Last Chapter Notes 3/24/26

Even I didn't like the Meandering Monday post title, so my Monday posts will now be Last Chapter Notes, which won out over my other ideas: Scribbles from Azeroth and The Azerothian Scribbler.  The Last Chapter is the Blackwater Raider's Guilds guild name.  

I wrote most of my post for yesterday in a notebook, it simply didn't make it to the post page.

Harandir 

First, and most exciting, once my druid in Harandar got a few pieces of gear from questing, I finished the Harandar Campaign really quickly, almost without paying attention.  This earned me the ability to make a Harandir character.   I'm not a fan of markings and tattoos, and I normally don't use them at all for characters. She wasn't quite right without some, so here she is.  You can change the fur coloring of the Feral form a bit, not as much as I'd like though.

 

There's a portal now in Silvermoon for coming and going to Harandar.  I plan to finish everything in the zone before switching to Zul'Aman for my main character.   While all of the verticality of Harandar can be frustrating, something I do like about Harandar is there are so many decor quest rewards.  Fun ones, right away.

 

Home Sweet Home

Though I have lots of interior items I can still display, and not be near the limit, I've reached the set in stone limit of 250 placements for the outside.    There aren't 250 items on my lot, as some things "cost" one item placement space, and some things five (or more, I haven't researched how they're counting).

I don't want to change a single thing in my yard, but I have more I want to add, like a gryphon's roost, complete with roosting gryphon on it that would be pretty great looking out over the bay.

I wish I understood the tech behind these things.  The neighborhood itself is it's own instance, correct?  Inside your house is it's own instance?  But your yard contents create some mighty weight on the server load?  Pfft.  Make the larger items count as one, give the player a true 250 items.  Solve the load issues later.

Crafty 

I've always used Wow Professions  as my guide for leveling crafting.  I noticed in the War Within when I actually tried to learn the system that they, and Wowhead, only take you to 60, they then flap their hands and say there are too many choices after 60 and you'll have to figure it out.

That's not helpful.

I found Methodgg  as a really well done source for seeing the choices, picking the recipes to learn in order, and guiding through options for assigning Knowledge Points.   To 100.

Even so, my main Leatherworker is an Assassination Rogue, and I've had trouble with her in fights with multiple attackers.    In order to advance in Leatherworking, I needed many more Void -Tempered Scales than I'm finding. In fact I've gotten none in Zul'Aman.   Enter my Level 80 Hunter, whom I sent through the opening sequences and she had the easiest time of anyone getting through.   Off to Silvermoon to grab Midnight Leatherworking and Skinning, then Sunstrider Isle and its Mana Wyrm population.  A Hunter is so much quicker in a fight, and within an hour I had 100 Void-Tempered Scales for the Rogue.

Another reason to move the Hunter forward is for potential fun Hunter Pets.  Alas, the Mammoths are not tameable.  Why put something so adorable in the game and not let you have one of your very own?

 

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 Welcome to Zul'Aman!   Since names start with Zul, all I could think of was:

 

 

 Your actual introduction:

 

However, we are in troll territory, and it's a jungle. 

 

And there's a Council of War wherein we find the trolls aren't cooperating with each other so they didn't help at the battle for the border.

 I'm not far into the area, but so far there is cloth aplenty for my Tailor, animals galore for my Leatherworker, and ore nodes for my my Blacksmith.  Not a bad place to land for my crafters.

Except my poor Alchemist, Harried in Harandar.   (Next week's episode)

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 I've sent my first two characters onwards from Eversong Woods.

Harandar  

Atherne, my Druid main to Harandar so she can get the Allied Race option.   I kinda don't like Harandar as she's getting booted around.  Maybe tomorrow's class tweaks will help.  She was fine till she got to this jungle paradise.

It's an underground world area, but feels light and open.  It's also so far a very vertical place where nothing much is on the same level you are.   I might send my Paladin here to see if she also gets whomped.  I don't think this was a zone recommended for mining though, and she's my armorsmith/blacksmith.

Zul'Aman

My Brave Little Gnome Tailor is in Zul'Aman happily killing Twilight skinks and getting cloth.  I like the plot line and characters here.  I suspect the brother/second to the throne is plotting against his sister from what little I've seen.  I like her though, and Lady Liadrin is here too, and so far I like her a lot.  It's important to me I like the companions I spend time with.

Decided: I'm just going to send the Blacksmith and Leatherworker to Zul'Aman too and they can go to Harandar better prepared.

Eversong

Speaking of companions, Arator and Umbric, both of whom I had taken a dislike to in all the preview/opening scenarios, were good to work with.  Except Arator went a little cray cray at the end of the Eversong sequence. Was The Light leaking out of his body during the final fight at the Amani Pass?  He looked like he went bananas, frankly.

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What's the first thing you do when Steady Flight for all is announced?  You pop your Death Knight who has Herbalism and Mining into the intro area. Without preparing at all!  Ignoring she hasn't done the reset on her talents!  Who is that stoopid?  Thanks for the "You will not die today" cheerleader lines, Arator!

