Zoom Zoom

I took a sick day from work yesterday and parked it in front of the computer. Best sick day ever.

First, we were just minding our own business beating on the Scarlets (just like old times!) and OMG MAL'GANIS!!!



Major character from WarCraft history humiliated by a PUG of undergeared newbs...check!

Then, I ran PUGs and got two achievements: Archavon the Stone Watcher and Heroic: Azjol-Nerub.

Five Emblems of Heroism and some new kickers...check!

And finally...several years late, Arawn finally has an epic flier.



Red goes faster, bitches!

"I Can Has Dragon Mount" Watch:

• 11,112/12,000 rep to Revered with The Wyrmrest Accord (must be Exalted);
• 2k gold needed to purchase Reins of the Red Drake.

OH HAI I UPGRADED YOUR DING

OMG 80!

I'd like to thank the last exp-granting mob that made this all possible.



"I Can Has Dragon Mount" Watch:

• 8,715/12,000 rep to Revered with The Wyrmrest Accord (must be Exalted);
• 4,620/5,000 gold for epic flyer skill;
• 2k gold needed to purchase Reins of the Red Drake.

Patch Day: Terrorist Safe Haven

One of these things is not like the other:

President Barack Obama says he's not going to allow al-Qaida or Osama bin Laden "to operate with impunity" from safe havens in Afghanistan.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday night, Obama also said that while the political system is working in Iraq, that is not the case in Afghanistan.

Well, erm, what I mean was, like, we're not going to let terrorists over there have a safe haven from which to operate with impunity...

Obama Administration Maintains Bush Position on 'Extraordinary Rendition' Lawsuit

The Obama Administration today announced that it would keep the same position as the Bush Administration in the lawsuit Mohamed et al v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.

A source inside of the Ninth U.S. District Court tells ABC News that a representative of the Justice Department stood up to say that its position hasn't changed, that new administration stands behind arguments that previous administration made, with no ambiguity at all. The DOJ lawyer said the entire subject matter remains a state secret.

Torture is terrorism. Those who tortured should be prosecuted. Those who ordered it should be prosecuted. If Obama feels Afghanistan should not be a haven for terrorists, why doesn't he believe that America should not be a haven for torturers?

By the way, you too can participate in extraordinary rendition and torture people in the Amber Ledge quest called "The Art of Persuasion." Blizzard should take this quest out. "Pretend" torture is like "pretend" rape.

Patch Day is a new regular feature on l2lock. Every patch day, I'll post one some non-WoW related topic.

Almost...There...

Woot...79.

I'm in the process of converting a level 70 PvP character's gear set into a level 80 PvE set, so my stats are all over the place (1007 +spell damage, 161 hit rating, 19.4 crit chance, 169 resilience, LOL).

My biggest deficit in PvE stats had been hit rating. I believe my PvP gear carried a hit rating total of 32. I considered this Problem One, and have geared up to address it. Some guidance on needed hit ratings:

This question has been asked time and again to Alex Ziebart's frustration in The Queue or TCFKAAABT (The Column Formerly Known As Ask A Beta Tester). I'll cut straight to the chase. It's 446 Hit Rating that will give you a 100% chance not to miss anything in a raid because 26.23 Hit Rating is equal to 1%, and you'll need +17% to touch raid bosses.

...if you have 3/3 Supression and 3/3 Cataclysm (which is both in this Affliction build, incidentally), you gain 3% more chance to hit with Affliction and Destruction spells respectively. This brings down the Hit Rating requirement to 368. Still a pretty steep number, isn't it? That's just for raids, though, where bosses are Level 83 (or three levels above you, which is a Skull). In heroic 5-man dungeons, where most mobs will be Level 82, it's a measly 78 Hit Rating with the talents above or 157 without.

I'm set for heroics with my 161 hit rating, but still in the hole re: raids, which is fine with me for now because I don't see any raids in my near future.

After I get a respectable PvE set, I'll turn back to PvP. I'm pretty excited about the idea of doing more content and less PvP this time around, but I know myself, and it's only a matter of time before I feel the need to get an Arena team together.

This Weekend's Damage:

• Instances: Violet Hold (normal), Drak'Theron (normal);
• Achievements: 1,500 Quests Achieved, The Empire of Zul'Drak, Guru of Drakuru, Explore Zul'Drak, Of Blood and Anguish, The Violet Hold;
• Amphitheater of Anguish quest done, got my Chilly Slobberknocker.

"I Can Has Dragon Mount" Watch:

• 6,000/12,000 rep to Revered with The Wyrmrest Accord (must be Exalted);
• 3,500+/5,000 gold for epic flyer skill;
• 2k gold needed to purchase Reins of the Red Drake.

Ding! 77

Cold weather flying!

Confession: I don't have an epic flying mount. After purchasing cold weather flying, I'll need just more than 2.5K gold to purchase the skill and then go get a cheap-o Red Riding Nether Ray. Then, just 2K more gold and some rep needed for the Reins of the Red Drake.

I plan to make the money through quests through and after 80. I'm intentionally saving some zones for cash purposes. I've burned through the Borean Tundra, Dragonblight and Grizzly Hills zone quests, and am saving Howling Fjord, etc. so that I can get the post-exp. cash rewards for those. Should go pretty quickly.

Scroll of Resurrection

I blame Durthoo / Andarius, who sent me a [Scroll of Resurrection].

Now I'm 76, geared like a noob, and playing all the time.

In other words, l2lock is back online.

Be the Love Generation....

Well, I made it. Arawn is dancing with the trolls.

Getting there was interesting. I had not completed the Noggenfogger Elixir quest, and I'm not an engineer to craft a parachute cloak. So I ran to Hinterlands and got the mushroom to complete the elixir quest and bought up a bazillion of them (the slow fall effect needed only procs rarely).

From there, it was a simple task of following directions:



I died once (once w/o a soulstone, that is) and had to make another run for it. I died the next time too, but had a soulstone handy and popped it.

Here are some photos from the trip:

Here you can see the terrain tile border between Winterspring and Felwood. The village is hidden in the terrain border regions.


The deep breath before the last plunge! Village in sight!


WEEEEEEEEE!


/whistle... hey explorers have to eat! Here fishy fishy...


Peace at last. /dance.

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. — Isaiah 2:4 & Micah 4:3

Stay safe out there kids. Peace.