Thol’s Goals for 2015, Progress Report #2

So it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted anything, and for that, I apologize.  I haven’t been away from the game, though, just away from blogging – mostly since my standard writing time (lunch breaks at work) have been taken up with other things.  Namely, actually eating.

Anyhoo, let’s take a moment and see just where we stand on the Goals for 2015.. along with some updates to the “Optional Epic Challenge” I’ve presented myself of getting every Epic-ready toon to level cap!

“Mains”

Tholgrin Stoneforge, level 24 dwarf paladin

Thol having some fun in EDA at the beginning of this Epic life.

His Original Goal for 2015 was to “get back into Epics,” as he was only level 14 at the time it was written.  Since then, he’s hit 20, slid over to Primal, capped those destinies, scored himself a Past Life regeneration feat, and is working his way back up.  While he is technically not currently sitting at 28, I’m still calling the Optional Epic Goal a completion, since he did hit 28 after it was written, and scored his past life.  So there.  Plus, he’ll probably make 28 again, anyway.  Off to a good start!

Aapex Predator, level 28 Bladeforged paladin

Ensuring the safety of Eveningstar’s rooftops since 2014.

Aapex.. well, there’s not much to be said here.  He was already capped at 28, and didn’t have any discernible goals (other than “be less pointy,” apparently), so here he sits.  Alone.  Luckily, he’s a Bladeforged paladin, so the only feelings he has are to kill all fleshlings, because otherwise, that might get somewhat awkward and lonesome.  Hold on… we might need to talk about that whole “kill all fleshlings” thing, again…..

Tubbho “Uncle Tubbs” Lard, level 27 dwarf monkleric

Uncle Tubbs checking out the Creation Forge.  Hey, that’s where Aapex was born!  Oh, I probably shouldn’t tell him Tubbs is on the way to kick the snot out of his deity, huh?

Uncle Tubbs is within spitting distance of his 2nd Divine sphere life, with only one remaining until Epic Completionist!  Every sphere is capped (although Exalted Angel was a bit like pulling teeth on a melee-centric monk), he’s finished up getting his Alchemical Handwraps to Tier 2 (may of the runs solo), and I even put some forethought out and purchased the Sun Elf Morninglord Iconic race in anticipation for where his build is going to go after Epic Completionist.  (For the record, he’s not switching over to the Iconic race, but rather getting the Iconic Past Life feats, and possibly, two more Cleric Heroic Past Lives in the process.)  In short, things are going well for the King of Corpulence, with less than 7 million XP to earn by the end of the year to have met his goal.

Alts

Bholgrin Stoneforge, level 28 dwarf romunkadin

Tower of Despair: Check!

I’ve been steadily plodding along on Bholgrin’s list of quests-to-do.  His Original Goal was to score 5,000 favor, then supplement it with get five gold stars on every challenge.  Whew!  Nothing like a small order!  I’ve narrowed it down to only six (6!!!) quests left to complete.. of course, there’s also 10 raids.  But then, that’s it!  That’s everything!  Totally doable!  I just can’t mark it off as completed, yet.

Cupcaque Glitter Sprinkles, level 12 half-orc ranger/rogue

These swords are super-stealthy! The label told me so!

After having some brilliant success with Wally the Ranger (see below) in his Epic career, I couldn’t help but think how much altering Cupcaque’s play style to incorporate stealth would benefit him.  See, Cupcaque has been a bit of a glass cannon – he can lay down some serious pain, but takes it like a hemophiliac schoolgirl.  (My apologies to any hemophiliac female students.  -Ed.)  Even if he can’t ghost to quite the same extent that Wally can, the few seconds of surprise advantage that sneaking in gives you lends Total Encounter Control – I pick who dies first, while the other enemies are coming to their senses and only beginning to react as their comrade’s corpse hits the ground.  Thus, saving him quite a bit of pain and anguish in the process.  The above shot was taken before Socks and I took on Diplomatic Impunity and strolled out with seven kills.  What a rush!  However, he hasn’t finished his Original Goal for 2015, which is to complete his Heroic career – it’s something I’ll have to get back to work on.

Felldar, level 28 Bladeforged palificer artadin

I believe your interior decorator might be somewhat obsessed with the color purple..

