Like many of you, I’ve started out the Cataclysm by touring a lot of the new areas and checking things out. I hope that you all are having as much fun as I am! Blizzard has done a great job with all of the new areas. My favorite has got to be the undersea world of Vashj’ir. It’s like being a toy in some gigantic aquarium, and if that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right!
Once you’re there, the first few quests that you do in the area will make you able to walk and swim faster, as well as be able to breathe underwater. This is a really cool area, with lots of fishies for you to beat up on as you quest. Blizz seems to have taken into account the huge rush of people wanting to level as the respawn rate on all of these new area monsters is crazy fast. Be careful that you don’t bite off more than you can chew, or you can find yourself overwhelmed quite quickly.
Continuing on with the quest line, you acquire an underwater mount – an Abyssal Seahorse! The quest line is freaking simple and the mount costs you absolutely nothing to attain.
So, my new seahorse and I took a tour of the underwater world. This is a Whale Shark. He is huge; not big or large, but actually huge! It looks smaller in the picture because this guy is ginormous and he will totally eat your lunch. He doesn’t care what your mother packed you, it could be a month old lunchable that you are trying to pawn off on the fat kid; he doesn’t care! This sucka will eat it!
One of the new features in Cataclysm is that in order to queue or enter the new dungeons, you have to discover them. I think it’s a good idea, and makes sure that we are all exploring the new landscape that Blizzard has been working so hard on for us. In case some of you haven’t found the new underwater dungeon (Throne of the Tides) yet, hold on to your seahorse and swim into this swirling vortex of doom found in the Abyssal Maw. Your seahorse may need some encouragement though. 😉
Be careful once you get there and discover the dungeon, because swimming around in the water causes you to die for some reason, probably due to being so far underwater (Pressure?! What do you know about pressure?!). Talking to the Earthen Ring chap in the zone will teleport you back to where you were.
So far, the new zones have been a lot of fun. I have spent most of the time underwater, and have been totally impressed by what I’ve seen. I haven’t spent much time anywhere else yet, but hope you guys are enjoying yourselves!
I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves as much as I am. Remember to take it slow and pause to smell the Mageroyals… Azeroth wasn’t conquered in a day!
I must admit, I loved the zone but apparently my depth perception is bad, I had a horrible time on some aspects of it. Second favorite zone for sure!
And yes, they removed all the boss tags from pets. And Chromaggus is amazing. 😛
Off topic, but it seems that they have nerfed ‘The Beast’. Now my beast shows its level, 80, just like a regular pet, and it doesnt do the unique core hound pounding sound. Sux… 🙁
Yup. Sadly they did. But remember, it *is* still The Beast. Don’t forget the thrill of getting him 🙂
Now go for Chromaggus…
I loved Vash’jir so much that I did all the quests in the zone. Then I decided to go to Hyjall and do all of those. Now I’m leveling Archeology before I go to Deepholm and do all of those. At this rate, it will be some time before I get into any dungeons but hey, I wanna have fun now….not stress out over new groups/mechanics.
Great write-up Drach! Thanks for the fun.
I hear ya man, I just can’t seem to leave the place lol. I’ve been to Hyjal and Deepholm to check them out, but I really really enjoy Vash’jir, they did a great job on that one!
Gar,
For myself, I couldn’t get out of thatunderwater hell ast enough. I hated it. Any more toons will NOT go there other than to locate the entrance of the instance.
Why? Well, I hated being blinded by damn seaweed everytime I got into a fight! That’s the reason, really.
I loved the Hyjal questline, and am doing ok with the Deepholme, but I certainly won’t be loitering there. Got to the instance entrance today so tonight I’m going in!
Have fun…
Sorry to hear that man, it can be a little frustrating. I’ve always been fascinated with the ocean, maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much. Plus, it’s simply different than anything WoW has ever thrown at us, but that’s what makes the game fun, there are different things for everyone to enjoy!
Aquarium. Yep. As a guy who has his own aquarium, I love the zone.
Wait till you get to Deepholm… when I first got out to explore, I couldn’t help but sing:
“Don’t wanna close my eyes
Don’t wanna fall asleep
‘Cause I’d miss you, baby
And I don’t wanna miss a thing … “
Now I’m humming Raiders of the Lost Ark theme for Uldum, still “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” for Deepholm.
Lol Anj, that’s great! I still haven’t spent any significant time in those zone, just discovered all the dungeons I need to, then woosh back to my undersea world! I love it!
Great job Drach! I can’t wait to get to this zone and explore!
Oops forgot to answer that quote.Does it come from Ace Venture : Pet Detective?
Ding! My wife and I quote that all the time, bravo!
Pressure….LOL that’s a good movie quote.The screenies you have there look impressive.Might just have to go buy Cata and put some time on the account and give it a whirl.
Nice work Drach, wouldn’t mind seeing a side view on that Seahorse though!
Thanks for the tidbit about dying when you swim, I’m definitely gonna need to remember that.
Why the eff is my avatar King Krush?
That’s usually the default avatar, I’m not sure why your usual one isn’t showing up, you might have to reload it or something.
I still owe you a sideview of the seahorse…
Drach,
Wanted to let you know I spoke to your mom this afternoon and she’s really proud. She said her boy done good – writin’ for a popular WoW blog ‘n’ all.
Just thought you should know. 🙂
Thanks Gar! I knew I’d make my momma proud some day!!