With the Wrath of the Lich King expansion all but completed, this felt like a good time to look back at WotLK and share my thoughts on what was most memorable and fun for me in this expansion.
Best Quest Chain Payoff: Wrathgate.
I’ve heard through the grapevine that some people I know actually avoid or skip this chain while leveling, but so far, I’ve completed it as soon as possible on each of my characters, be they Alliance or Horde.
I remember my first time through, which was Alliance-side. I was so proud when Bolvar Fordragon said to me, as an aside, Psychocandy, I remember what you did for me back in the day.” (I paraphrase. but still.) Bolvar? Remember little ol’ me? My heart fluttered, it truly did. And then I followed him into battle, only to watch him fall in battle, always the hero.
That would have been enough to give it the best of slot, but it’s capped off with the Battle for the Undercity, which showed off their phasing capabilities, and truly made me feel I was an integral part of the storyline in a way nothing had previously.
Second runner up: The Wolvar and Gorlok chains in Sholozar basin.”You see his face? He so scared!”
Best Addition to the Shadow Priest’s Arsenal: Mind Sear.
Mind sear, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…I love you when the tank mispulls two packs but holds onto them. I love you when the pack of geists comes in to Rotface/Festergut’s corridor. I love you when they # gets to something unfathomable on recount. And I most especially loved you on Ony’s whelps. How did shadow priests live without an AOE? oh that’s right, everyone used to love us for being a mana battery and for having a passive heal that was often a solid third healer in raids. That’s right…
;p
Second runner up: Improved Devouring Plague. Spam it baby!
My Biggest Sense of Accomplishment, Raid Edition: Defeating Arthas.
I honestly can not think of any other boss that took as much time and trial and error as Arthas. This is partially due to the changing nature of our raid teams each night. My earlier WoW raiding was almost always with pretty much the same 25/40 people each week, which made progression a little more smooth and go a little more quickly. But it just made the victory over him that much sweeter. The fact that he popped up throughout the expansion, taunting us, also gave us more bloodthirst than I had for Illidan, for example. I actually felet somewhat bad about breaking into Illidan’s house and stealing his stuff. Killing Arthas? We were doing the work of the Light, and freeing him.
My Biggest Sense of Accomplishment, Not About Raiding: Finally Making a Go of it Horde-side.a.k.a. the little shadow priest that could. This entire blog for the past year has, essentially, been a chronicle of that.
My Hero of the Expansion: Bolvar Fordragon.
Yes, I know I talk about Bolvar a lot. And I named my kitty after him too. But for good reason! He embodied the goodness of the light in all things he did. Starting initially with the end of the Onyxia chain, but in WotLK with the Wrathgate chain, and ending with the Lich King’s death cut scene, Bolvar Fordragon was always a hero, sacrificing himself for the greater good. They don’t make heroes like him often. A big thank you to Blizzard for keeping true to his character throughout the expansion. Even though you disregarded his final wish to keep things quiet *glances at Dalaran fountain.*
No one even came close for me, so no runners-up for this. Sorry Tirion Fordring, even though you were a great hulking Paladin you just didn’t capture my heart. Especially not after the raid nicknamed you Captain Popsicle.
Best waste of my gold: The Mechanohog.
Yeah yeah yeah. It’s a waste of gold. You don’t need a motorcycle. But it’s so shiny! I had to make it twice. And I have never thought to myself that I wanted back the 12,500G in vendor mats that I spent on it. It paid for itself in amusing me while waiting for Ulduar raids to start, as I jumped off stairwells and foothills with abandon.
Second Runner Up: Making my very first engineer her helicoptors.
TO BE CONTINUED
I’ll post more best ofs as they occur to me. Because Summertime is all about sequels, yes? But what about you? What are your WotLK Best ofs?