Capturing a Princess

During my quest to find new unique pets to add to my collection, I made my way over to the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj in search of the famous Princess Huhuran. This large silithid wasp is the fourth boss in the once epic AQ 40 dungeon. With the help of a friend I found her floating around a large room all by herself. I was able to tame her without much trouble.

She was named after Sarah Kerrigan from the Starcraft series, just in case anyone out there didn't think I was legit. Yes I have SC2 installed on my computer... and so what if I haven't actually played it yet. Shush. One thing I love the most about this pet is her size. Unlike so many pets I've come across she doesn't shrink and keeps her huge frame. I'm not sure you would want to use her in PvP as she makes for a pretty good target and she definitely isn't recommend for tighter instances as I found out while doing heroic Shadowfang Keep. She does take up a lot of space but for larger dungeons she is awesome and I recommend any hunter at level 85 test out their new camouflage skill and tame this beauty.

Preparing for Raids

Granted it's been less than a week since I hit 85 but already I'm looking ahead to making preparations for when I raid. I am still a few weeks away, maybe a little longer, maybe a little less from getting all my gear to that level but you can never start working towards that goal to soon. I also don't have a guild that would include me in any raids but to me that's just minor details right now. I've been hitting up heroics a lot recently, it's amazing what a gamble these turn out to be. Waiting 30-40 minutes does cut into my game time and having 2 of every 3 groups eventually disband due to wipes is frustrating. I've done my part by reading up and learning the bosses of each instance to the best of my ability. I figure if I know what I'm doing than that cuts the percentage of failure down a little. I've compiled my desired list for pre-raiding and I will be listing a few secondary options as well. This is based off my own perspective and doesn't necessary mean it's the best possible option for each slot. If you're not a hunter, I apologize as this blog entry will be completely boring and usless to you. Don't forget to take into account these items would need to be reforged to suit your own character.

* Pre-Raiding Check List *

Helm
1st) Wildhammer Riding Helm (H) - General Umbriss (Grim Batol)
2nd) Worgen's Hunter Helm (H) - Lord Godfrey (Shadowfang Keep)

Neck
1st) Pendant of the Lightless Grotto (H) - Ozruk (Stonecore)
2nd) Acorn of the Daughter Tree - Guardians of Hyjal (Revered)



Shoulders
1st) Bloodpetal Mantle (H) - Ammunae (Halls of Origination)
2nd) Wrap of the Valley Glades - Justice Points (1,650)


Back
1st) Dory's Finery - Random World Drop
2nd) Twitching Shadows (H) - Lord Obsidius (Blackrock Caverns)
3rd) Cape of the Brotherhood (H) - Captain Cookie (Deadmines)


Chest
1st) Wentletrap Vest - Neptulan's Cache (Throne of the Tides)
2nd) Vest of the True Companion - Justice Points (2,200)


Wrist
1st) Bracers of Some Consequence (H) - Vanessa Van Cleef (Deadmines)
2nd)  Elementium Scale Bracers (H) - Ozruk (Stonecore


Hands
1st) Traitor's Grips (H) - Baron Ashbury (Shadowfang Keep)
2nd) Wrasse Handwraps (H) - Lady Naz'jar (Throne of the Tides)

Waist

1st) Corded Viper Belt - Crafted (Leatherworking)
2nd) Belt of the Dim Forest - Justice Points (1,650)


Legs
1st) Balkar's Waders (H) - Prophet Barim (Lost City)
2nd) Hillside Striders - Justice Points (2,200)


Feet
1st) Treads of Malorne - Guardians of Hyjal (Exalted)
2nd) Moccasins of Verdurous Glooms - Valor Points (1,650)

Rings:
1st) Nautilus Ring (H) - Neptune's Cache (Throne of the Tides)
2nd) Ring of Dun Algaz (H) - Forgemaster Throngus (Grim Batol)
3rd) Ring of Blinding Stars (H) - Isiset (Hall of Origination)
4th) Skullcracker Ring (H) - Rom'ogg Bonecrusher (Blackrock Caverns)


Trinket:
1st) Fluid Death - Valor Points (1,650)
2nd) Tia's Grace (H) - Siamat (Lost City)
3rd) Key to Endless Chamber (H) - Corborus (Stonecore) [CHECK]


Ranged:
1st) Kickback 5000 - Crafted (Engineering) [CHECK]
2nd) Amber Messenger (H) - Lord Obsidius (Blackrock Caverns)


Two Hand:
1st) Rockslicer (H) - Admiral Ripsnarl (Deadmines)

2nd) Seliza's Spear (H) - General Husam (Lost City)




So there you have it, my checklist. I recommend always doing research regardless of what class you are before doing heroics. I think once you do the daily random for the Valor Points you should aim for the instances that drop the gear you need. My list is with 99% performance in mind and 1% of how cool I will look! Have fun out there and good luck!

