orcish army knife

Alright, everybody remember this post from a few years back?

Well, since War Crimes just came out featuring both Garrosh and Anduin rather prominently, I figured it was time for a little update.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of that baby's face.

Thankfully, I'm sure we'll see him again, since we'll undoubtedly see enough out of Garrosh in Warlords for a part 3 in a year or so!

Image from Wowpedia.org

Recent statements from a big name in the New Alliance hierarchy has made something very clear: this is an army about "winning", not diversity.

Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos gave a speech to New Alliance troops yesterday emphasizing that as their commander, he sought "epic winning experiences" and that rather than focusing on forging future racial ties and allegiances, his army would focus on chin clefts and sweet moustaches.

As the former Knight of Lordaeron continually hammered home his emphasis on "racial purity", he specifically mentioned that under his leadership, the New Alliance would be strongly opposed to "working together" with other races such as the dwarves or blood elves.

When asked if cooperating with other races might one day lead to humans, dwarves and elves all living peacefully together, Garithos snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't say that's really a value for me. It's not something that I'm against either, but it's just not something that I give a shit about."

Garithos argued that the human soldiers in the New Alliance grew up revering human heroes like Anduin Lothar and Thoras Trollbane, and that at the end of the day, they were all "kids at heart."

"Humans rule, right boys? Right? Right!" said Garithos with a chuckle, high-fiving his lieutenant, Kristoff.

"Anyway, these fellows, they dreamed about being a hero like Lothar, with human partners, a human army, a proud human moustache," said Garithos. "We're not trying to bring in all this other stuff, this 'socially relevant' or 'equality' nonsense, or actively trying to encourage racial diversity or do things like that. Because we don't care."

Garithos went on to note that "because most of our soldiers are lads who grew up hearing stories about human heroes," the widespread New Alliance attitude that other races were incompetent, cowards or traitors "is offensive to, I guess, some dwarves and elves."

"But what do you expect?" said the Grand Marshal. "Look at our forces on the front lines. They're all brave human boys, strong and courageous. Fighting for kin and country. Can't say the same for the elves!"

In discussing this military racial imbalance, he noted "It's not because we don't want more elves fighting, it's just what the army is. I'd take them pointy-ears to the front, I really would. But I just don't get the elf volunteers."

When reminded that Prince Kael'thas did, in fact, volunteer his blood elf troops to fight on the front lines, but was ignored and his request dismissed, the Grand Marshal closed his eyes and stuck his fingers in his ears.

"I said, I JUST DON'T GET THE VOLUNTEERS!" shouted Garithos, walking briskly away and ignoring any future questions.

"Listen, we're not running for King of Lordaeron or anything," said Kristoff. "We're here for our own satisfaction, not for the dwarves', for the elves', or for anyone else's. No one should look to our army for that."

When asked if the New Alliance didn't represent a potential way for people of all races to cooperate and accomplish great things together without being discriminated against, and that at the end of the day, it could be a way to let humans, dwarves and elves all feel empowered, Kristoff shrugged, looking bored.

"Uh-huh. Cool. Totally."

I've taken thousands of screenshots since I started playing WoW six years ago. And the one above, of Westfall in flames during the conclusion the zone's Post-Shattering questline, remains one of my favorites.

Its composition is nice, good vibrant colors, rule-of-thirds and all that. But I think what I like most about it is the in-game and in-character story behind it.

You see, at the end of the zone, Vanessa Van Cleef reveals herself to be the mastermind and driving force behind all the uprisings and rebellions that you've been investigating. And in a really cool moment, she and her lieutenants subdue Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle, Horatio Laine and the other Alliance / Westfall Brigade soldiers, before proceeding to raze Sentinel Hill to the ground. Meanwhile, Stoutmantle desperately yells at you to hurry and travel to Stormwind and warn them that the Defias Brotherhood has risen once again.

Well, I did nothing of the sort. I stood around, redid the quest a few times for more screenshots, and just relaxed, enjoying the scene.

Why? Because the Alliance deserved it. Stoutmantle, Laine, Varian, they brought this entirely upon themselves. Screw you guys, I'm done, YOU'RE the ones at fault here, I quit. Time to sit back and watch the sky burn.

Post-Northrend Westfall is in sorry shape following the war against the Lich King. The farmlands are barren and full of homeless refugees, people are starving and reduced to eating dirt, and morale (and faith in the government) is at an all-time low.

And what's the response from Varian? How does the King of Stormwind react, hearing of the plight of his people? Well, let me first add that when you do eventually go to deliver the message to Varian, you have to run right past the city's BRAND NEW GIANT VARIAN STATUE that they constructed after Northrend. But the nation has no funds and that's why Westfall civilians have to squat in deserted homes and starve. Okay.

Statue aside, even after all this, when the ignored, unheard people of Westfall are driven to rebellion because they have no alternative, Varian...well, he ignores their issues and dismisses them as "a ruthless organization of criminals."

With treatment like that, is it really any wonder the people of Westfall rebelled? That you finally pushed them so far that they put their feet down and said "No. No, you arrogant, selfish children. You only care about your own egos, you don't listen to our concerns, and when you are FORCED to notice, you have the gall to not take responsibility?"

wouldn't you know it... go on a vacation and my twitter blows up with some controversy
— Rob Pardo (@Rob_Pardo) May 28, 2014

Hey, I guess that's cool. You already got their money, so who needs to actually LISTEN to those bums, right? May as well just ignore their reasons for being angry and place the blame right on their shoulders, not yours.

But maybe, just maybe you underestimate how hurt, upset and above all else, how tired of this crap people are. How maybe people would be willing to overlook a single offense and chalk it up to an accident or mistake. But when it keeps happening over¹ and over² and over³ and over⁴ and over⁵ and over⁶ and over⁷ and over⁸ again? Um, no.

(¹The absence of Aggra in WoD. ²Female Draenei April Fool's joke. ³One-dimensional female lore characters. ⁴Lack of Hearthstone Hero equality. ⁵Tyrande's leader story featuring Malfurion. ⁶Malgrim Stormhand's "real man" line. ⁷Dustin Browder on hypersexualized female designs. ⁸Rob Pardo on diversity in Blizzard games.)

Eventually, you're going to push them away. You will lose them by offending them. By not representing them. By dismissing and refusing to acknowledge the times you screwed up, and trying to just pretend those times never happened via deafening, overwhelming silence.

