Its the End of the World (no.3)

Those who’ve been following this blog for the past year would know that I did make infrequent updates on the characters I was guiding through World of Warcraft. Of course, now that I’ve departed from WoW, it seems only fitting to make a denouement. So, after so many countless hours of game time, here’s where my characters ended up.


Rithendal

The firstborn and the only one to make it all the way to level 85, Rithendal went from Outlands to Northrend and Mount Hyjal, Kelp’thar Forests and the Twilight Headlands in between. It’s the furthest any of my characters had even got and what has Rith got to show for it? A devilsaur, a Jormungar and a corehound! Now that I think of it, I did enjoy using the Hunter a lot - being the lazy arse that I am I have to say Beast Mastery hunter is great because you have someone else do all the work.
Not a lot else I can say though: Rith was there at the beginning and stayed with me to the very end. Even when my time has been divided through other characters (both listed here and deleted) I’ve kept returning to my favorite Hunter.  And it is indeed satisfying to know that even if there are millions of characters in Azeroth there is only one Rithendal.


Beldrath

As established previously there were attempts to get a Paladin character going but few of them proved successful – thus it is indeed satisfying to see one paladin character make it all the way to Outlands.
One thing I find interesting about Beldrath is there have been various elements that have cropped up  that suggests that he be something of a mirror image to Rithendal. Rithendal has back hair, Beldrath has white hair. Rithendal wears darkened armor, Beldrath has white armor.  And there is only one Rithendal in Azeroth but there are many Beldraths (and I only got the name from an elf name generator!).
Again there’s not a lot more I can add: Beldrath was a great character and a lot of fun to use. I particularly enjoyed the mining and backsmithing and building up a complete set of plate armour - and it is kinda fitting that a paladin ended up in white amour.
Indeed, looking at Beldrath now it’s kinda hard to believe he grew from such a wimpy looking prat.


Naesandra

My long-suffering mage. Despite the many, many, MANY deaths this is a character that I simply refused to give up on. Whilst there may have been other WoW characters that I’ve scrapped, Naesandra simply refused to go away. I’m not sure why this is so but it is indeed satisfying to see a character make it all the way to Outlands – bloodied and beaten yes but triumphant through persistence.
Nevertheless, despite my frustration about Naesandra dying too easily, I will admit there was some fun to be had with the mage class. I really enjoyed casting the spells and flinging fireballs at the baddies.  However I’ve heard some say that mages are fun for soloists and that makes me call it into question as they tend to be rather brittle in combat situations….
Therefore if I ever decide to take up another MMPORGer I think I will take a mage – although, without question, I would benefit greatly with having someone else to watch my back.


Grimcrag

Hooo boy has this character had a story and a half. If you recall the previous posts where I’ve talked about my WoW characters, Grimcrag started out as a paladin. That didn’t work out so I got rid of the character but kept the name for a Shaman. The Shaman didn’t do much for me either so I returned to the paladin – but this time with a twist: You see, this incarnation of Grimcrag started out as the previously mentioned Drenai paladin Kholek. What happened there was I did tire of the Drenai but I’d progressed far enough to find myself unwilling to part with a paladin character. Solution? Change the characters race and name.
And so, at the end of the day Grimcrag returned to where he started from. And thankfully this dwarven paladin turned out to be far more fun to use than his previous incarnation. So why use another paladin when I already have Beldrath? Well whereas Beldrath is a Protection paladin, Grimcrag is a Retribution paladin. And it certainly makes a change using two different specializations of the same warrior class where one is Tank but the other is a DPS.
So in the end, considering all the problems I’ve had with this character, across various incarnations, it is indeed satisfying to come out with something that ultimately proved successful.


Razormane

And even in a post acknowledging the end result of my various WoW characters, there is still some room for some newbies. Razormane came about because I wanted to try a Worgen – the only other race in the Alliance that interests me. Why such an interest? Well aside from the appeal of being a werewolf, I enjoy how the Worgen speak in such an intimidating-sounding cockney accent – who would’ve thought it possible eh? In addition, I’ve been wanting to try out the Druid class so this was a good enough opportunity to try so.
So yeah, I did find some enjoyment in this character: the starting zone for the Worgen, along with their eventual admission into the Alliance, proved quite compelling – indeed it was quite exciting running through the city as it was being invaded by the undead. And the Druid class proved quite fun – somehow, in any RPG, I find the ‘mixed’ classes far more interesting and satisfying to use than the ‘pure’ classes. Still it’s how I play RPGs and, as far as I’m concerned it’s a damn good way.


Darthenis

Another newbie and yet another Blood Elf - Only this time it’s the obligatory Death Knight character (Well everyone seems to have one). An experiment of sorts, Darthenis came about through me wanting to see how using a Death Knight character would turn out. So how did it go?
Well it was interesting to say the least: I liked using the hero class character where you automatically start at level 55 and already have numerous skills already under one’s belt. Yet at the same time, I kinda hated how limited my resources were (eg finding cloth to make bandages) and, like so many of my other WoW characters, I kept dying far too easily. Still I will admit I did enjoy the Death Knights with their background and seeing some familiar faces of Azeroth being corrupted – seriously, who else could make the phrase “Tomorrow’s Another Day!” sound completely evil?!


So after nearly a year of playing World of Warcraft, these are the six that were there at the end. Whilst there may have been others that may have fallen (ie Deathfist, Kholek and Dunmore) these are the ones that lasted until the very end of the journey. And they shall live on – and who knows? One day I might return to them……