Adventar survives world PVP attack

Over the weekend on the Spinebreaker server Stormwind was attacked by a group of horde. Not a small group of 3 or 4, but a sizable group of maybe 15 or so. I thought to myself 'Crom!'. Using my versatility I hit and healed through the entire battle. Eventually Alliance beat them out. Lo' and behold when the dust settled Adventar was still standing!



In the chaos of combat, I did survive a few hits from some of the high level horde. All in all it was good times. Thanks horde.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar
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Battleground Quick Tip Warsong Gluch

Use yourself as bait

Remember the goal of WSG is to capture the flag while keeping your own. If the flag carrier is going down the middle and your riding towards him and get 2-3 horde attacking you. Don't fight to get to the flag carrier you'll only bring more horde on his tail. Instead, head in the opposite direction and keep horde off your teammate. When/if you die they will have a longer way to travel to get your teammate.


Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

How to survive in the land of PVP

Well folks, after a long absence I am finally back.

I signed up for Wow before I knew the real difference between PvP and PVE. It's also been widely joked about in wow forums of the weakness of Paladins. I must admit that I was getting very frustrated with Adventar.

As I would travel through Desolace or places like the Badlands I had to come up with strategies to survive. Before I knew well I had to search high and low for advice and finally settled for some strategies that some might prove useful.

When I was a lowbie and was really terrible at PVP one of my strategies was to hide.

I'd hide on ledges to be unseen by horde traveling below or I'd hide in dead mobs if I had to leave the computer for a few minutes.



In this picture over here I am lying down inside this mob. This lying down techniques actually save me from being discovered on numerous occasions. But, I still got killed time and time again. Until finally I almost threw in the towel. I said to myself that's it I'm gonna see what happens if I do battlegrounds.



3300 Honor Kills later I learned a lot about how to defend myself!



To understand the complexity of World PvP life you have to understand the Three basic components of World Pvp Survival.

1. Avoidance

This might seem funny at first, but I am actually serious here. The first step to World PvP survival and Battleground wins is being able to avoid combat when necessary.

Maybe it's from taking many years of Martial Arts training that I just have it so ingrained me to never throw the first punch. Maybe it's following the golden rule, 'Do unto others...'. I hate getting ganked so much that I don't gank others unless they've stuck me first.

My point is to avoid ganking in World PvP. You don't want to be good at killing another player when their health is down. Striking an opponent while he/she is down or is a lower level makes for sloppy game skills. It allows you to garner bad combat habits. You want your skills to be sharper. You want to be good at taking down players at full strength. This forces you to be at the top of your game, where you want it to be.

Avoidance holds true in Battlegrounds where the objective is generally capturing the opponents flag or node, not HKs. In my opinion, this is the number one reason Alliance seems to lose the majority of the time in Battlegrounds.

I don't mean avoid combat at all costs. Don't worry even if you start to avoid PvP fights if you can help it, believe me you will still get into a whole lot of scraps. And if you are ganked and killed first, by all means get revenge.

2. Increase Survivability

Create a strategy for yourself on what to do to keep up your health while in combat. I highly recommend leveling up First Aid and stocking up on health/mana potions. Know every power/item/ability that can keep you alive and have it ready on your tool bar and have a key mapped to it. I've mentioned two ways to keep yourself alive just a little longer. As a paladin I can bubble and heal myself and lay on hands that gives me even more survivability. I'm sure you can think of others for your character.

Also, have an escape plan. Come up with strategies for how to get away if necessary. As an engineer I have invisibility which I've used successfully several times to get away or sneak past some horde to accomplish my goals.

3. Strength

Know your strongest hitters and have them ready to go. Understand when and how to use them. A couple levels ago I dropped my blacksmith talent. It just wasn't doing anything for me. And I took up Engineering. I've never regretted it. Now my strongest hitter is 'The gnomish death ray'. When I was a level 35 or so Paladin I can crit for 1900 not bad. I still use it once in a while, if things are neck and neck. Lately, my skills have seemed high enough that I've beaten other PvPers without it.

