Staving off pre-xpac boredom!

Apologies for being slow on updates these past few days, been very busy!

It seems pre-xpac syndrome and summer are both kicking in and many people are finding themselves bored and wondering just what to do til Cataclysm drops. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd make a post with some ideas of things to amuse yourself!

For those of you still raiding, hopefully Ruby Sanctum has provided you with a fun diversion from ICC. If you're still looking for more to do raid-wise, this can be a fun time to revisit some of the lower Wrath content, particularly if you have an interest in achievements. Some achievements especially you will likely find much easier as most will overgear the content, so this may be an ideal time to grab some of the ones that were more difficult.

The Glory of the Ulduar Raider 10 and 25 in particular are good achievements to go back and get. Ulduar was, in my opinion, one of the best Wrath raids, as many of the encounters were a lot of fun and interesting, and the entire lore and history to the instance is pretty intriguing. Most of the quests in Storm Peaks are connected to the instance, particularly the Sons of Hodir chain (for those who didn't complete the chain, it is why Thorim says 'I remember you... in the mountains...' and the previous life of Razorscale). Many of you will likely have seen the Rhonin roleplay in Dalaran announcing the defeat of Algalon the Observer. The Algalon fight, both conceptually and in the fight itself, is a brilliant battle with a very interesting concept around it. If you were unable to attain the key to Algalon before, now may also be a good time to do the quest (opened from a drop off of Iron Council hard mode) to attain the key, as the Keeper hard modes will likely be easier now (though Firefighter can still cause trouble for some! Keep out of fire :D ).
Someone also made a very good youtube film on Ulduar, worth checking out!: Ulduar: The Movie, Part 1 (and Part 2 and Part 3).

There are many other achievements to check out as well, from undermanning instances (8- or 20-manning raids) to speed kills. Don't forget mount drops as well - Sarth+3drakes drops the Black Drake (10) and Twilight Drake (25), Eye of Eternity 10 and 25 drop the Azure Drake, and Onyxia 25 drops the Onyxia mount.

Old raids can provide a lot of fun as well, especially if you missed out on some of the BC raids.

If raiding isn't your thing, there's plenty of other things to do!

With all of the upcoming changes to Azeroth in Cataclysm, now is a great time to check out the quests in the Old World. This is something you could do on your main, particularly if you'd like to get the Loremaster achievement at some time. This can also be a great time to level an alt and perhaps try a new class. I usually find myself hitting the same zones when leveling alts, so it might be interesting to check out some of the areas you missed last time around! A lot of quest lines will be changing or disappearing altogether, including some of the unique rewards (though I do not know which ones), so if there's any ones you'd particularly like to get, go for it now. Two rewards in particular would be good to snag now in case they disappear: Dartol's Rod of Transformation, from the Raene's Cleansing chain in Ashenvale, and the Sprite Darter Hatchling chain in Feralas.

If you've primarily played either Alliance or Horde, this might also be a fun time to check out the leveling experience for the other side. Having played primarily Alliance toons in my time in WoW, I've had some fun recently in leveling a horde toon. Some of the quests sync up in the contested zones - for those of you Alliance in Southshore who remember dealing with the Forsaken plague threat, you may have fun in Tarren Mill as a Horde administering that plague to the poor farmer's dog!


This can also be a fun time to work on Reputation with various factions, particularly ones with mounts. Depending on your server, you may find this easy or hard to do; Timbermaw/Frostsaber rep out in Winterspring, for example, can be difficult if too many are there farming the mobs.
Outlands has several rep factions which reward mounts as well. The Netherwing quests are a great one with an assortment of cool drake mounts at Exalted. Depending on your time input, this may take you a while or no time at all. There are an assortment of dailies following the initial introduction quest line, but you can also gain rep by collecting and turning in the Netherwing Eggs. The Sha'tari Skyguard is another good rep. There are only two dailies you can do each day following the opening quests, but killing the Arrakoa around Skettis awards rep and items to call forth Terokk (this is initially a quest, Terokk's Downfall, which can be repeated with the same items). The Kurenai in Nagrand have an assortment of cool Talbuk mounts, rep with them can be obtained pretty easily by killing the ogres around Nagrand and turning in the ogre warbeads.


There are some old level 60 instances which can be fun to solo or two- or three-man. AQ20 is a favourite of mine. If you're a tank (or possibly one of the hardier dps classes, I go in bear form in my kitty gear/spec), it can be pretty easy to solo four of the six bosses. Buru the Gorger and Ayamiss the Hunter you will likely need at least two to take down (Buru will apply a hard hitting debuff, and Ayamiss has both a ranged phase and a stun), but Kurinnaxx, General Rajaxx, Moam and Ossirian you will likely be able to handle easily. The instance itself is quite interesting to see, and very different in design and atmosphere to everything in Wrath. It can also be a fun alternative to dailies, as the boss gold and item drops can be financially rewarding - all of the bosses drop books which teach abilities (ie book of Healing Touch), all of which are now taught by your class trainer, so you can easily vendor all of these (at 10g a pop!).

Zul'Gurub is another fun instance which also has a chance at two mounts (High Priest Thekal drops the Swift Zulian Tiger and Bloodlord Mandokir drops the Swift Razzashi Raptor).

Molten Core is a good one to check out as well, though this will likely require at least two people at 80. There are a few bosses which apply debuffs (magic and curses, as well as physical damage debuffs). There are also two legendaries which can be crafted from materials in Molten Core - Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker and Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros (which I'm actually working on at the moment - only need some Sulfuron Ingots and Blood of the Mountain now!).


If you're still trying to think of things to do, I suggest giving a scan of your achievements page and giving some a go! I had particular fun with the Master of Arms and Did Somebody Order a Knuckle Sandwich? achievements - I went resto, flew below Dal, and duked it out with the Treants that wander Crystalsong Forest. They toss Rejuvs on themselves when they start to lose health, so we both stood there swinging at each other and healing ourselves. Perfect for skill leveling! I happened to do these on a day when the Cooking daily was Sewer Stew, so lots of people were flying down looking for carrots, and I had some fun conversations as people came to investigate.

That's all for now - feel free to post with ideas of your own!