It's the Holiday's

Christmas time came early... I finally got my T4 shoulders. This is great and my DPS is looking really good, 2 T4 really is awesome for kitty DPS.

I bought the S1 mace while waiting for the needed points for the S2 version and spent my last honor on PvP shoulders for tanking.

Currently I think my DPS and tanking gear is good to go for a while with upgrades being in the nice to have section now instead of the must have... my next goal is to go back to the battle grounds and get a couple items to round out my healing set. I am thinking about re-speccing to resto just for some Heroic runs during our Christmas slow time with raiding.

In other news, I finally got to do a little Zul'Aman... OTed the bear boss and 1 shot him. Yes the belt fell, no I didn't win it... lost my usual roll to a rogue... LOL 94-6... not even close.

Oh yeah, I also got the Tree-Menders belt on a Heroic Ramps run... a nice surprise indeed.

Blizz hates me

So I have like 1700+ DKP now.

Curator snubbed me on my T4 gloves again.

High King said no to my T4 shoulders.

Gruul did drop my T4 pants but really our MT and raid leader needed them WAY more than I. Really T4 pants are just for Feral tanking and can be the last piece I get. That and we did Gruul without 1 tank death this Monday... it was sweet. I actually like OTing this fight, much easier than trying to get behind Gruul and DPS him.

DST dropped.... but I need my points for the shoulders... if and when.

Patch 2.3 hit... I really hope they don't nerf us again, I am going to enjoy DPSing in rogue range.

My Crusade card rocks even more now since with HotW I now cap at 132AP from the trinket instead of 120AP.

We tried Mag's lair after Gruul since we ran through his lair like we were farming cloth back in Westfall. It went pretty well for a first attempt. It was nice to hear from my healer that he had no problems keeping me alive tanking the 4th channeler... I was actually a little worried but I pride myself in being geared the best I can be at any point in our progression and do what I can to stay abreast of where I can make gear improvements through enchants, PvP, crafted, gems, trinkets, whatever.

I already have my Macro in place for using potions in bear form... this should be interesting to say the least.

My current gear wish list:

ARENA S2 MACE

Kara:

T4 gloves

Gruuls lair:

T4 Shoulders
T4 pants
DST

Magtheridon's Lair

T4 Chest

Zul'Aman:

Jan'alai - Shadowtooth Trollskin Cuirass
Hex Lord Malacrass - Primal Man-catcher
Timed event must kill each boss within 20 minutes - Signet of Primal Wrath
Zul'jin - Berserker's Call
Nalorakk - Bladeangel's Money Belt

A short update

Well, nothing really new here. Kara continues to be stingy, the hourglass hasn't fallen for me to even lose the roll as usual, I didn't have enough DKP for the T4 gloves of Curator the last time they dropped, I don't have the DKP for anything in Grull's just yet, but I am DPSing in the 600-700 range according to the new DMG meter addon.

Just continuing the raid grind for DKP and Arena for my S2 Maul.

Looking forward to the 2.3 patch with the Primal Man-catcher from the new Raid encounter and some leather for Heroic badges that is better than Kara drops.

I am very close to hitting exalted with Shat'ar and getting A'dal's Command which will give me a little boost from one ring slot.

I now have all my Heroic Keys which I would be more happy about but since in 2.3 it only takes honored to get them it lacks the wow factor for me.

I did get lucky in Shattered Halls and can now do the Savagery enchant.

GRUUL DOWN!

We finally took down Gruul last night in a frenzied final rush of mostly melee DPS at the last 1% with our tanks dead and players falling right and left (I got hit for 27K).

Killing Gruul with 6 healers, 6 Rogues, and a feral druid in the mix is a testament to our guilds determination and the ability to get everyone involved regardless of the fight. Just read on the strategy to this fight and you will see that it is recommended to go with 3 healers tops and very few melee DPS but we got it done!

Our rogues were able to hold off a wipe using evasion just long enough to get him down.

Grats to AC, Void Reaver is next.













I am a little behind in updating the blog, I now have my Stag-Helm of Malorne and the newly crafted Shadowprowler's Chestguard from the 2.2 patch. Both have made a significant difference in my DPS output. I can only imagine how nice it will be to get the 2 set bonus and the added energy on proc.

High King Maulgar DOWN!

Yes, last night myself and 24 of my online guild buddies took down the first boss in Gruul's Lair. It was our first visit there and everyone did a great job. Once we got the timing of the pull and assignments down it was actually pretty easy. Fortunately for us we have an awesome raid leader that gets us very well prepared in very little time and can call out changes in strategy in real time to ensure our success.

