They even split Kvaldir! Now Available at L78!
As an aside, I still think a group of renegade Naga could be a good fit for the Horde or at least a Neutral installation, but I'm not exactly all the way through Vashj'ir yet. So who knows?
I had mixed feelings playing the Battlemaiden's questline, however. In that old conundrum you'd find in The Frozen Throne, who do you root for: the group aligned with the Lich King (Kvaldir), or the group aligned with the Old Gods (Naga + surprise guests)? Either way, the mortal races lose.
In general, both the Horde and Alliance quest lines are alike. There are a few minor differences, namely with the minor sideshow stuff from Goblins/Gnomes, but that's about it. The tone of the characters, however, is completely different. The Horde characters are out for blood, while the Alliance characters have their words tempered a bit. In the 'defend the ship' event, the Horde Captain yells "Make 'em bleed!" The Alliance Captain doesn't say anything quite so memorable: "For Stormwind!" On the flip side, having the Draenei Earthen Ring member talk about having to run and hide her interest in Shamanism rings far truer than a Tauren, and the Dwarven Earthen Ring member saying "Ugh, an Orc... This will take some getting used to" made me laugh.
Finally, between the second and the last of the Battlemaiden sequences culminating in "Visions of Vashj'ir Past", both toons got themselves geared up enough to qualify for the first of the Cataclysm regular instances. So by the time you're through with the Shimmering Expanse you're instance ready, with almost all of your gear replaced by new Cata greens. It's not always optimal --Tom was wearing some tanking shoulders for a good while-- but it's far better than what you're equipped with coming out of Wrath as a fresh L80.
I'm planning on taking Quintalan in the opposite direction to Hyjal and see how the regearing process goes over there. Naturally, he's going to have a lot of advantages that Tom and Neve didn't have, but that's the breaks.
Convoy to L85 Update
Tomakan: L82 in Vashj'ir
Nevelanthana: L82 in Vash'jir
Quintalan: L80 and being used for farming Frostweave in Icecrown
EtA: For the Paladins, so far I've only seen one Relic drop in Vashj'ir, and it's a Holy Spec Relic given you by the woman who sends you out hunting for her lost items. That means for you Prot and Ret Spec Pallys whatever Relic you've got on when you start up Cata will probably still be with you throughout Vashj'ir. In Tomakan's case, it was an old Relic he picked up in one of the Tempest Keep instances and promptly forgot about. I don't believe Tom encountered a Relic at all while running the Wrath 5-mans, and the point of the exercise was not to go out buying stuff but instead just keep on truckin'.
EtA: A Ret (kinda Prot) Relic finally dropped in Vashj'ir, right before the end of zone. For Prot Pallys, you might want to pass on the Prot gear that is an alternate, but that's your choice.
Goblins! I am just never going to trust a goblin questgiver again. "Just use my explosive dispenser, it's perfectly safe! Oh and pick up the tools I forgot in the minefield, just take the same route I did." /waves hand. And Rosehammer the dwarf paladin proceeded to get blown up in every way imaginable...
ReplyDelete@Nath-- At first, I liked the new Goblin quote lines --like "What's the word on the street?"-- but now I'm annoyed at them. Of course, I look at Gnomes as equally bad, so I guess it evens out.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I don't think I'd have made it through the minefield without discovering the trick of it. There's a path from the south that's completely clear of the mines. you have to look at it from above to see it.