1/29/2007
Many players hit 70 while in Netherstorm, some even while finishing Blades Edge. What this means is there are tons of quests left all the way through Shadowmoon Valley that you can do for gold! After completing the quest “You, Robot” and saving the X-52 Nether-Rocket we were directed to the rocket-chief and given each a X-52 Rocket Helmet. The helmet launches you high into the air out of range of mobs while you slowly float back down. I assume it can be used in combat as a quick form of escape.
The Consortium hold a lot of territory in the Netherstorm and are intent on shutting down the rogue manaforges. A tear in the nether had formed atop Manaforge Ultris that the void lord, Dimensius, came through. While riding a Protecotrate nether drake I dropped Phase Disruptor on the manaforge to close the tear and destroy the void creatures coming through.
After closing the tear we had to destroy Dimensius the All-Devouring. Elessedil, Cornpo, and I were given Consortium troops to lead into battle with the void lord. They made quick work of the void creatures on the way to the manaforge and we readied ourselves at the entryway. The Avengers and Captain Saeed charged in with the captain in the lead. He held the attention of Dimensius while we burned him down. I received a nice trinket Dabiri's Enigma as a reward!
Later on I attempted an Arcatraz instance but unfortunately the elevator was not working and we missed out on the last two bosses! Hablion and Cornpo could ride the elevator, but the rest of us couldn’t see it. From our angle the two were floating in the air and running in place. When the elevator is working the Arcatraz is a fun instance and doesn’t take too long. It is a pink satellite of the Tempest Keep collection of instances in the Netherstorm. You do need a flying mount to access these instances and I highly recommend them once you can.
1/27/2007
At about level sixty-one Elessedil and I starting questing together, and were able to complete each quest by ourselves except the five player recommended. We leveled to seventy in a little fewer than ten days, which is roughly one level per day. Plus I was specialized in protection and Elessedil was holy! What we lacked in damage we made up for in survivability, and were able to tackle much larger encounters. Many say Warriors need a “pocket healer” to reach full potential; I believe it goes both ways in that I am also Elessedil’s pocket tank. 
The quests in Terokkar Forest seemed rather short but still fun. One chain led us to receive matching wolf helms and another had us saving the Allerian Stronghold from Blood Elves. We got to use an explosive device and detonate a whole area which shook the ground beneath us and destroyed anything near.
Rejoice, my friends! Hogit has saved us from the looming shadow that threatened our very lives!
Nagrand is like Stranglethorn Vale 2.0 and I don’t want to spoil everything for you so I will skip straight to the Blade’s Edge Mountains. Upon entering one of the first Alliance friendly towns you come across is the little Toshley’s Station, which is run by a crazy bunch of Gnomes. They are under constant attacks from the bugs that roam the area in what looks like a Starship Troopers scene. They have a device that charges you with energy and blasts you around to different locations. You fly high into the air and slowly float down to your destination, fun and dangerous!
Toshley’s Station Engineer: You trying to be a hero, Hogit?
Hogit: Just trying to kill some bugs, sir.
While in another more wooded are of Blade’s Edge we cleared an area of Skettis for a short quest line. The Sketti homes are like a mix of spooky undead and elf tree houses. They blend in well with the surroundings and have a tendency to sneak up on you! Elessedil and I summoned one of their deities we needed to defeat and were rewarded with some nice visual effects at the end.
1/26/2007
The World of Warcraft Burning Crusade Expansion is here and to present the new screenshots I decided to move to a larger and more widescreen friendly format! DING! I have a secret to tell. Elessedil and Hogit are already level seventy. I know I haven’t posted and kept you up to date on my progress, but I took lots of screenshots and will be filling in a bit of what I did.
The first zone called Hellfire Peninsula is fun and has some great instances, but I really powered through it quickly so I will skip straight to the beautiful Zangarmarsh. This area was a pleasant change to the harsh conditions of the first zone. Zanagarmarsh is a little more laid back and has a lot of really compact quests. Like Hellfire you will finish quickly and move on. I almost forgot to mention my Netherwhelp pet I got from purchasing the collector’s edition!
One of the first things I did was upgrade my professions so that I could level them passed three hundred. As an engineer I received a quest in Zangarmarsh to create a Zapthrottle Mote Extractor. This little gem will draw motes from gasses you may come across on your travels. Only an engineer with a mote extractor can harvest them. I borrowed some fel iron bars from Yohan since I could not yet mine them and crafted the trinket. From the first gas I came across I was able to extract five motes!
Many of the expansion quests allow you to do things you wouldn’t normally be able to, for example fly! Flying is a big part of the Outlands but most have to wait until level seventy (exception Druids at sixty-eight). One of the quests in Zangarmarsh turned me into a Raven so I could scout from above the mushroom forest. I was able to discover a lot more mushrooms hehe.
There are also your more standard disguise quests that everyone is familiar with. In this case I wore a Sketti disguise to get some important information. Skettis remind me of those creatures in the old Dark Crystal movie. They all walk with a limp and their hands outstretched and bent like zombies with very bad posture. My disguise worked and I had some fun confusing people walking by, “how did you turn into that mob?”
