The instance group returned to WoW Classic this past weekend. Our last run, when we finally wrapped up Blackrock Depths, was back in February. We have spent most of our time since then in the Viking afterlife that is Valheim. But the coming of Burning Crusade Classic… Blizz seems set to drop the pre-expansion patch some time this month… stirred us from our resource collection and biome explorations to return to Azeroth.
All of us together again
We had a few goals for this return run, the first of which was to get back into the swing of playing WoW. While getting used to how to move passed pretty quickly, I think everybody was pressing the space bar to try and sprint or the Tab key for inventory more often than they would like to admit. Fortunately, nobody can see you do that and it doesn’t have any real in-game impact.
We also wanted to get to level 60. That was a low bar goal, as we were all well on our way towards that after the last run.
And we also wanted some felcloth. Felcloth drops from satyrs in Felwood and is the primary ingredient to make mooncloth bags, which are the 16 slot bags that tailors can make. To be in WoW Classic is to be in a time when 16 slot bags were a big deal. Ula, our group tailor, has us mostly covered with 14 slot runecloth bags, but those extra two slots add up.
The coveted mooncloth bag
We spent some time trying for the mooncloth bag recipe drop at one point and eventually snagged it for an acceptable price at the auction house so Ula could start making them.
But to feed the production we need felcloth, and the one place where it drops besides Felwood is in Dire Maul East. So that set our destination. It offered xp, we had done it before so it was a probably a good warm up, and there was felcloth to be had.
We got ourselves online on Sunday afternoon and headed towards Feathermoon in Feralas from where ever we last left our characters. Viniki was out in Gadgetzan for some reason… thorium recipes I think… so was the closest to our destination.
Flying out over the Mirage Raceway
Our group, in the guild window, was all level 59 and looking to level up.
All close to level cap
We managed to find the right instance on the first try… Dire Maul East is on the east side of the Dire Maul complex as advertised… and got ourselves setup. This is the instance with Pusillin, the little demon that you have to chase down as he has the key to unlock the other wings of the complex.
What if we already have the key?
We started in on clearing our way through, the familiar rhythm of fights coming back to us after not too many rounds.
Viniki was the first to level up. I had been out mining ore in high level zones, which means killing mobs now and then, so had crept up pretty close to the level cap already.
Hitting level 60 in the first area
We followed Pusillin, not so much because we needed his key or a drop from him, but because he runs off into an area populated by satyrs, and satyrs mean felcloth.
Attack all satyrs!
This was in contrast to our last visit, where we bypassed a lot of the satyrs. The layout of the instance is such that you don’t need to grab every group. But if you want felcloth you grab them all.
We made it to Pusillin and managed to wipe on his fight on the first try, the same as we did the last time we came to visit.
Wiped again
Pusillin summons a group of non-elite helpers who hit hard with fire based attacks, which overwhelmed Skronk’s ability to heal. I heard him say, “Viniki pot!” even as I was going to hit a health pot, but even in motion already I was too late.
We had to run back, but once we got there, the fight was fairly simple. If you wipe Pusillin wanders back to the far end of the room, but his summoned demons all crowd in at the near end, so you can fight them separately.
From there it was back up through the halls, sweeping up satyrs that we had missed or which spawned after we passed… which is a thing in DME, because I am pretty sure we didn’t miss that one guy in the narrow hallway on our way in… and off into the side rooms with the other bosses and more satyrs.
Lethtendris down
While gear upgrades seemed unlikely, we somehow still managed to find a couple, along with the Frost Ward V tome for Ula, which dropped just after she hit level 60. And items that were not upgrades went to Moronae, who had taken up the enchanter profession for us, to be disenchanted for materials.
We pushed on, and managed not to wipe again, though we did have a couple of deaths. Moronae’s combat ress came in handy when Skronk went down in a fight that got away from us for a bit.
Nobody died on Zevrim’s altar this time
Time, however, started to press. We had been slow to get started and had stopped to slay all the satyrs for a stretch. As we got towards the end we needed to speed things up a bit as dinner was about ready at my end.
In the conservatory we skipped as many groups as we dared to clear the way for Ironbark to open the last door for us.
Lets get moving there Ironbark
It was in the conservatory that Skronk hit level 60, the last of us to do so. We were all at the level cap.
Ready for Outland now
We made it through and got down to the final boss, Azzin the Wildshaper, another fight where we forgot that a bunch minions show up to help the boss mid-fight. It was a bit touch and go for a while, but I managed to keep them mostly on me.
Sudden mid-fight pile on!
We made it through and defeated Azzin. We had finished the instance.
Victory over Azzin
We had managed to get up to speed, all hit level 60, and even grabbed a few pieces of felcloth. I think there were five drops, which doesn’t feel like a lot, though the drops per mobs ratio was much better than trying to farm them in Felwood. And Ula only needs one piece per bag. Now she just has to turn them into mooncloth at the local moonwell, something that is on a timer, so it will take a bit to process even five.
There are still some instances left that we have not done in WoW Classic. But even if we do not get to them all, we are set for Outland. The gear we have will be replaced by the first round of green quest drops once we get to Hellfire Peninsula.
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