Wut's Your Mouse?

I have been experimenting with different mouse options.  I needed more buttons.  My previous weapon of choice was a Microsoft Side Winder Gaming Mouse which had 5 re-mappable buttons: left, right, middle, and 2 pegs in thumb's reach.  Was overall a good responsive mouse which also allowed users to add weights in a side compartment for personalized comfort.  For my healing days on my druid it was good to passable for most situations in game.  I have used the mouse on hunters, paladins, and rogues at low levels but often felt at a disadvantage not being able to access certain abilities on impulse.

My first purchase into higher button count mouses was the Steel Series MMO Gaming Mouse that was released for Cataclysm and backed by Blizzard which even added a UI option for the detection of this mouse.  The mouse offered 14 true mouse buttons strategically placed at key points of this massive mouse.  And, yes, I emphasize massive which was my only complaint about the mouse.  I was constantly fumbling this handful during play which made this mouse really uncomfortable and very noisy during stressful moments (besides my cursing).  The configuration software was relatively easy to use as well as the in game integration and it had a cool change the LED glow color option which though cool would piss me off if that was why this mouse was so huge.  It was also not cheap coming in at $100 CAN was not an option for casual players.

After many weeks of remapping and rewriting macros for my new gaming mouse I came across my next purchase at a demo price.  I have heard about this mouse on the WoW Insider podcast and would not have made the purchase after my $100 dollar mistake if it were not for the demo price this mouse was coming to me for.  So I took the plunge and bought a floor model Razor Naga Mouse - literally a normal sized mouse with a number pad carved into its thumb side.  In my opinion not a pretty mouse and I had a few Mac issues regarding not being able to map the mouse's number keys to the actual numbers on the keyboard - a feature that totally works on a Windows system.  It sadly forced me to re-think my macros and just directly map and macro with out modifiers (shift,control,alt).  In the end the slight change in my game play to use the Naga Mouse was definitely worth it.  Not only did I get better access to an array of abilities but I saw a definite improvement in my game play.  I found the size, as well, to be perfect and definitely no more mouse fumbling on "execute".  Even more so had this been my initial purchase I would have saved my self $20 - the mouse can be found at Future Shop for about $80 CAN before taxes.

First Warrior to 60

I took on learning the warrior class a little better a couple of weeks ago and started 2 warriors.  Initially I had a Dranei warrior which I started when I rerolled as a jewel crafting alt.  I am leveling that warrior as Arms.  I later on heard from the WoW Insider show's warrior expert that an elven warrior had the best racial which is a 2% chance not to be hit which was not dodge based.  The non-dodge base is key since some bosses and warriors have an ability to instantly in-act damage on a dodging target (overpower).  I started this new warrior with no heirlooms and went the fury tree with prot as a secondary talent set. 

I always consider level 60 the first big achievement in game and a definite sign that a character is not merely an alt.  And though the leveling process from 1-60 has been optimized I found the climb as mainly a fury warrior to 60 has been quite quick and satisfying.  My questing route has been somewhat benefited by my previous rises to 60 and feel that the path I took this time around was rather quick and optimized in terms of XP, reputation, rewards, and lore.  Anyone who tries my quest path feel free to comment on how you felt about it.

Night Elf Warrior Quest Path

Teldrassil
Darkshore
Ashenvale
Stone Talon Mountains
Desolace
Ferralas
Thousand Needles
Tanaris
Un Goro Crater
Swamp of Sorrows
Blasted Lands

Few notes on using this quest path:

• Reputation Grinds - I was able to get revered with Dalaran and Gnomeregan.  I am about 3/4 the way to revered with Stormwind.
• In Stone Talon I did the quests towards the North Barrens but doubled back towards Desolace instead of continuing through the Barrens.
• When leaving Ashenvale and questing towards Stone Talon I easily missed (second time around) the gnome at Silverwing who basically opened up 95% of the quest chain in Stone Talon.  I had missed this quest giver initially when my Elven druid made his way through there and could not figure why no quests were available in Stone Talon.
• Profession Grinds - I am finding herbalism to be a great profession to level with since flower picking now adds XP with each harvest regardless on whether you can level your skill.  The beneficial skill of herbalism gives my warrior a minor heal-over-time option which I have been mainly using to speed up post mob recovery.  I did not sell any herbs and found it more beneficial to send them to my scribing alt and my alchemist alt for glyphs and potions.  Skinning has somewhat been profitable.  I have made thousands of gold auctioning old world leather and have been using the armor kits to supplement my armor needs.  The Skinning beneficial adds to my DPS.