Gotta Catch Them All

I have Bieber Fever! No that's definitely not true, what I have is an addiction to taming pets. Call it Pokemon-syndrome or call it what you will, as a Hunter I have 25 stable slots available and I plan to use them all on the 25 best pets within the game. What I will do when I finally get these 25 pets, I have no idea, but for now it's certainly keeping me busy during the 30-40 minute waits between heroic queues. One thing I've enjoyed about camping rare spawns is the time I get to admire my Time-Lost Proto Drake as I'm flying around. Sure it sounds a little self absorbed but the novelty has yet to wear off. Also a side bonus has been the flower picking. Dakona is capped at 525 in Herbalism, and as a casual herbalist has picked over 500 herbs while camping rares. In fact leveling my Alchemy which is currently 495 is high up there on the agenda with all these unused herbs sitting in my bags.

I stuck around Twilight Highlands following my Sambas tame. I've been on a rather lucky streak of late and I wanted to see if that would carry over as I tried to find Karoma. As is often the case I save my camping til the off hours, usually between 1am and 8am. I enjoy the light traffic and feel my odds are increased if they do spawn. So similar to Sambas it only took a few nights until I bumped into Karoma during the wee hours of the morning. No fruit loop magic this time.

 I named him Serendipity, don't ask why, maybe it was because I had just watched the film a few days prior or maybe because I can't get my head around how it's possible to tame a spirit wolf. I'm sure if I took more time to ponder I would of found hundreds of better names given my fascination with tribal names and the spirit wolf being the ultimate gimmie. Serendipity "is a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated". It would of made for a better blog entry had I been looking for Sambas and found Karoma, but if my adventures become so boring that I have to start making things up... well I might have to stop blogging.

In other news, I'm proud to say Dakona now has three pieces of heroic gear and only has a few pieces left under 333 item level. I am definitely liking some heroics a lot more than others and will put out a review next week after I have a chance to endure them a few more times.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

It hasn't been all lollipops and rainbows since hitting 85. I found out I needed an item level score of 329 before I could do heroics so I spent the last few days chipping away at that and have now finally been able to begin heroics. Spec'd in survival has been an adjustment but I'm slowing making process and my rankings on the damage meter is slowly increasing. Also increasing is my frustration level. Admittedly I don't have the most experience in trapping but I do have experience with it from The Burning Crusades era. I have now had two different situations where I have been blamed for pulling and trap failure. I learned that if I don't get my trap down before the tank pulls my chances of getting that mob trapped are very slim with all the AOE. So getting that trap down right when the tank is about to pull is stressful. I continue to ask for the tank to let me know when he's ready for me to trap but with so much trash in some instances there is always room for catastrophe. So I cannot say I am enjoying my heroic experience to date. People are just dying for an excuse to say "huntard". I can handle it.

However, my spirits have been lifted. I have been trying out different pets since I cannot use any of my exotic ones. I did think about Balto my lovely but he is so old now I've decided to let him rest in the stable as he drifts into his twilight years. I started out with Oceania my Angered Arakkoa Protector.

She is a lovely bird, as lovely as two headed ones go at least but I just wasn't feeling the connection. I decided to start hanging out in Twilight Highlands hoping to run into Sambas. I wasn't able to get the camping time in that I wanted cause of annoyances like work and social duties so I started camping a spot I thought was lucky, turning the NPCscan up loud and going to bed, assuming when he spawned the alarm would go off and I would jump out of bed for the tame. Sambas has 5 different spawn points so of course I was gambling. I did this for two nights, waking only once as some Alliance hunter was shooting me (I was flying to low) and I realized this probably wasn't going to be the best method. Monday morning after waking up I did a quick lap and settled into my spot. I went downstairs to get some Fruit Loops and when I came back I decided to do another lap while I waited for the milk to make them a little softer. Didn't see anything on my way through but on the way back my NPCscan went off. He was hard to spot since he doesn't stand out and is rather small. I trapped him and tamed him quite easily and was ecstatic to say the least.