We had Druids respec to Resto which helped greatly, thanks to those that excelled in the new role and kept my bear arse alive.

We only wiped I think 3-4 times with one being a Leroy wipe with one toon getting just a little to close before we were ready.... that was exciting.

No loot for me although T4 shoulders for Druid did fall. With only 200 or so SWAP points it just wasn't happening but no worries, in Wow all good things come in time.

AC Downs the High King

Finally...

The Edgewalker Longboots finally dropped when I was at Kara and I was able to pick them up using our SWAPS system.

Also, I have changed out 1 Red gem to Purple and was able to activate my Helm of the Claw meta gem slot which has a Relentless Earthstorm Diamond. The 3% added Crit damage is sweet (Thanks to Fio our Guild GM to clearing up my Meta Gem confusion).

So now self buffed in Kitty form I am sitting at 2473AP and 35% Crit which I guess is pretty good along with 33.5% dodge.

Anyway, going to start grinding away at BG's for some Epic gear to improve my bear stats while trying to do whatever Heroics I can fit in to get those last few peices of Epic gear I want.

Progress.

The latest...

I finally hit Exalted with CE and got my Earthwarden. Not necessarily a huge mitigation upgrade from the Braxxis' Staff of Slumber but does way more damage which gives more threat for tanking. It also has +27 to defense which now allows me to stay uncrittable while switching to gear like the Necklace of the Deep and Zierhut's Lost Treads which lack defense but improve dodge and strength.

I am also using Earthwarden as my DPS weapon until I upgrade from
Fleshling Simulation Staff. I get a little less to Crit... like .5% less but 110 more power. Unfortunately I also lose +hit so on bosses I will be switching out to Romulo's Poison Vial for the +Hit with the added nature damage making up for the loss in crit.

I still really need an upgrade for a DPS 2H weapon but it is hard to find people wanting to run Heroic Bot, the grouping to take on Illhoof, or stay regular in the arena. Oh well, just keep hoping.

I also finally hit exalted with both Netherwing and Skyguard so I have my Azure Drake now and my Skyguard Silver Cross which is great for solo grinding with a great proc rate. Along with my new mounts my guildmates took me on a run of Heroic Sethekk and you may also see me now flying around in my Epic Flight Form.

Lastly, I ran Kara for the umpteenth time and still no Gloves of Dexterous Manipulation or Edgewalker Longboots have dropped for me. I am seriously considering dropping Enchanting to take up leatherworking so I can get items like the Primalstrike Vest and Boots of Natural Grace.... but I probably won't... unless blizz continues to be cruel to me.

Nightbane DOWN!

So here it is, we are down to Netherspite and then Kara is clear!

Hopefully I will get the Longboots soon from Moroes and the gloves I need from Attumen although my need for the gloves for DPS is no more from getting some Windslayer Wraps crafted. They are still really good for tanking and I plan on gemming them for that set until I get the T4 gloves from Curator.

Going through my list of needs, they are dwindling down for me but finding groups when I have the chance to do heriocs is problematic... :( Even then, Kara gear is leaps and bounds better than any drops I am going to get from Heriocs or otherwise short of spending a lot of time in BG's. Now that Emmerald has adjusted his math and updated his feral druid spreadsheet it is evident that a couple of PvP items are actually quite desirable in some of the druids gear. Take my wrists for example that are higher on the DPS chart than the Kara maiden equivilent. The Veteran's Dragonhide Bracers are significantly higher in DPS with more mitigation to boot. They are also high in the bear mitigation dept. but since I have them gemmed for DPS I might be sticking with Umberhowl's Collar for now.

Going forward I am concentrating on Rep with Lower city for my Epic flight form, Rep with CE so I can get Earthwarden, Herioc Bot for a shot at Feral Staff of Lashing, Rep with Skyguard for the Skyguard Silver Cross, enough badges for the Bloodlust Brooch, PvP for odd and end gear while I wait for epic leather to drop in Kara, and even a little arena action hopefully to eventually get the Merciless Gladiator's Maul which is the highest druid DPS weapon in the game.

I think it is going to take the top gear in every slot to keep up with our DPS classes.