The revamp of the Palificer Artadin build, Felldar was a blast to play right out of the gate.  He screamed through Heroics and nuked his way through Epics, shattering his Original Goal (make it to 20) and the Optional Epic Goal (cap at 28) without much hassle at all.  Truth be told, I’m ranking it as one of my better multiclass builds (second only to the “Tubbho Special“) and is one I recommend to anyone with the Bladeforged Iconic race pack.  Oh, and he finished up both of his goals for the year, so.. awesome!

Gorruk Bouldertongue, level 21 dwarf fighter

Grr! I’m a fighter! I’m intimidating! Roar! How does this go?

Gorruk didn’t have any Original Goals for 2015, so in that sense, he’s good as gravy.  However, he isn’t excluded from the Optional Epic Goal, mostly because he isn’t a caster and is otherwise capable.  In that sense, he’s still a ways off, since he’s only level 21, and has a bit of a road ahead.  Should be interesting, what without any real means of self-healing at this point in time..!

Immano of Llawriennal, perpetually level 20 elf clonk

“So that’s what goes on in the Inspired Quarter behind closed doors,” he says, trying to justify peeping into windows from the rooftops.

I should mark Immano as “excluded” from the Optional Epic Goal of “getting every Epic-ready toon to 28.”  The reason for this is Immano is used exclusively at level 20 to help other players on that Last Push to 20 or to provide introductory Epic Level help (without completely flattening the opposition;  that first step into Epic territory on a toon’s life can be pretty traumatic, but they’re lessons that need to be learned, not steamrolled past).  As such, he probably won’t ever see 21.  He is, however, still supposed to meet his Original Goal for 2015, which was to finish Unyielding Sentinel… which he has not done.  He’s just stepped into level 4, and has a bit of a ways to go.  So that’s one that isn’t finished yet.

Kiljoen Lorebringer, level 22 dwarf sorcerer

Okay, so I re-used an image. Sue me!

The original “Not A Pyromaniac,” Kiljoen did have a goal for 2015:  reach 23, so he can not equip Twilight, Element of Magic (from a Raider’s Reward box, of course).  Yes, I know, that makes no sense, whatsoever.  He hasn’t seen a whole lot of play time – although, I have logged him on a few times (and played in Epic!) just so that it cannot be said I “haven’t played him at all.”  Just not much.  Although there was this one Epic Elite Lords of Dust run…. yeah, thanks for that one, Esh.  Remind me not to let you pick the difficulty when I’m playing my gimpy flamethrower, next time.  In any case, he’s excluded from the current Optional Epic Goal of 2015 (alongside Uldwin, Varjek, and Loghainn*), so is only a little ways away from meeting his requirements for the year, as he’s partway done with 22.

Khail Ironfist, level 28 dwarf monk

They always did say the sky was the limit..

Khail’s Original Goal was merely to reach level 23, equip Antipode, oh and cap out Grandmaster of Flowers.  He did that, and Unyielding, finished his Sun Soul Set, lesser reincarnated, rebuilt himself from the ground up, and then skidded into level cap sideways and out of breath.  That’s pretty tricky for a monk, being out of breath, I mean.  In short, both of his Original and Optional goals were met, without even breaking stride.  I may consider ER/TRing him later down the road, but we’ll see.  After all, he plays like a carbon copy of Uncle Tubbs, and I don’t want to burn out on my Shintao fun!

Loghainn Goldstrum, level 28 dwarf bard

Dwarf, check. Bard outfit, check. Balizarde, check. Orb of Golden Death, check. Elemental Victory, check.

If you’d asked me two months ago if I’d ever log Loghainn on with the intent of doing anything more than embarrass myself, I’d have laughed.  Quite heartily.  As it turns out, that sort of bothered me, that I couldn’t “find his groove” as a character.  So I did what any logical person would do – no, not reroll him – figure out what wasn’t working and experiment repeatedly (along with some advice from forums and the like) until I found it.  And oh, when I found it, it was awesome.  With a bit of re-gearing and re-speccing, he screamed to 28 without so much as blinking.  This, from the bard I’d previously loathed to play… who now has a Temple of Elemental Evil Tier 2 rapier waiting for level 7, followed by a double-imbued Green Steel rapier for level 12… suddenly having an interest in a possible Heroic re-run to wipe the pain of my original leveling process to 20.  Plus, there’s always something fun about filling your screen with helpless people… but I digress.  Since he, as with a few other toons, didn’t even have an Original Goal for 2015, he met that, as well as the Optional Challenge – oh, wait!  Loghainn was excluded from the Optional Challenge, because I couldn’t stomach the idea of playing him in Epics.  So not just a single, not just a double, but a TRIPLE whammy.  Take that!

