As you may or may not know, one of our guildmates is serving overseas now.  Maever - a most awesome rogue - is taking care of business on behalf of all of us.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  He wrote recently to let me know he's doing well, so I thought I'd share the e-mail with the rest of the guild.  


Thanks for thinking of me, everything here is doing pretty good. Hope all is well with you guys. How's the guild coming along? Still up and kicking I imagine...well sorry I haven't emailed you since now but things have been busy and distracting. Tell the guys in the guild I said hello..hope to hear from you soon..

Maever

We've also had the great fortune to share in the knowledge that two of our guildmates recently said I DO.  Congratulations are in order for Rosieanna (Dalasia) and Arklon (Ombadil/Mimsymuff).  May they have a long and happy life together!  We'll plan something as soon as they get over that honeymoon....

We are working with another guild to begin Kara runs.  If you are interested in getting more information on being in on the runs, please talk with Kelor/Warax.  For the first few runs, we have selected the members who will be invited so we can work out logistics for sharing the many rewards that come in raids.  Getting to 70 is only part of the battle, getting geared is the next challenge.  Lets all work on that together. 

We'd like to try for an instance each evening - can't always promise one because we all work, but we'd like to get in the habit of running instances, or group questing more frequently so we can level and gear together.  If you know someone who might like to join the guild, feel free to recommend them.  We are mostly seeking lvl 58 or over so we can get the Outland group into raiding as soon as possible.

Having levelled 4 characters to 70, I would like to offer some advice to those players that are enduring the frustration of getting a toon to Outlands.

Don't waste your money in the Auction House buying the latest and greatest gear (or borrowing gold from guildmates to get that awesome blue level 16 axe or whatever).  Leave the AH to players that are levelling alternate characters (twinks) that can afford to spend money foolishly.  For the 4 level 70s I have, I doubt that I spent 25 gold in the AH buying gear.  I found that the loot in the game kept me in greens relatively close to my level.  If you have gear that is 3 or 4 levels below your character level, it is no big deal.  In addition, that blue item you spend piles of precious gold on to buy in the AH for your level 58 character will be replaced with a green item in Outlands, likely before you get to level 62.  You will need significant amounts of gold to train your character skills along with buying recipes to level your chosen professions.  

Use the AH more productively to purchase items to level your professions.  Guildmates (and the guild banks) are also a good source of material for levelling professions.  Some professions can be very expensive if you purchase the majority of your materials from the AH.  Have patience to level your skills as you acquire the majority of your materials during game play rather than taking the short cut of buying materials in the AH.   

Start saving gold for your flying mount.  Depending on your character, your flying mount (and training) will cost in the range of 800-1,000 gold.  The epic flying mount, should you be so inclined, is around 5,000 gold.  So use your gold wisely so that you don't hit level 70 and can't afford the flier.  I found that it is not difficult to gather gold in Outlands and you should have all the gold you need for your flying mount by the time you hit 70.  After you hit 70 the rewards for quests are usually 10g or more so you will not be without gold for long.

Get 16-slot bags as soon as possible.  I found that the most frustrating thing at lower levels is running out of bag space.  This is particularly bothersome if you have chosen gathering professions.  Xanthene is a tailor and can make 16-slot netherweave bags.  Each bag requires 24 pieces of netherweave cloth.  If you would like the bags for your low level toons, I can make them for you.  I just ask that you send me the netherweave cloth once you gather it in Outlands (lots of it will be available as loot from humanoids).  20-slot bags for most professions can also be purchased from vendors in Outlands (mining, engineering, gems, etc).   

Choose your professions carefully.  If you plan on choosing tailoring or enchanting or engineering or any other crafting profession, start early and stick with it.  I picked up tailoring and enchanting at level 70 and spent piles of gold buying the materials.  Engineering is horribly expensive to level, but it looks interesting and I would like to see someone level that up (I was not that brave).  Tailoring is a good choice for casters (priest, warlock, mage), as you can make some impressive high end cloth gear.  The guild has at least one high level tailor, enchanter, alchemist, jewelcrafter, etc.  We seem to be a tad short on high level blacksmiths (likely a reflection of the small number of warriors).

Use the Guild Bank as soon as you can for assistance in levelling your professions.  The Guild Bank is a great new addition to WoW that can benefit low level characters.  The bank has recipes, materials, etc. that can come in handy.  Just remember to deposit something of equal value to replace what you have taken out.

Talk to your guildmates.   Tactical Specialists is a very helpful guild.  We have level 70s in almost all types of characters that have developed professions to the 375 range.  Feel free to ask for advice or assistance in general guild chat.

My level 70 characters are Xan (frost mage, herbalism/alchemy), Xanthene (holy priest, tailor/enchanter), Bigblu (protection warrior, mining/jewelcrafting), Nexan (feral druid, mining/herbalism).  I can share some insights on levelling those characters and professions.  

Have fun and remember that it is just a game.
   
Any additions/edits to this article are welcome.  Share your experiences for the benefit of the guild.