More Naxx 25

We are running Naxx 25 again this week and I have decided to most likely respec for our Thursday night run.

Going to go with this... SPEC

Basically more of an OT / DPS role. Going to ditch my tanking glyphs for DPS ones as well.

My Damage was pretty decent last night, anywhere from 6th-10th but since I am more or less usually regulated to OT/DPS duties for raiding and have so little trouble in Heroics and 10 mans I think I am going to try this spec out.

Things I am giving up...

Survival Instincts - Meh, with good healers I don't it.
Feral Charge - Meh, I pull with lightning or FF usually anyway.
Natural Reaction - OK, this is a huge one... but as OT with 43K HP raid buffed I think I will live.
Infected Wounds - I don't know how losing this will play out... should be fine even in 5 mans
Imp LotP - Most likely was a waste having this to begin with... lol
Glyph of Maul - Meh, so someone needs to sheep or CC now in 5 mans.
Glyph of Regen - Meh, again good healers mean not a big deal.

Spent some DKP last night on Aged Winter Cloak.

I passed on these beauties which are on my want list so others could get geared up...

Sinner's Bindings - I really want Thrusting Bands anyway... man I am still mad at myself for not getting these before

Concealment Shoulderpads - I will probably be mad at passing on these in the future as well... lol... but Trollwoven Spaulders are not exactlly shabby.

Stalk-Skin Belt - Man was it leather night last night or what... lol... I have Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt so again just spreading the wealth.

Ruthlessness - Better than what I have in 1 finger slot but there are about a half dozen better.

Valorous Dreamwalker Shoulderpads - Ok... probably will kick myself about these too... unless we get to and defeat Kel so I can get Valorous Dreamwalker Headguard.

Idol of Worship - I just couldn't see spending the DKP on this when so many other things are out there I need DKP for like Hood of the Exodus or Gatekeeper for example. Unfortunately it was DEed.

Another 2 wings in NAXX and still no Feral staffs... typical of my luck in instances with undead.

The new beta of Emmerald's list is up

Wrath List

and a list I need for my level 66 DK...

My Bear Wish list revisited.

Any Naxx staff is an upgrade from Staff of Trickery or Enraged Feral Staff

Hood of the Exodus - Heroic Naxx
Titanium Earthguard Chain - Crafted
Valorous Dreamwalker Shoulderpads - Heroic Naxx
Cloak of the Shadowed Sun - Heroic Naxx
Valorous Dreamwalker Raiments - Heroic Naxx
Thrusting Bands or Sinner's Bindings - Heroic Naxx
Valorous Dreamwalker Handgrips - The Obsidian Sanctum Heroic
Valorous Dreamwalker Legguards - Heroic Naxx
Gatekeeper - Heroic Naxx
Keystone Great-Ring - Heroic Drak'Tharon
Essence of Gossamer - Heroic Azjol-Nerub
Darkmoon Card: Greatness - Crafted

Obligatory Tue Post

So instead of working on leveling my enchanting... 423 and should have already hit 425 this morning and spent the day barking on trade channel for free chants your mats and I name my 3rd child after your toon if I get a point... and no, I am not actually having a 3rd child, 2 is more than enough.

My lock continues to struggle leveling tailoring... this could be a condition of being level 71 and sitting in an inn instead of killing cloth dropping humanoids.

Inscription on my level 65 Death Knight is going well although my first attempt of a card of Nobles didn't go very well and that dang 7 of death isn't selling on the AH even though I undercut the other 4.

My herbalism is 450, not hard to accomplish when you are picking herbs for an 450 Alchemist and a Inscriptionist.

I do need to pick a 2nd profession for my DK... either Blacksmithing or Engineering or maybe even Mining I I want that kind of torture starting from level 0.