Nobody move!

Madfinger Runewarden, level 24 dwarf artificer

My original artificer, Madfinger’s Original Goal – which I was “going to get to sometime in the fall,” was taken care of back in February (equip Needle, Quill-Slinger after attaining 23).  He’s sitting pretty at 24 right now, quite happily tinkering and playing with his mecha-doggy, Fritz.  I have a feeling that he’ll take over my new “rear line” position, since Fei-Hung the Shuricannon and Wally the Ghost Ranger are both capped out… and he still needs to make it to 28 for his Optional Epic Goal for the year, anyhow!

Mattok Shalefinder, level 12 dwarf favored soul/paladin

“To combat evil, you must come to know evil…”

Mat’s Original Goal for 2015 was to merely make it to Epics.  Well, he did that, and kinda sorta got TR’ed alongside one of Socks’ side projects.  I had originally designed Mat to be a carbon copy of Whall’s lunatic defense favored-soul-pretending-to-be-a-Sacred-Defender build, but kind of got sidetracked halfway along, and decided to splash in a little bit of Paladin Vanguard… because, why not?  Free Heavy Armor Proficiency, shield rushes, enhanced shield capabilities, immunities, Lay on Hands…. you get the idea.  Granted, that will drop down the number of Spell Points available, but… frankly, who cares?  Whall never got below 80% Spell Points anyway, and thus far, Mat’s appearing to be quite the same.  Now, technically, his Optional Epic Goal hasn’t been met, since he never went all the way to 28… so I suppose he’s now backtracked and needs to make it to 20 and 28 to re-achieve goal completion.  Or I could mark him as exempt.  After all, Loghainn did finish out to 28 while technically exempt… bah, I’ll just play him.  That’s more fun, anyways.

Orsyn Burr, level 24 dwarf palificer artadin

Finally, a shot of Orsyn with the axe he carries 80% of the time, instead of a repeater!

The Original Palificer Artadin, Orsyn is still plagued by the fact his successor, Felldar, has completely demolished his successes.  That doesn’t mean Orsyn is a bad toon by any stretch of the imagination.. he’s just… not Felldar.  And that makes me sad, because I really want Orsyn to succeed.  As it is, he’s sitting tight at 24, having achieved his Original Goal for 2015 of capping out Unyielding Sentinel, and awaiting the moment when I can get back around to him for the Optional Epic Goal of capping him at 28.  So that’s another one to chalk up as halfway done.

Uldwin Skyreaver, level 20 dwarf druid

His Original Goal for 2015 was to hibernate.  His Optional Epic Goal for 2015 was “be excluded.”  I think he’s finished both of them, quite admirably.. although, I may get a bug in my ear later on in the year to revisit him.  Who knows?

Uldwena Skyreaver, level 28 dwarf barbarianess

“This camp fire blue. That one over there red. Wut?”

When last we visited Uldwena, her Original Goal was to “get three points into Fast Healing.”  Well, she did that, and completed her Optional Epic Goal of getting to 28, too, without so much as batting an eye.  Must’ve been those sexy dwarven hips!  Through it all, she even found time to write some poetry.  In short, done and done!

Varjek Lorebringer, level 20 dwarf wizard

“I look dark, brooding, and ominous. That isn’t enough for you?”

Ahh, Varjek… son of Kiljoen, necromancer, crappy arcane.  Well, of course he’s a crappy arcane, he’s one of my arcanes.  Ergo, he is crappy.  As such, he was excluded from the 2015 Optional Epic Goal to reach level cap, and didn’t even have a goal to begin with for the year, other than playing poker with Skelly and a Wight Priest and maybe drawing a moustache on the Black Abbott’s statue on-board the airship.  There was a brief moment where I danced with the idea of TRing him into an Eldritch Knight, but luckily, I was quickly able to squash it with a Brussell’s sprout to the head.