So, there you have it the three basic components of World PVP survival. In a future post I will get into more specific strategies for winning in Battlegrounds and possibly more specific details on winning in combat.

I hope you enjoy my first post after a long absence.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Adventar hits Level 40!

Hi everyone, I finally I got my mount!



It was quite a grind. I survived many horrors. Right now I am hoping to get the 'Aegis of the Scarlet Commander' from the Scarlet Monastery. I've learn a couple more survival tips, dos and don'ts in Horde Territory which I'll be posting soon.

Sorry gang, things have been insanely busy and I'll be posting more regularly in the near future.

Until Then, Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Embarressing Moments in Horde Terrortory

So Jamie’s Powerleveling Guide lead me deep once again into Horde Territory. Now I don’t mind taking the hard way. My exception now with his guide is that on PvP servers taking this route can be extremely frustrating.

While west of Rachet I encountered a 23 level Rogue, being 37. I just left him alone. For me there is no point in picking on a lower level character and making more frustrating for them to accomplish their tasks. Apparently he didn’t feel the same way. When he had an opportunity he sapped me. Then he sapped me again. Then he sapped me again. He kept sapping me until his friends arrived. Now I couldn't even attack him because apparently right now, sapping isn’t considered an attack. And apparently there is no cool down for sap. All of the paladin’s attack ‘powers’ have a cool down. The closest equivalent is Hammer of Justice which has a 1 min cool down. Although I didn’t have a chance to use it, because I couldn’t attack the rogue, but I’d bet you Hammer of Justice would have been considered an attack had the tables been turned. I even tried consecration and even that wouldn't damage him.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but under normal circumstances sap should be considered an attack on both PvE and PvP servers. My friend from Zanderfin explained to me that this is a recent bug and that yes, under normal circumstances it would be considered an attack. Can anyone confirm?

So back to my embarrassing story, now his friends were all still low level characters a 23 level mage and a 15 level hunter. I still could not fight them until they attacked me first so I ran off Northwest, heading towards Desolace. As fate would have it, I lost connection at that point. I thought to myself, “Oh No” now they’re going to get honor points for killing me and I won’t even have a chance to defend myself. Lo and behold, when I manage to get connection again, I’m dead and the horde and camping on me, spitting on my dead body of course.

Luckily my spirit form appeared not to far from where I was murdered. And I rez nearby and start swinging away. I did manage to kill them all, but apparently their spirit form appears nearby as well. They kept on rezing as soon as possible until eventually I was overcome. I still suck as a paladin. A part of me thinks I should have wasted my lay on hands on these losers, but then I remember it has a cool down time of an hour and I might need it later on.

So, since they were camping on me I didn’t want to rez and give them more honor points. So I waited until they left which was about 13 minutes. I’m still frustrated with my paladin and even more so now. I can’t help but think that a 37 level paladin with decent gear would be overcome so easily by lower level characters.

I suppose I’ll just have to remember my horde contested area survival tips and some of my PvP successes.

Any advice from anyone out there? Any words of encouragement?

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Highlights and How do I Look?

Greetings everyone,
I haven't had a chance to make any postings. Rest assured I'm still leveling up. How do I look?



That's me with Gutrender and Raging Berserker's Helm.


I've quested through STV Strangletorn Vale. And I must say it has been tough. The horde have been there ganking alliance players in droves. I have dedicated myself to being better at PvP.
When I think of my proudest moments in Pvp two of them come to mind.

1. When my guildmates were being picked on by a 36 level Hunter. At the time I was a mere level 34. I've gotten ganked so many times that I did some research on how Pvp Better. But, I was determined to get some payback. Collecting what I learned, like I men

2. When I got ganked by a 42 Level Rogue near Hillsbrad. I wanted to get some revenge. I went back and went toe-to-toe. Mano y mano, I beat him and got 8 honor points for it!



One of the highlights during my absence are Reckard dancing on a table on the fourth of July. It's my brothers birthday this week. Actually tomorrow, is his birthday.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

How to stay alive in Contested Territory

From what others have told me if you kill someone within 10 levels you get honor for it. If you ask me, there is almost no way a 32 level character has against a 42 level character.