Even the most loyal, dedicated supporter, who absolutely LOVES all the good things you DO do, reaches a point where they have to say to themselves "How can I continue to support these people when they clearly do not care about me?"

And I guess the answer is, you don't have to.

* * * * *
Warlords is probably half a year away. And I fully admit it, I am dying - DYING - to see what happens with the lore. Come on, Blizz. Six months to put your money where Pardo's mouth is and prove that you really do want diversity in your games. There's plenty of testosterone, musclehead games out there for the dudebro crowd. Warcraft (and Blizzard's other games) could be so much better than this.

Anyway. From Draenor With Love will be unaffected, and I hope readers enjoy where our story goes, and who it involves!

This won't be the last post here, though it'll be the last one for a while. But just in case, thank you for reading. If you've ever enjoyed anything, anything at all posted on this blog, know that your enjoyment makes me incredibly happy. Thanks. :)

It's funny. Predictions have always been one of my favorite blog topics. Sure didn't see this coming, though.

The Warlords of Draenor cinematic went live yesterday. This post has spoilers.
If you haven't seen it yet, here's a link, go watch. It's only 5 minutes long.
* * * * *
The Warlords trailer was released yesterday, and people have lots of thoughts. There's probably going to be many blog posts soon addressing how the focus was entirely on orcs, how there were no draenei, how there were no female orcs, the heavy masculinity, and how the lore significance was likely lost on the many players that didn't play the older games.

These are valid points, and you should read them! But this is not one of those posts.

No, this post is about one thing and one thing only: Garrosh. While he's present in a good portion of the cinematic, he doesn't play a major role (one could argue that his torch-waving signalling was unnecessary, since the siege machines were already in action), and he only has one line of dialogue, which consists of only two words.

But those two words. Man.

Gul'dan: This...was not our destiny!
Garrosh: Times change.

Okay. Let's talk about this line. On the surface, it's a clever retort. It's a snappy one-liner to Gul'dan's protests, and it has the meta benefit of alluding to the fact that Garrosh has gone back in time to accomplish his goals. It's a good line.

But put that aside for a moment. Ignore the scene, who he's addressing, what's going on around them. Instead, just look at Garrosh's face when he says his line. And listen to HOW he says it.

Times change.

Me? I hear a distinct heaviness in his voice. A weight. A weariness. A clear absence of the anger, arrogance and brashness that has for years utterly defined who Garrosh Hellscream is.

Think back to oh, every time we've heard Garrosh speak, whether it's to Thrall, Varian, Taran Zhu, or to players in his own faction. He snarls, he sneers, he spits his words like cannon blasts. For him, the very act of talking is a heavily emphasized, violent act. That's who Garrosh IS. Go watch the 5.4 trailer again if you want to compare.

But his words in the cinematic, these two little words...they don't feel this way. This is a different Garrosh. He sounds almost apologetic.

This drastic change in attitude isn't just the voice acting, either - it's written all over his face. Look at the attitude difference between this Garrosh...

...and this one.

There's no fury, twisting and contorting his features. No bloodlust or hatred. Nor is it the smirking expression of someone who just delivered a devastating verbal shot. No, that is the face of someone who is at that very moment, coming to a difficult, perhaps painful, realization.

Remember, until recently it was Garrosh, not Gul'dan, shouting about his "glorious destiny." And when Garrosh realizes he has lost, that he has been denied the fate he so adamantly believes he deserves, it's almost more than he can bear.

(sound credits: Wowhead!)

Fast forward to Garrosh in the cinematic, standing over Gul'dan. Why is Garrosh not angrier? Why doesn't he take out the years of frustration and rage he, like most orcs, now feel towards this traitor to their proud race? Why does he not spit in Gul'dan's face, break his spindly neck, mock his suffering?

Well, Guldan's faith in the destiny promised him has just been shattered. And hearing the pain and denial in the other orc's voice as those dreams and hopes slip away...what must be running through Garrosh's mind at that moment? He knows Gul'dan is a monster. But Garrosh also knows what it's like, to have the world in the palm of your hand, so close you can taste it, only to have it stolen cruelly away at the last second.

Garrosh was in those exact same shoes not so long ago. He knows this pain all too well.

Now, maybe Garrosh has comes to terms with himself, with the unexpected directions his life has taken him. After all, he's no longer the proud, celebrated leader of the Warsong Offensive. He is no longer Warchief of the Horde, leader of the mightiest army on Azeroth. Now, he's an outlaw. A renegade. Hunted and despised by everyone he's ever known. His grand, ambitious plans of conquest, of victory...now all gone, scattered to the winds.

Gul'dan believed he was destined for something greater. Well, so did Garrosh. But guess what?

Times change.

Maybe he's come to realize that the world might not actually revolve around him...that his purpose, his meaning in life, is what he is doing now. Not to be the one leading the ferocious charge into battle, not to the one defying the rest of the world and daring them to come rip him down off his throne, but instead, helping his father be the one to attain such glories.

To wait behind, to signal the catapults. To retrieve his leader's weapon. To eschew accolades and recognition. To follow, not lead.

Who is Garrosh really addressing in the cinematic?

Gul'dan?

Or himself?

I said there was a weight in Garrosh's words, and there is. But there's more. A sense of resignation. Of defeat. Of mourning, an unspoken, quiet sadness at what could have been, and at what he knows he has lost.

But there is also something else - acceptance.

The timbre in his voice. The expression on his face.

For the first time, Garrosh seems - dare I say it? - content.

Look at the moment when he retrieves Gorehowl from Mannoroth's corpse.

Garrosh pauses, considering it. He knows this weapon. He's wielded it countless times. He knows its weight, the feel of how it sings in battle, the adrenaline rush of sending it cleaving through his foes. It's not just an axe, it's an extension of his very being, his warrior's spirit. His legacy.

He looks at it. Remembering.

And then he lets it go.

(click for full-size)

Archive photograph of Sister Goldskimmer, MIA (image from Wowhead)

Sisters all across Azeroth are mysteriously vanishing, and experts have no idea why.

Novice night elf and Gilnean acolytes were confused when Sister Almyra did not show up to lead them through their traditional morning rituals, but assumed she was simply feeling unwell and went about their day. However, they soon noticed that another of their number, Sister Aquinne, was also missing.

A search of their homes revealed no sign of either priestess, and Darnassus authorities were notified. It was then discovered that Darnassians were not the only ones whose sisters had disappeared, as similar reports were filtering in from all across the planet.