Walreign Aggron, level 28 dwarf ranger

Walreign is in this photo. He’s the Splinter Cell-looking shadow in the center. Look for the glowing green eyes.

Previously, Wally’s only goal was to get to 23 and to equip Pinion, Cloud-Piercer.  In a twisted course of events that involved not posting until after I played, he managed to make that goal before the post even graced Teh Interwebz.  Oh, well.  Part of his charm has always been his ability to “ghost” out of combat – and so, I decided to take him into a full-time role as a ghost.  Modeled visually (and playstyle-wise) after the Splinter Cell games and armed with a three-digit Hide skill (not shabby for a first-lifer), nobody saw him do anything.  Seriously.  The only time he ever got caught was when I accidentally bumped someone or mis-timed a jump and landed on their shoulder while trying to bypass them in a tiny corridor.  This is the fool that did a Temple of Elemental Evil run with only 18 kills (almost all of which are required if you don’t have Dimension Door).  His goal having already been met, he landed the optional of “get to 28,” and I had so much fun ghosting with this guy, he’s already begun lining up gear for a Heroic career as someone who doesn’t exist.

You never saw it coming.

Whall, level 28 dwarf favored soul imitating a Sacred Defender

Yeah…. ’nuff said. No caption necessary.

He had already been capped at 28.  His original goal was just to cap out Unyielding Sentinel… yeah, did that, too.  So both of the goals, the original, and Optional Epic Goal, have been met.  But, of course, that wasn’t enough, was it?  No, I had to go and get him to “epic retarded” capacity on a first lifer.  See, it turns out AC isn’t completely useless in Epic Elite.  Nope, sure isn’t.  You just have to get it psychotically high enough to where folks start going cross-eyed.  I don’t have any current plans with Whall, other than to keep him around for farming purposes.  I might ER him, I might TR him.. who knows?  But I have a few other toons that have snagged my attention, as of late.. most notably, the “surprise out of left field” Loghainn, and Wally, the “I don’t exist” ranger.

Whong Fei-Hung, level 28 halfling monk Shuricannon

From left to right: Von, Fei-Hung, and Socks.

So my “accidental” Shuricannon has proven his worth time and time again.  He’s now one of my more favorite toons to run, and the evidence is logged in him having capped out his third Primal life, merely awaiting a whim to earn his third stack of passive regeneration and venture back into the world.  I’m kind of leaning towards doing an ER/TR combo to see how it works in Heroics… while friggin’ regenerating, of course!  Seeing as how he didn’t even have any goals when I first established them for 2015, he’s blown that requirement completely out of the water, and then blown the “get all Epic-ready toons to level cap,” as well.  Three times over.

One more shot for Fei-Hung, because he’s awesome, to show off his off-hand Bouquet of Flowers, and his rust monster Pympin’s fly top hat. Because, pimp is as pimp does, yo.

And a Recap

So what’s left on the agenda for 2015?  Here’s where I stand with who and what, for both goals lists – because who wants to settle for an easy challenge?

• Tholgrin Stoneforge – reattain 28 (currently 24), purely for bonus points!
• Tubbho Lard – attain 28 (in less than 800K), ER, reattain 28, ER again for Epic Completionist, kick the Lord of Blades in the nuts a few more times to finish the Tier 3 Alchemicals
• Bholgrin Stoneforge – six quests, 10 raids, a bunch of challenges left to complete
• Cupcaque Glitter Sprinkles – attain 20 (currently 12)
• Gorruk Bouldertongue – attain 28 (currently 21)
• Immano of Llawriennal – finish out Unyielding Sentinel (currently 4)
• Madfinger Runewarden – attain 28 (currently 24)
• Mattok Shalefinder – attain 20, then 28, but purely for bonus points on both counts!
• Orsyn Burr – attain 28 (currently 24)

So, there you have it, folks.  The first list of “lol ur never gonna do this in a year” was mocked, challenged, and raised to “lol no wey bro” levels.  And even that raised-up goal is looking like it’s about to topple… Sweet!  And there’s still half the year left to go!

I might need to reach a little deeper into thin air to come up with some more madness.  We’ll see!