But, certain projects have reached a point that gives me a wee bit of rest and chance to get caught up here, and planning new "tips and tricks" entries.

A general update of my own playing toons is a good start, as I find it fun to look back in my own blog and remember where I was at certain stages and time periods.

Priest - Disc/Holy - at 51

Back in December was the last time I wrote about this toon, but like the Rogue I talk about below, she hasn't really levelled that much over the months, going from 44 to 51 since then.

Major Skills And Stats:

Jewelcrafting: 375/375
Tailoring: 356/375
Cooking: 360/375
First Aid: 360/375
Fishing: 221/225

Riding: 75/75

The priest has been great fun to play and has has levelled well whenever I join the LFG tool in the evening, but lately I've been spending more time in the city working on Jewelcrafting since I hit level 50. Getting from 300 to 350 JC took an investment of 20g or less to cycle through, but 350+ got expensive when I started to buy rare-cut recipes like [Dazzling Talasite], [Inscribed Noble Topaz], [Balanced Nightseye], [Bright Living Ruby], [Subtle Living Ruby], [Gleaming Dawnstone] and [Rigid Dawnstone]. I've even picked up three meta recipes!

It's kinda fun to be one of the the ones in the guild with the most cuts, and especially to log into a level 51 alt to do all the cutting! I don't advertise my skills to non-guildmates, but I do offer to cut when I see someone on the Trade line looking for one I can do and offering a tip to get it done.

Rogue - Combat/Swords - at 58

Back in December was the last time I wrote about this toon, but she hasn't really advanced that much over the months, going from 52 to 58 since then.

Major Skills And Stats:

Engineering: 364/375
Mining: 313/375
Cooking: 365/375
First Aid: 325/375
Fishing: 230/300

Lockpicking: 285/290
Poisons: 285/290

Riding: 75/75

The rogue has levelled well enough but was skipped over in favor of my Priest's Jewelcrafting profession when it came to funnelling cash towards maxing out of professions. I've recently put more cash towards this one, however, and Engineering is now at 364. I also worked for a while on getting mining to 300 and have turned my attention to Fishing now and then, getting 10-15 levels over a couple of days then leaving it for a long while again.

Druid - Feral/Resto - at 30

I gave this toon's recent update back in December was the last time I wrote about this toon as well, and while I've leveled to 30 in the mean time, I decided to 'park' this toon and instead work on getting my Priest and Rogue up to level cap.

Major Skills And Stats:

Enchanting: 200/225
Skinning: 206/225
Cooking: 65/150
First Aid: 225/225
Fishing: 16/75

This druid got to 27 with a full Restoration spec and gear build, but on my way to 30 I respec'd to a Feral/Resto build and traded some favors with friends to help me get a second set of gear - one with lots of Intelligence and Spirit for healing, and a second with a lot of Agility and Strength for doing damage as a Kitty Druid. I carry both sets and regularly see groups in LFG looking for a role I could fill. But, I remain focused.

In the back of my mind I've wondered if I shouldn't replace Enchanting on my 70 Hunter and instead take up Leatherworking for crafting my own epic gear, so this toon is being advanced in Enchanting, even though she's got a long way to go to catch up. Funnelling green+ gear to disenchant hasn't been difficult at all, although I was surprised at how long Enchanting relies on [Strange Dust] and saw an opportunity for low-level profits there.

There's my lowbie toon update, I'll be writing again soon about the higher level stuff my level cap toons are doing.

Related posts:

1. Main Toon Update: 70 Mage, Alchemist/Tailor
2. Jewelcrafting on a Junior Toon
3. Toon Updates: Combat Rogue at 52

I mainly PUG with them both, using the LFG tool or LFG line as my resource, and on occasion I'll get into a party that needs another person, and I'll be able to ask a guildmate to come along. Most times, however, my guildmates aren't of the correct level range or are working on something else, so I just LFG it and end up in a party with near-complete strangers.

I do find that I run into the same people more and more now that I've progressed past level 45 or so - there's a lot of us "alts" being levelled up at a slower, more relaxed pace, especially through the 40s and 50s.

Which Toon Gets Parties More Often?