 I named him Pryde which my friend Gokes said was cheesy but he is named after my favorite Marvel character Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat. He's instantly becomes my main pet and I've been really impressed as he reminds me a lot of Balto (Echeyakee) from the good ol' days.

Dakona finally hits 85!

I was hoping for fireworks... and maybe little gnomes to pop out of the ground and start dancing while we all did a slow motion high five together but alas a little high five to myself had to suffice. After grinding out level 84 (which seemed to be the most grueling) in Deepholm, I headed to Uldum for a bit on Wednesday night. I stayed for about an hour but couldn't get into the groove and wasn't enjoying myself. The quests didn't seem to flow as well as they did in Deepholm so I headed to Twilight Highlands while I inched my way closer to level 85. I ended up questing with a friend down the final stretch which definitely kept me motivated as Thursday night rolled over into Friday morning. All and all it wasn't to bad considering I've never been a fan of questing in the past.

I thought getting to 85 was the hard part cause no one told me what was waiting for me when I got there. Freshly noobed out at 85 I thought for sure I would be jumping straight into heroics. WRONG. Apparently you need to be a certain item level to even get into heroics, so I'm stuck doing regular instances until my gear is suitable. On the bright side it will allow me more practice at my new spec which I have no experience with. When I leveled from 80-85, I was spec'd in Beast Mastery, my favorite by far for two reasons:1) it allows me to let my pet do most of the work which for me is a good thing since I can then relax and take my time, and 2) more importantly it allows me to use Exotic pets, which in turn allows me to quest with my bestest friend in the whole world, Duck. But alas those days are temporarily suspended as I will now be spec'd in Survival, currently the best raiding spec.

My shooting rotation also had to change. I currently use Explosive Shot first with Black Arrow and Arcane Shot secondary. I use Cobra Shot in between as it regenerats my focus which seems to always be empty. I also make sure I use Kill Shot as soon as it's available. It's not a complex rotation, pretty simple once you find your groove.

My talent tree looks like this.

With the arrival of the latest patch around the corner this will probably all go out the window as the rumor seems to indicate that Marksmanship will bring the most DPS to hunters in raids. But for now I will be using this spec as I break into heroics and begin upgrading my gear. With any luck it will keep me in groups long enough to actually get gear. One slight tiny problem I've encountered so far... I can't use any of my favorite pets. All my cool pets that I love are either exotic which I can't use unless I'm spec'd Beast Mastery or are tenacity pets which I can't use since they are more for "tanking" rather than DPS. So I will definitely be looking into this ASAP!

Keeping it in the Family

One thing that I know for sure... finding pets in Northrend definitely a lot easier than the new Cataclysm areas. Also very peaceful for the most part. Dalaran is quite eerie now, I felt like I was in "I Am Legend" as I walked around, almost worse than Shattrath City. I had a few pets I still wanted to get on my list. One place I wasn't looking forward to going was back to Sholazar Basin, but I headed over anyways to see if I could spot any rares. Already having Loque'nahak I figured I had the hardest one already taken care of so as I circled around I was only really looking for Aotona and King Krush. I bumped into another Hunter I had met a few weeks back when I was looking for Gondria and he told me he had been looking for Loque'nahak for several hours. I told him I'd keep an eye out for him and he said he'd do the same for the others. I ended up logging Dakona out in the middle of Sholazar and brought my Rogue over to do some mining while I kept checking spawn points. Within 30 minutes I got a message telling me to come quick King Krush was up, and I quickly logged back on Dakona and flew over. Missing King Krush was impossible, this T-Rex looking thing is a monster before it's tamed. I quickly tamed him quite easily after only 1 fear and ta-da he was mine.