In Westfall, it was Sentinel Hill soldier Sister Darnhald; in Azshara, Sister Goldspinner; in Shattrath, Wolf-Sister Maka. All sisters, all gone without a trace.

Oddly, the disappearances seem very specifically targeted, as only women siblings have been reported missing. Women without siblings seem completely unaffected, as do male siblings - other than being alarmed about the disappearance of their female kin, of course.

"This is totally weird, bro!" said investigator Horatio Laine, who isn't really an expert in these matters, but no one else had any ideas, so they figured calling on Laine couldn't do any more harm. "Why would someone make all these sisters, of different races, alignment and culture, all vanish?"

World leaders were immediately concerned that the vanishings might be a new form of attack by an Old God, the Burning Legion, or other such evil forces. However, careful scouting revealed that their sisters were vanishing as well. Howls of fear and loss echo throughout Icecrown as the Vrykul learn of their missing Njorndar Spear-Sisters, and chaos now reigns in the Black Temple after its occupants realized their masters of Pain and Pleasure were nowhere to be found.

"Was the strangest thing I ever seen, mon!" said Kro'janda, a troll hunter living in the Stonetalon Mountains. "I been trackin' a harpy, Riven, for da last week after she kill my boars. And I finally find her, get her all lined up for da killing shot...and den she just disappear! She didn't fly away, she didn't hide. I looked all aroun', and nothin'. She was just...gone."

"I just don't understand," said Laine, studying a genealogy textbook and dozens of family tree diagrams. "Why target just sisters? Why not brothers, too? It's almost as if someone was trying to erase sisters from history, or tell us that sisters don't exist. But who would do something as dumb as that?"

With the first "season" of Brawler's Guild going away tomorrow with patch 6.0.2, this weekend was my last chance to finish up Brawler's Guild and attain Rank 10, the highest rank and the one that would allow purchase of the awesome mount. While RP walking, of course.

After taking down Tyson Sanders back in April, I only had a few fights left: T440 Dual-Mode Robot, Anthracite, Big Badda Boom, Nibbleh, Doctor FIST and Ahoo'ru.

Like Hexos, Nibbleh was as typically difficult as it is for everyone...but not any MORE difficult for an RP walker, since your walking speed was irrelevant in both these fights! I couldn't help but laugh. A fight where you don't move at all? A fight where you only RP walk backwards? THIS IS MY JAM.

Doctor FIST was a pushover and he got one-shot. But Ahoo'ru...I honestly didn't know if I was going to be able to beat Ahoo'ru.

For those who don't know Ahoo'ru, here's the rundown.
- He bubbles in the center of the arena, an invincible shield with 3 stacks.
- He summons sparks of light which wander around, doing high damage to you if they hit you.
- He'll randomly empower a sparks; if touched, it turns into an Avenging Angel mob.
- When an Angel reaches 50% HP, it slowly casts a charge, then (quickly) charges your location.
- An Angel explodes at the end of its charge, instantly killing you if it hits you.
- But if the charge hits Ahoo'ru, it removes one of his shields.

So the idea is, avoid getting hit by the sparks, touch the empowered sparks & spawn the angels, DPS down the Angels, lure them into charging Ahoo'ru to break his shield. Do this three times, then DPS down Ahoo'ru himself.

Sounds pretty easy. Well, except for the fact where I had to dodge the sparks of light while RP walking. And CATCH the empowered sparks while RP walking. And avoid the instantly-fatal Angel charges while RP walking. Oh and do this three times AND still kill Ahoo'ru before dying to the enrage.

It took me a lot of tries (I think 4 strength flasks' worth?), including multiple "I killed you but died to the enrage at the same time and it DIDN'T COUNT" frustrations, but EVENTUALLY he went down. I fully admit I got lucky, getting two empowered sparks at the same time, but even that was tricky, as I had to DPS both Angels down to 50% at roughly the same time so they'd both charge simultaneously.

Fabulor is now a Rank 10 Brawler, and did the entire thing fully RP walking. (In his offspec.) Quite possibly my proudest achievement all expansion. Most of the fights weren't exceptionally difficult, but the ones reliant on mobility - Dark Summoner, Tyson Sanders, Ahoo'ru - were SUPER challenging and really made me think hard about my toolkit. And really, entertainment factor aside, THAT'S why I was doing this. You want to master chess? Challenge yourself to win without your rook and knight. That's how you hone your skills.

Is this a world-first? Is Fabulor the only character arrogant or stupid enough to do this? I can't be certain, but I can honestly say I haven't heard of anyone else doing this.

And even if Fab's not the only one, that's okay. It's a pretty good exclusive club to be a part of.

Short post here, but it was with great amusement yesterday that TTGF learned that Fortune Cookies are actually the best buff food right now. Yes, Fortune Cookies.

Here's the Mists of Pandaria buff foods that USED to be the best, before 6.0.2.

+2 primary stat is a pretty minor difference, but +36 Stamina on top? That's nothing to sneeze at, with the stat squish. And then of course there's also the chance of snagging the elusive 5000 gold Fortune Card.

(The other top-tier Cataclysm buff foods are just as good as the Fortune Cookies, such as Severed Sagefish Head. You just lose out on the fun of flipping the cards.)

If you're still doing progression raiding in MoP's final days like Navimie and her guild, it might be worth whipping up some cookies!

Warlords comes out tomorrow, so I guess it's time for a blog roundup of my favorite moments from Mists!

From a blogging perspective, Mists was a bit of a change from previous years. I simply wasn't as interested in the game lore, so I definitely wrote less speculation and lore-centric stuff this expansion. I was still heavily interested in Garrosh and the Klaxxi, but other than them, there wasn't much that really hooked and kept me intrigued for long. I found the Pandaren quite one-dimensional - the rare times one of them showed a more serious, harder side, it was usually because of Sha corruption, and therefore not "real". Taran Zhu (though a windbag) and Taoshi were notable exceptions, but other than them, I feel that almost all of the other Pandaren can be painted in broad, generic strokes in terms of personality and demeanor.