There should be some kind of penalty with killing someone many levels below yours. Killing and ganking someone is not and should not be considered an 'honorable' kill. I should make a separate post on this another time!

I'm on a PvP server and I must say, it is tough. I check the channels in the Horde Territory and read about all the players asking for help because a super high level Horde and his friends keeps killing them over and over.

It has been pretty frustrating trying to solo quests in horde territory. And what is the deal with your name being broadcast to all Horde when you're trying to hide? It's nearly impossible to hide with that above your head!

Anyways, I'm deep in Stranglethorn Vale. I was experiementing with hiding from the horde. Luckily Reckard was with me. I was testing how many Horde seem to have the name tag above their heads on. one particular group of horde arrived to the area. Reckard went into stealth mode. I stayed hidden. One seemed confused. After all i was well hidden except for my name above my head. He decided to jump in and I hit him back hard. Reckard wailed on him and I kepted swinging and judging him. He's friend decided to jump in. We killed that horde and Reckard wailing on the friend, we (well mostly Reckard) got him too.

Making a rough estimation about 55% seem to be able to detect me because of my name above my head. I just want to finish up my quests and get out of there. I really have to get a macro to take quick printscreens and use my talents to help keep me alive.

My advice is to be very careful.

1. On close calls, really think about what you could have done to stack the odds a little more in your favor. Whether it comes to getting away, helping your buddy get a little bit more of an edge, or giving yourself a little more of an edge.

2. Develop a strategy for your characters encounters with the idea you are going to continue to refine that strategy until you are more successful.

3. Don't stay in open areas too long, stay in areas very less traveled and where you're less likely to been seen fighting. Some people have said to stay off the roads. I agree with one exception, the mobs in the area might be very high, so be careful.

There are some honorable Horde out there. A few gave me a gentle bow to which I returned the favor. I, myself, do not attack an 'innocent' horde unless I've been attacked first.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Raiding Success in Deadmines

The raid was a complete success. It was decided that I should tank. I had a little trouble keeping track of everyone. But its a learning experience I suppose.

Here is a pic of the raiding party.



I saw a lot of treasure this time. The first time a ran the raid the pickings seemed a little slim. I think some of the folks made out real good.

I didn't do to badly on the damage meter, but seeing that healers there really pulled through I really should add a healing meter as well.

I was a little worried with the inexperienced group. A couple times someone aggroed a whole bunch of mobs. I only died twice. But not when it really mattered. Atonement kept me alive, I only died twice. I stayed alive when it really mattered.

But all in all it was very successful!



Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Deadmines Raid Sign Ups So Far

I intend to pass on all treasure so everyone around the 15-20 level should have a great chance at a nice drop. Listed below are those signed up now.

Amelienda
Adventar
Lucianix
Solimon
Atonement

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Newbie guide to Deadmines Raid

Looks like I’m going to lead a raid into Deadmines this Saturday at 2:00 pm server time.

Join us and leave your mark!

For the Noob Guild members of ‘the undisturbed’ please follow these suggestions if you want to stay alive longer.

1) Empty your bags. Make room, you don’t want your bag full when you’re ready to pick up that awesome gear you’re trying to bid for.

2) If you’re a beginner and below level 15. Please stay close to each other. Do not venture off where the group is not located.

a. If you venture off you could
i. lead more badies to the group
ii. get killed.

3) Keep an eye out for your group and keep each other alive

4) When loot appears, if the loot item is something your character needs and is better than what you currently have, select Need. If you don’t really need the item and you are only going to sell it in the AH then select Greed. I will pass on all items so one of my guildmates can have a better chance at a great item. If there are multiple people that need/want the item. It goes by the roll of the die.

5) If there is a specific item you really want let the raid party know so people can pass on it if it drops. Or the party can communicate with you if they find it.


Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Adventar Joins a New Guild

I have joined a new guild. Now I am a member of 'the undisturbed'. Amelelie is the guild leader. After a few days of just her and me on 'Gods of Teldrassil' she finally got tired and convinced me to sign up for her guild. I kind of wish I started my own guild. But anyways, hopefully, our guildmates will be helpful to each other. At least Reckard and Mandenn are on the same guild as well.

I was a little worried that my finances would suffer this week because I spent a lot of money on gear. But as of today I have 56 gold.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Adventar's Log Breaks the 100 Hit Mark!!!

It's been a tough journey. There are many more adventures to come. Many more friends and allies to make. Many more places to see, like the Burning Steps.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Thursday on WOW

Not much to report today. Went to deadmines. For once I lead the damage meter.





But we got wiped out in the end. Usually on Thursdays I put things in AH for 24 hours. This is the best time to sell. People usually buy on Fridays

Right now I have 52 gold. Let’s see what I end up with at end of day.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

How to Make Great Friends on WOW

About a week ago Amelienda in my guild was trapped in her ghostly form. Because I was in her guild she saw me online and asked for help. Being a paladin I made my way to Iron Forge and I tried to Rez her to no avail. Her body had disintegrated into nothing and she could not find the spirit healer. So, I came up with the idea to kill myself and have her find where I was (because I’d appear near the spirit healer). The plan worked.

This could have been the end of the story except for one thing. Amelienda, remembered me and every once in a while makes sure to say ‘Hi’ to me in chat. So, now she’s in my friend list. At the time of this writing she was a 12th Level rogue.

My point is it’s so easy to forget those who helped you and to just move on. Well, it’s a rough world out there with the Horde running around. Just before she said ‘Hi’ I barely escaped a 40th Horde Paladin by the name of Hexphire alive. A few minutes later another horde member killed me.
So anyway here’s Amelienda in action. As you can see she's alive and kicking.



After chatting with Amelienda my other friends summoned me to Blackfathom Deeps. A friend from that ‘other’ adventure


Redin,


Smacker,


Keleraa.

Unfortunately I didn't get a decent pic of Dragonswill. Everytime I got too close I was looking down on him. Hopefully I will get another chance at a better pic. We completed the mission. To be honest I have no idea what the mission was. I’m sure I’ll find out eventually because I intend to run it again.

Oh as everyone knows I've been a little frustrated with Adventars damage stats. Here is a pic from my damage meter.




Not as bad as I thought, but at least I have something to work off of. If anyone has anything to add to help me up my stats please let me know! Enjoy!

Oh another measurement. I'm at 51 gold

So, back to my point. Just remember those who helped you and those who you've had fun with and you'll make great friends.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Adventar's Log, Spinebreaker, Duskwood, Level 26

Joined another PUG to complete the Worgen in the Woods. I joined up with Ammonia a 26th level rogue and Reckard a 42nd rogue. Of course the quest turned out to be a chain. Well this group was not like the last one, this time we were successful. Ok, for once let me toot my horn and say Reckard died once and Ammonia died twice. I didn't die, though I was deathly close several times.

Here is a pic of Reckard.




BTW, I hit 46 gold!

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Adventar's Log, Spinebreaker, Loch Modan, Level 26

I attempted to complete the Chok'Sul Quest at Loch Modan, your favorite paladin with my trusty Verigan's Fist, two 15th level rogues, and a 15th level warrior by the name of Mandenn.



We got wiped out. I know, I know, lots of people say not to use PUGs, like Zanderfin and Jamie's Powerleveling Guide. So last night was a wash. I ended up breaking up the group and called it an early night.

But, I did hit 42 gold!

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

WOW Easy Gold Making Tips

Zanderfin commented that, as much as I think Adventar is a wimp, he's doing well financially. At level 26 he has 42 gold. Early on my adventures I really worked on getting money so that certain things would be easier. So, I learned a few things on the way.

Knowing what I know now, I could be a lot richer at this point. How did I get all this gold for my level?

