Higher Learning – A Priest’s Guide To Dalaran Mind Vision Happiness

So…I’ve actually started playing again on a regular basis, and I have to say…I am enjoying it.I realize that many of the things I’m enjoying are things you’re probably tired of…like running Heroics, 95% of which I’m running for the first time. I’m also enjoying dailies (still, strangely), especially stuffing poor, defenseless puppies into a sack after murdering their mother, and taking them to be eaten cared for by walruses. I know, it sounds somewhat worse when you put it that way. Or better, depending on how you view the game.

Anyway, on to the actual point of the post. Higher Learning! This achievement has you running around to 8 different locations in Dalaran, searching for books that spawn roughly once every three hours. The book that spawns may not actually be the right book, and it takes like 2 minutes to run around to every location in a circle, checking every spot for the books.

A great guide can be found at Warcraftpets.com. There are pictures showing you exactly where each book spawns and it’s just awesome. If you’re not a priest, just go there and have fun running around. Good luck.

IF, HOWEVER, YOU ARE A PRIEST…OH YES, YOU GET THE EASY JOB.

See, it just so happens that there is a certain place you can stand in Dalaran. In this cartain place, you can, thankfully, chain cast Mind Vision around Dalaran, targeting an NPC that is close to every book in the city. In this way, you can actually check every single location while moving…wait for it…get ready…not at all.

Now, while I was setting this up, I visited a few websites. At each, I found a certain peice of the puzzle. One had a list of the names of the NPC’s, one had an example of the macro, Wowpets had their great guide, so on. So, I’ve got your one-stop shop for everything you’re gonna need to know about using your Mind Vision to make this job easy.

The Setup

Okay, so to make this work…you have to stand in a certain place. Head over to Threads of Fate (if you don’t know where it is, just ask and NPC where to buy cloth armor) and take the stairs up to the second story, then head out onto the balcony. You should be in about this position:

From here, you’ll be able to reach everyone.

Da Macro

Ok, so now that you’re in position, you need to write your macro. It should look something like this:

/targetexact *NPC’s name here*

/cast mind vision

Easy! I know, right? It’s almost like Blizzard loves priests more than everyone else.

Now, we fill in the blanks. There are eight books, but we’re only going to make 7 macros. The reason for this is that one of the books spawns on the balcony you’re standing on, so you can manage to see that one with your own eyes.

The NPC’s are, in order:

#1 Archivist Betha – This will let you check for the book on the floor of the Dalaran Visitor’s Center.

#2 Arille Azuregaze – The bartender in the Legerdemain Lounge, lets you check for the book on the first floor, on the empty bookcase near the stove in the corner.

#3 Afsaneh Asrar – The assistant inkeeper in the Legerdemain Lounge. She walks up and down the stairs, letting you check for the book on the second floor in the bedroom, again on the empty bookcase.

#4 Archmage Celindra – Lets you check for the book on the floor of the teleportation room.

#5 Archmage Timear – Lets you check for the book on the box in the corner outside of the Violet Hold.

#6 Archmage Aethas Sunreaver – Lets you check for the book on the bottom of the shelf on the first floor of the Violet Citadel.

#7 Zidormi – Lets you check for the book on the floor on the second level of the Violet Citadel.

The Plan

Ok, so set up your macros in order. The reason for this is that you can’t actually reach all of the NPC’s form where you are. However, Mind Vision kinda…chains…off of the last person you used it on. For example, you can’t actually hit Zidormi on the second floor of the Violet Citadel, but if you hit Aethas Sunreaver, you can then cast Zidormi’s macro and you’ll jump on to her. It’s pretty cool, actually.

Anyway, all you have to do is cast the macros in order. The only jump you can’t make is from #5 to #6, so cast the first five macros, check for those books, then just cancel Mind Vision. At this point, check the balcony you’re standing on to see if the book is there. If not, cast the last two macros, rinse, and repeat.