On the other hand, maining Fabulor for an entire expansion (something I didn't really expect to ever do) opened some new blogging floodgates, with his various RP posts, his RP walking shenanigans, and other hilarity. Even without considering actual raiding and gameplay, being Fabulor during Mists was an incredibly fun experience, which is why for the first time ever I'm actually going to play the same main two expansions in a row. (Wrath was Rades [Hunter] and Mardak [Druid], Cataclysm was Morgion [Death Knight])

Of course, this was no direct fault of Mists specifically, but I also took my first break from WoW this year, my first break since I starting playing back in Burning Crusade. Do I think all of my issues have been addressed? Well, I really don't know, I never really follow Beta info that intently. But I know that SOME of them have been, and I know Blizzard is aware of the complaints the community has been voicing. And the representation in Overwatch, their new IP announced at Blizzcon last week, was a VAST improvement over their previous titles. Not perfect...but getting better. So let's say, cautiously optimistic?

But enough rambling. Here's my favorite moments from Mists. Not favorite lore moments, not favorite news moments - MY favorite moments, the ones that *I* will look back on a year from now and remember fondly.

* * * * *
TTGF: WORLD FIRST HEROIC ELEGON (trash)
TTGF really came into its own this expansion as a guild full of idiots who die in hilarious and terrible ways, but still gets shit done. This was the first expansion that I've been part of a guild who killed the last boss in every raid tier well before the next raid tier released.

Fabulor: Cloud Serpent, My Friend (and Part 2)
Like most of Fabulor's antics, this story was outrageous, but based in truth. I really DID sell the cloud serpent...but changed my mind in the end. After all, it was only gold.

TTGF: WORLD-FIRST HEROIC WIND-BRIDGE
TTGFers don't trust healers anymore. It's possible this is why.

TTGF: Lei Shen
I still shake my head at this, and I know that some other raid leaders cannot watch this as it makes them too angry. This was our FIRST Lei Shen kill, we didn't have him on farm, we had ZERO EXCUSE to be this relaxed. But, somehow, against all odds, it worked.

Fabulor: RP walking to a Legendary Healing Cloak
At some point in Mists I started getting the idea that Fabulor should just RP walk through everything, like he used to do way back in the Hellfire Ramparts days. After all, he's Fabulor. My first test? One-shotting the Legendary Healing Cloak scenario. Sold.

Transmog: The Prettiest Plate Dress
Of all the mogs Fabulor has had, I think this remains my favorite. That PVP chestpiece is still completely amazing.

Fabulor: Proving Grounds Silver Tank as a Holy Paladin
Why stop at just RP walking? Fab was already Holy Pally tanking heroic dungeons, how hard could this be? (Spoiler: it was actually really hard. One of the most difficult things I did all expansion.)

Fiction: Harvest Festival
This list wouldn't be right without at least one bit of Garrosh fiction.

Transmog: Fabulor Gets Judgemental (and the follow-up post)
Everyone knows I hate Judgement armor. But did you know how much I hate it?

Satire: Malfurion Stormrage no longer archdruid, now known as “Superb Owl”
Even though he wasn't involved in Mists at all, there's never a bad time to make fun of Owlfurion. (Wait, he was in the novel War Crimes and was a complete jackass, does that count?)

Fabulor: RP walking to Brawler's Guild Rank 8 (and Tyson Sanders and Ahoo'ru)
This may be my favorite non-guild accomplishment of all time. It's not even that it was the most challenging thing to do (though some fights WERE quite difficult, especially Tyson Sanders and Ahoo'ru, and especially because Ret is my off-spec), but...it's just so Fabulor. The walking. The flexing. The completely bewildered reactions by other Brawlers watching. If ever there was something that truly epitomizes Fabulor's personality and attitude, it's this.

TTGF: World First Roof Dark Shamans
At the time, other guilds were pushing through Heroic modes, working towards Garrosh. TTGF? We'll take a ludicrous, hilarious "progression" kill any day of the week.

Satire: New Alliance "doesn't care" about Diversity, says Grand Marshal Garithos
Possibly the most scathing satirical piece I've ever written. Still absolutely feel it was justified, though.

Lore: Times Change: Garrosh & the Warlords cinematic
Every Garrosh post on OAK, someone comments that I'm almost certainly overthinking things, that there's no way Blizzard really does have all these plans for Garrosh that I speculate about. They're right, of course. But that doesn't make these Garry lore posts any less enjoyable to me.

TTGF: LODUR GETS DARK SHAMAN TRANSMOG
It was three days before the end of Mists, 427 days after Siege of Orgrimmar launched, and finally, FINALLY, TTGFer Lodur got his Dark Shaman transmog. And we all screamed and yelled on Mumble and shared in his joy. I think it was the perfect celebratory moment to end the expansion on.

Before Warlords, I was never really into pet battling, or even collecting minipets (with one obvious exception). Sure, I was happy to take a pet if it dropped, or pick up the holiday ones for fun, but the only pet battling I did during Mists was to get Lesser Charms.

I certainly never even thought about the Grand Master Pet Trainers, let alone the Celestial Tournament - my experience with battling Trainers consisted of making it to the level 30-40 ones before the quest bugged out (I couldn't click on the Trainer to battle them) so I just shrugged and gave up. I did at one point consider trying again, but then I couldn't remember where I had left off or where the Trainer I was supposed to defeat was...

Anyway, just before Warlords launched I was at the Darkmoon Faire checking out the new additions, and noticed the second Master Pet Trainer there, Christoph VonFeasel. I'm not sure why, but I decided to give him a shot, despite having an extremely ragtag selection of level 25 pets and a truly shameful lack of pet battling knowledge/experience.

Shockingly, after a few tries and rethinking my approach, I actually managed to put together a team and beat him! I was quite pleased, and surprised. But more than anything else, I realized I had quite enjoyed the challenge of approaching a difficult obstacle with a substantial handicap and overcoming it.

This wasn't exactly something new with how I play WoW - I'm always looking for ways to make the game harder for myself, just for the hell of it. This is one of the main reasons I decided to RP walk Brawler's Guild, or why I use huge screen-blocking Weak Auras/unit frames that others find intolerable. Sometimes these habits drive my guildies up the wall, like when they learned that my Push-to-Talk button is the number pad - key, and I take my hand off my mouse whenever I talk in Mumble.

Basically if you tell me something can't be done, or that only idiots would do it, I'm going to attempt it just to try to prove you wrong (and for kicks). ;)

So imagine my delight when I learned about the Pet Menagerie in your Garrison, with a challenging, different pet battle each day! The first day I had the Menagerie, I gave it a shot, and got completely, hilariously stomped. I think it was Stitches Jr.. But that just piqued my interest, as I realized I had a perfect little project to challenge myself - defeat each daily Menagerie battle using only my current, horrible roster of pets! No cheating - no powerleveling up other pets to counter a given day's team, no borrowing pets from friends. Just the pets I had.

