More Death Knight mining

After motivating myself to spend some more time as a space cadet I disappointed myself a little when I procrastinated slightly before ending up loading World of Warcraft. It just seems like I have so much to achieve in World of Warcraft at the moment. I would like to take my warrior Sapphire out to Northrend but I know that if I did that too soon her professions would falter, as Knifey was the ore gatherer that fed her the raw materials. Knifey has been left behind now and is probably going to be replaced by Gnomesblight, my Death Knight, who is a miner and blacksmith. Having a gatherer and crafter on separate characters pretty much requires both characters to be almost equal in levels, otherwise the crafter will either lack materials or the gatherer will have to revisit areas solely for gathering. With Gnomesblight starting at 55th level and mining from zero skill there is quite a journey for her to go before being able to pass on suitable materials to Sapphire.

Essentially, I need to get to the point where Gnomesblight can mine fel iron and adamantite for Sapphire, which requires both some levelling and a lot of mining. I try to avoid words like 'work' when describing my gaming as it can easily give the wrong impression, but starting a gathering profession on a high-level character can certainly seem like a chore. In a game where progression is nominally expressed through character level, with perhaps a secondary measure being equipment level, having to run through all of the low-level zones gathering ore secures no feeling of measurable character progression. My mining and blacksmithing skills are progressing, certainly, but nothing I am making will be of any use to me and I am neither gaining experience nor better equipment in the process. Trying to combine my gathering with low-level quests is at least garnering some reputation gains, which again isn't real progression but it can give a sense of some.

At the same time, gathering the ore is not difficult at all. I am in no direct danger at any point, regardless of the mobs I aggro or my inexperience with the class, simply because of the disparity in levels. I have cleared the Deadmines, inside the instance and out, of all its ore several times without needing to slow down from running pace. But, again, I want a challenge at least some of the time. This is why I suggest to a fellow Death Knight that we head out to Hellfire Peninsula to gain a quick level and wreak havoc proper. It is my second visit to the demonic red landscape and have my hearthstone set to Shattrath City already. Running through the familiar quests is an entertaining diversion to mining, even if I have to leave several mineral nodes alone being unable to mine them at my skill level, and again I am having a splendid time as a Death Knight taking on mobs two or three levels above me without giving it a second thought.

My companion dings 59th level quite quickly and we plow on through some more quests, even getting a random world drop of a cloak that is better than our standard equipment. I finish the excursion half-way through 59th level and am happy with how I am getting to grips with my abilities and powers. We ride to Shattrath City as a pair, getting knocked off our mounts by pesky mobs twice only to cut them down efficiently and continue on our way. Hopefully I will be able to spend more time in Outlands soon, as one small progression I have made is moving my blacksmithing skills past needing copper and brass and on to iron, so I don't need to mine any more copper or tin. Soon mithril, then thorium. I am making progress, it is just in small steps at the moment and I am setting myself targets that help me realise my progress. Exploring the world and taking time to make more tangible progress also means I am having fun in the process.

Posted in Gaming |
Tags: blacksmithing, death knight, gnomesblight, knifey, mining, mmorpg, outlands, professions, sapphire, world of warcraft