Hunter Macros - Avoiding Stray Shots

I have been trying to make a macro that with keep me from accidentally spamming a a new target.  Because hunter's have a longer range than most classes a hunter can easily spam a stray shot after killing his target since the next shot upon finding no target will lock on any other target in range and fire.  Not so bad when you are out in the world but in a dungeon it can be a wipe waiting to happen.  I recently discovered "/targetenemy" and "/startattack" for my melee characters and applying them in my melee rotation has been essential in smoothly transitioning from target to target.  Tanks (in general) need that continuity to assure that the rage built up from their last target feed into their next target.  Due to the short range of melee pulling that stray target way over there is not even an issue.  For hunters since most of their attacks are instant I would constantly inadvertently pull that mob over there so finally after a lot of trial and error here is something I find workable into my shot rotation macro:

/targetfriend [noexists/help]
/startattack
/castsequence reset=target/combat <shot 1>,<shot2>,<shot3>...

For this to really work you have to make sure that the option to STOP AUTOATTACK upon switching targets is enabled (which means do not auto attack on a switch target).  It is not foolproof since I still for some reason will occasionally target but not fire upon automatically neutral targets.  But what does do most of the time for me is that when my "enemy" target goes down I end up targeting my "friendly" pet.  I have yet to fully test it in an instance but been pretty happy with it in my shot rotation macros.

Getting Re-Started

I started about a couple of months ago.  I was a staunch Horde player.  I was a staunch PVP server player.  I wanted something different and conveniently my co-worker's guild was Alliance on an RP-(PVE) server.  No more looking behind my back.  No more being grief-ed by 14-year-olds with epeen dysfunctions.  As for the quests and content I knew some how in the higher levels where the quests open out into contested territory the quest though different would mirror the quests of the opposing faction.  I knew most of the level 1-70 content Horde side - it was time to see the "other side".

I have always found hunters to be quite convenient character to have.  Set them up with some gathering professions and you got money literally in the bank.  Furthermore having a virtual companion who does not argue, get jealous, and is willing go out and take most of the aggro off you is pretty convenient.  Hunters can level fast and independently.  If you just want to focus on leveling and farming for gold to fund further WoW activities, this (like most for most "farmers") is the character of choice.

I was somewhat fortunate to be handed 10 gold to start out from my co-worker.  If you do want a good amount to start off of 10 gold is more than plenty to get you through purchasing skills for the first 30-40 levels.  Another thing you should really ask for (if possible) are bags.  As of the later expansions and patches I have noticed bags are falling off of world mobs in starting areas more often than before.  They usually are 6-8 slot bags which I find can be quite inadequate by level 10.  Netherweave bags currently go for about 7-8 gold on a good day.  They would be the cheapest good size bag you can get on the auction house and give you an array of 16 slots to store anything you pick up.  They should be adequate till level 70 if you have every character bag slot filled with them.  Having all the carrying capacity to save yourself from dragging crap back to a vendor constantly is even more valuable than the 10 gold I got to start. 

 I suggest avoid spending money on weapons and gear from city vendors.  I never could quite understand the point of them other than doubling as repair stations for your gear.  There was one time very recently that I did purchase a vendor grade item to get me through a dry spell of drops and affordable Auction House items for my warrior who desperately needed a off-hand.  Gear generally for most of the classes I have played get handed to you as quest rewards or drop off as world loot; I, however, feel often that the most inappropriate gear will drop for the character you are currently playing more often than the useful pieces.

Which brings me to my next point.  Having alts early on when starting is actually useful.  You have 3 times the bank space first of all.  This alone is useful to keep stuff stored for auctioning later on or for storing mats for crafting.  As I previously mentioned, I have always found the most inappropriate stuff for the character you are currently playing will drop for you.  If my suspicions are correct you are most likely going to get that dagger or one-handed sword off of your druid than any other class who can use a dagger or sword.  In that case I personally find leveling vastly different alt classes can be an advantage.  I strongly do not suggest leveling the same or similar classes as alts.  You most likely will burn out faster and you will even more so find that you are constantly out of the useful crafting materials.  Take it from someone who has had three druids on the same server.

Second Beginnings

Leopold 'Butters' Stotch: I don't play world of warcraft...
Eric Cartman: Butters, you said that you're on your computer all the time.
Leopold 'Butters' Stotch: Yeah, but I'm playing hello kitty island adventure!
Eric Cartman: Ugh... Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you!
Leopold 'Butters' Stotch: O-oh... Al-alright then!

I had stopped playing 2 years ago.  World of Warcraft's contribution to my sleepless nights, my deteriorating health, my social ineptitude, mental frustration and anguish  had taken a toll on me.  My guild and in game friendships had all but evaporated.  I thought it was time to close the book and grow up a little.

And for 2 years I was totally off.  It was not easy and I ended up buying up every RPG-esque game on Steam I could find to shake off the need to log back onto Azeroth and don my staff once again. 

Old habits die hard.  I eventually made my way back to Azeroth (thanks to a co-worker).  I joined my co-worker's small guild and got into playing the latest expansion, Cataclysm, with a focus on questing and leveling.  No plans of mounting a guild leadership ladder.  I plan to play a variety characters from 1 to 85 and blog anything that might be relevant to a player just playing a character through leveling content.  That is my goal - figure ways to get through leveling with out burning out and extracting as much fun one can from the challenges of creating a character from scratch.  If this is your game then read a few entries and maybe you might find something of interest from this veteran player.