I've mentioned my terrible roster a few times now. Let me explain. I had a bunch of blue-quality level 25 pets, it's true! 24 of them, to be exact. But they were anything but balanced. My roster was:

Aquatic: Magical Crawdad, Shore Crab, Softshell Snapling, Spawn of G'nathus, Swamp Croaker
Beast: Crystal Spider, Kovok
Critter: Grassland Hopper
Dragonkin: Chrominius
Elemental: Terrible Turnip
Flying: Brilliant Kaliri, Effervescent Glowfly, Gilded Moth, Oasis Moth, Shrine Fly
Humanoid: Corefire Imp, Sporeling Sprout
Magic: Arcane Eye, Viscous Horror
Mechanical: Darkmoon Zeppelin, Son of Animus, Sunreaver Micro-Sentry, Tranquil Mech. Yeti
Undead: Fossilized Hatchling

If you're familiar with pet battling, you'll realize that a few of those pets are pretty good...but also that a lot of them usually don't make their way onto recommended pet teams. I mean, Terrible Turnip? Sporeling Sprout? Oh boy. And I love Kovok, but he is NOT a strong battle pet.

This challenge turned out to be a lot of fun. I couldn't just choose three OP pets that were the perfect counters each day, because I probably didn't have ONE such pet, let alone three! So I had to really think about the pets and abilities I did have access to, and how I could combine them to eke out wins.

And I got my ass kicked. A LOT. But the pet healer was right there, and I learned from those losses, and went back to the drawing board, and used what I had learned to develop winning strategies.

But then came the Quintessence of Light.

About halfway through the Menagerie rotation, the Quintessence of Light became my first real roadblock. I tried every pet combination I could think of and just could not overcome its Boss status (takes 50% damage) combined with its powerful healing. And its attacks did extra damage against Mechanical pets, which I had been relying heavily upon.

I checked Wowhead and other blogs for ideas. They all suggested using pets I didn't have, such as Unborn Val'kyr, Pandaren Water Spirit, Crow, Gilnean Raven, etc. So I had to improvise.

I did eventually beat it...by using a level 22 Mini Mindslayer, for its Life Exchange ability, and a level 22 Scourged Whelpling, for its Call Darkness ability, to counter the Quintessence's heals.

That is SHEER, RAW desperation right there. But hey - it worked!

Beating Quintessence that day is going to be one of my personal highlights this entire expansion, I can already tell. The brainstorming and strategizing it took to get that win, combined with the frustration and sense of "this is just impossible, I'm never going to be able to do this!" - it all makes the eventual success so much sweeter.

Honestly, whether it's pet battles or RP walking around in Brawler's Guild, that's why I do these self-challenges - the fist-pumping satisfaction of accomplishing something you legitimately worked really hard for, and knowing it was extremely difficult, but you didn't give up, but instead stuck with it and persevered. Knowing you EARNED that victory.

If you're curious which pets I used against each Menagerie team, they're all on Youtube. Darkmoon Zeppelin ended up being a real hero, appearing on 10 of the 15 teams.

(I even got a little cocky near the end - two of the teams include an Elekk Plushie. Which naturally led me to checking out [An Awfully Big Adventure]. But more on that next time.)

The 6.1 PTR notes went up on Friday (Wowhead has all the details here), including the new follower missions that will be implemented for the Blackrock Foundry raid. Here are the four new missions and groups of threats you'll want to be able to counter!

Slagworks (Versus Furies)
Danger Zones, Deadly Minions, Group Damage, Minion Swarms, Timed Battle, Wild Aggression

Iron Assembly (Underground/Caves)
Danger Zones, Magic Debuff x2, Minion Swarms x2, Powerful Spell

Black Forge (Mountains)
Danger Zones, Group Damage x2, Massive Strike, Timed Battle, Wild Aggression

Blackhand's Crucible (Versus Orcs)
Danger Zones, Deadly Minions, Group Damage, Massive Strike, Timed Battle, Wild Aggression.

Of these, Black Forge is the one I'm most concerned with. Double Group Damage is a difficult obstacle to overcome, especially when you consider the other four threats in that mission. There's not many follower classes and specs that even get access to Group Damage as an ability, let alone ones that can have Group Damage and one of the other threats.

But 6.1 is still a ways off, so we have time to recruit and adjust followers accordingly. Here are the only class/spec combinations that can have Group Damage and one of the other Black Forge threat counters.

Druid, Restoration - Timed Battle* (maybe)
Monk, Brewmaster - Danger Zones, Massive Strike, Wild Aggression
Monk, Mistweaver - Danger Zones, Timed Battle* (maybe)
Paladin, Holy - Timed Battle* (maybe)
Priest, Discipline - Danger Zones, Timed Battle* (maybe)
Priest, Holy - Danger Zones, Timed Battle* (maybe)
Shaman, Elemental - Timed Battle
Shaman, Enhancement - Danger Zones; Timed Battle
Shaman, Restoration - Timed Battle* (maybe)
Warlock, Destruction - Timed Battle

(Special) Soulbinder Tuulani - Danger Zones; Timed Battle
(Tuulani is a Shadow Priest, but comes with Prayer of Healing, a Group Damage counter, which is normally not available to follower Shadow Priests.)

(*I'm not sure if I missed these, or if additional threat counters were added to Wowhead's lists since posting, but there's apparently more workable combinations than I originally thought! Every healing spec can apparently counter Timed Battle, so I've updated the list accordingly. However, these counters all use now-removed mana abilities like Innervate or Divine Plea, so I'm not sure if you can actually GET these abilities on followers...)

Now granted, you can always (and probably will) use secondary trait bonuses to increase your chance of success. (Wowhead has an excellent guide on increasing mission success.) But if you're like me and want to aim for perfect 6-for-6 threat counters, you'll want to headhunt or level up one of the above follower types and hope you get you lucky.

Besides Tuulani, there are also a number of other followers that can be recruited during questing or purchased from vendors that can end up with one of the above ability combinations.

