Vashj'ir: Complete

So I finished off the big finale of Vashj'ir last night, which leaves Anaro at 81 and approx. 25% off of lvl82. No comments can truly be made on the leveling speed as I doubt experience will be properly tuned until all zones are released.

The Verdict: A fresh take on the usual zone, being that it is based on the sea floor. The pacing is great and is broken up between the typical 'kill X mobs'/'gather X items', 'vehicle' quests (eg. taking control of a Naga Battlemaiden's 'visions' and playing out her past seeking answers), and unique quest-types (mixing 'oils' to create the perfect fuel, quite amusing and a nice pacing change).

One of my favourite additions to questing in Cataclysm are quests that are given to you unexpectedly. Some of these are the typical item drops, but there are also quite a few quests that are simply given to you (quest just opens up and you hit accept) that are similar to how you receive the quest to escape from the Lich King in the Frozen Halls after the 2nd boss is killed.

Even better, most of these quests don't then tell you to turn it in to npc. Let's face it, you're not psychic and your character shouldn't automatically know who wants what item. What many of these quests do it give you a little 'toast' quest completion jingle and you simply open the quest and hit complete from your quest log. Variety is the spice.

I thoroughly enjoyed the zone's themes of the struggling to find shelter and escape, while there is the ever-present threat of the Naga finding your hub hidey-holes. There is a huge amount of phasing and npcs move all over the place, meeting you in new foward positions, evacuating to other areas, and so on.

While the quests from a map-down perspective don't look all that big, these are maps that are truly designed as a 3D space. You're constantly moving up, down and around the terrain in you questing that it feels like there is action everywhere. It gives the three zones of Vashj'ir a feeling of being alive that often lacks in other zones. There are critter, neutral and 'scenery' fish, rays, jellyfish and the like everywhere you go.

So where from here? I'll be resting up my Moonkin until the next build and I've already starting tinkering with my Warlock, which will likely be leveling as Destruction unless there's a preview of Demonology soon. I find Demonology kind of boring to level as your DoTs never complete their duration and your Felguard does most of the work for you. Sure, it's easy leveling, but it's not overly fun. However, being able to call down meteors (via Hand of Gul'dan) once it's implemented sounds like loads of fun, so maybe I'll be a little patient and get stuck into the Goblins instead :)