WoW 5.3 - Escalation

I <3 Jim Cummings. I've been out of WoW for a couple weeks now (almost a month?), but I'm definitely coming back for this. Possibly sooner, just to grab up some VP in anticipation of new goodies.

UPDATE: So 5.3 eh? Get ready for it!

Reduced xp reqs from 85-90, return of the Void Binders (item upgrade vendors), new/Heroic Scenarios, more sources for Lesser Charms, and a bunch of new PVP changes.

Excited about the pvp changes in this one.

Oh while it looks amazing for it's age... WoW is starting to look a bit dated.

I got to be a tauren priest, which was sort of the pinnacle of wow for me after WotLK. I don't know if there's anything left now.

Grinding dailies left me hollow so I guess that was a good clue to move on from Pandaria. How many people currently sub compared to the height of popularity? All I know is my horde server was just about abandoned when I left two months ago (oh server merge, how I wished for thee).

Duchess wrote:

Grinding dailies left me hollow so I guess that was a good clue to move on from Pandaria. How many people currently sub compared to the height of popularity?

I know the feeling about the daily grind, that's why I'm on hiatus from WoW atm (was gonna resub today, but I can't find my damn authenticator...). As for current subscriber numbers, I think last I heard they were down to 10 million or so.

EDIT: Ahh, good, found my authenticator. Gonna wait until tomorrow to buy some game time, as at this point I won't have much time to play before a buddy comes over. Quick question though, which would be better - key fob authenticator, or the mobile authenticator for smartphones?

I think the title should change to "The Thunder King Cometh" when the patch drops

I'm excited. I've only been back in the game for a few months, so I'm not quite tired yet of current content. It will be interesting to see if LFR gets more difficult. I've only been in a failing group once or twice, which is a much MUCH better ratio than Cata heroics.

Get ready, it's dropping tomorrow! Maybe by the time I get off work at 1 pm the servers will be up. Probably not though, judging by past patch days.

Seemed to be a pretty smooth patch launch. The only wonkiness I found was with one particular addon (Skillet got crushed, but Curse says it's up to date) and with my farm when I ran over a lil' vermin with my plow.

Otherwise, the farm updates are great. Isle of the Thunder King was too mobbed for me to explore last night.

ranalin wrote:

Excited about the pvp changes in this one.

Oh while it looks amazing for it's age... WoW is starting to look a bit dated.

What are the pvp changes? I haven't paid much attention to WoW in months.

mindset.threat wrote:
ranalin wrote:

Excited about the pvp changes in this one. ...

What are the pvp changes? I haven't paid much attention to WoW in months.

I'm not really sure either. Here's the list.

The major change is under the BGs subheads. Player levels will be normalized in low-level BGs. I can't tell if this is aimed at getting rid of lvl 10 twinks, making sure low-levels aren't face-rolled or both.

Not in the notes is that the /follow command no longer works in BGs. That should hobble the multiboxers.

The new gear catch-up mechanic is coming in 5.3 supposedly.

Wow, when they said they were increasing the world boss spawn rate, they weren't kidding. Until this week I had yet to down Galleon on a single character, but now I've killed him on four of my six level 90 characters, with my bear druid getting a huge upgrade in the form of the 496 belt (he was using a 450 crafted pvp belt before).

Also, this new rare spawn mechanic they've implemented on the Isle of Thunder is pretty awesome. I've gotten a good chunk of my rogue's valor this week from running from one spawn to another, plus a couple of the keys for the solo scenario on a couple characters (sucks you can only get one per week from mob drops per character, but I understand why they did that after doing the scenario multiple times - just in terms of gold alone I've probably gotten over 1k, 337g alone on my warlock). I've yet to see the tome for the warlock quest drop... unless you count the one time it dropped when I was on my rogue >.<.

I've also gotten a couple of the sunreaver micro-sentry pet - looks just like the robots wandering around Silvermoon City or the manaforges in Netherstorm. That's one model I've wanted as a companion pet for a long time, glad they finally added it.

Got an invite to log in for seven free days; I haven't "bought" Mists" but have access to content- though I can't progress beyond level 89 w/out purchase (which I can't afford right now). If I go on, am I able to access any more of the higher level content from The Lich King as a solo? The last time I played- back in Dec/Jan- I know I was able to solo a bunch of stuff in Northrend that hadn't been accessible before "Mists".

What else can I do? I have levelled and maxed-out all of my skills- Herbalism; Alchemy; Cooking and Fishing.

Wait for it......

You can always roll another toon. Everyone says monks are fun. And Pet Battles will keep you pretty busy.

