Touhou EX Stages

You know, I always thought that if I ever reached an EX stage in Touhou, it would be in Ten Desires, since it was the first one that I beat and it always seemed like the easiest one to me.

But nope! Just got EX stage unlocked in Imperishable Night of all games. Yuyuko+Youmu team = OP.

On top of that, I beat Byakuren (and Shou!) for the first time a couple days ago as well, so I'm on a roll right now.

Do you think if I go and attempt Mountain of Faith I will finally get past Kanako? I think she's the only one I haven't completed yet, aside from EoSD (because Hong Meiling kicks my butt in EoSD).

EoSD I can only reliably get just past Hong Meiling, but I usually perma-die during Patchouli's stage. I got past Patchouli once and then died promptly against Sakuya, but I haven't managed to kill Patchouli since. Have never seen Remilia.

PCB...I know I can get TO the Prismriver Sisters fairly reliably, then from there it's pretty much just luck for me. I got past them once, then died on Youmu. Then I managed to get past Youmu, and died on Yuyuko. So I've technically seen Yuyuko, I just haven't beaten her because Youmu stole all my lives.

Imperishable Night I just beat Eirin and then I played through again and beat Kaguya, and now I'm working on Mokou (and failing, I might add. The state itself isn't that difficult, but Keine is mean).

MoF I can get to Kanako pretty reliably. Then Kanako's stage takes all my lives before I get to her, and it makes me sad. And then I get onbashra'd.

Subterranean Animism makes me angry because I can get to Utsuho's final spell card, but I'm always out of lives by then. I can get up to Orin before it all goes downhill, and then Orin adds insult to injury by killing me again during Utsuho's stage.

UFO I just beat the other day. Nazrin's stage is easy. Kogasa's is harder, but not that difficult. I maybe lose a life when she starts shooting umbrellas. Ichirin likes to hurt me, and that's where I lose all my bombs. Murasa is kind of laughable, and I've done her stage + her with no lives before. Shou is mean and I still don't know how I got past her (that said, I think I can do most of her spells fairly reliably now, because I've been practicing, but that one with the spinny green laser is what I save bombs for). Her stage is actually fun now though. Kind of relaxing. Byakuren's stage is not much harder than Shou's, and I actually find Byakuren easier than Shou as a whole (maybe because I beat her on my first day of trying, rather than Shou who took me months?).

Ten Desires is fun. I occasionally lose a life against Yoshika, but not usually. Seiga is kind of easy, so is Futo. Miko is easier than Byakuren and Kanako, but I think Kaguya was easier than Miko.

DDC is weird for me. Wakasagihime is easy, and so is Sekibanki (only one spell card gives me mild difficulty). Kagerou has one troublesome spell but is easy otherwise. Tsukumo sisters kick my butt, especially Benben, so I try to avoid playing as a character with their weapon so that she is not the actual boss. Seija Kijin is easy except for when she flips the screen, plus one spell as a midboss for her stage. I've gotten about halfway through Shinmyoumaru Sukuna, and she's pretty difficult. The problem with her isn't that she's necessarily hard, but that Yatsuhashi and Seija Kijin took all my lives before I get to her.

Ok, now time to take a break and play WoW for a bit while my hands relax. Leveling zones are so crowded right now that it's frustrating. Having fifteen other players trying to kill the same mob as you is kind is rather trying.

Day 3

I can't tell if the stat squish got better or not. On the plus side, my level 31 Shaman isn't dying whenever she attacks something (haven't checked my Mage though), on the downside, soloing on my 90 appears to have gotten harder? I don't know, I didn't really expect to get killed in Firelands against the first set of trash. Kind of thought I'd make it a little farther, you know?

Do we know if those rolling restarts a few hours ago fixed the issue the Blood Elf starting zone was having? The one where the Mana Wyrms were 1-shotting level 1s? I hope that was fix. Poor Blood Elves.

I'm still happy with the models. Even the female Tauren are growing on me, honestly.
Quite frankly, it's disturbing me immensely that people are saying that the female Night Elves look "fat." There is no fat on those ladies. It's rather disturbing that people are seeing fat on them. I think they look great.