The books despawn fairly quickly, so once you see one, get to it as fast as you can. You can mount on the balcony, so as soon as you see a book, just hit your mount button and swoop down on the unsuspecting book. Keep in mind, though, that the books that spawn aren’t always the books you need for the achievement.

Also, on many servers, I guess there’s a chat channel specifically for this achievement, named /bookclub or something like that. The reason for this is that once you read the book, it stays there for a few minutes, allowing others to come read it too. It’s usually nice to announce the book in trade or general chat, or in the achievement-specific chat channel. More than likely, that announcement will bring 3-4 people running.

If anybody has any other tips, be sure to post and let me know 🙂

Happy hunting!

_Misa

Onyxia Down – Wait What?!?

Ok, so I know it’s not that great of an accomplishment, but last night after dailies one of my guildies asked for someone to party with him so he could run in and play with Onyxia. I volunteered, and since I was about to log anyway, offered to come with.

So, trash went quickly, and lo and behold here’s Onyxia! I’ve only been in there twice before, so I was excited (lol because doing something new, however easy, excites me.) So we run in and…oh yeah…tard Klack is still firespecced.

The words “Immune” and “Epic Fail” come to mind 😉 But, it was actually funny as hell.

Anyway, long story short, there was a respec, and then the mage and the priest whupped up on Onyxia and split the awesome lootz. I got the head, which is all I wanted because I’ve always rolled like a 6 on it.

Bottom line…yeah, it’s not that big of an achievement, but doing something you don’t often do is always worth it.

The Dragon Goes Down!

_Misa

A Quick Update And Some Fun New Ideas

Just a couple things…

After three days of following my own advice in The Grand Melee, I can assure you that the same strategy works on every race. Well, every horde race. I tend to grab Orc/Blood Elf/Undead if I can, but if there’s a lot of people around I grab Blood Elf/Tauren (from what I’ve seen, the least picked race on our server) and try to grab an Orc when I can. Orcs are the funnest for me for some reason. Anyway, sometimes when five or more people are going at it all at the same time, throwing down with a Tauren can help you keep track of exactly who you’re fighting.

Now let’s do…a guide to the order in which to do things! (for Valiants) Grab all 5 dailies (kill 10 scourge, the crappy mounted one outside Icecrown Citadel, whatever weapon one you get, and the wood/stone ones form the little punks outside) and then go this way…

1. Walk outside and complete The Grand Melee.

2. Hop on your mount, proceed southwest until you get to the “Kill 10 scourge” area. Do it.

3. Mount up, fly south to the stupid mounted daily. Be annoyed. Finish it.

4. Remount and fly east. At this point, if you have the weapon quest where you have to get the flowers, stop at the big dam and grab your 4 flowers. If not, just fly past to the Great Tree in Crystalsong.

5. Get your 12 pieces of lumber. At this point, if you need to kill the fire elemental guy for the “melt the ice princess” weapon quest, fly east and kill him. If not, um…don’t.

6. Ok, here’s the choose-your-own-adventure step. If you have to bring the flowers to the lake, fly southeast from the Great Tree and give her the flowers. If you killed the fire guy in step 5, fly to the lake and unfreeze the princess. If you’re unlucky enough to get the frog quest, fly to Grizzy Hills and do that. (Note: The lake you’re looking for is the only one southeast of Grizzlemaw, I know, it’s not marked.)

7. So now, whatever weapon quest you had, it’s done. All you should have left now is the stone quest. If you kissed the frogs, just mount and fly up to Grom’arsh Crash Site. If you de-iced the princess, take the flighpath form Camp Winterhoof. If you brought the flowers to the lake, fly northeast to Light’s Breach and take the flightpath.

8. From the Grom’arsh Crash Site, just go a bit north to the place with the little mechano-gnomes on their stupid little chickens. There are stones everywhere…you usually don’t even have to fight anything to get the 15 pieces you need.