I named him Littlefoot after the Land Before Time movie which I still watch every time I see it on T.V. As you can see he is still quite large which I think is very cool. I ended up helping my Hunter friend look for Loque'nahak again (the least I could do) until he eventually turned in for bed. I'm not a big fan of birds personally so getting Aotona was never something high on my priority list so I decided instead to head out to the Grizzly Hills to catch what I figured would be the easiest spirit beast to tame, the mighty bear Arcturis. With only one spawn point how could you go wrong but listening to your mount's wings flap for 8 hours straight can drive you nuts. I actually took a nap in between with NPCscan turned up high so it would wake me but I ended up being there when he spawned at 6:00 am as I ate my Fruit Loops

I had this name reserved for awhile as it is one of my favorite names. Nanook is the Inuit word  for polar bear which was the master of all bears. They believed Nanook decided if hunters deserved success in hunting bears. Hopefully Nanook thinks I'm worthy.

The night would of ended there had I not logged back on my Rogue to move her from Sholazar Basin to Orgrimmar to smelt that ore she got and would you believe there sitting at the South Central spawn point was Loque'nahak strolling along? I couldn't make this up if I wanted to. I checked my friends list to see if that Hunter was online, he wasn't and at 6:00 am there were no hunters in Sholazar Basin. I thought about killing it briefly but as a Hunter I just couldn't do it. No hunters in the guild online, I did a quick /who hunter and began asking random people if they wanted to tame him. Between AFK responses and no responses at all I went looking for my friend on AOL who had helped me with my turtle remembering he only needed Loque'nahak for his final kill for the Frostbitten achievement. Not something I condone but I owe him. No response there either, I was beginning to find this all humorous. I even thought about taming him myself but seriously how big of a spoiled brat would I look if I was going around with two Loque'nahak's? I finally came up with the idea of getting on my friend Cassie's hunter and taming it for her. So that is what I did. I logged on her account and with no flight plans... flew from Warsong Hold to Sholazar and tamed easily, again all done with not a person in sight. Logged on 5:00 pm that night to break the tough news to my Hunter friend as him and 6 other hunters did laps. This game is full of ups and down.

Retribution!

I've been MIA for a few days so as you may have figured I'm bringing a little drama with me today. The weekend proved to be very busy but also very rewarding. Friday night I was very close to having a QQ party for myself. Sticking to my pledge to be 83 by the weekend I put in some solid hours and got there by Friday night. Having decided that I hate fighting crap under water, I got out of Vashj'ir once I had my under water mount quest done. I went to Deepholm to snoop around but it's very dark there and kinda scary. It was also midnight as well which didn't help the creepy vibe so I went back to Orgrimmar to be around people. I've been fiddling around with my interface a lot lately. Cursed and wowinterface are really good websites and I used youtube to get an idea of what they'd look like. I decided I'd head over and idle around Terrorpene's spawn point while I was messing around with my UI. One thing I noticed very quickly was how much traffic was in that area. I couldn't believe how many level 85's were just hanging out. They weren't hunters and they weren't fishing, they just came in the lava pit area and hung out for a bit before moving on. Paranoia tells me they might be taking a peek for Terrorpene but killing Terrorpene doesn't contribute to any achievement and could the 25g it drops really be enough incentive to make the trip all the way over here? I definately did not enjoy the company I was once seeking an hour previous. As 3:00am came around there were still 10-15 Horde players in Mount Hyjal, so I guessed times that by two if I included the Alliance side. That's up from about 5 that I usually see on a week day at this hour so I knew possible competition had been increased but I did feel good that I didn't see any hunters in the area since I had arrived. Around 3:30am I heard my NPCscan go off as I was changing the channel on my T.V. and I rushed over to my computer and saw the dot on my minimap right away. Flying hard towards it I could see sparks and spells going off from a distance. As soon as it came into focus I saw a level 85 mage fireballing it with all its might. I immediately started typing "Don't Kill It" which came out closer to "dpfnt mill it". He gave me a "?" but never paused for a second in his combat. A second later Terrorpene was dead and within 3 days I had watched two level 85s kill him while I watched from the sidelines helplessly. I was so angry when it happened, asking why's as if I expected some rational answer other than "cause I felt like it". He LOL's and portaled while I fumed. Too pissed off to even take a screen shot. I cried about it to some people and got back very little sympathy. Apparently this pity party was just a table for one. I went to bed soon after, mumbling and stewing as I fell asleep.