In other news, I am very happy with my current tanking gear and the only way that is going to get significantly better is with T4 replacements and Earthwarden... and those damn Gloves of Dexterous Manipulation that just won't fall for me. PvP is going to work here for my feet upgrade Veteran's Leather Boots until someone can make me Boots of Natural Grace. I have Moroes' Lucky Pocket Watch and the Badge of Tenacity but if I am lucky enough to get the Argussian Compass I won't mind :P

For any druids out there interested Emmeralds gear rankings can be found HERE

So why am I rambling about my gear needs... It's Tuesday, I can't get on and do my stinking Skyguard dailies, and Prince continued to rain infernals down on us last night in the worst possible places... watching prince go to 1%-2% health a couple of times just to watch us wipe because infernals fall on our heads really sucks.

OZ... Finally. Only Nightbane and Nethersprite left.

AC finally got the OZ event so we are now 11 of 13 down in Kara! We are hopefully going to try Nightbane again tonight.

On my last raid I was lucky enough to get the Shermanar Great-Ring and the Mithril Chain of Heroism.

Prince is Down, Now 10 of 13 in Kara!

We downed Prince last night after a couple of unsuccessful attempts and complaining of the "luck" factor in this particular fight. No doubt this fight can be impossible if the nasty infernals fall a certain way. Doom was the lucky winner of the T4 helm, Grats to Doom.

I hate Enfeeble. After realizing that there was no way I could clear out in time once I saw my kitty get all sick looking I starting running a couple seconds before enfeeble and then turning around if I did not get it just to be safe. Also, right before enfeeble came through I would look to see where our ranged classes were standing so I would know exactly where it was safe to run. All in all we definately got the strategy down and a little luckly placement with the infernals, here is the result in video...

PRINCE DOWNED BY AETHERIAL CIRCLE

Arena PvP last night

Ouch. Not only do I suck at Arena PvP due to my "clicker" nature of game play, interface hardware, and lack of experience but going up against players that are Spec and geared for it sucks... but the Q times went quickly and we got our 10 matches in about 30 minutes and PvP points are points... even though something tells me we have a long road ahead to actually get any gear it is still another facet of the game and fun to play.

I think the best 5 man would be a Priest, Pally, Rogue, Lock, and Mage... but what do I know... LOL

Wootness... Finally

Well, I was lucky last night to get to finally see the Chess event. Which is nice since I was part of the party for the first downing of Curator and Aran. BigRedKitty was nice enough to let me sub in, thanks BRK. And finally Epic leather falls! So I am now the proud owner of a Girdle of Treachery which cost me every last point in auction... but I am cool with that since nothing ever drops for me anyway.... have to get it when I can and there is no better DPS belt for a feral druid until Gronn-Stitched Girdle from Gruul.

So I just put in a Bold Living Ruby and Don Amancio's heart...

AP is now up from 2222 to 2270 and I only lost .16 agility. and gained close to 400HP and 40 armor. Now with this belt I can spend my BG rewards on an Epic Bracer or Boot to further DPS and Mitigation.... this will help with fighting Aran since I am gaining mitigation without losing DPS and can get away from wearing a mix of my tanking gear and DPS gear.

Well, we downed Attumen, Moroes, and Maiden again last night...

...and still no Epic leather drops for me... boy this is getting frustrating. I think I have killed those 3 at least a half dozen times. I lost bidding with swaps on I think just 1 leather item in that time frame. That is a lot of drops with no Epic leather falling I tell ya. It really sucks because I don't get a whole lot of time to run anything uniterrupted with a newborn in the house so it would be nice to gear up at least a little. I mean I got Moroes' Lucky Pocket Watch on one run which is great for when I tank but I really need help in DPS when I cat. No one seems to be willing to make me a vengence wrap and I don't hve the gear to activate the Meta-Gem in my Helm of the Claw.... and the only other Kara Epic I have is a poison vial trinket that almost never procs and gives me plus to hit which I really don't need with my hit being above 200.

Aran is down

Well we brought down Aran last night which was fun and then tested the water unprepaired with Prince. After 2 attempts and bad luck from the fire gods we called it a night but had lots of fun. Unfortunately we missed on Illhoof due to lack of AoE.

I am really enjoying playing my druid and getting to play in a tanking and dps roll and experiencing the fights from both aspects. Being able to heal my group in a pinch is nice too when you have like 5% left on a raid boss and want to assure a victory.

This is my first blog post but there will be much more to come including what strategy I followed to lvl my character to 70 quickly and links to druid endgame gear guides with error footnotes. Anyone wanting great Druid info ASAP should go to Emmeralds Druid Info Center

YouTube Video bringing down Aran - VID