9. With everything done, fly straight from Grom’arsh to the Tournament grounds and relish in your awesomeness.

A Flood Of Relief

Ok, so, ran some H Nexus with a few guildies (and a feisty female who sounded rather…attractive…in vent, Julietjuliet ;P) and figured out that yes, I am awesome (i.e. decent) and it was the tank that was lacking. We blew through the first boss with a DK tank and a warlock that was perhaps not entirely sure what game it was we were playing, and we did fine. I do get a little worried when everyone starts taking damage, but PoH does ok and our tank was great about aggro. There were times that I sat for a good 5-6 seconds with my finger on penance, waiting for something to knock the tank under 100%.

I’m thinking about speccing around a bit, playing with holy and shadow as well as disc to get a better understanding of everything I’m capable of at 80. I’ve already told some of my guildies that I’m willing to spec whatever is needed. If we wind up with enough heals, I’ll be happy to spec shadow or even go back to my dps hybrid (which I still love).

Ok, story time.

So the H Nexus group picked me up and we had four in the group. We were looking for another dps when the following took place:

Misa: “I haven’t healed as disc at 80 yet, and haven’t healed much at all in a while, so I might need a little while to get the hang of it.”

Someone: “Misa, you’re disc?”

Misa: “Yeah.”

Same Person: “So…we need a healer?”

Oh yes. I lol’d. 🙂

A Sudden Spike

Haha! I have discovered the secret of traffic! Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised so see such a large jump. So, from now on, all my posts will talk about Ego, in order to get the most traffic possible. 🙂 Hehe just kidding, but thank you, Ego, for the one-day boost to my…um…ego…

Anyway, I managed to grab a heroic Utagarde Keep run last night, and the result was…disastrous to say the least.  After the first two rooms we had wiped approximately 4 times, and that’s when I called it quits. (i.e. I was so annoyed that I just held the power button on my laptop until it shut off and went off to do other things.)

I was worried at first that my healing skills were lacking, and I’m sure they’re probably not up the level they should be, but I mean…PoM before the pull, immediate renew, pennance, PW:S, flash heal, in that order, all as fast as I could cast them, and the tank would still be around 35%-45% health and then drop like a rock, and then we’d quickly follow suit.

But, I was assured that it was the tank, not me 🙂 Next time, I shall get a new tank!

I’m going to try again today, and if I still can’t make it work…I’ll just respec shadow and act like this healing business never happened.

_Misa

Some Thoughts Before Grouping

Okay, so, I’ve been 80 for a bit, and I haven’t grouped yet, haha!

What have I been doing? Well, I handed out some enchants to my guildies, and I grabbed a stack of Armor Vellum III in case i don’t have any takers when I have mats.

I really suggest that enchanters carry at least a few vellums at all times. There have been a couple days that I’ve been short on room in the middle of some quests, and throwing some enchants on vellums dried up my excess mats and freed up some much-needed bag space. When I got to town, I just tossed them in the Gbank or asked if anyone wanted them in the mail. Anyway, managed to get to 425 and craft my new Enchanting rod (thanks random guy that switched toons and came to org to make me a Titanium Bar…if I’d been more thoughtful I’d have written your name down and given you more credit <3)

I also got a rather pleasant surprise in my tailoring. I threw out a normal plug in my guild chat, just like, “Hey, if anyone needs any [Tailoring], let me know,” and the response was amazing!

I crafted 5 or 6 Frostweave Bags, and an entire frost resist set for one of my officers, and somewhere in there I managed to make this little beauty.

Oh Yes, Magnificent Flying Carpet!

Hurray! Also, I’m actually far enough along to make my own equips! I decided to go with the Frostsavage equips, which give up any spirit for big chunks of stamina, as well as spellpower and crit. My crit jumped from somewhere in the low 7.x% up to 11.4%, which is very nice indeed.

I flew around and figured out where I had to go to make the different cloths, and I discovered that four-day cooldowns are horribly depressing.

