Day 2
Here are some of my off the cuff notes as I played:
-I think it’s both cool and weird that the heart of Azeroth is the reason that the waystone reacted to us. I kind of feel like we (the players) will eventually become the heart of Azeroth in some weird way.
-After escaping the Maw with the help of Jaina, Thrall, Anduin, Baine and our Deathknight retinue, I ended up in the Ring of Fate, a place where all souls first journey to upon arriving in the Shadowlands. I liked the place very much, but it did feel a bit empty, but I guess that was the point, since all the souls seem to going to the Maw. After setting up a more permanent base of operations, and after talking to Bolvar and the representative of Ring of Fates, it was decided that since winged warriors attacked my party while in the Maw, I should visit Bastion, home to WoW’s version of Valhalla in order to search for answers. After hitting level 51 and travelling through the wormhole, I arrived in the blue and while speckled lands of Bastion. I gotta say from what I’ve seen of Bastion so far, this place is beautiful.
– After saving Pelagos from himself, I had to take a short break and make a Weak Aura for my holy power. Then I picked up a side collection quest, before continuing with the main story.
– While trying to complete “The Old Ways” side quest, I came to understand just how undergeared I’d become from the previous expansion. See for those that have never played WoW, gear and especially the item level of the gear has been a very important factor since the days of the Lich King. The whole goal of the endgame in WoW is to get the top gear, so that you can be relevant in the top raids. It has become the norm in WoW that skill isn’t as important as what item level of gear a player has. It doesn’t matter that said player can be competent in a battle in terms of strategy and power–all that really seems to matter is what item level a player has. Now, even though I wasn’t and am not a big time raider in the game, after running some Mythics and such, I did have a competent item score for the first patch of BfA. Yet now that the new expansion has dropped (and probably some patches before then) my gear and item level became obsolete. I didn’t take part in the pre-launch event, so I didn’t get a chance to grab some updated gear before the expansion dropped. So, I have been basically playing undergeared from the beginning of my play through of Shadowlands, and that undergearedness is finally rearing its ugly head while adventuring through the beginning parts of Bastion. Though my current death meter is at 1 death, that number would have been much higher, were it not for the healing skills of my Ret Pally.
– While in the Ring, I checked out the mining and blacksmithing trainers. I am a crafting whore that had lost interest in crafting in WoW, but I wanted to see what recipes were offered on day one of the expansion this time around. I will say that if you’ve played all the way through BfA, then the recipes are not useful at all outside of transmogrification looks. That being said, if you’re like me, someone who’s basically a true lowbie, the recipes can come in handy, if it were not for the fact that players have to be level 15 or 25 in blacksmithing before they can make gear that is a minimal to significant upgrade depending on gear.
– I logged out after successfully reaching Hero’s Rest, having reached level 53.
Day 3
– I logged into and quested along the journey to find that Uther has turned to the dark Side.
– Haha! I love how Thanikos, the Hand of Courage kept saying, “You speak to the hand!”
– Once informed the first born of the threat of the Maw, a huge quest chain issued where I had to try and stave off the invasion of Bastion by the warrens of Maldraxxus. After eventually fighting off Lord Marrowgar 3.0…4.0, I really wanted to follow the Paragon in her chase after Amarth, because I was actually beginning to like Thanikos. He didn’t deserve to be twisted like that. He didn’t deserve to die like that. I guess I can get some vengeance when I got into the dungeon.
– Though I was able to finally unlock one of the dungeon locations for this expansion, I still haven’t tried out LFG (Looking For Group). Instead, I decided to go back to Oribos, the Ring of Fates in order to tell Bolvar and everyone else assembled what happened in Bastion.
– After speaking with the retinue assembled, it was decided that I would go to Maldraxxus to investigate why all of a sudden those tasked with defending the Shadowlands would begin attacking Bastion.
– After some arena fighting, it was eventually revealed that every major house in Maldraxxus except the House of the Chosen was in on the invasion all in an attempt to garner fame and renown. A traitor’s renown isn’t always a good thing.
– As the other two houses were about to attack us, Draka, Thrall’s mother, now Baroness of Maldraxxus swoops in like a boss to save my mortal ass from certain death. After we’re shot down, Draka and I have to rally some of the enslaved troops in order to aid us in beating one of the new mini-bosses that I’ve seen in this expansion.
– From the moment I landed in Maldraxxus through the portal, I have actually really liked being thrown into the story, and I gotta say that so far I very much prefer the Maldraxxus storyline to Bastion.
– After reaching the keep and speaking with the leader of the House of the Chosen, Margrave Krexus, he sent me to talk to the rest of his unit commanders. One of them asked me to help them weed out spies that were in our ranks while I let the rest of the leaders now about the battle preparation plans. After completing the tasks of the quest, I turned them in.
– On the end of my third day playing the expansion, I am halfway through level 54, and I have helped the denizens of the Chosen prepare for the coming battle.
Day 4
-Started the day’s play through by having to wade through lava as a test of strength and endurance. Once I reached the stone in the center, I clicked it and received a message from the recently deceased Primus of Maldraxxus, and the blade of a sword that he left in the stone for the right person to retrieve it.
– Ok so I’ve gotten to the point where I am helping the House of Plague, and I am running into this issue. I am told to do something, but I don’t know how they expect me to do it, because I wasn’t told how to get the item. I am told to get potions and take them to the plague inventor, I wasn’t told what item I am supposed to use to do this. That’s an issue.
– SO, the Maldraxxus storyline has turned into somewhat of a Runic Excalibur sword storyline. I have to gain all the runes from the different houses within Maldraxxus, so that I can open the Seat of the Primus.
– The Lost Baroness is Lady Vashj?! Man, I thought we were rid of her. I gotta say though, she’s not bad as an ally.
– Though I did get caught, I like that I can free not only the Chosen, but also those Kyrian who were captured alive.
– Damn! It was Vyraz.
– I ended the night having helped to liberate Maldraxxus and opening the door to Ardenweald.
By the end of day four, I was having a lot more fun story-wise than while I was in Bastion. The story on the whole makes more sense in terms of the urgency of my character’s want to help her fellow heroes and gaining help to do so, and it gave me a chance to learn more about what happened to characters like Draka and Lady Vashj after they were sent to the Afterlife of Azeroth.
