gaming Goals

 Let's guess. Could it be I'll be playing through the areas of Midnight?  I've been reading the forums since Thursday night, and whoa, I am guessing Monday's official launch will be a challenge.  

I did not realize that everyone starts in Silvermoon and plays through a bit of Eversong Woods before being able to go to their chosen zone.  Does funneling so many people through such a small area seem like a bad idea to anyone else?  Even with layers, reports of the initial Early Access peeps are what you would expect.   I wish I had the fortitude to say I would be smart and wait till things died down but I'm a guppie like everyone else.  Disconnect me, baby!

Goals 

All seven Midnight Runners through the starter section and in place in their zones.

It would be dreamy if everyone got to 90 by months end.

Progress on crafting skills.

Try all the new dungeons and delves.

Try the new Prey system (though it looks over my pay grade from videos I've watched).

Do my best to gear up early.

Atheren's February Goals Check Check Check

 I  aced my tiny goal list for February:

Atheren's Adventures: Atheren's Gaming Goals for February 2026

Level up?  Yup, I leveled the Midnight Runners that needed to be at 80, plus a little flotilla of new characters.   The newbies aren't maxed, but they are well placed.

Gear up?  For the most part, I got my mains through the Twilight Highlands.  As it played out there, there were drops from bosses that were rarely for the class being played, so I tucked those into the Warband Bank for others.  There were also a boatload (half a bank tab and more) of one handed Mace and one Handed Axe drops I can't use for anyone so those got poofed.

Get Tradeskill Recipes?  Ha!  I am for the first time deep diving the current crafting system and I've nothing but bad thoughts towards whoever designed it.  I'd best leave it at that.

Cartoonified! Midnight Early Access

 

The Midnight Run

 

 

 

 

There are four new zones in Midnight, largely re-imagined Horde Zones, I believe, except for Void Storm.

https://www.wowhead.com/guide/midnight/silvermoon-city-hub-zones-maps-locations-rewards 

I have seven characters heading into these zones, all high level crafters.  I would usually start with my main in one zone, then have all characters trail through it in a konga line.  This time around, I’m going to work through all four of the zones from the start, switching between them.  I’m assigning characters in such a way that there are miners and herbalists in two zones, a lone miner in one, and I’m pairing my Leatherworker and Tailor/Enchanter in another.

As it plays out, everyone will eventually do all the zones, so if I chose wrong initially, it will be fine in the end.

Silvermoon/Eversong Woods   Inscription/Herbalist and Jewelcrafting/Mining

Harandar  Alchemy/Herbalism  and Blacksmithing/Mining

Void Storm  Blacksmithing/Mining 

Zul’aman   Leatherworking/Skinning and Tailor/Enchanter (hoping for humanoids and their juicy cloth).