NOTE: You might notice some followers who are one of the above specs missing from the following list. Quest/purchased followers sometimes have different options for threat counters (like Tuulani). For example, Leorajh is a Resto Shaman, but if you look at his list of potential counters, he cannot get Water Shield, the Resto Druid counter for Timed Battle.

Horde players can recruit Lokra (Enhance Shaman) OR Kal'gor the Honorable (Ele Shaman), Kaz the Shrieker (Ele Shaman), and purchase Professor Felblast (Destro Warlock, revered with Steamwheedle Preservation Society).

Alliance players can recruit Rulkan (Enhance Shaman), Fiona (Holy Priest), and purchase Professor Felblast (Destro Warlock, revered with Steamwheedle Preservation Society), and Cleric Maluuf (Holy Priest, Revered with Council of Exarchs)

Requirements:
• Be Horde
• Have Aviana's Feather (from the Frostwall Tavern quest Aviana's Request)

Horde-only, soloable, no special tricks like Disengage/Slow Fall/engineering glider required! Just place your level 3 Barn on the large plot next to your town hall, and you're good to go.

(To get the pet you click on the metal cup on the shelf, even though it's not sparkling or anything.)

Thranduil from the recent Hobbit movies is an utterly perfect character to emulate for a Fabulor transmog. Haughty, arrogant, confident...and above all else, an overwhelming sense of superiority. Does a more appropriate character inspiration for Fabmog even exist? I think not.

Something funny about this transmog - even though it's absolutely based off Thranduil, I actually didn't try to match either of his two iconic movie outfits (his shimmering metallic robes and his gleaming silvery battle plate). Instead, I tried to capture his personality. Ornate, elegant white steel with soft, regal gold highlights. Streamlined, nothing too bulky. Sleek and round lines - no spikes or skulls here!

I DID try to capture some of the feel from his battle armor, though, which is why Fabulor's shoulders, chestpiece and legs all have the same style of overlapping metal plates that Thranduil wears when he's going into battle.

Thranduil doesn't use a shield, but Fabulor does, so an appropriately decorative, shiny selection was required. As for his weapon, you may be surprised I went with such a simple model, but after careful consideration I decided that the blade's gentle curve and lack of a handguard were the most important features to emphasize.

Thranduilor
Head: Rhinestone Sunglasses (Blingtron 4000 or Auction House)
Shoulders: Justicar Pauldrons (Gruul's Lair)
Cloak: Icy Cloak (Tailoring)
Chest: Chestplate of Arcane Volatility (Twin Ogrons, Normal difficulty)
Tabard: Golden Lotus Tabard (Exalted with Golden Lotus)
Hands: Gauntlets of the Heavy Hand (The Butcher, Normal difficulty)
Waist: Sunsoul Girdle (Salvage Yard)
Legs: Ravenskar Legplates (BoE)
Feet: Mosscrusher Sabatons (Brackenspore, Normal difficulty)

Weapon: Viking Sword (BoE)
Shield: Protective Barricade of the Light (Vendor)

Finally, why the Rhinestone Sunglasses? Well, the movie fans have really latched onto Thranduil, and there is COUNTLESS fanart and cosplay of Thranduil sporting pink shutter shades and being called "Party King Thranduil". And honestly, this is way too funny not to run with.

Now yes, TECHNICALLY you can't actually transmog into the Sunglasses. Which is a shame! But that's okay. I just wear them whenever I can, including during ready checks, so my entire raid team gets to see Party King Fabulor.

I've only accidentally done a fight while wearing them once (so far). But hey. That's the price of looking good.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.

Mere hours after learning that their AOL overlords were shutting them down, community fansite WoW Insider has announced a brand new corporate partner: the Iron Horde.

"It was really a no-brainer," said Grommash Hellscream, Warchief of the Iron Horde. "The Iron Horde is all about integrity, hard work and undying loyalty, and if anyone has those qualities in spades, it's that crew."

"FEBRUARY 3. Mark your calendar," tweeted Editor-in-Chief Alex Ziebart this morning, a few hours after AOL's proclamation.

Seriously. TUESDAY. That's when you can start supporting our crew if you still want us doing what we do. FEBRUARY 3. Mark your calendar.
— Alex Ziebart (@AlexZiebart) January 30, 2015

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that February 3rd is also the day Blackrock Foundry, the massive forge and smithy that is the center of the Iron Horde's military might, is scheduled to open its doors.

Sure enough, this was no coincidence. Moments ago, Hellscream and Ziebart held a press conference confirming the new alliance between the two powerful communities. The website will now be known as Iron Insider to reflect the new partnership, and the staff headquarters will be relocated to Gorgrond, within the fiery depths of Blackrock Foundry itself.

However, both 'Chiefs promised that the website's honest editorial coverage would not be affected, and that the community and spaces for discussion would retain the integrity and safety Insider readers have come to know and love.

"I don't really understand it," said Hellscream, shaking his head. "You've got a squad of skilled, tenacious people, the best around, and even when things looked grim, they continued to churn out top-notch, unfaltering work. And they have a dedicated, huge group of followers that love them. You're sitting on an untapped True Iron mine! And you're just going to toss it away? It just doesn't make any sense, but I suppose their stupid, bizarre decision is our gain."

Asked about the moral implications of aligning with the Iron Horde, Ziebart nodded, as if expecting the question. "As Editor-in-Chief, it's my job to ensure that my team not be forced to work with cruel, evil tyrants who don't care about the rest of the world, who savagely turn on their own loyal members, and who only care about their own personal gain and profit. And that's why we're no longer with AOL."

"We've got some big editorial plans in the works," said Hellscream, grinning. "The first thing we're going to do is get Matthew Rossi down in the Pit to start training the new grunts. Have you read that guy's stuff? Dude really knows how to be a warrior."

When asked if this indicated that the much-beloved Class Columns could possibly be returning, Hellscream nodded emphatically. "Ner'zhul's jewels, yes! Some of our soldiers have absolutely no idea what they're doing, so we could really use some experts to help them out. I mean, just the other day I heard that one of our scouts carries around thirteen axes. Thirteen! How many axes does one orc really need?"

The two 'Chiefs concluded the press conference with the confirmation that longtime Insider features would continue unabated, with only minor modifications. Some of the features mentioned included WRUP (What Are You Pillaging), Around Draenor, Know Your Gore, and Sunday Funnies.

"You will never again be slaves to AOL!" shouted Hellscream and Ziebart together, raising axe and pen skyward, to deafening cheers from the assembled crowd.