Going back to either leveling something or soloing dungeons, since I can still apparently handle those no problem.

Day 2

I see what the issue with leveling is now. Once you're at level 20 or so things get a difficulty spike. Ow. Can't do any quests on my level 41 Mage, and my level 30 Shaman is barely getting by. Pre-level 20 is fine-ish.

On the plus side, levels 90s are great for soloing. Perhaps too great? Not complaining, but it's a bit crazy. It felt awesome though.

Achievements I got today by soloing with a Shadow Priest that I don't necessarily know how to play perfectly, and who has never stepped foot in a raid with other people:

Heroic: Hour of Twilight
Heroic: Well of Eternity
Heroic: End Time
(I didn't realize that I was doing a dungeon until I started fighting Echo of Baine. I didn't realize the quest I was doing was a dungeon, since I'd never done it before. Only when I saw the Echos was I like "Ohhh, I'm in End Times.")
Moon Guard (The other Echo I got was Tyrande, obviously)

The rest of these are all Icecrown Citadel (10 player). I got up to the Lich King, although he ultimately killed me.

All You Can Eat
The Frostwing Halls
The Crimson Hall
The Orb Whisperer
Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion...
The Plagueworks
Flu Shot Shortage
Storming the Citadel
I'm on a Boat
Boned

And, I think that's it.

Oh, and I got my Explorer achievement today too, so I'm super happy!

WoW Warlords of Draenor Prepatch First Impressions

Let me preface this with two things:
1. I did not do the pre-expansion quest chain during the beta, so it was 100% new to me, along with some other things I hadn't messed with yet, like the Toybox and the new Reagents system and storage.
2. I'm a great big beam of sunshine-y happiness compared to the WoW forums today. Expect very little negativity here. I'm completely satisfied.


Now that that's over with, what do I think about the prepatch?

• My characters look great, for the most part. Toysatomimi needed a hair/hair color change. My Draenei needed complete makeovers (especially Gensokyo. Her skin color isn't quite the same as it was, and it's not matching with any hair colors, really). The only models that I have problems with are the female Draenei and female Tauren. The rest I'm pretty good with. I love human females, in particular.
• The prepatch quests were decent. I was hoping they'd be short, and they were. I really wasn't feeling up to a whole long chain. It wasn't a bad questline by any means. Not the most exciting, but not the most boring either.
• My Shadow Priest is feeling great. Level-up glyphs have really helped me out.
• I messed with some of my lower leveled characters, and I'm having no issues fighting things whatsoever. If anything, it seems like I'm downing things in fewer shots than yesterday.
• Stat-squish has somehow made it feel like I'm doing more damage than before. I might just be confused and out-of-touch with numbers though.
• I'm a big fan of the ability pruning. All the skills I lost on my Shadow Priest weren't that important to me. The only one I was mildly sad about was Renew, but I understand why it's gone, and Desperate Prayer makes up for it. I still have Power Word: Shield, so I'm good.
• The game itself doesn't feel like it's changed much. The nicer models are a plus, although not all that noticeable unless you're specifically looking out for them.
• Toybox sounds great. I don't have many toys, so I haven't really gotten to mess with it. That, and whenever I try to put a toy in my game crashes, but I'm 100% certain that'll be fixed soon.
• I LOVE THE NEW REAGENTS SYSTEM. IT IS AMAZING. So many shiny new tabs to keep all my cloth in! And the Reagents stack to 200! DO YOU KNOW HOW AMAZING THAT IS?! Toyosatomimi's bank was previously completely full of cloth with no space for anything else. I have so much free bank space now!
• I've already finished the prepatch questchain, so I've got my shiny new title and less exciting pet. I'm kind of obsessed with attempting to collect titles at the moment, so I love having a new, easy to get one at the moment!
• Warlord's Deathwheel looks great, even if it is mildly obnoxious sounding.
• My only character that is legitimately ruined is this random level 5 Orc Warrior I have on Nazgrel named "Beautyitself." Well, her, and a level 15 Tauren Shaman on Nazgrel. But that's because I think the female Tauren model is...lacking.
• Quintella is looking great. I also feel like the only person who actually really likes the new Female Forsaken run animation...