I slept til 4:00 pm the next day, 12 hours after the kill. I had plans Saturday night so I didn't even bother logging on. I went out to run some errands, showered, got ready and around 7:00 pm while waiting for my hair to dry I logged on, just so I could idle while I was pottering around my room. Would you believe it... once again the NPCscan goes off. I rushed over and saw him below me right away. Out of panic I quickly tagged him with a concussive shot (did nothing) and he returned the hello with a 10k hit before my pet could even get aggro on him. The plan was to put my pet on him to take the early fire blast hits and then I would dismiss and tame. Sounded good in my head except I didn't realize this turtle could sit there spamming a 10k fire blast at you all day if it wanted. I couldn't even get my pet dismissed before it was down and I followed quickly after another 2 hits from my new friend. Soon as I was down I went into acceptance mode almost sure by the time I got back there would be someone else there but as I arrived I did not see anyone. Round 2, I took my time a little more although I was still nervous and kept one eye on the sky for any new joiners. I sent my pet in and allowed it to get aggro while I kept mend pet refreshed. I tried to stall as long as I could to let my health get back up (no bandages ready for this huntard). When I saw I was losing the healing battled I flasked, hit life blood, deterrence and haste trinket before dismissing pet and began taming. It was definitely my best attempt but I lost the race to a turtle and was dead again. Now I'm really flustered and can't believe no one else has noticed he's up. For 7:00 pm on a Saturday with 30-40 people in the area, I was getting every chance the WoW gods could allow to make good on this and I was realizing very fast how I should of waited til I was 85 to get him. I got on AOL trying to track down a friend I thought might help. I spammed "come heal me, turtle up" and by luck alone he got the bat signal and was on his way. Keep in mind he had to start WoW, log on, and get his 81 Shaman to Mount Hyjal, all while I was sitting there hoping no one else would come. I did get ancy waiting and made a 3rd attempt, big mistake, now my res timer was a full 2 minutes. My Shaman friend arrived and as I tamed he healed. But the heals were interrupting my tame cast and soon we were both dead. Another 2 minutes for the res timer and I am now completely fustrated. I can't tame the bloody thing, its been about 10 minutes since he spawned and no one else has noticed and I know that isn't gonna hold out much longer. I knew I wasn't gonna give up til my gear was all red and I clicked on anything clickable as we went in for another attempt. I still don't know what he did to keep me alive cause I had my eyes closed for most of it but whatever he did worked and after the emotional roller-coaster he was finally mine.

I called him Diesel because up close he looks more like a truck than a turtle but he was definitely worth the aggravation. I now have 5 pets left in this new content I want to tame, all rares of coarse but I've decided I will definitely be waiting until I'm 85 before I begin that journey. I may however go back to Northred to see if I can find a few more family members. As for that Mage who killed Terrorpene the night before, I bumped into him in Orgrimmar Sunday night while he was browsing the auction house. I made sure I put Diesel right up on top of the auction house NPC so he couldn't miss it. Nothing like a little retribution before bed.

Signature

Oh Fustrations!

Ok I know I'm suppose to be leveling but it's after midnight and I figured what better time to go for a lucky Terrorpene taming then when there's no one else around. I decided to head over and take a look, and as I'm approaching my NPCscan goes off and I go into instant excitment mode, which lasted a total of 2 seconds as I saw this...

I see some level 85 shaman mounting up as I arrive and I'm quite pissed off knowing there is no reason other than sheer boredom for anyone to kill this pet. I asked him why he killed it, to which he replied, "It was talking %@&# to me." I realized then this guy was off his meds and didn't pursue any more conversation. Tough pill to swallow but at level 82 he would be a challenge to tame, even with my elixir and deterrence popped. More incentive to keep leveling but I will definitely be coming back to settle this score.

Am I Getting Fat?

Sure I've been a little heavy on the snacks this week but a girl needs her energy, especially camping those illusive rare pets but this is ridiculous! With a body like this I'll have to start forgoing the flying mount and start questing by foot. Good news is I officially completed all the quests I could find in Mount Hyjal, so now I'm off to Vashj'ir for a bit before I head to Deepholm. With any luck I'll be 83 by the end of the weekend.

Questing Sucks!

No rant here, I don't think anyone really enjoys questing. I did hit 82! Exciting stuff as my current pace of one level per week is a personal best. Small embarrassing realization today. Mount Hyjal is infact the same Hyjal as before Cataclysm. This breakthrough came as I stumbled into Ashenvale during a quest. All and all I have enjoyed my time in Mount Hyjal, I even got a new companion pet to add to my collection. I may end up staying here a little longer, I have my eye on taming Terrorpene although at my current level I may be in over my head, apparently he hits like a truck.

