So it appears the PTR is working again. Or has it always been working all of this time? No news from Blizzard, so I assume it was never going to be fixed. Well it seems they did, but behind the scenes.
I just tried my latest copy. No failures. Showed up exactly where I logged off on Live! So my Garrison did transfer over. Sweet.
There’s new changes, of course, with the new build. Though some old changes as well(that I forgot to list in the last PTR post);
-(Old)Sergeant Crowler, the guy who used to initiate Garrison Invasions, is once again a vendor. He features loads of very, very useful stuff to spend excess Garrison Resources on. Though some of it I assume is just for “testing purposes only” and will be “fixed”(like, paying to have Apexis Crystal dailies DONE FOR YOU!! :D).
-(New)A new Goblin NPC which starts the Garrison Jukebox quest, to find several parts around Draenor. Not sure if most of these involve going into a dungeon or a raid.
-(New)Bronzebeard who’s in your Town Hall has been replaced with a Goblin, with a Group daily to go to Gorgrond and hunt down an elite mob. This one seems to be talking about your outpost in Gorgrond. First time since leveling to 100, have I seen a group quest.
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So, dungeon time. I did the following yesterday;
Iron Docks
Auchindoun
Skyreach(full run this time)
Grimrail Depot
Shadowmoon Burial Grounds(last dungeon I did)
Let’s talk about how each of them went…
Iron Docks
Waited a good hour and a half for a group. Then when I finally got a few people, and the fact I wasn’t even near the portal (didn’t have the FP), they left me. Though another group showed up that helped.
We did the run three (3) times! And wow, was it fast. Didn’t even need a healer. Getting to the 2nd boss was pretty chaotic, though. Had bombs attacking all of us. Constantly had to get behind cover to avoid them. Overall, was fun.
Auchindoun
I actually had similar to the same group with me for the Iron Docks. Figured out how to re-queue. Someone has to leave the party, and all I do is just re-create the request to group. That’s it. Pretty easy.
Had this one guy who seemed more interested in questing than helping, so, had to kick him out. But we did it, again, with no healer. Went by pretty quickly to the point it was almost soloable.
Skyreach
First PuG run in WoD using the Dungeon Finder. It was nighttime, so I could barely see the targets. Plus everyone was below Level 100, so, that was.. fun. I need to do another run today to get that ring for Khadgar(part of the Legendary Ring questline).
Everything went OK, though, until we had to deal with those birds before the 3rd boss(who I thought was the final). The tank said “Group on me”. No one knew what the hell he was talking about, even when we all died. When we came back, he made it clear to stay near him to kill the birds. So we did, and that time we pulled it off.
Knocked the 3rd boss down no problem. I thought it was over until the group ran up this pathway with air going down it. More content! Nice! This one, we had to fight the current of air, going all the way around a platform and up more stairs. I failed one time and got pushed back, but did it again and got it.
The final boss was a real bitch (pun intended, as it’s a female). She was using that laser beam to kill us! Around 15% health left of the boss, I got picked up by one of the enemies that I read later can knock you off the platform and you got to kill it quickly. Got it done.
I did get a few things from it, but no worthy upgrades.
Grimrail Depot
A really, really bad run (except I never wiped). It was only “bad” because I’ve never been there. Hardest part was possibly inside the train. I really hate close quarters combat. You can’t really move, and you don’t know what’s going on infront of you.
That was definitely the case in one car, where we had enemies right infront of us, with one using a cannon that was blinding my screen. I’m sitting there panicking, hoping I’m actually hitting the right targets (least thing I want is the group to be pissed off at me).
Though eventually I was able to see what targets I needed to take down and got them.
The last boss was pretty tough. I really wish Blizzard would ease off on the overuse of AoE attacks.
But, got it done. I actually got to set off the bombs before we jumped off the train. That was pretty cool.
Shadowmoon Burial Grounds
This group, the tank was a bit of a douche.. not waiting for the Healer to get Mana. But the real fun came from … myself. Basically, I grabbed the two quests from my Inn to start that achievement to get the Tier 3 Inn.
We reached where I had to pick up the quest item. However my group went on to do battle with the boss. And before I could get over, the door infront of me closed up, keeping me from engaging.
Yet I had AoE attacks coming over to say hi to me with their damage, that eventually killed me. I apologized, saying I needed to get that piece first. Next time I’ll speak up before I actually get the quest item.
The most fun boss was probably Bonemaul, with his suction attack that you have to run away from. But according to the Dungeon Journal, the AoE can actually keep you from being sucked in.
And then there’s Ner’zhul. He’s a real pain. There’s this one AoE attack you have mere seconds to dodge, and my reaction time is 1.5 seconds.. that’s how long until it hits. So, it hits the second I realize I’m standing in bad! That’s not fair.
But we got it done.
After the run, I was looking around trying to find the second quest item as I thought we passed right by it, yet never saw it on my map. One of the guys in the group helped me. I assume you had to be in Heroic, and I was right when I checked Wowhead. That really sucks. I doubt I’ll be able to complete the 10 required quests to get the Tier 3 Inn without being in Heroic.
All there is to do now, is another Skyreach run, then The Everbloom and New UBRS (once Level 60 raid now Level 100 dungeon). Not to mention doing this new Garrison Campaign I never did on the beta, and starting the “kill target on mount” Stables dailies.
Yeah. A lot to do today.