WAR Bright Wizard - Level 19 and Fabulous

My main is approaching the half-way point for character rank (levels).  Thanks to kind guild-mates, Grimmjak and Invention, I had two very nice upgrades waiting in the wings.  Without much conscious effort I had 13G toward the 15G mount secured.  All I needed to do now was to level and earn an additional 2G.

Highlights:
•    Half-way through character ranks without effort (Rank 19)
•    I do a mixture of quests, scenarios & RVR
•    Looking forward to purchasing my first mount at Rank 20
•    I have 13 of the 15 gold required without trying
•    Plan to sell stock pile of potions to earn the rest
•    WAR feels like GuildWars where the game really starts at max level
•    Excited about the prospect of creating a healer as an alt
•    Not at all concerned about repeating content – it’s a non-issue in WAR
•    By now I'd be focused on crafting but that's not an option in WAR
•    Mostly ready to stop walking across the large zones!!!

The first nineteen levels seemed to go by in a blink.  I didn’t try very hard or “work” at leveling.  I haven’t played every day since the full launch.  When I play, I do whatever strikes my fancy for that session.  I’ve found myself doing quests a good deal more than is normal for me.  The same thing happened in Age of Conan and so I’ll expand on that topic in a future post.  I do as many Public Quests as I need to in order to complete the Influence for each chapter.  The loot drops and the Influence rewards are both very good. 

On days when I’m not in the mood to run around looking for items or slaying scripted pixels, I’ll queue up for the local PVP/RVR Scenario. The majority of these groups are pick-up groups (PUGs).  I enjoy running guild groups more.  However, I’m finding that COW PVPers come on a bit later in the evening.  They often aren’t kicking into full swing until shortly before I’m exiting for the night.  When I do participate in a guild member Scenario it’s usually an ass kicking for other team, even with stragglers in the party filling out the ranks. Strategy, cooperation and coordination can dominate even in the face of teams that are higher in rank.  Of course there are Order PUGs that reanimate the nightmares suffered as WOW Alliance.  But thankfully, those are not nearly as often.

Through these casual and unplanned means, I stand at the threshold of the half way point in Rank.  I’m looking forward to purchasing my first mount at Rank 20.   I haven’t had to farm much in WAR – crafting material and coin have come in due course.  I’ve stayed off the auction house except to test the waters for my lowbie potion sales, which went aiight – nothing to write home over.  I will lower my prices a tad and slowly put my wares up for sale.  Hopefully, that’s all I will have to intentionally do to raise the remaining gold for my mount.

The game is new and continues to feel fresh.  I expect that the “real” beginning starts at max level like in GuildWars.  We have guild scheduled RVR events and people are starting to form planned groups for the PVE content too.  My Bright Wizard still feels like the hotness to me but I am looking forward to having a healing character.  There are many groups where I would have liked to help out by healing instead of DPS.  I will welcome the option and it’s so cool that I’m not lamenting what lies ahead in rolling another character.  Normally, I’d be looking forward to diverging off into crafting near max level.  I won’t be able to scratch that itch in WAR.  Oddly enough the more I like the game the sorrier I am that crafting doesn’t have more depth to it.  Oh well, I suppose you can’t have everything.  Having a good time and eager for more – mostly ready to stop walking!!!

P.S.
I hit level 20 doing PQs with the guildmates on Saturday. WOOT!  I’m 20 and mounted.

Comments

[Zubon]

Congratulations on your pony. If it bankrupted you and you need funds, you know where I am. :) I can't see what you'd need funds for, but mine are around because I don't use them for much beyond the Renown Gear Merchant and flights.

I am finding the early 20s a bit grindy. I expect to find them less grindy once I reach the halfway point of the tier and have more competent scenario action.

[saylah]

@Zubon - Thanks for the generous offer! I was a bit nervous when I emptied my pockets to 5 silver. But like you, I don't buy much in the game. My only regular expenses are crafting (vials and water), flights and renown gear. On Sunday I intentionally farmed for crafting mats and ended up with 4G and 3/4 to level 21 so I'm all good.

I have the impression from others that the early 20s are grindy based on what friends have said about chapters. Most servers probably don't have many players in T3 yet. Take time zones and personal playing schedules, it divides the potential population even further.

Since the way I typically level happens to be "grinding" I probably won't notice much difference in effort even though I have been questing a lot in WAR.

[Khan]

Gratz on the pony!

[JoBildo]

I'd expect that many players will be diving into T3 within a week or two, as you and a few others seem ahead of the curve a bit.

[Saylah]

@Khan - Thanks!

@Bildo - Yes, I think people in early to mid 20s are ahead of the curve on our server. I see people looking for T3 groups with very limited success. Oh well, I won't have problems going it alone for a while. But I will miss the PQs and even more so, the Scenarios.