 I think I'll be heading to Vashj'ir next, if only to do the quests that will allow me to breathe underwater and obtain one of those underwater mounts for when I try to track down Ghostcrawler. Leveling as BM has been great, no issues with mob killing. I am excited for the changes with the new patch, I was not looking forward to learning how to be an SV hunter when I hit 85. I still think I won't be able to avoid the enviable. Oh and I found a new hobby! I like to go back to The Storm Peaks and give false hope to Alliance members by flying around on my Time-Lost Proto Drake. It's kinda mean but I've been ganked enough over the years to have my conscience clear.

A Big Surprise!

So I left a big cliff hanger at the end of my blog last night fully knowing the 5 people who probably read it between then and now would be frantically checking my blog waiting for my story to be finished. Well I can't let you suffer anymore friends! Actually the real reason I didn't add this to my blog was cause of the whole content factor. Stuff doesn't usually happen to me very often but this blog must be my lucky charm cause it has been exciting lately. I digress....

Picking up from the story last night, I had just tamed two spirit beasts and was still feeling the high even though it was 2:00 am. Storm Peaks were looking rather dead so I decided to continue picking some flowers since I was there. I started heading towards where Dirkee spawns just out of boredom. As I was coming over the hill towards Snowdrift Plains my NPCscan went off scaring the crap out of me and I couldn't believe what I saw...

I immediately panicked and dismounted trying to shoot it from the ground... bad idea. I realized that wasn't going to work so I mounted up and flew into it until I got his attention. Bringing him to the ground it was just basic click click kill from there. Being as it was 2:00 am there was no one to brag all this to I kept the celebration contained in my room.. I did a little dance, made a little love, ya know basically got down tonight. I took a few pictures and headed to Orgrimmar to show off my new Time-Lost Proto Drake, unfortunately no one seemed to care. I tried again around noon with a bigger audience and some guy came by on his Mimiron's Head to give me a reality check, reminding me I wasn't THAT cool.

 Overall I'm still pretty happy, I have my flying mount I can feel proud in, I just need a ground mount now to match but I'm working on some ideas. Oh and if you're wondering if I was planning on staying 81 forever, the answer is no. I know, I know, I've been preoccupied of late but leveling is  now priority #1 this weekend. I plan to do more than just show and tell here, I promise!

Two More Members Join The Family

Last night was incredible! It was full of emotional roller coasters and excitement. Let me first introduce two new members to the Dakona family. After getting Duck (Loque'nahak) I figured my next trip should be out to Zul'Drak where Gondria spawns. His spawn points are a little closer together than Loque'nahaks are in Sholazar Basin so I was looking forward to putting in less effort. Turns out it's about the same, little less distance between the spawn points but the path you travel takes a bit more concentration, which also could of been a result of me watching 30 Rock on DVD while flying. (Just in case you're wondering, it was a Christmas gift, not an official fan yet). After about an hour I came across Terror Spinner. I thought briefly about taming it, but after getting a closer look it just grossed me out to much. I hate spiders so I did what I always do when I find one... I killed it. I  heard spiders are good for PvP but who are we kidding, I'm not going to PvP anytime soon. After another hour of searching I took a little break and headed to the Grizzly Hills to see if Arcturis was around, he's the spirit beast bear. When I got there I noticed another Hunter was camping above his spawn point so we chatted for a few minutes and I headed back to Zul'Drak. As I was entering the zone I noticed a yellow dot out of place, and immediately I swooped down and there she was.

Being 81 she was pretty easy to tame, I even had a near by cat attacking me at the same time and it did nothing to disrubt the taming process. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I was pretty excited to get Hannai, she looks like some mystic saber tooth tiger, so beautiful . I guess I was feeling the effects of the adrenaline rush although it could of had something to do with my messed up sleeping pattern of late, but I knew even though it was 1:00 am there was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep. So I decided to try my luck out in The Storm Peaks hoping maybe since no one else was there from the Horde side I might get lucky and find Skoll. I hit all the spawn points and rested near Brunhildar Village where I've been told he spawns a lot these days. I did a quick Time Lost Proto Drake lap to see if it was my lucky night and after a full loop had made my way back to Brunhildar Village where there pacing back and forth was Skoll!