AFAIK all of the old raids (vanilla through Cata) are open to soloers. You might not be able to solo the Lich King, but you can probably get pretty far through all of the ICC and Ulduar 10s (and maybe 25s as well). Everything from vanilla and BC are solo-friendly for the most part except for a couple of wonky mechanics (BWL and the Kara chess match come to mind.)

There are some people who can solo the Lich King, though I'm certainly not one of them. I think it largely depends on your class and level of skill. Death knights seem to be able to solo freaking EVERYTHING. But yeah, all pre-MoP raids can be entered without a group, and pretty much all Northrend non-raid content is easily soloable, even the godawful Halls of Reflection. Naxxramas can most certainly be soloed, if you know what you're doing. spider wing is cake, so is plague wing. The abom quarter can be rough with Patchwerk what with his Hateful Strikes, but all the rest is no problem. Zerging Obsidium Sanctum still requires at least one or two other people, but doing it the normal way would be no problem

I tried a Cataclysm raid once on my paladin but it didn't go so well. Trash was rough, but then she's ret. Maybe if I went in as protection... or on my bear... Cataclysm five mans are for the most part easily soloed. Go for Stonecore's second boss, he's an easy one and can drop a mount. Same goes for the second boss in Vortex Pinnacle, different mount drops from that one. Note that the mount drops on both normal and heroic, so it's easily farmable and no need to beat yourself over the head with a heroic difficulty.

Oh, and I have been regularly soloing Kael'thas in Tempest Keep on the off chance the ashes might drop. It's an interesting fight by oneself, but be wary of taking in pets or minions for the last phase. He will most definitely mind control you if the pet keeps aggro. Not sure if he'll do it if you take growl off or that kind of thing, but the one time I went in on my lock with my voidlord out he MC'ed me and the fight reset. And for staff users, it may gimp your dps to do so, but definitely equip and use the staff that drops from the weapons ion phase two. The buff it gives prevents the stuns, fears, and disorients the blood elf generals would otherwise chain you to death with.

Okay, I finally got the tome to start the green fire quest on my warlock, and HOLY FREAKING CRAP. The last boss is a frigging NIGHTMARE. I've read some people mentioning it took them 50+ tries to down him. I quit after 4. Fortunately it seems that you can leave and come back and be right at him instead of having to start the whole scenario over again.

Also, Throne of Thunder does not like my warlock either. Did the first section of the LFR version, not a single drop. Feh.

Yeehaw: Patch 5.3 PTR notes are up.

Buried in the notes is a new achievement: 200 mounts.

I'm a handful away from 150. I'd be there if (a) I bought the damned Golden Lotus mounts already and (b) I'd get my JC to 90 so I can make the JC mounts myself. (You wonder what I do instead of LFRing and raiding? This.)

I've got most to all of the pre-5.0 faction mounts (all Alliance + Netherwing, Kurenei, etc.) plus all the PvP ones (except the "For the Alliance" ones.)

I still need Shado-Pan (4), Klaxxi (1) and August Celestials (2). I get one for getting 150 and another for reaching exalted with all the Pandaria factions.

Rough back of the envelope math: I think I can hit 165 or so without doing much more than putting my head down and grinding 'em out.

My question: Where in the hell do I get another 35 mounts? Do I need to invest in some luck?

My question: Where in the hell do I get another 35 mounts? Do I need to invest in some luck?

Therapy??

Enix wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:
My question: Where in the hell do I get another 35 mounts? Do I need to invest in some luck?

Therapy?? ;)

WoW IS therapy!

Yes, yes it is.

TheGameguru wrote:
My question: Where in the hell do I get another 35 mounts? Do I need to invest in some luck?

Therapy?? ;)

WoW IS therapy!

Seriously, though, I think the bulk of the 30+ I'd need to hit 200 will come from (a) old achievements via roflstomping my way through Wrath and Cata dungeons and raids; and (b) hoping stuff drops from various bosses. There are a few more I can grind out, such as a Tol Barad mount and a few more Argent Tourney ones.

150 seemed doable at the start of Pandaria. (I had about 130 or so.) But 200? MADNESS.

Consider this post an open invite to join me on some mount runs.

Edited to sound more pathetic: I usually lose loot rolls! By "usually," I mean "always.

Enix wrote:

Yeehaw: Patch 5.3 PTR notes are up.

Buried in the notes is a new achievement: 200 mounts.

200 eh? *checks armory page* I have 209. Guess it'll be 210 once the patch comes out then! I hope the mount reward is that faerie dragon I noticed listed somewhere...

