Wednesday 10 March 2010

SAN: New Things, New Dungeons

Post soundtrack: “One O’clock Jump” by the Count Basie Orchestra

So this is what low-level rogue play is like?  It’s been so long I’d almost forgotten.  No poisons until level 20, no Vanish or Distract until 22, even Sap isn’t available until level 10…  But on the plus side, they’ve changed things so you start with Dual-Wield, so it’s all good (or good enough).  Pringle has endured, and at level 34 she’s slowly turning into a real rogue.

To think, gnomes may actually finish reclaiming their capitol...  But what are the chances the bridge in Redridge will still be unfinished?

There’s one thing that’s really caught me by surprise, and that’s the ease of running these low-level dungeons via the LFD tool.  Since I started leveling Pringle I’ve completed Razorfen Kraul (for the first time in my 5 years of playing), Shadowfang Keep, Stockades, Gnomeregan, Scarlet Monastery Graveyard (which came up 11 times in a row – is that proof the LFD is really random?) and Scarlet Monastery Library.  Having them available on tap (without the need to traverse the world the way they used to) is proving to be a handy way to take a break from questing while still gaining experience.

One useful tip, if you plan on running these, is to keep track of what dungeons you’re eligible for and to go out of your way to pick up the quests for them before you run them.  This can lead to a bit of running back-and-forth for some dungeon quests (such as Stockades or Gnomer) but the rewards can be well worth the effort.

I’m considering getting Pringle to 40, buying her epic mount, and then putting time into Mingle so I can try my hand at healing some dungeons.  The idea of playing a tanking class is appealing, as that would get me into them faster, but I just don’t trust my sense of direction in there (at least at this stage) – running around some of those dungeons, you get the feeling they were designed by Escher.

For now though, time to go exploring Kalimdor (as I’m feeling the pinch of being between zones, questing-wise).

On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again...

/wave