I had to chuckle, this one almost felt too easy. I was all prepared for the challenge of a 12 hour keep awake-a-thon but I was definitely happy nonetheless. To get two spirit beasts in one night put me over the moon. I named him "Amarok", which is the name of a gigantic wolf in Inuit mythology. It is said to hunt down and devour anyone foolish enough to hunt alone at night. Unlike real wolves who hunt in packs, Amarok hunts alone, like me. I thought it was fitting since I rarely play during the day and always find myself playing late at night when most are sleeping. So after two spirit beasts in one night I knew I'd be up for awhile longer so I grabbed another diet Coke and started picking flowers in Storm Peaks since I was already here. What I didn't expect was what happend next.

Overqualified

I thought this was pretty funny :)

A New Family Member Arrives!

Well after a night of disappointment (and a few empty chip bags) I headed back out to Sholazar Basin with hopes of some better luck. With only a few Alliance sightings I got a little bored of hanging out with the monkeys and decided to do a little flower picking. With a few hunters calling it quits I headed out for another lap hoping my patience would pay off. 30 minutes later destiny casually strolled past me while I was busy fishing for a diet Coke at the bottom of my fridge. As if he was waiting for me to return he walked slightly to my left before pacing around back to my spot, brushing past me ever so gently. I immediately dropped an ice trap out of instinct while getting my head around the situation and within seconds he was a part of the Dakona family.

So I can't help smiling, obviously pretty excited, maybe a little cocky... already thinking of the next member of the family. Can't decide yet but I've got some ideas. I'm thinking another spirit beast, since I'm feeling the Pokemon vibe and wanna collect them all. But first, a victory nap!

Chapter Two: Assembling My Entourage

Like any famous celebrity hunter constantly fleeing the paparazzi I realize I will have to surround myself with an entourage worthy of my Hollywood status. This is hands down my favorite part of being a hunter. Selecting my first pet to join my current family of two (Balto and I) is a decision made months ago. Ever since I have seen a picture of Loque'nahak I have been in love with this beautiful animal. Sleek, sophisticated and cunning, is there a more stunning pet within the game? This chick doesn't think so.

First thing's first, put the research time in. I read up on the comments on Wowhead and watched the videos on Youtube. So I'm off to Sholazar Basin, snacks check, Friends marathon check, NpcScan check. No luck needed, I know this part is destiny.

Chapter One: Escaping the Huntard

The Prologue:

I once read that vegetarian was an old Native Indian word meaning "Bad Hunter". I can only imagine how many berries Dakona would of had to eaten as she made her journey to level 80, but that's getting a little ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning, the girl behind the Blood Elf.

 

Hi my name is Amber and I'm a World of Warcraft-coholic.

I was once a normal girl who loved going to class on Mondays and Tuesdays, shopping on Wednesdays, the bar on Thursdays, clubbing on Fridays and Saturdays, and sleeping all day on Sundays. Like I said, normal girl. In my first year of university I followed this pretty religiously and by the end of my first semester I paid the consequences dearly. In my second year I was forcefully placed in an environment that would allow me to focus on the reason I was at university in the first place, (not my words) and found myself in an unfamiliar surrounding. With most adjustments being mild and tolerable my breaking point came in the form of one annoying Asian boy who a roommate of mine some how found attractive (my words). This particular Asian boy enjoyed coming to our house on most week nights to drink all my diet coke and play video games until 4am. I know you're waiting for the climax of the story, here it comes... until one day I crashed into his room to confront him. During the pauses to inhale between the prolific cussing my eye kept catching a beautiful purple scenery on his computer with little cuddly animals prancing around and pretty people with glowing eyes and weird ears. It was addiction at first sight. Mr. Asian boyfriend attempted to defuse the situation by explaining to me what it was, even offering to install it on my computer to play his friends account. I responded by turning his computer off and kicking him out, but I knew I wanted to see more.
 