I thought for sure that my Priest would outlevel my Rogue just because of the constant demand for healers and less constant demand for DPS in groups. So far, this hasn't been the case, however - if I just relax and go with the parties that are forming when I have time to commit to them, I'm finding that I'm burning off both my Priest and Rogue's rest bonus pretty much equally, and they're staying about the same distance away in terms of levels.

I wonder if this will change once I hit Outland?

Hard To Find Sunken Temple and Blackrock Depths Groups?

I find watching the LFG channel to be very interesting, whether or not I'm able to commit to joining a party destined for some particular instance or not.

Some nights it's like all the Tanks have gone on strike, but the next night, or in an hour, it will seem like the Healers thought this was a good idea. Then sometimes everyone's looking for CC/DPS. And of course, whether people are looking for members for Outland instances or Azeroth instances is another factor that waxes and wanes, too.

Since I'm really just advancing my lowbie toons in a "let's spend your rest bonus" way, going without a dungeon on them for week or more generally isn't a big deal. On the weekend (if Real Life doesn't interfere) I can be assured to find at least one party for each of them, and with the recent gear changes and dungeon nerfings in Patch 2.3, most parties that wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell a year ago are quite able to handle themselves without constant deaths.

That being said, I haven't joined a level-appropriate PUG for Stratholme or Scholomance with either of these toons - the one time I DID go into Strat, we had a level 66 healer and only two of us were under 60 and still wearing Azeroth gear. I think those instances might still provide a decent challenge for those who wish to go in with an at-level team.

Gear Collection From PUGs

One of the great things about how I'm advancing these toons is that now, at this level, I'm able to go into dungeons that drop gear I'll be able to wear in a level or two, instead of only dropping gear that is 3+ levels below me already. I was able to gather things for my healer from Maraudon and Sunken Temple a level or three before I could use them, and I've just begun running Blackrock Depths which promises to have gear to hold me through until I can put on a set of Outland Greens I buy from the Auction House in preparation for my 57th or 58th level.

Gah, I remember the days when Blackrock Depths was a sizable enough transition from Sunken Temple's level of difficulty that I started to require proper diversity in the guild groups I was leading, since going in with four hunters and a healer wasn't near as viable anymore (none of us hunters were particularly skilled, including myself). Now, it's just another dungeon to progress through, except it's huge and has a billion bosses to drop loot, and doesn't make sense to players who forget there used to be 40-man raid instances that BRD and the likes served as training grounds for.

I'm looking forward to hitting Outland with these two toons, but haven't figured out how exactly I'm going to level them - dungeons only, still, like they've been doing since mid-30's? Or will I actually QUEST with them??!

Investing In Professions

Level 50 is always a great level for my lowbies - it means they can finally do something with their professions again and actually get some kind of levelling credit for it.

My Rogue is an Engineer with a minor in Mining, and was stuck at 300 Engineering since before he hit level 40, so I spent a bit of time advancing up skills based on the Thorium I had gathered while levelling my Mining to Outland-ready levels. I got high enough to use the [Field Repair Bot 110G] (325) and lucked into buying a couple stacks of 5 repair bots for a total of 10g. Then, I continued to advance Engineering so I could make some [Crashin' Thrashin' Robot]s for those nights that my guildmates field a partial PUG and want to have some fun.

My Priest is a Tailor/Jewelcrafter and was locked at 300 for those for quite a while, also. I've actually had a ball advancing her Jewelcrafting from 300 to 340 or so because I was able to use a bit of cash and a lot of prospecting to fund the journey without it costing an arm and a leg! I'll write about that one in a different entry, however.

So, now my toons are around 350 in their professions, and I will continue to create things out of materials I happen to have laying around, but largely I'll go back to not worrying about their professions until they start getting to a level where they can get some of the Bind on Pickup recipes that drop during dungeon runs.

Good thing, too, because I have two toons coming up to the point of needing Epic Land riding training (150) right away!

Related posts:

1. Toon Updates: Healing Priest Hits 44
2. Toon Updates: Combat Rogue at 52
3. Toon Updates: Resto Druid, 27