As for my spec, I thought I had a decent build, but after looking and Vonya’s spec (thank you, as usual), I realized that I didn’t spec into Inspiration in the holy tree, so the next time I log on I’ll be heading to my trainer to respec once again.

On a side note, someone (the blog escapes me, when I find it again I’ll link it, lol) mentioned that he tends to go to the same trainer every time, and I had to admit that I have my favorite trainer in Org that I go to, mostly because he’s right next to me when I pop through a portal. But, yes, I always go to him. Every time. Sad, but true.

Anyway, I just got home from my vacation (three weeks of very, very little logged in time), and I’m getting back in the swing of regular life, work, and whatnot, so hopefully by the end of this week I can get into some Heroics and start playing around with this Disc healing nonsense.

Oh yeah, and….we converted Vonya! Hahah! Disc ftw!

_Misa

Welcome to My World

Meet Misa.

So…here we go. My first foray into the world of blogging.

My background for my header thing looks decent. Right? I think so…

It was a fun little experiment with Photoshop…I’m actually learning how to do things with it now.

My name is Misamane, and I am a 73 undead female priest on Blackwing Lair. I’ve been Holy. I’ve been Shadow. I’ve been Holy/Shadow (don’t ask…it was bad.)  But, now I’m Disc, and it’s here that I’ve found my happiness.

I can pewpew, not with the facemelting purple beams and various Embraces and Touches of Shadow (really…someone should keep an eye on the PDA in that tree), but I do my best with lolsmites and Holy Fire, one of the spells that I tend to shout the name of as it hits the mob. You can imagine the startled, confused looks on the faces of everyone in my general viscinity when I yell, “HOLY FIRE!” at random intervals.

I can also heal. Bleh. Boring. I shiver every time my WIM pops up and I see those five words I dread. “Hi, are you a healer?” I can’t refuse. I tell them I’d rather DPS, but I’ll heal if necessary. They say ok, and laugh as they wait the appropriate amount of time to tell me they found all their DPS and need me to heal. Argh. But…I can’t deny…I’m good at it. I don’t have Pennance. I don’t have Divine Aegis. But I can keep that tank alive even when he pulls three sets of mobs on his head and calls a wipe. No wipes here, ladies and gentlemen.

This is mostly my story. But…it isn’t just my story. Other characters making appearances from time to time will be:

Risenagain – 60 orc male Death Knight

Misakune – 35 blood elf female rogue

Dotdotdot – 24 blood elf male warlock

Anyone else will be labeled a guest, as it conveys a sense of that person being “special” and will undoubtedly earn me points with said person.

As of now, I’m going to try to make Mondays the official posting day. It remains to be seen if that will actually hold up against heavy scrutiny (okay, the slightest of glances may topple it) but I will make an effort and adjust as necessary.

That being said, the push to 80 is upon me, and I am as excited as I have ever been about WoW. The dynamics of the new continent, new skills, and my awesome new spec (more on that later) combine in a way that is so utterly enthralling, I find it hard to concentrate on anything else. If monday happens to be one of the few days I can hop on and quest, you can be sure that the blog shall recieve the proverbial boot that day.

But, for the most part, I shall attempt to post on time. This will happen even if I’m the only one reading the blog, as I will email all my friends and force them to at least visit the page every day so I can bask in a false sense of importance. If I can manage to get actual traffic from people I don’t know and haven’t coerced into coming, all the better.

Last thing – I invite you to offer your opinion at any time. Please! If you don’t like my spec, tell me. If you tell me, tell me why. After you tell me why, give me yours and explain why it’s better. If I hated a quest chain you loved, tell me! Paint me a vivid picture of the affection you harbor for collecting mammoth pelts and rubbing them in diseased dirt to make a magical cape that turns the world a fuzzy shade of blue when you wear it. By all means, disagree with me!

Anyway, this is my story. I hope you come along for the ride.

_Misa