Naxx 25 Kitty wishes

Aged Winter Cloak - Zone Drop (135 Kitty pt. upgrade)
Valorous Dreamwalker Raiments - (Over 1000 Kitty pt. upgrade)
Dawnwalkers - (95 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Valorous Dreamwalker Handgrips - (Over 700 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Valorous Dreamwalker Headguard - (Over 1000 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Idol of Worship - (130 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Valorous Dreamwalker Legguards - (Lets face it, T7 is a huge upgrade over anything else in game)
Fool's Trial - (120 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Sealing Ring of Grobbulus - (100 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Strong-Handed Ring - (150 Kitty Pt. upgrade)
Valorous Dreamwalker Shoulderpads - (See above comment)
Bandit's Insignia - (Prob just stick with Darkmoon Card - Greatness and Mirror of Truth
Belts ordered by best to worst... Belt of the Tortured, Stalk-Skin Belt, Blistered Belt of Decay
Weapons by same order.... Journey's End, Black Ice, Cryptfiend's Bite, The Undeath Carrier, Inevitable Defeat, Origin of Nightmares, The Jawbone, Staff of the Plaguehound
Sinner's Bindings - (114 Kitty Pt. upgrade)

So now that I am running Naxx 25...

Gear wish list

Bear Goodies... T7 anything... Any feral staff... and/or

Hood of the Exodus - #1 Tanking Helm
Helm of the Vast Legions - 10 man
Cloak of the Shadowed Sun - #1 Tanking Cloak ( fell last night, passed on purpose since I have Cloak of Armed Strife)
Thrusting Bands - #1 Tanking wrists and #1 Kitty... and I passed on them last night by accident.. DOH
Sinner's Bindings - Backup wrists in case I never see the ones above again.
Leggings of Fleeting Moments
Footwraps of Vile Deceit
Chestguard of the Lost Vanquisher
Tunic of Indulgence
Gatekeeper

Naxx 25 baby!

Another progression update.

I was fortunate enough to get to run Heroic Naxx last night and we downed the entire Arachnid Quarter and the first boss of the Plague Quarter.

YAY!

To the feral whiners that seem to think we don't have a place in raids (I know this isn't most of you), I DPSed on the first boss and was getting around top 10ish DPS (While specced and glyphed for tanking). On the 2nd I was helping off tank and ended up saving a wipe when we had people DC and the MT died (Maul glyph FTW) by picking up the boss and continuing to hold my add. On the 3rd boss I was DPS but again picked up the boss when the MT DCed.

I am starting to think there is something to this tanking in DPS leather btw... I am going to lay out a plan to gear myself in the best possible pieces for both tanking and DPS... essentially a mix between the 2 instead of trying to min/max my DPS kitty set. Being able to pick up MT duties mid fight in exchange for a couple spots on the Epeen meter seems like a worthy goal.

On the 1st boss of the Plague Quarter I helped OT and we 1 shot him.

All in all Heroic Naxx is not that much more difficult than 10 man, you just need 25 people to not screw up instead of 10... fortunately I am in a guild with some really good players and the handful that had never even stepped foot in Naxx did an excellent job learning the fights quickly.

A little progression update and Winter Veil Solo

Just a little update. I had the good fortune of tanking Naxx 10 this last week. We downed all the bosses in the first 4 quarters. I think we 1 shot every boss with the exception of...

Instructor Razuvious - Took us 2 attempts to get the timing and realize how to release the MC early.

The Four Horsemen - Took us 3 attempts to get the swap and healing down.

Heigan the Unclean - I don't remember how many attempts it took for everyone to learn the dance... maybe 5.

So we are currently 13/15 for 10 man Naxx. We went on try Sapphiron but that did not end well with myself being the only person with Frost Resist. Frost resist gear is being crafted for this weeks attempts.

************************************************************************************

Still need your Red Winter Hat? If you are a level 80 feral druid in decent gear take a trip solo to regular Nexus and down Grand Magus Telestra.

1. Go Bear Form.
2. Take left path
3. Kill Dragonkin
4. Kill Dragonkin
5. Root pull by rooting 1 dog, kill the 3 pull.
6. Stealth past the stasis mobs just to be safe, if you bring a friend that can't stealth just be careful not to touch them. Turn off pets if you bring a Hunter, DK, or Lock friend.
7. Root pull by rooting 1 dog, kill the 3 pull.
8. 3 pull on left side, kill them
9. 4 pull in boss room, root pull and back up LoS and burn them down.
10. Kill Boss
11. Collect loot including your hat.
    