 

 I can't blame even Talents Unset for not being to hit the broadside of a Voidborn Soarling.  At 2 of 16 for way too long!

 

I love fishing and plan this time around to fish my way to the top.  I love that these floating crates are in the new expansion.

 

Here's a Midnight Map.  I thought from what I'd read that you went just a little bit into Eversong Woods, maybe to Fairbreeze Village, then you could split off to the other zone of your choice.  It turns out you need to finish the Main Campaign in Eversong with at least one character, I think.  I'm close on all four of my first characters.  I'll have done all the quests here before they move on.  Arator's Journey turns out to be just over the mountain range at Light's Hope Chapel in the Eastern Plaguelands.  I'll save that for after Harandar and Zul'Aman.  Apparently the possibly icky Voidstorm can only be done once you're at 90 and have done all the other areas.  

Baby's First Midnight Delve  Shadow Enclave

Entering this delve is part of the Campaign.  It's thick with mobs, including sets as pictured below.  You kill the one that looks ghostly, then an elite mob pops up for you to fight.  My Warlock is turning out to be my powerhouse character so far, so she had no problem here.  There are tons of little floating eyes you can't do anything about who send a beam.

The new companion, Valeera Sanguinar, is more of a fighter than a healer, even when set to be one.  I miss Brann, who you know really cared about helping you (sniff).

Wow Flight Changes : I Believe I Can Fly (Once Again)

 

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/midnight-update-steady-flight-unleashed/2271396

I can't recall the last time that Blizzard did something that made me so happy!   No more careening through the skies, tapping buttons to stay aloft constantly, making crash landing after crash landing, hoping I didn't keep going at full speed into some mess of things.  There can be little doubt Skyriding is faster. If you're going a long distance it will get you there fast.

However, you've little control over where you land, and if you land in a bunch of mobs (and you do), you better hope you bounce out of them and can control your direction.  

How great to go where you want, land where you want, hover where you want.   Hugs hugs and more hugs to whoever made this possible. 

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Button Eyes

How about them eyes?  You'll need to enlarge, but after all of the to-do about Liadrin's eyes in the initial Midnight cinematic, she ends up in the game with little button eyes.  She's the first of the "new" characters I've liked, so, give her decent peeps, eh?

Luma the Dog

Pretty early on out of Silvermoon City you meet a cute little pup.  Follow him a bit and he's yours!

Freako Flying Complaint #101

As has been usual, "Skyriding Flying" is available right away in the expansion and you have to do all the things everywhere to get what they call "Steady Flying".  If Skyriding is so great, why don't they give you the "steady boring " flight right away and hold off the ever desirable Skyriding till you've jumped through every hoop?  

Hearthsteel

Which should of course have been called Hearth Steal, since they are asking you to spend real money beyond your subscription, aka Cash Shop (Stuff) in game to lure you along.  The opening salvo was a bundle of plushies, then they got down and sold some pink leaved cherry trees for your garden.  Some scandal ensued on the trees, pricing, and number of trees in the pack for the price.

Neither of those things are of interest to me.  I've never purchased anything from the shop, and if I did, I guarantee you it would be both of these:

One Button Solves All

I thought since I've never mentioned the One Button Rotation Tool, I should say I haven't used it.  I'd rather not have something take control of what I do in combat, as it's more important to me that I stay alive than it is for someone's programmed idea of what I should do.

Add On's Removal

As I've never used an add on anywhere, this was no big thing to me when it was announced.  

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All eight of my Midnight Runners made it to Silvermoon city yesterday.   Eight runs through the hellscape, 3 deaths.  

All were operator error.  The Paladin got cocky and took on The Dripping Shadow and it's many little shadowlettes alone.

The Warrior was caught in a swarm of wandering Void creatures while fighting a boss.  Same with my main Warlock.

My little gnome Warlock thought to evade notice so she did quite a bit of slinking through the shrubbery.  She was just about to slink past a busy group of Allied NPCs  and Devouring Host when they shouted out  "By the light, its (the champion) come to save us!"  She had to step in, didn't she?   This girl made it through virtually unscathed.

Once everyone made it to Silvermoon, my main Atherne, then the Rogue after her in line did all of the quests in Silvermoon City before heading out towards Fairbreeze Village.

Silvermoon is pretty, no doubt.

 

I particularly like the Murder Row area.

 

The Murder Row Dungeon itself, I'm not such a fan. It looks simple enough on the map but there is alot of trash to kill.  Too trashy? Yup.

 

However, that red area of the map above, that's the Horde area.  Grrr.   Twice my Rogue accidentally flew over it looking for a quest that was near its border.  The area just went on and on and the Rogue's health was almost down to nothing by the time I got out of range.

The city has multiple levels, stairs, balconies, towers.  Your quest is up, no it's down, it's up!  Crazy making to navigate.  It is such a relief to head out of the city to continue questing.

Six more to finish the city.  At least nobody should die.