EDIT: Bah, armored dragonhawk... I guess that's okay too.

dhelor wrote:

Okay, I finally got the tome to start the green fire quest on my warlock, and HOLY FREAKING CRAP. The last boss is a frigging NIGHTMARE. I've read some people mentioning it took them 50+ tries to down him. I quit after 4. Fortunately it seems that you can leave and come back and be right at him instead of having to start the whole scenario over again.

Also, Throne of Thunder does not like my warlock either. Did the first section of the LFR version, not a single drop. Feh.

I'm not very happy with that green fire quest. Getting the drop was no problem, and then you are sent on some quest which gives you a nice tour of Outland. Again, no problem. Then you enter a scenario, which is filled with things that will kill you very quickly. The mini-boss killed me several times, and when I came back later the invisible ghosts stomped me repeatedly, even though I swear I was not walking out of the path. The final boss looks nigh-unbeatable in my current form.

At this point, I figure I'll either come back when I'm rocking 522 Valor gear, or when I'm level 95.

dhelor wrote:
Enix wrote:

Yeehaw: Patch 5.3 PTR notes are up.

Buried in the notes is a new achievement: 200 mounts.

200 eh? *checks armory page* I have 209. Guess it'll be 210 once the patch comes out then!

Showoff.

Any hints?

Also: Do you know if both Alliance and Horde mounts count toward the total? I'm not sure I've ever gotten any lil' Hordies past 20, much less grabbed enough Horde rep to buy all their mounts.

Enix wrote:
dhelor wrote:
Enix wrote:

Yeehaw: Patch 5.3 PTR notes are up.

Buried in the notes is a new achievement: 200 mounts.

200 eh? *checks armory page* I have 209. Guess it'll be 210 once the patch comes out then!

Showoff.

Any hints?

Also: Do you know if both Alliance and Horde mounts count toward the total? I'm not sure I've ever gotten any lil' Hordies past 20, much less grabbed enough Horde rep to buy all their mounts.

As I have no horde characters, I have no idea - although looking at my list now, it does show some horde mounts... odd... I would assume then that they count towards the total. As far as hints go, well... I can tell you that only two of my mounts come from meta-achievements, those being the Violet Proto-drake from haolidays and the Red Proto-drake from the WotLK heroic dungeon achievements. All the rest I've accumulated through drops like the Rivendare Charge, the White Hawkstrider in h MGT, or through rep grinds. I don't even have any of the super super low drop rate mounts like the mounts from Karazhan or Tempest Keep (though I have been working on them). Here's my armory page for reference.

Aristophan wrote:

I'm not very happy with that green fire quest. Getting the drop was no problem, and then you are sent on some quest which gives you a nice tour of Outland. Again, no problem. Then you enter a scenario, which is filled with things that will kill you very quickly. The mini-boss killed me several times, and when I came back later the invisible ghosts stomped me repeatedly, even though I swear I was not walking out of the path. The final boss looks nigh-unbeatable in my current form.

At this point, I figure I'll either come back when I'm rocking 522 Valor gear, or when I'm level 95.

Yeah that first boss is annoying, but I found out what helps - destro spec. Seriously, Rain of Fire takes out the adds easily enough, and Ember Tap is indispensable to keep yourself alive. Toss in some Fire and Brimstone Incins and Conflags to finish off the adds as well.

dhelor wrote:

As I have no horde characters, I have no idea - although looking at my list now, it does show some horde mounts... odd... I would assume then that they count towards the total. As far as hints go, well... I can tell you that only two of my mounts come from meta-achievements, those being the Violet Proto-drake from haolidays and the Red Proto-drake from the WotLK heroic dungeon achievements. All the rest I've accumulated through drops like the Rivendare Charge, the White Hawkstrider in h MGT, or through rep grinds. I don't even have any of the super super low drop rate mounts like the mounts from Karazhan or Tempest Keep (though I have been working on them). Here's my armory page for reference.

Thanks for the armory link. You've got a few lucky-dos in there, but probably no more than anyone else.

My armory link shows 168 mounts. In game, though, I've got 144 toward the 150 achieve. Huh. Time to start grinding!

Enix wrote:
dhelor wrote:

As I have no horde characters, I have no idea - although looking at my list now, it does show some horde mounts... odd... I would assume then that they count towards the total. As far as hints go, well... I can tell you that only two of my mounts come from meta-achievements, those being the Violet Proto-drake from haolidays and the Red Proto-drake from the WotLK heroic dungeon achievements. All the rest I've accumulated through drops like the Rivendare Charge, the White Hawkstrider in h MGT, or through rep grinds. I don't even have any of the super super low drop rate mounts like the mounts from Karazhan or Tempest Keep (though I have been working on them). Here's my armory page for reference.

Thanks for the armory link. You've got a few lucky-dos in there, but probably no more than anyone else.

