WoW Update
- January 27, 2005
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I’ve been hammering away in the evenings on my World of Warcraft Night Elf hunter and reached level 40 a couple nights ago. Level 60 is the cap for now, so I’ve still got a ways to go.
In WoW, when you hit level 40 you can own a mount like a horse, raptor, battle ram, etc. Mounts are nice because they allow you to move through the zones in the game much faster than running. My hunter has an ability called “cheetah” which allows him to run faster than most other players on foot, but a mount is even faster.
Each race has its own mount. The racial mount for the Night Elves is the best looking, in my opinion though. It’s a large cat called a nightsaber. There are three different kinds to choose from, but I chose the striped frostsaber. You have to have “riding lessons” before you can buy the mount. The cost of the lessons with the mount will set you back 90 gold, which is a fair amount to save up.
I started saving up for my ride at level 30. Last night, I finally made enough to get lessons and a mount. It’s funny how proud I felt when I first ran through Darnassus on my mount. It’s just a game, but you really feel like you’ve accomplished something.
Another “milestone”, if you will, is that I was able to beat Stitches with the help of two other players. Stitches is an elite level 35 baddy in Duskwood. Being elite means you’re much stronger than your level usually is. At the time, I was level 37 and the other player was a 38 priest. I had heard the rumors of a particularly powerful baddy in Duskwood, but had never seen him. Even the NPCs (computer-controlled characters) were talking about him.
I was heading to another zone via Duskwood when I first saw Stitches fighting a level 34 Dwarf hunter off the side of the main road. I stood there for several seconds just staring. I wasn’t expecting Stitches to be so big and ugly, and it was disconcerting to watch him manhandle the brave, but doomed hunter. After the initial shock wore off, I whistled for my pet, set a fire trap and laid into Stitches.
He had just finished off the other hunter, who had thankfully lowered Stitches’ health by 1/4. My pet distracted him long enough that I was able to shoot about 15 arrows into him and get his health down below 1/2. As he ran towards me, he ran through the fire trap I had set which also wore down his health.
The first time he hit me, he knocked 450 health off of me! That’s a HUGE hit for a level 35. Even for an elite. I thought for sure I was going to die, when up ran the level 38 priest. At first the priest attacked Stitches which distracted him away from me and allowed me to quickly bandage myself. I then ran back into the battle and took the screenshot below.
I was able to distract Stitches long enough for the priest to heal himself and then me before Stitches could kill me. Finally, after a fight that seemed like it would never end, we dropped Stitches. So at least for a little while, we had saved the town of Darkshire from an invasion by Stitches.
It’s funny how a game can be so challenging, yet entertaining at the same time. My favorite part is that you can chat and work together with people from all over. Sometimes I enjoy just sitting there and chatting, but taking down a notorious baddy is also fun.