(Thanks for all the great work, coverage, community exposure,
and memories over the years, WoW Insider. You will be sorely missed!)

(Screenshot source: AJAlkaline40)

A recent outbreak of the Plague of Undeath in Stormwind City has resulted in dozens of civilian deaths and the entire Trade District being placed under heavy quarantine, bringing a familiar debate to the surface once more: Should Naxxination be mandatory?

Naxxination, the Light-based magical inoculation process developed from studying toxins found in Naxxramas, effectively renders the recipient completely immune to the virulent and highly contagious plague. In the decade since the Lich King's demise, worldwide Naxxination practices have all but eradicated the dreaded "undead curse" - until last week, that is.

For the first time in years, Stormwind witnessed an outbreak of one of the most dreaded diseases in all of Azeroth's history. How did this terrible pestilence, largely thought eliminated, find a foothold in what should be one of humanity's most protected, sanctified cities?

The answer: The Anti-Naxxination movement, or Anti-Naxxers, a collection of people who consciously choose not to inoculate their children and families against the Lich King's most powerful necromantic weapon.

Anti-Naxxers place their faith in a study that surfaced a few years ago stating that Naxxination was "unhealthy, unnecessary, and unethical," and that catching and surviving "common household illnesses" such as the flu, strep throat, and the Plague of Undeath, was "simply one of life's little rites of passage."

The author of the mysterious study, along with their medical credentials, remains unknown to this day, though a footnote written on the last page states that the author "totally isn't Kel'Thuzad".

Since the study's appearance, the Church of the Holy Light has pointed out dozens of inaccuracies, fallacies, and outright, bold-faced lies within its contents. Yet despite these arguments, as well as overwhelming evidence that it tends to be a good idea to immunize your child against a literal death plague that can turn them into a ravenous flesh-eating monster, there are some out there who remain skeptical.

"I just don't buy what they're sellin' about this stuff!" said Morbil Rubella, a dwarf shaman. "I mean, we don't really know what's all in it, right? Wasn't it made with the Light? I'm a proud Wildhammer shaman, just like me father and his father before him. And I heard from a friend who heard from his sister who heard from her tailor that her boy got Naxxinated and then became a priest! I just can't take that risk for me boy!"

When asked how he planned to ensure his child would not fall victim to the disease, Rubella shrugged. "I'll continue the family tradition of what me father did for me, which is a healthy serving of tree bark with every meal. Tried and true!"

Meanwhile, others insisted there was "hard evidence" that linked Naxxinations to a variety of unpleasant afflictions. "Just look at Prince Anduin!" said Dunning, a miserable drunkard from Old Town. "He was perfectly fine, until King Varian made him get Naxxinated. And what happened to the Prince then? HE GOT CRUSHED BY A BELL!"

"If that's not a clear enough link for you, then I just don't know what to tell you," he added, before passing out in a puddle of his own filth.

"Them fancy church fellas can say whatever they like, but in the end it's freedom of choice, ain't it?" said Westfall resident Sheila Kruger. "Besides, it's magic! That stuff ain't natural! Ain't no way I'm putting that crap in my kids. They gonna grow up nice and wholesome like me, all-natural, just like the supper on our plates."

Prince Anduin Wrynn expressed concerns that the Anti-Naxxination movement was, given the recent plague outbreak and subsequent rampage of infected civilians-turned-Scourge, "a dangerous and foolish step backward in magical healing advancement."

"The magic protection is, you know, pretty indisputable."

Wrynn also firmly denounced the belief that getting Naxxinated might cause one to get crushed by a large, heavy object.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and I hang out with a megalomaniac two-year-old black dragon," said Wrynn. "Getting Naxxinated didn't make the Divine Bell fall on me. Garrosh Hellscream did that. You can't inoculate against Garrosh Hellscream."

Unfortunately, it seems Prince Anduin and the Church of the Holy Light may be fighting a losing battle. More and more civilians are choosing to opt out of their Naxxinations every year, according to a recent study. The Anti-Naxxers are here to stay, and they don't care what anyone else thinks.

"I'm glad you stopped by and got me thinking about it," said Rubella, shoveling a spoonful of bark stew into his mouth. "I think I'll sneak into the Trade District and let Little Morbie run around and play. After all, what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger!"

"And hey, it's my boy, my risks. If I don't want to Naxxinate my kid against the Plague of Undeath, it's my call. It's not like my choice could ever possibly hurt anyone else."

guys please help me

is this transmog white and gold?

or blue and black?

me and my friends can’t agree

and we are freaking the fuck out

So I just looked at this like, it’s blue and black obviously
and all my friends were like no it’s blue and gold.

Now I’m super confused, what is eyesight?

I see it as white and gold. My friend right here sees it as blue and black.
I CANT HANDLE THIS

if that’s not gold my entire life has been a lie

I am seeing Blue and Black, how are people seeing it different?

Is there some sort of mind sorcery happening here?! :o

* * * * *

Gold & White
Head: Warbringer's Crown
Shoulders: Strengthened Stockade Pauldrons
Cloak: Embersilk Cloak
Chest: Sunscale Chestguard
Shirt: White Linen Shirt
Hands: Conqueror's Gauntlets
Waist: Girdle of Uther
Legs: Wall Legplates
Feet: Spike-Soled Stompers

Blue & Black
Head: Symbolic Crown
Shoulders: Heroic Pauldrons
Cloak: Devilshark Cape
Chest: Darkrune Breastplate
Shirt: Blue Workman's Shirt
Hands: Ornate Mithril Gloves
Waist: Girdle of the Penitent
Legs: Korjan Legguards
Feet: Stonestep Boots

So in case you missed the news on Twitter, I'm the new Holy Paladin columnist over at Blizzard Watch! I'll be writing every other Monday, starting...today! The first column just went live today - it's about the 6.2 PTR changes (so far) for Holy Pallies.

I know a lot of people on Twitter were calling for Weak Aura or UI posts, which I'm a little nervous about...but I'm sure I'll get to those eventually! Same with the tips for RP walking fights, for taking selfies during boss encounters...

Anyway, if you've got any questions about Holy Paladins, head on over to Blizzard Watch and let me know in the comments!

Been a little quiet around here lately! It might possibly be because in addition to writing for Blizzard Watch and doing From Draenor With Love, I'm also in two Storium games, two D&D campaigns, still raid-leading TTGF's raids twice a week and working. If only these things weren't just so fun! (Well, maybe not the last one.)