Polar Gear Post

Just my 2 cents on the positives of the polar gear for those curious about getting it or already owning it...

+I was able to get the Polar set (Chest, Boots, Belt) before stepping 1 foot into a heroic instance... and it helped.

+Having a large HP pool can be really nice on healers because in combination with our Oh Crap buttons it can give healers quite a bit of leeway in a situation gone wrong or other raid members taking a lot of damage.

+Large HP pool makes Frenzy Regen and Survival Instincts better.

+The Frost resist can make some elite world tanking easier, some instance tanking easier, and will be needed for some endgame bosses from my understanding so having it crafted won't go to waste even after you get T7.

+Lets you use badges for some other slots initially and makes needing to fill chest/belt/boot slots less of a priority.

I tanked 10 man Naxx this week along with numerous Heroics and not once has a healer gone OOM due to my lack of avoidance.

Not once has my large HP been an issue with survivability or success rate.

People freak out when they see you have 41K HP which is fun.

All in all I have been really happy with my polar gear gemmed with all +25 STA gems and I don't plan on replacing it any time soon unless we hit something where my avoidance is causing issues. So far through the 1st, 2nd, and 4th wings in Naxx we have not had any issues with me tanking in this set. We have only done the first boss in the DK wing but I doubt the following 2 bosses or the final 2 of the instance are going to cause any issues either.

I believe I have around 31% dodge and 34K armor right now with these 3 pieces in my tanking lineup along with 41K HP roughly 10 man raid buffed.

With glyph of maul and proper rotation I have not had issues with losing agro on single or multiple targets.

Color me worried.

As much as I can appreciate what the Devs are doing to Feral tanking and DPS changes with more gear options and the like I can't help but be concerned about the future and how we are going to be perceived socially after the change.

In BC we were for the most part regulated to OT status, more or less a redheaded stepchild of tanking and DPS. Of course this was mostly perception as many druids proved they could MT and DPS with the best, but perception more or less still dictated our involvement on the end game raiding level.

Now in Wrath we get a Quasi AoE ability and fights were made so that we no longer have attacks coming from bosses that we cannot defend. So here we are wide open to start filling MT roles right?

Well I don't know... realistically most guilds already have warriors entrenched as MT's and Pallies still thought of as the AoE adds specialist. It more or less leaves as the OT/DPS role we are used to... which is fine with me by the way however...

Before we would go to a raid and at least where weapons were concerned we had our feral staff to get and that was it. Now we are going to possibly want a nice 2H or 1H tanking mace that most guilds are going to naturally assume will go to the MT or even Pally adds tank before a feral druid even having a shot. Irregardless if the mace is better than whatever feral staff that drops I doubt seriously the guild would be happy if you out DKP the MT for an Epic mace. So are we really getting anything? The same thing is going to apply for trinkets or necks that include something like block or parry if they end up giving bears that mechanic as well.

I guess if you happen to be your guilds established MT it just means you have a shot at getting geared up faster, however if you tend to be OT/DPS or 3rd Tank/DPS option do you really see having this gear sharing as a positive? I know I don't and I will be surprised if I don't get at least a little hostility the first time I want to roll on that DPS Epic leather the rogues are drolling over or the Mace the warriors specifically have been waiting multiple runs for. I don't see how I am going to get a rogue to believe those leather shoulders are a big tanking upgrade and that I am not trying to steal DPS gear from them like the old days.

Bottom line is you have to questions how much of the social part of the game the Devs understand. Sure, before we might have had to wait a long time for an upgrade or farm a certain area or location for weeks for a certain peice of gear but after years of not competing with other tanks for drops and being thought of a 2nd or 3rd option for tanking most fights do you really see this change being welcomed with open arms?

I guess only time will tell.

WHAT???

Blue post... on upcoming patch talking about feral weapons losing FAP...

Some feral weapons have had strength converted to attack power to be more appealing to other classes able to equip them.

What a screw job this is! We are already sharing rogue leather which has no strength and now we have to share our weapons and they take strength away from there... Epic Fail Blizzard.