Was logging on this afternoon a pain? Certainly. I didn't expect it to be a smooth login process. My game patched fairly quickly. It did get stuck at one point, but a quick restart of my computer fixed that. My game got stuck at Connecting (not surprising; it did that to me in the beta as well), but Run as Administrator cleared that problem right up.

All my vital addons are up and running. Lag isn't terrible, especially since the Blasted Lands don't appear to be CRZ (that, or only Tanaris-Greymane players were playing today, which seems unlikely, as we're often CRZ with Stormrage).

All in all, I am extremely pleased. I can go back to my leveling in peace, and my characters will look better doing it! That, and the leveling zones are fairly quiet today since everyone's busy on their 90s. Heehee.

GamerWaltz Tips for New and Returning WoW Players

Trying out or coming back to World of Warcraft with the advent of Warlords of Draenor?

Starting out fresh has likely never been easier, with simpler systems and less overwhelming amounts of buttons to press. If you're just now returning, then there are a lot of changes in store for you.

So, I decided to write a guide. Figured it's a good time, since the pre-patch for WoD is coming tomorrow. Basically, it's just going to be a long list of basic things to know, tips and tricks, opinions, and I'll post another thing after this about picking a class.


I hope it helps someone!


1. In general, don't buy expansions in advance. If you're a new player, the Battlechest will get you up to level 80. You don't need Cataclysm until you're level 80, Mists of Pandaria until you're level 85, and Warlords of Draenor until level 90. The only exceptions to this is if you want to play a Monk (which I believe requires Mists) or if you want to boost your character (again, requires Mists, and you'll need WoD. WoD also comes with a free level 90 boost). Never mind. All expansions except for WoD are now included in the $19.99 package, making the game considerably more affordable.
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2. Don't boost a character until you've gotten to level 60. This allows you to have your professions raised along with your level. More importantly, it will give you time to get used to the game. Rushing straight to level 90 isn't doing anyone, including yourself, any favors. Take your time and learn the game before boosting to level cap.

3. Try to stick to only one class at first (I'm a terrible role-model, I know). It's okay to level up a bunch of classes to level 10 or so to try them out, but it's important that you stick to one and get to max level with it. Pick the one you like best. I'll have more information about choosing your class in another post.

4. When you get to max level, it may be a good idea to save up so you can splurge on Heirloom gear. Heirlooms make it easier to level up subsequent characters because they give you an experience and power boost. If you plan on leveling more characters, Heirlooms are a must after your first level 90!

5. Don't buy gear from NPC vendors early on. Most of the time the name of the gear is colored gray, which means that it's junk. Even if the gear has a green name, it is more prudent to not purchase it. You'll earn plenty of green-name gear from questing.

6. Do try queuing for dungeons during your early levels. If you hate them, you don't have to do them often. Do them at least a couple times though. If you ever feel like doing dungeons/raiding at max level, you'll likely feel a bit more comfortable having done some easier ones in the past. It's better to go into a raid knowing a tiny bit of what to expect, rather than nothing at all.

7. Don't try tanking or healing on your first character. It may sound like a lot of fun, but it's probably better off to get the traditional questing over first, get heirlooms, and then try it. Heirlooms will make it easier, and DPS is the simplest role to start with. Tanking and healing can be very stressful, and other players can be very disrespectful towards them with little provocation.

8. You get your first talent point at level 15. You'll get another talent point at level 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, and, once WoD hits, 100. Talents are basically like extra skills you can choose to have, or things that augment already existing skills.

9. Starting on 10/14/14, essential Major Glyphs will be automatically taught to you, and you can apply them without spending anything. You can purchase any other Glyphs you may need (including Minor Glyphs) off of other players through the Auction House (which can be found in any racial capital). Glyphs are what you can use to augment your skills and customize. Some classes may have more Major Glyphs that are considered "required" than others. Minor Glyphs are generally for aesthetic purposes only, although there are some with legitimate uses.

10. To figure out what talents, glyphs, and stats you need, I recommend checking out your class on Icy Veins. You can generally find your class by searching on a search engine like this: icyveins [spec] [class]. So, for example, I can search "icyveins shadow priest," or "icyveins windwalker monk." Acronyms for your spec and class often work as well, such as "icyveins demo lock." This website will tell you everything you need to know about builds and your ability rotation.