Anyway, I was logging in to do my garrison missions and it occurred to me that making gold has never been easier. I'm no gold tycoon, but I'm also always pretty flush, despite always cutting my own gems, doing my own enchants, paying for my own repairs, etc. Did you ever see the FDWL strip about Nomi and his daily food gift? That's 100% true. Every day when he'd give me his bowl of shitty noodles, I wouldn't carry it over to the vendor and make 20 silver or whatever it was worth, I'd destroy it right in front of him because 20 silver wasn't worth my time.

And my riches are not because I do a lot of auction house stuff. On the contrary, I HATE doing auctions! I know one of the first pieces of "How to Make Gold" tips is "SELL EVERYTHING!" but ugh, I do not have the patience for this.

People always complain that it's impossible to make a dent into already-established economies, but while I play primarily on Drenden, I have relatively high-level alts on Moonrunner and Medivh, and whenever I've set my mind to making some cash on those servers I've never had a problem. I've given most of my funds away on those servers to friends who main there, but on both servers I had easily at least 100k, 150k. How? By finding an area of the market that was relatively untapped with good profit potential. In Cataclysm and Warlords of Draenor, you could make serious cash by crafting/selling the cheap max-level enchants, the ones that took like 2 dust and a pile of sticks to make. Those would sell for 100+ gold, easy. I'd toss a few scrolls up every week or so and it was more than enough to build up some nice gold reserves.

However, it seems this is a little more difficult in Warlords. But who cares! WE'VE GOT GARRISONS NOW. Or more specifically, Treasure Hunters.

That picture at the top of this post is from the missions I started a few minutes ago. I'm super lazy, so my version of Master Plan is out-of-date, but those gold totals are actually double or triple what the screenshot says. That's 819 gold from 10 seconds of throwing followers into missions and hitting okay.

And those are low-reward missions. Sometimes you hit it big.

That's 2000 gold on an alt character. What, you're not using your alts with Garrisons as gold factories? Why not??

I only have one level 100 alt, and a level 93 alt, and they're steadily at work inflating my wallet each week, with minimal effort/time investment. And Fabulor's followers are doing the same, of course - they're just also bringing me home raid gear and bonus roll tokens and whatever else, too.

I admit, I only really started recruiting Treasure Hunters once the WoW Token went live. Backstory: when I tried Wildstar last year, their CREDD system was extremely appealing to me. And since the game was new, I had little difficulty dominating the early economy with easily-produced crafted items, and didn't end up paying for any subscription fees.

So, when the WoW Token was introduced, I was so excited to actually have something to spend my gold on! And I may have gone a little overboard.

I've forced myself to not even LOOK at the WoW Token prices now. I'm by no means poor, but I'm definitely not quite as well-off as I once was.

But Treasure Hunters are such a perfect solution. Three weeks ago, I started keeping track of how much gold Fabulor and my two alts with garrisons were bringing in each week, with zero auction house activity and after deducting random costs like repair bills or the occasional transmog fee or building upgrade. So far it's been 14,000g, 17,500g and 16,000g! And the best part is, this is an entirely sustainable source of revenue, at least while Warlords is still current (I expect Blizzard will kill the gold-making potential when the next expansion hits). No relying on auction house sales, no relying on finding a rare BoE and selling it, nothing like that!

Sure, you can make more by farming mobs for hours on end, or running old raids over and over again on a litany of characters. To me, these seem grueling, tedious chores. If you enjoy doing it, then power to you. Me, I'm quite happy just enlisting a bunch of Treasure Hunters (Fabulor and Sans each have 7, while Morgion has none), sitting back, and letting the profits roll in.

One of my favorite things about writing for Blizzard Watch is having a good excuse to have a fun new transmog for each article. With at least two weeks between columns, that's the perfect amount of time to think of and come up with a new outfit.

I'm actually a big fan of this PVP season's gear, the Demonbreaker Battleplate (recolor). Yeah, it's nothing super special or revolutionary in terms of design, but sometimes it's nice to just have trim shoulders that aren't gigantic or festooned with glowing spikes and chains and ogre skulls.

Fel Engineer
Head: Fel-Proof Goggles (Tanaan treasure)
Shoulders: Wild Combatant's Scaled Shoulders (Honor)
Chest: Garalon's Graven Carapace (Garalon, LFR)
Hands: Masterwork Spiritguard Gauntlets (Crafted)
Waist: Bloodscale Belt (BoE)
Legs: Wild Combatant's Scaled Legguards (Honor)
Feet: Prideful Gladiator's Warboots of Alacrity (Honor)

Weapon: Lava Spine (Magmaw, Normal)
Shield: Maw of Souls (Brackenspore, Normal)

While there are numerous belts that would match the black/silver motif, I stuck with my trusty heart belt because it makes for excellent contrast, it complements the red shoulder highlights and Fabulor's hair, and because, well, heart belt.

To match the neon green goggles - and to a lesser extent, the green "scarf" of the chestpiece - I figured the bright greens on the Lava Spine and Maw of Souls matched up pretty nicely. The Lava Spine always struck me as a bit out of place dropping in Blackwing Descent - its design and coloration really makes it seem more suitable to somewhere like Black Temple or, conveniently enough, Hellfire Citadel.

Minipost: Your skill in Cooking has increased to 3.

New Alliance "doesn't care" about Diversity, says Grand Marshal Garithos

Minipost: Watch the sky burn

Times Change: Garrosh & the Warlords cinematic

Minipost: Renewed subscription, which means...

Sisters mysteriously vanishing, experts baffled

World-first RP walking Rank 10 Brawler?

The Return of Fortune Cookies as best buff food

My favorite moments from Mists of Pandaria

Stumbling my way through the Pet Menagerie dailies

Blackrock Foundry mission planning: Black Forge

How to reach the Black Market Auction House in 60 seconds (Horde-only)

Two easy ways to get the level 3 Barn Pygmy Cow pet

Transmog Spotlight: Thranduilor (aka LEE PACE)

WoW Insider announces partnership with Iron Horde

Plague of Undeath outbreak ravages Stormwind, blamed on Anti-Naxxers

Transmog Spotlight: White & Gold or Blue & Black?

Holy Paladin columnist at Blizzard Watch!

Garrisons, Gold, and the WoW Token

Transmog Spotlight: Fel Engineer