My armory link shows 168 mounts. In game, though, I've got 144 toward the 150 achieve. Huh. Time to start grinding!

Indeed. By the way, the Black War Mammoth that drops from Vault of Archavon is ridiculously easy to get compared to some other boss drop mounts. Most classes should be able to solo at least one or two of the bosses in there, and all have a chance to drop it. I got it on my priest from the fire boss first time trying, though I had previously done the full run on my druid as well with no luck.

EDIT: Okay, in game it shows me as having 180 mounts. Poo.

Enix wrote:

Also: Do you know if both Alliance and Horde mounts count toward the total? I'm not sure I've ever gotten any lil' Hordies past 20, much less grabbed enough Horde rep to buy all their mounts.

I just got the 150 mounts achievement a couple of days ago myself. I researched how this works while I was grinding it out.

Horde and Alliance faction mounts are paired; for example, the human horse mounts are paired with the orc wolf mounts. They turn into each other if you change faction, and they only count as one mount for achievement purposes. For example, if you have a human character with a horse mount, and an orc character with the corresponding wolf mount, that only counts as one mount.

Nearly all mounts these days are account wide, so you don't need to collect Alliance and Horde mounts separately. If your Alliance character buys a horse mount, all your Horde characters automatically get the wolf mount. Class specific mounts (Warlock, DK, etc) are only shared on characters of the same class. A few mounts (mostly arena/RBG rewards) are not shared and only show up on the character who won them.

The N mounts achievements are based on the greatest number of mounts you have on any one character. It doesn't matter if you have 160 mounts total all over your account, if no one character has more than 149 of them (because of class restrictions, non-account-wide arena/RBG mounts, etc), you don't qualify for the 150 mounts achievement.

Oh, and mounts linked to professions do count. If one of your characters is a tailor and got the flying carpet mounts, for example, the carpets count toward every character's mount count, even the ones who don't have the profession and can't use them.

PS. Something a lot of people miss: the four different coloured Qiraji beetle mount drops from the AQ raids do count toward your mount counts, even though you can't use them outside AQ.

Wow, captain, thanks for the info. I think I was aware of the Ally-Horde linkage but didn't know that the profession mounts counted toward the achievement. (My main is an engineer, for instance, but I have a tailoring toon who has made two of the three carpets.)

I sat down last night and figured out all the mounts still out there for the picking. Notes are at home but I figure I can hit 160 without much sweat. Those are the rep mounts (Shado-Pan, Klaxxi, August Celestials, Golden Lotus, Kirin Tor Offensive) that I haven't bought or earned, the JC mounts and some low-hanging fruit from old instances.

To get to 170 or 175 or so, I'd have to grind out Argent Tourney tokens, pick up the second Tol Barad mount and pray that Onyxia and some other raid bosses are feeling generous.

To get to 200 ... yeah, not happening, at least not without a lot of gold, luck and raiding (and raiding luck).

Grats on 150. You have 400 poke-pets yet?

Update: Home now. I count 22-23 mounts that I can get without much luck or substantial effort. (By "substantial effort" I mean old raid achieves but not rep grinds, which are relatively easy.) That'll get me to 170, which is do-able by the end of the expansion. Unless my luck improves (I'm looking at you, Time-Lost Proto Drake!) I don't see hitting 200 this go-round.

Enix wrote:

Grats on 150. You have 400 poke-pets yet?

Oh god, as if I needed more enabling...

Enix wrote:

Update: Home now. I count 22-23 mounts that I can get without much luck or substantial effort. (By "substantial effort" I mean old raid achieves but not rep grinds, which are relatively easy.) That'll get me to 170, which is do-able by the end of the expansion. Unless my luck improves (I'm looking at you, Time-Lost Proto Drake!) I don't see hitting 200 this go-round.

Yeah I think I'm in the same boat. I did just buy the Jeweled Onyx Panther (69k, woosh, out the window), and there's a couple more JC ones I've yet to get (the sapphire and... jade I think?), but beyond that it's all rare drops or achievements. That being said, it's only a dragonhawk from the 200 mount cheev, I'm not that enthused to get it.

Oh, and as far as pets go... I have a fair few over 400. Not sure the exact number of unique pets, but I have 431 including duplicates. I'd have more but the damn pets on the Isle of Giants refuse to drop...

OP should update the thread title because it looks like 5.3 is about a week away (or maybe two at the outside).

Geez louise, but I haven't even stepped foot on 5.2 Island yet.

I do have 150+ mounts and nearly 450 battle pets, so there's that, I guess.

Is it really that close? My subscription just lapsed last week, I was taking some time off until 5.3 came out... I guess two weeks is enough time off eh? XD