11. When you first get into the game, there are a couple of settings you'll probably want to set up. If you go into your options menu, and then Interface, there's a whole bunch of options to mess with. Under Controls, there's an option for Auto Loot. You may want to make sure that has a check next to it. It makes picking up items that much simpler. Under ActionBars, I highly advise checking on Bottom Left Bar, Bottom Right Bar, Right Bar, and Right Bar 2. As well as Lock ActionBars. I keep my Pick Up Action Key on SHIFT, which means I can move the skills on my bars by holding down Shift and then clicking. Finally, some may want to go into Social and turn on the Mature Language Filter and Spam Filter.

12. Always log out in an Inn. Having a Rested bonus really helps in leveling, and you'll learn to appreciate it.

13. Try to participate in seasonal events. A lot of them give useful bonuses and items. Also, you may want them someday.

14. Do your Darkmoon Faire games every month. You'll regret not having enough prize tickets when you actually want something (like heirlooms!). You can get to Darkmoon Faire through a portal in Goldshire (Alliance) or right by Thunder Bluff (Horde). I think all the racial capitals have Darkmoon Mages who will teleport you there for a fee as well.

15. Speaking of Darkmoon Faire, you don't have to run back to the Cannon whenever you play the Cannon game. There's a Gnome fishing right near the target. Talk to him to have him teleport you back for a fee.

16. You don't have to do every single quest. For the most part, it's okay to leave a zone when you reach the maximum recommended level for it (i.e. leaving Westfall at level 15). That said, you will miss out on a bit of storyline, completion, and you'll have more backtracking if you ever decide that you want the Loremaster achievement.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll likely add more later.

Really enjoying my Mage

My Mage is now level 43.
Not much else to say except that I'm really enjoying Arcane.

I always read that Arcane was boring, but I'm really, really enjoying it!

Introducing my level 30 Mage :)

I've been leveling a Mage today. Having a bit of fun with it, which is new, because I hadn't been enjoying Mages recently.

I figured out why!
I had been thinking that Fire sounded like a fun spec, but I respecced to Arcane at about level 26, and it's a much better fit. My original Mage (level 47 or so) was Arcane, and I enjoyed her, so I guess this makes sense, right?

I'm pretty sure that I'm a terrible Mage. I die if I'm not careful, and I have to eat after nearly every enemy. I got Temporal Shield as my level 30 talent because IcyVeins said to, but I really don't like it. It hasn't helped me at all. I'm thinking of switching to Flameglow, because the passive absorb sounds much better than a 4 second shield that I can only activate every 25 seconds. Temporal Shield just isn't working for me. Plus, I think it wasn't there on the beta, so I'll only have it for, what, three more days until the pre-patch hits?
Yeah, switching to Flameglow.

Presence of Mind (the level 15 talent) is another one that is giving me issues. It was super useful as Fire, so I could actually get a Pyroblast off every once in a while. I just reread the IcyVeins for Arcane, and it turns out that the reason why it isn't useful is because it's not advised for Arcane (I still had it left over from Fire spec). I knew Ice Floes sounded more useful!

Anyway, I can't tell if I'm just a bad Mage, or if Mages are just THAT squishy to the point where I need to eat after every enemy, and just barely make it though "boss" enemies. In Stonetalon there's a quest where you have to kill three Horde generals in a row, and let's just say that I died in between each one. I'd kill one, the next would spawn and kill me. Run back to my body, eat, attack the next one, and repeat.

I'm mildly worried for the prepatch in a couple days. I've been reading mixed things about how leveling goes. On beta, I only leveled a low level to about 5 or so, with no issues whatsoever. From what I'm reading, the trouble doesn't start until a bit later. I'm hoping it won't be too difficult. On the forums people were saying that it's similar to Lich King leveling (except faster, obviously, because Cata).
I started playing in Lich King. I did not enjoy leveling in Lich King.

My gear is bad, I think. I haven't been getting many upgrades from quests or anything, sadly.
Haven't gotten any glyphs yet because I'd just assume wait until the prepatch (are the auto-learning glyphs coming then too? I can't remember).

