Level 45: Saturday, March 26, 2011

Back in the Eastern Plaguelands, you and your companions in Fiona's Caravan finally reach Light's Hope Chapel, the base of operations for the Argent Crusade. This organization was essential in the defeat of Arthas during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. A statue of the greatest hero (besides yourself) during the fight against the Lich King, Tirion Fordring, has been erected in front of the chapel.

Fordring is a paladin, former ruler of the Eastern Plaguelands town of Hearthglen, and former member of the Order of the Silver Hand, a group of paladins that was dissolved by Arthas shortly before he went mad and became the Lich King. Fordring was also exiled for allying himself with an orc who had previously saved his life, and attacking Alliance troops who were going to execute the orc. Prior to Wrath of the Lich King, you helped him discover that in his absence, his son had joined the Scarlet Crusade, and during your attempts to free him, the younger Fordring is killed. His son's death is what inspires Fordring to come out of hiding and lead the attack on Arthas. After his successful campaign, he is renamed ruler of Hearthglen, and can be find in its main keep.

You, Gidwin and Tarenar all take a series of tests inside the chapel, and its crypt, and are named members of the Argent Crusade.

Gidwin, frustrated by what he feels are the menial tasks given to your group, and anxious to fight the Scourge, runs off on his own, and is captured by the Scourge. You and Tarenar find out that he has been taken to a slaughterhouse in the Plaguewood section of the zone, and, joined by the other members of Fiona's Caravan, you kill the Scourge Baroness who has taken him captive, and set him free.

The other narrative in the Eastern Plaguelands deals with the mopping up of the scattered remains of the Scarlet Crusade. They occupy a stronghold in the southeastern part of the zone named Tyr's Hand, but upon closer investigation you discover that all of the Scarlet Crusade forces are now undead, meaning that they have become exactly what they most hated.

To discover what has happened to the Scarlet Crusade, and to see the consequences of Arthas' actions when he made his fatal choice, we need to enter the dungeon instance of Stratholme, the city of the damned.

Level 44: Friday, March 25, 2011

Knowing in advance that my time for exercise after work would be limited, due to attending a birthday dinner for my sister-in-law, and also knowing that I would have no other meal options than the crabcakes offered at said dinner, (since I'm not going to be THAT GUY who shows up at someone's house with a can of tuna fish or something,) it was vital that I got myself out of bed at 5:30 in the morning for my workout routine.

The northern wing of Dire Maul, also known as Gordok Commons, is home to some hostile ogres, all ruled by their king, Gordok. It's the part he was born to play, baby!

Who's your favorite American president? Mine would probably have to be Tom America.

This instance is unique because it is the first to offer a choice. Sure, you CAN do what you always do in instances, which is blindly kill everything in sight until you are rewarded with a new pair of pants, OR you can exercise some restraint and make your way to the king while sparing the lives of the various sub-bosses in the dungeon. Why would you do this? Because when someone kills an ogre king, they immediately replace him, and are given powerful items from their new subjects as tribute.

As you progress through the ruins, you need to figure out non-lethal ways to obtain keys and move past sub-bosses. Some solutions are as simple as avoiding where an ogre is moving, but others are much more complex, including fixing a broken trap so that it freezes one of the ogres in place...

and in the case of the last guard, disguising yourself in an ogre suit to trick him into letting you into the throne room.

LFG

I just received word that someone read the WoW Insider article about Leveling Down, and was inspired enough to try the blogging process out himself. Best of luck to him at his new blog, Orking it Off.

This was great to hear, and if you are thinking about trying it out, be sure to send me an email or post a comment so that I can follow you.

Level 44: Thursday, March 24, 2011

I have no doubt that when the game designers first decided that one of the major features implemented in Cataclysm would be a complete overhaul of the 1-60 leveling content, one of the zones they first tackled was the Eastern Plaguelands. It is the best example of what the designers must have been shooting for in every zone, including a storyline that takes you through the entire zone, the introduction to a cast of interesting characters that you get unusually attached to, and the addition of different buffs that enhance your leveling process. In my opinion, it has become the best zone in the 1-60 experience, and shouldn't be missed.

(Photo courtesy of amiyuy.com)

As soon as you cross the bridge over the Thorondil River, which divides the Western and Eastern Plaguelands, you come across Fiona's Caravan. Fiona is a Worgen merchant, who is journeying to Lights Hope Chapel on the far eastern side of the zone.

