Mania’s Arcania

(You can read all of Kaet’s adventures, starting with why I’m doing things this way, by checking out the series Table of Contents at the end of this post. Alternatively, if you are here primarily for juicy pet-related news, feel free to skip these bits — they’re optional.)

Last I left off I had just reached level 6 and trained my level 2-6 skills after finishing up all the quests in the Northshire area. Next up, of course, was Goldshire.

I had a bit of a surprise waiting for me in Goldshire: namely thirty or so players, many of them high-level, many of the Horde, many of them naked, all of them hanging out in the streets dueling and drinking and generally being flamboyant. I was especially surprised when I wandered into the house to the north of town looking for a skinning knife and found two couples (and one trio!) engaged in … relations. I had heard about this, of course, but it’s quite another thing to run into it. I excused myself and wandered back to safer areas. I didn’t want to be rude.

On the other hand, a short while later and after building up a little more cash, I bought three linen bags from a human priest named Aidrianna of the Red Light District guild. I’m used to paying three silver for linen bags, but she sold them to me for a silver each. So … My bags may have been subsidized by sin, but it turns out that I’m fine with that. *grin*

Unfortunately, I had some trouble with many of the quests I was given in Goldshire. Of course, for the first few fights I completely forgot to use my new skills — I always do that! – and that didn’t help. But my main problem was with the venues. The first thing Marshal Dughan asked me to do was scout a nearby mine that had been taken over by kobolds. Let me tell you, a mine filled with cramped, twisty passages is no place for a rifle! Well, better to have a rifle than no weapon at all, of course, but the limited line-of-sight made the entire thing much more stressful than it needed to be.

The second thing the good Marshal asked me to do was scout another mine — and this one was orange to me! So I put that on hold for a bit. I spent some time doing some tedious running-back-and-forth-to-farms quests and then got massacred while trying to kill murlocs. (Aside: As primarily a Horde player, I never understood what the deal was with murlocs … until now.) And then – oh thank goodess! – I was level 8 and could head back to Thorfin Stoneshield in the Dwarven District of Stormwind to learn Concussive Shot. There were other skills, too, of course, but everything else pales next to the joy of Concussive Shot.

Even though they are relatively quite short, I’ve come to dread the levels between 6 and 10 on a hunter. But a few new characters back I finally figured out how to use Concussive Shot to wedge in two Arcane Shots before the enemy closes on me. Now I mark the target with Hunter’s Mark, lead with Arcane Shot, immediately use Concussive Shot, toss in a Serpent Sting, and wait for Arcane Shot to cool down. If I am at max range I can usually get that second Arcane Shot in — and if it looks like it’s not going to make it, I have enough time to trot backwards after the Serpent Sting and gain a little more time. Yup — that’s me, hunter extraordinaire! After two and a half years I finally learned how to optimize my shots at level 8! *grin* One of these days I’ll have to give in and learn the rest of the game.

At any rate, after learning my new skills it was back to Goldshire to slog through some more murlocs, plus some wolves and bears that were just barely on the edge of my abilities. I used up all the nifty tricks I’d earned through questing (like the Bag of Marbles, Glowing Wax Sticks, and Magic Candles) and died more than I like to admit (although to be honest, at level 9 dying at all is embarrassing) but eventually I managed to squeak through enough quests to hit level 10. And at level 10, everything changes! Life becomes good! I get a pet!

And so, excited about my next session, I decided this was a good place to call it a night.