1) If you don't need it, sell it. I kept a lot of things that I didn't need even though I clear out my bags, it eventually gets filled again. You'll find the more space you make for yourself, the more you'll use for other stuff. And the more room you make for other stuff means other stuff you can sell.
Another way to keep your spaces open is to sell the stuff you don't need anymore at the AH. Check to see how much other people are selling the same item and undercut their price a little bit. I usually put an item up for 24 hours. I set the buyout price close to the bid price. I just want people to buy it and just be done with it.
If it doesn't sell the first time sell it again. You never know when someone is looking to buy that particular item. If its soulbound sell it to a vendor.

2) Unless someone really REALLY wants an item select greed when in groups, even if you don't really need it. You can sell it later to vendors or at the AH.

3) Farm, Farm, Farm. If you're a miner, then MINE, if you're a skinner then skin! Whenever you have an opportunity farm your products. Don't do anything except sell them at the AH. If you follow number 1) you'll have more room for all your harvesting. If money is an issue, whenever you have an opportunity, even while questing, harvest your products.

4) Watch your spending. Common sense here. Don't spend everything you make. If a certain item only ups your stats a little bit, don't buy it. You'd only replace it with something better later on. Wait until you find an item that really ups your stats.

I really could up my money a little more if I spent a day or two just harvesting, but I am really trying to catch up to my brother's 42 level rogue.

I hope these tips help.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Verigan's Fist and Rambling Updates

I traveled to Black Fathom Deeps and got the last ingredient for Verigan's Fist. I went with Reckard a 42nd Level Rogue. We didn't even have to enter the instance, a Naga dropped it as we fought our way through to the entrance. It's great working with a partner. I'm at 24 now, eventually I will catch up.

My friend from Zanderfin wants me to level up on Bronzebeard. I will do so with my brother. I will also work on getting more pics up and start a running comic as well.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Assaulted by the Horde in WOW

One of my heroes is Conan the Barbarian, I remember that moment when Thulsa Doom and his men were on their way to kill Conan on the Mounds. Conan then says that prayer to be granted revenge.

Boy can I relate. As I was walking around Silverpine Forest looking for ShadowFang Keep, when suddenly, I was attacked by members of the Horde. I wish I took down their names. Next time I will be sure to do that and put them on my hit list. One hit and I was dead! One hit!? I may be a paladin, but I want revenge! There was an undead in their group as well. Guess what?! my undead powers don't even work. This gives me even more incentive to level up and start taking names and kicking some teeth in.

Gezz, just pick on a solo low level character running around and just kill him with one hit?! I noticed that these guys will wait around instances to kill groups as they are waiting for other members to arrive. One day these guys will get payback!

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

WOW Lessons Learned During My First Deadmines Group Experience

Last night was my first group instance experience. Boy was it hard to get a group together. People would say yes then just before we do Deadmines they'd check out.

Then we have a level 52th Night Elf with a 15th level Rogue. They helped us through the mines and were just plain jerks. At least I beat one of them in a duel and made a another cool friend by the name of Redin though.

The next day I talked to my friend who runs Zanderfin. He called my group PUGs or Pick-Up Groups. PUGs are usually good and bad. You get jerks, like I did last night. You get inexperienced players (like myself) who mess up or don't know what they're doing.

I think all-in-all I learned a lot. Since we have a high level player in the mines with us I was told to just hold back. So that's what I did and guess what? I started losing attention in what was happening. One of the players died and I never resed him. He had to run all the way back! I would have had I been paying attention.

Other things I learned.

1. Pay attention and try to keep others alive. I will probably load a mod to help me with my buffs and debuffs.

2. Try to set an event ahead of time. I think next time I will try to make friends and set a time to do the instance.

3. Try to get people within your level so everyone can join in on the fun.

4. Have fun and make more friends

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

The secret to playing WOW and still getting your stuff done!

I ran across this ‘Honorable Mention’ on the wow site. And I think it really illustrates some of us WOW addicts.

My secret to playing WOW and still getting my stuff done can be boiled down to one thing. To-do lists!

To-do lists? You ask. Yes!

Oftentimes when doing your ‘to-do list’ you do it slowly, why? Because it isn’t necessarily fun. But, it’s something you have to do.

