My Lute Takes Damage

and Other Atrocities

Following my initial excitement over having the ability to play a lute in Lotro, I discovered that the [gosh darn] thing takes significant damage and requires repair on a regular basis.

However, I haven’t yet determined what causes the damage.  Does the playing of the lute wear it out, or is it merely being damaged because it’s in my bag when I fight mobs?  I suspect the correct answer is “both.” 

If so, I might be able to stem some damage by leaving my lute in the bank all the time . . . but then, how much fun would that be?

Shortly after I noticed this issue, I realized that my bronze tools, such as my bronze mining pick and jeweler’s tools, may as well be made of putty. 

They constantly require costly repair, even when I’m not farming nodes or making jewelry, but simply minding my own business working on quests.  (Of course, soon I hope to find a good way to acquire more durable tools.  I’ll report back later on whether that helps.  Still, I’m skeptical that I can find a more durable lute . . .).

Speaking of instruments, here is the expensive ”harp” acquired, at long last, by Bilba.

Bugged, apparently.  Perhaps like this poor NPC girl’s hair.

(Is it related to her playing . . . the lute?)

Well, if the . . . recorder-type thing . . . ever morphs into an actual harp, I’ll post again with the update. 

In the meantime, I must play on.  One slightly-blistered footstep at a time . . .

I CAN HAS GORETUSK BURGER?

****

No you cannot has goretusk burger.

(hee)

 

 

WoW non-combat pets FTW

Well, as this is the white kitten blog . . . I felt compelled to post about WarcraftPets.com, which was recently acknowledged by Bliz on the WoW website.

After a quick perusal, it looks pretty nice. The styling is simple and clean, and there’s even a little gnomegirl head with a quote bubble to comment about the merits of each pet.

The home page of the site is styled like the home page of Thottbot. You can search for a pet or click on a topical link to browse.

If you correctly type in the name of a pet (sorry, no googlistic “did you mean misTER wiggles?” here), you will be directed to that pet’s profile page.

There you will learn about him or her. For example, Mr. Wiggles’ profile is:

Favored Faction:	Neutral
Description:	Pink pot-bellied piglet.
Idle Animation:	Grazes on weeds and wiggles rear.
Mobility:	Runs/walks
Sound:	None
Source:	QUEST: [10]A Warden of the Alliance/Horde
Vendor buys for:	n/a — vendors will not buy
Auction Price:	n/a — item cannot be auctioned
Event Required:	Children’s Week (May 9-16)
Rarity:	U

In the case of Mr. Wiggles, the pet is acquired through completion of a quest. Other pets, such as the tiny crimson whelpling, can only be obtained by chance or by grinding.

The pet profiles on WarcraftPets.com will tell you which mobs drop the pet, and very generally where those mobs are located.

Breanni, the purported gnomegirl webmaster of the site, offers the following advice for anyone interested in grinding for these pets:

Multitask – Because you’re killing the same mobs over and over, you’ll quickly become accustomed to a routine. After a while, your routine becomes almost robotic, enabling you to multitask with ease. It’s not uncommon to farm while watching TV, listening to music, or chatting with your guild.

If I’d followed Breanni’s advice for several days, perhaps throwing a little NoDose into the mix, maybe I’d have a whelpling of my own. And a feeling of comradery with several pug members I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in instance.