Vichyssoise has achieved max level (level 25) in World of Warcraft Classic Season of Discovery! Below, I discuss dinging 25 and the three dungeons I've been running waiting to raid Blackfathom Deeps: Wailing Caverns, Shadowfang Keep, and The Deadmines.
Vichy dinged 25 in Ratchet on Friday upon completing perhaps the most tedious escort quest I've done in years - Free from the Hold. I was over in The Barrens finishing The Guns of Northwatch when one of the players I had grouped with asked if we wanted to wait for the escort quest.
And so we waited.
Once he finally respawned and we began the quest, it wasn't difficult. It was more of just the fifteen minutes of RP-walking from Northwatch back to Ratchet. And of course you have to remain right in the vicinity of Firebough, or he might bug or you mightn't get credit for the quest.
It was a fun community moment if nothing else. One is reminded of all of the space that there was for banter and communications during Classic on a quest like this. There is so much time spent getting to the turn in that that chat is about all a group can do.
After hitting level 25, I've pretty much been running dungeons with Vichy. I do need to get into Blackfathom Deeps (BFD) at some point, but I don't think that will happen until either this evening or later this week.
Wailing Caverns
I have spent the most time in this dungeon compared to the other two I'll talk about here. This dungeon is labrynthine, and the raptors like to zerg groups that might be pulling too aggressively or too close to other packs.
In general, the bosses in this dungeon are completely unremarkable. They offer some useful armor - particularly leather and cloth - to prepare for BFD. You'll see a lot of druids and rogues, especially, running this place repeatedly.
There are a few quests you should make sure that you have before entering or that perhaps your group members can share with you. (I was lucky for a few with the latter.) The collection quests might take more than one run to complete.
After defeating Lord Serpentis and Verdan the Everliving, you need to remember to find the tauren Disciple of Naralex at the beginning of the dungeon to then go and wake Naralex. More raptors and other mobs will spawn during this process. Protect the beefy boi as he begins the process of waking the dreamer, and then you get the final boss - Mutanus the Devourer.
He even has a little santa hat on. He drops some nice gear, but I lost on rolls both times to warlocks. Sigh.
Shadowfang Keep
After hitting 23, I felt comfortable going in to Shadowfang Keep (SFK) in some pick up groups (PUGs). SFK can be a little dicey at times, particularly the trash before the last two bosses.
In one dungeon, we pulled perhaps twelve mobs. The rest of our party made it out - running until they all leashed.
Vichy did not make it.
Again, these bosses are generally unremarkable. Archmage Arugal (final boss) is probably the most difficult because he will teleport around the room given the opportunity.
The trash in this dungeon likes to make the life of healers' difficult. You'll be clearing magic debuffs constantly. And as dispel costs a fair amount of mana, this can lead to a few sticky situations. (See above.)
There are some good items that drop in this dungeon. Robes of Arugal, for example, are a great chest piece for casters and healers. I was lucky enough to get it to drop.
The Deadmines
Alright, so as a horde player, I'm not really supposed to be going The Deadmines.
BUT I LOVE THIS DUNGEON!
I have so many fond memories of this dungeon from running it in my Night Elf hunter days of Vanilla WoW - probably 2005 or so.
Of course The Deadmines saw a revamp during Cataclysm, and while I like that version of the dungeon (and would LOVE to see it refreshed for the M+ rotation in retail some day), the original version has all of that great Defias Brotherhood flavor.
Getting to The Deadmines is easier from The Undercity Zeppelin to Grom'gal Base Camp. You want to try to jump off into the ocean before the zeppelin gets to the base camp to avoid having to (death) run through level 40+ mobs.
From there, you swim up the coast into Westfall.
After getting to the dungeon entrance in Moonbrook, it can be a bit of a maze getting to the dungeon entrance. (I guess the same can be said of Wailing Caverns).
Take the left once you enter the building the dungeon entrance is in, and then you'll follow the stairs up and then down into the outside mine area of the dungeon. Once into the mines, you want to hug right. Eventually you'll get back to the dungeon entrance.
Mobs in this dungeon like to patrol around a good bit, and so your casters and healers might pull extra trash during any given pull. (I did this at least twice drinking to get some mana back.)
None of the bosses are difficult in this dungeon, but the rooms in which the bosses await are tricky. For example, you should clear out the goblins in the room before pulling Sneed and his Shredder Machine.
The next boss, Gilnid, also needs to have the room cleared before engaging. You'll pull all of the mobs you've not killed, and that could wipe your group.
The pirates on the way to the ship have parrots that sometimes drop the parrot pet - red and green versions. Pets were purely cosmetic in these days, so it's just something that will follow you around. And I guess there might be certain bragging rights.
Edwin Van Cleef is an iconic boss, but it's the bonus boss, Cookie, who you're there to see - let's be honest.
Our group ran the dungeon twice to make the pain in the butt getting there worth it.
I captured a shot of the ship on our way out after we killed Cookie for the second time.
Seriously, the story for this dungeon is great. I hope we get some calls back to these pieces of WoW's lore and history in The Worldsoul Saga.
More soon after BFD!
Now, I'm OOM. Thanks for reading. And, um, Power to the Forsaken! (As Vichy cheers.)