One day I decided to make out a to-do list. Guess what?! As I was in the process of completing this, I noticed I was more motivated to get it done quickly, and as I got things done I decided to get even more things on my to-do list done. I ended up having a productive day. And in the end I rewarded myself by playing everyone’s favorite paladin Adventar.

So, I say make yourself a to-do-before-playing-wow-list and stick to it. You’ll have a productive day and make your spouse happy.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Zanferdin Breaks WOW Database Story

My co-worker who blogs Zanderfin broke the news about the armory database. I was sitting next to him looking at the character spec sheets and the way my screen worked was was different than the way his was working. He had an 'Upgrade' option. We finally figured that he just had the new updated armory upgrades page just as Blizzard loaded them and quickly broke the story Armory Update. Check out the time, he beat Blizzard's announcement!

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Big WOW World, little Paladin

As I've been trying to level up my paladin, I began to ask myself. I was starting to get impressed by just how big the WOW world is. How big is this world? So I went on a quest, to find a WOW blog with the answer and I found one.

Tobold's MMORPG Blog has a great answer. In short he estimates world of Azeroth pre-Burning Crusade is about 80 square miles or 200 square kilometers..

But hearing all the balking about how small that really is, Yes that is small when compared to the planet Earth. But in a gaming world that is still a pretty good size to explore. Has anyone ever traveled from LA to Vegas and seen all that land still unoccupied? According to mapquest.com the distance is 270.36 miles. If you ran at 12 miles per hour it would take you 22.53 hours. Who is going to actually sit there and run it? In a car/horse going 60 miles an hour it would take 4.506 hours who is going to drive that in WOW?

I remember hearing a VERY compelling story once when I was a kid about Dave Kunst who walked around the world. To my surprise he has a website up and a book called 'The Man Who Walked Around The World'. It took him four years, three months and sixteen days, he wore out 21 pairs of shoes and walked more than 20 million steps. Now who expects WOW to have a collective landmass that huge? Even if 8+ million people were online at the same time a vast majority of the realm would remain deserted.

Even if 80 sqr miles was accurate, of course when compared to the Earth it really isn't so big, but in terms of gaming I'd still say that's pretty big.

Just my .02 cents.

Your favorite Paladin,
Adventar

Sightseeing through Burning Steps

I managed to level up my blacksmithing to 110 and I got myself some shoulder pads. I took a ride on a griffin and went sightseeing through the Burning Steps. I remember thinking, "Boy it'd be terrible to fall from here". I should be posting pics soon.

Your favorite Paladin
Adventar

Paladin's Night Out

So, I did make it to Spinebreaker Loch Modan last night. Now, I remember why I hated myself so much. Why are paladins so weak? I ended up getting surrounded by stonesplinters scouts and got killed. I remember reading somewhere. “Yeah you can take a paladin up to 5 levels above you down easily!”. That didn't make me feel to good about myself and nothing is worse than a paladin with low self-esteem.

Luckily my user has a co-worker who is well versed in how to make it in the cold cruel world. His blog is Zanderfin. He has a big wealth of knowledge and I'm sure he's advice will come in handy.

For right now, he recommends I work on my blacksmithing so I can make myself some better equipment. So that is what I will do tonight. Again, that’s if my user finishes his to-do list. He seems to enjoy this world so I’m sure he’ll really work at it.

I will try to post a pic of myself so you can watch my progression. For quick access to my character sheet Adventar's Sheet

Your favorite paladin
Adventar

Adventar Triumphantly Returns

Ok, let's get this straight. I am still learning about this world. So forgive your favorite paladin if I get certain terminologies wrong. If "The-one-who-controls-me" finishes up his to-do list. I should be able to move about in the realms tonight. It will be interesting to be back. I have forgotten what it was like to be pounded into the sand or to travel alone to distant and dangerous lands.

I plan to come back with a vengeance if you will. I will try to keep things light and humorous and hopefully add to the pitiful bank account of a lowly paladin.

Your favorite paladin,
Adventar