Two of her fellow travelers have wandered off, and she asks you to find them. You find the first, Gidwin Goldbraids, caught in the webs of some attacking Nerubians. You free him, and he returns to the caravan. You find Terenar Sunstrike spying on some stray Scourge, and after helping him take them out, you both return to the caravan, and it sets off on the road to Lights Hope Chapel.

Through some cutscene dialogue, you learn that Gidwin and Tarenar are both paladins who, while best friends, are somewhat competitive with each other. They are on their way to Lights Hope to enlist in the Argent Crusade, an organization that, after succeeding in helping defeat Arthas in Northrend, is now finishing the task of ridding the Eastern Plaguelands of all leftover Scourge influence. Gidwin, the more eager of the two, is frustrated when you make a stop at one of the many watchtowers on the road to rest. Once there, you discover that there are several people at the tower who need your help, so you set off on your own to do so.

In order to keep you from getting lost throughout the zone, a large light shines from whichever tower the caravan happens to be parked at. As you finish the quests available at each tower, you pick up new members in the caravan and continue on the road. Each new caravan member gives you a new option for a buff that will help you throughout the Eastern Plaguelands. For example, selecting Fiona's item will give you a chance to get more money from enemies.

Argus Highbeacon is a member of the Argent Crusade who travels the road from tower to tower, and keeps them maintained. He joins you after you clear the roads for him.

You find Pamela Redpath in the ruins of a town called Darrowshire, and through a long quest chain, find out that she, and other citizens of the town were all called when the Scourge invaded, and corrupted her father, who was defending the town. With the help of a member of the Bronze Dragonflight, you collect relics from the battle, and are able to recreate it, redeeming Joseph Redpath in the process. While you get credit for adding Pamela to the caravan, she stays in the town where you found her.

Vex'tul is a troll that you meet at one of the towers on the road. After passing his test of strength, he journeys with you as far as a temple called Zul'Mashar, where he reveals that he is actually undead, and unable to move on until his murder by the traitor Thresh'jin is avenged. You help him, and he is finally able to rest.

Beezil Linkspanner is a goblin engineer working at Lights Hope, who joins your caravan as a way of hiding himself from the shame of his recent zeppelin crash.

Finally, Rimblat Earthshatterer, also found at Lights Hope, joins you after you gather up food supplies for the chapel.

Huge Thanks

I just wanted to say thank you so much to Lisa Poisso and the rest of the crew at WoW Insider for their incredibly complimentary write-up of Leveling Down, and a special welcome to everyone who found their way here from the article. I hope that you enjoy the blog, and maybe even feel inspired by it!

Level 43: Thursday, March 23, 2011

Located in the Barrens, across the main path from Razorfen Kraul, is its much harder big brother of an instance, Razorfen Downs. This area used to be the graveyard for the quillboar inhabitants of the Barrens, but it has been taken over by the Scourge.

Since this is one of the first instances to offer plate gear drops off of bosses, it is very popular for warriors and paladins who have just hit Level 40, and are looking to upgrade. The bosses run the gamut of the Scourge's arsenal, including a giant undead spider-like creature, a Nerubian named Tuten'Kash

and an abomination made up of dead victims sewn up together named Glutton.

The final portion of the instance is an ascent up the Spiral of Thorns to the dungeon's ruler, an undead Lich named Amnennar the Coldbringer.

Level 42: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The second Dire Maul wing, the western one, is also known as the Capital Gardens, and contains a number of corrupted ancients and living and undead Highborne, a sect of elves that considered themselves the elite of the race. They separated themselves from the night elves, and one particular group, the Shen'Dralar withdrew to Dire Maul, cutting themselves off from the rest of the world.

Your first boss encounter in the zone is Tendris Warpwood, a corrupted Ancient of War. Defeating him gives you access to the inner portion of the gardens.

Your next objective is to disable the five pylons that are powering the prison of a powerful demon, known as Immol'Thar. The Highborne, led by the insane Prince Tortheldrin, are keeping the demon imprisoned and leeching his power.

Destroying the five pylons gives you access to the demon's prison, where you defeat him.

After although killing Immol'Thar is where the achievement for finishing the dungeon is granted, players can choose to continue onto Tortheldrin and end the corrupted prince's rule, if they so choose.