 I stayed true to my purpose, dabbling in WoW when I could. I love animals and pretty things, it was no surprise my first toon would be a Night Elf Hunter. I was a vicious hunter, stalking my prey, killing Webwood Spiders in Teldrassil at will. However something didn't feel right, even with the beautiful forest and the beautiful hair I felt to... noble, I'm not that kind of girl, too much attitude, to big of a chip on my shoulder. I needed to be a jerk and this wasn't cutting it. My first encounter with a level 70 Elemental Orc Shaman who was dotting lowies as I strolled out of Astranaar opened my eyes to my true calling... I was not a tree hugging Calvin Klein model, I belonged with the smelly, stinky, cruel horde, and there I went. I created a Troll Priest, my first toon that quickly made me learn two things, one I should not be a Priest and two I did not enjoy being an ugly Troll, but it did confirm that I belonged with the horde and as summer approached and my WoW time decreased I knew I had only just scratched the surface.

 With the expansion of WoW came The Burning Crusades. This time it was my brothers who lured me back in, having been around my family in the summer I got a my first glimpse of hard core raiding and guild life. The addition of the Blood Elf has always been the nail that sealed my fate. The ability to play a character I felt I could relate to is what accelerated WoW from time passing entertainment to hard core addiction. I was by no means ready for raiding, but I wanted things, things that required knowing how to play. My friend Gokes would later call it my "inner nerd" but whatever it was took a long time to come to fruition. It was soon decided that Paladin was the right class for me, a lot of one button clicking and a few emergency outs should I dig myself into an ugly corner. Thus Kecco the Holy Paladin was born. I can't remember how many hours it took to eventually get to 70, I would say about 4 months, or longer as I did not like to quest, too much reading, and was easily distracted with social aspects such as running a leveling guild which I'm proud to say was not a complete fail.

Kecco the Paladin opened the door to raid and group play and I learnt how to not be a total noob even if I was unable to execute the majority of the time, which in all fairness could be blamed on a terrible computer. Near the end of 2007 I was hitting a wall. World of Warcraft was losing it's appeal, I was still not able to get myself to the next level. I found myself doing back to back Karazhan runs every chance I could but I saw the elite gaining and I couldn't keep up. If you asked most people who know me to describe my personality, they would all most likely use the word competitive. I have been competitive since I was 6 years old, first evident according to my parents when I kicked another girl during a soccer match causing 4 stitches below her knee. I don't remember it, but as the story goes the reason being this particular girl kept taking the ball away from me. I liked to score, what do you want? I wasn't a brat, well not a spoiled one at least. I like things, and I've never minded working hard  and earning them, but that's not to say I'm shy about kicking anyone who gets in my way. I'm much more lovelier now I swear, maturity and becoming an adult will help that process along but the competitiveness has never died.

Eventually I realized what I probably knew all along, I was not a healer. In 2008 I went back to my roots and created my first horde hunter and alas Dakona the Bloof Elf was born. So by now you're probably starting to realize the long drawn out mini novel you've been reading up until now could of been avoided, but the journey sometimes is just as important as the story and how Dakona came to be has everything to do with who preceded her. Like any good super villian, a side kick is always needed and Dakona's first partner in crime was Balto the White Lion of the Barrens. The Barrens being of course the birth place of Chuck Norris.

Although Balto now spends most of his days in the stable, the journey to level 70 was done side by side and it wasn't until Dakona ventured into raiding that Balto was left behind on some adventures. Dakona would eventually excel in raids while taking on Hyjal Summit and The Black Temple in their prime and while she didn't exactly lose her "Huntard" status she didn't completely embarrass herself either. With Wrath of the Lich King on the horizon I would take my second biggest break from WoW since I began playing. However as the rumors of Cataclysm began spreading I began to log in more and more each week to prepare. Not wanting to burn out I stayed away from raids and long instances, focusing more on professions and alts. With Cataclysm now here Dakona is back and this time with a long agenda. Rare pets, companions, mounts and gear are a must and I plan to get everything on my list. I've decided to keep a blog and hope to add video and pictures throughout my journey. I am by no means an expert and should never be asked for advice. I probably get laughed at by anyone who considers themselves a hard core WoW player with a ridiculous gear score. I am just a girl, and not a nerdy one although this blog isn't doing me any justice (I promise to try to make it better) and I'm trying to prove that you don't have to be a certain pedigree or of a certain social class to be good. So here I go, off to do my thing. So bring your opinions if you got some, haters bring your hate, creepers bring your creep and overall nice guys, well ya know, bring your niceness... and follow me as I try to make the leap from "Huntard" to Hunter.