Friday 25 November 2011

A question of character

WoW generally operates on a Dungeons and Dragons level of depth and characterisation: we go into dungeons, kill creatures and take their stuff.

Our motivations are some mixture of curiosity, greed and desire for greater power. And perhaps if Alliance-side some view that we're the heroes and they're the bad guys. But from the Horde side that last one doesn't work for me - we'll smash you if you get in our way or threaten us, but otherwise we'll live and let live.

This has been bothering me for a while now, especially as I can't help seeing Grulnak as a bit of a hippy, into balance with the spirit world, ancestor veneration and the like. So I've been faced with a choice of some severe retcon on his character or finding a character who fits my in-game goals - raiding, gearing up for this and exploring raids I missed in classic WoW.

So I've been reviewing my alts - Grazznak the warlock; Eadwyn the Forsaken death knight (and hence faintly magical warrior); and Grulgok. The first two have excellent soloing prospects but, being both in their 60s, seem unlikely to ever get to 85. Logging into Grulgok, reviewing his gear accumulated in Wrath, and fitting him with a pair of two-handed axes gave me a real buzz. I can see him, with alchemy and enchanting to make up for his weaknesses in a magical world, and a cunning and ambitious nature sending him into dungeons for loot to enhance his power and standing.

But I die a little inside every time he has to run any great distance without ghost wolf, cross a significant body of water or wait for a heathstone on cooldown.

So, whether to make Grulgok my main, or to find a way to progress Grulnak without dungeon grinding?