Gear:

Tattered Dreadmist Mask, Northwatch Amulet, Faerie Mantle, Ancient Bloodmoon Cloak, Falathim-Washed Robes, Negotiator's Armbands, Narassin's Gloves, Singleton Sash, Tattered Dreadmist Leggings, Quiet Slippers, Jalin's Recompense, Mine Sealer's Ring, Earthborn Staff

I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten a new staff since Darkshore. Just saying.
And yes, I know my necklace has Strength on it, thank you. It's the only necklace I've got through questing so far. Figured I might as well equip it since it has Stamina on it, at least. I will of course swap it out for something with Intellect as soon as I get something with Intellect.

Things that I'm most excited about for WoD

Just wanted to make this list. Please be aware that I am far from a hardcore player, and have no delusions of being one (okay, maybe delusions, but I know I'm not). I know that some (perhaps a lot) of people will not agree with my opinions. That's fine. I like these things. You don't have to :)

Oh, and these are in no particular order.

• New Human Female models. I know people don't like the new faces, but I love them. The faces have so much more emotion! The high-eyebrows don't bother me too much, and the old faces just never had any personality to me. I mean, a couple of them did, but things get old when you use the same face for every character, which was what I was doing. These ones are all slightly different. They have different expressions, and I love them. I feel like I can actually make the characters I want with them!
• New Night Elf Female models. I love them. I never used to like playing Night Elves because I didn't like them. Now I do. Face 1 is wonderful.
• New Troll Female models. If I play ever play Horde again, I'm making all my characters Trolls. They're gorgeous.
• Ability pruning. I log onto the beta and rearranging my buttons is still a core, just, perhaps, less of one. I honestly don't see the big deal, but I main a Shadow Priest, and we didn't get hit bad, so there's that. I've been messing with the classes I've never maxed before (so, everything but Priest and Monk), and I can pick it up just fine. Then again, I don't know what I'm missing, right?
• Claws of Shiravva level 100 talent for Feral Druids. Looks pretty cool. It would be nice if they implement a glyph that lets us keep the perk of the new form (any non-combat spells are usable while transformed) but still keep the appearance of Cat form. Not because I don't like the new form, because I do, but I'm guessing that some people really won't like it replacing Cat.
• Lone Wolf level 100 talent for Hunters. This is what I've always wanted. Hunter without the pet. I love archer classes, I really do; I hate pet classes. This will let me still be viable without having a pet. I desperately need a level 90 Hunter now. If only you could get the talent at an earlier level than max.
• Tanaan Jungle opening questline is fantastic.
• I kind of love Yrel.
• Automatically learning some essential Glyphs while leveling sounds like a great addition.
• Demonic Servitude level 100 talent for Warlocks sounds useful. Probably. I don't know anything about Warlocks.
• On the topic of Warlocks, they have a level 100 Talent called Cataclysm. Warlocks can summon an expansion?
• Shadow Reflection level 100 talent for Rogues sounds wicked interesting.
• I love the idea of Followers. I haven't messed with Followers or Garrisons too much since I want to experience it fresh when the game comes out officially, so I don't know much about it. Sounds like the system in Assassins Creed II: Brotherhood, which I really enjoyed.
• Prismatic Crystal level 100 Mage talent sounds really, really interesting, but it also sounds clumsy, so I'm not sure about it.
• Quests so far seem fun.
• The new glow for objectives (replacing the sparkles) is a lot easier to see, in my opinion.
• Hair pretty much looks better for everyone.
• Female Dwarves now wear bras under their armor (better physics, yay!).
• Being able to bring certain Followers with you questing sounds wonderful.

There's really only two things that I'm still iffy on:
Lack of flying (let me get into that, don't kill me just yet), and the new Draenei female faces.

Let me start with the easier one: the faces.
I don't know, something just doesn't look right about them. It's not the eyes, per se, since on the level 100 realm my Shaman came with a mask by default, so I can just see the eyes. The eyes look great. It might be the proportions of the face, or perhaps the shape of the face itself? Not sure. The lips look a bit weird as well. It feels like it's some minor detail throwing me off.

As for flying, I think I've explained my stance on this before. I support flight at level 100 because when I first started playing, flight was what inspired me to level. Don't ask why, it just did. Ever since then, I enjoy getting on my mount and just flying around. Half the time I forget to mount up while questing anyway. I just like seeing the view. I don't enjoy my surroundings on the ground, because I'm too worried about running into enemies.
When I'm on the ground I'm in serious-mode. When I'm in the air, I'm looking around at the pretty surroundings.
That said, I'll see how it works out.

Which character to level?

Ok, so I really, really want a new level 90. Not going to boost it, but I want to see how far I can get before WoD arrives.

As you may know, I have 3 level 90 characters:
Theeriyi: Pandaren Monk (Windwalker/Mistweaver)
Toyosatomimi: Human Priest (Shadow/Discipline)
Quintella: Forsaken Priest (Shadow/Holy) (RP character, mostly)

My options are:

Yuyuko: Level 58 Draenei Death Knight (Frost/Unholy)
Gensokyo: Level 30 Draenei Shaman (Elemental/Restoration)
Toramaru: Level 27 Human Paladin (Holy/going to be Retribution)
Whispereith: Level 10 Night Elf Mage (Fire/going to be Arcane)
Rowenellia: Level 10 Worgen Druid (Feral/going to be Balance)
Momizi: Level 10 Human Warrior (Fury/going to be Arms)
Archanique: Level 1 Human Warlock (going to be Destruction/Affliction)
Bunnise: Level 1 Gnome Rogue (going to be Subtlety/Assassination)
Kaenbyou: Level 1 Dwarf Hunter (going to be Survival/Marksmanship)

I've been doing a few dungeons every day on Toramaru, trying to level her that way, but it's taking too long for my liking. Might go do some more in a minute though.
When I get bored of dungeons though, who do I play as? I'm leaning towards my Mage, Warrior, and Warlock, but then, my Rogue and Hunter also sound fun.

I'm so bad at this whole leveling thing.

Has anyone ever attempted a Touhou-inspired Transmog?

Just was messing around with the addon MogIt today trying to think of good sets. I've been making and remaking a character named Toramaru, but I can't seem to decide on a class that would fit. I know she's going to be a jewelcrafter though. At first, I was thinking Feral Druid, but then I'd have to be a Night Elf/Worgen/Troll/Tauren, so that's out. I know I want her to be a human, because humans have the hairstyle I want on her.
Next thought was Hunter, because I could get a pet tiger and name it Shou, but I just can't get into a Hunter for some reason.
Attempt 3 is Paladin. Probably Holy because I've never found myself enjoying Retribution, and there's no way I'm going to learn how to tank. Just sayin'. Tried it once with a Protection Warrior. Never again. I didn't have a bad experience with it or anything, it's just far too stressful for me.

Anyway, I was messing around with transmog ideas for her (it inspires me to try and work on the character more!), because I had made a rather nice one for Hunter-Toramaru, but I think I've come up with a decent one for plate armor. Not my first choice in leg pieces, but I wanted a skirt, and there are hardly any plate ones.

The gear itself, I'm hoping is still obtainable/exists. I haven't checked it properly yet, so I'm just going with the information MogIt is giving me. So, with luck, this stuff still exists in the game. Unlike a lot of sets that I like, that all happened to be LFR specific. Why are the color combinations I like always LFR versions? So sad.

Anyway:

I forgot a helm because I forgot. I'd probably have it turned off anyway though, so it doesn't really matter. Same with the cloak.

Pauldrons: Lightbringer Pauldrons
Chest: Gilded Crimson Chestplate
Shirt: Wound Dressing
Wrists: Battlescar Spirebands
Hands: Conqueror's Aegis Gauntlets (oh, wait, it says Conquerors. Does that mean it's PvP? Whoops, need to find new gloves for this, if so)
Waist: Forgemaster's Shattered Shackle
Legs: Judgement Legplates
Feet: Myrmidon's Treads

Don't know what weapons a Holy Paladin is likely to use endgame, so I guessed/messed with whatever ones looked most appealing at the time.

One-handed Sword: Renataki's Soul Slicer
Off-hand: Lamp of Peaceful Radiance