Not sure about spending time on certain upgrades

So I plug my self into RAWR in my current tanking gear and come up with some upgrades I could use.

Here is the thing though, I don't want to farm upgrades that are going to get nerfed post 3.0.4... I just don't see the point.

As far as rings go I am going to stick with the 2 I wear now until post patch.

Iceforged Battle Ring - Was easily obtainable through questing and ranks very high on the scale.
Ring of the Stalwart Protector

Well, Ok... even after 3.0.4 Keystone Great-Ring is still going to be top 2 so I guess I can start farming Heroic Drak'Tharon.

Post 3.0.4 I should be wearing

Keystone Great-Ring
Titanium Earthguard Ring - Our resident JC already has the pattern.

I need to be running Heroic Gun'drak for Gored Hide Legguards.

Probably going to get Durable Nerubhide Cape for after the patch but just stick to using Slikk's Cloak of Placation instead of focusing on running CoT for the Flowing Cloak of Command. If I happen to get invited to a run and it falls great, but otherwise I am not going to worry about it for now.

RAWR is currently broken and is misrepresenting cloak values post 3.0.4 so ignore how high it stays after selecting that option in RAWR.

I am most likely going to grab Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm here soon, I just don't see running Heroic Oculus over and over for the Mask of the Watcher.

I ended up getting...

Enraged Feral Staff
Bindings of the Tunneler

So I am good in those slots.

I am happy with my crafted Polar chest, boots, and belt until T7.

I am content with my Handwraps of Preserved History and Trollwoven Spaulders.

I am fine with Amulet of Wills until the guild JC get's the Titanium Earthguard Chain pattern.

I need to run Heroic Azjol-Nerub for Essence of Gossamer and get my Inscription Death Knight to level 68 so I can go to Northrend and level up inscription for my Darkmoon Card: Greatness. I am not going to bother trying to get the trinkets that plummet in value after 3.0.4 patch.

So to sum up I need to be running these Heroics..

Gundrak
Azjol-Nerub
Drak'Theron

My next upgrades...

I hit 45 badges last night so my first purchase will be...

Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm

Now I won't do this unless I don't get Shroud of Darkness from Heroic Violet Hold before we get to 25 man Naxx or maybe the tougher content in the 4th quarter of 10 man Naxx.

For now I am going to hold on to the badges until I really need them, my current setup is more than capable for 5 man heroics and at least up to Patchwerk in 10 man Naxx.

I really need to keep running Heroic Utgarde Keep...

Bindings of the Tunneler would be a small upgrade but one nevertheless.

I also need to try to keep running Heroic Azjol-Nerub to get Essence of Gossamer which is going to be essential after the 3.0.4 armor change (Notice I didn't say nerf)

It really sucks that there is really no good option for a second trinket unless you are a JC, Alchemist, or Engineer. My 2nd slot will either be some sort of expertise trinket or other DPS trinket like the Mirror of Truth unless I can somehow afford Darkmoon Card: Greatness.

My DPS set keeps improving little by little after getting Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt last night.

With so little upgrades to my gear from Heroic drops I have been fortunate to have a group allowing me to gear up for spellcasting. I am really excited about have a decent set for maybe trying out some sort of dreamstate build as DPS / off heals.

The new Badge Gear

Things to spend badges on... (post armor nerf)

Chained Military Gorget - 25 Badges
Heroes' Dreamwalker Raiments - 80 badges for Chestguard of the Lost Vanquisher

Ok, color me stupid. I had no idea I could now buy Tier gear with Heroic Badges... nice.

Heroes' Dreamwalker Handgrips - 60 Badges
Idol of the Ravenous Beast - 15 Badges (Kitty Gear)
Jorach's Crocolisk Skin Belt - 40 Badges (Kitty Gear)
Mirror of Truth - 40 Badges (Kitty Gear)
Pendant of the Outcast Hero - 25 Badges (Kitty Gear)
Valor Medal of the First War - 40 Badges - Good Bear Trinket after armor nerf... probably.
Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 45 Badges - Bear Upgrade for me.

Where I have been and Where I need to go...

Lets start by saying... Patchwerk down! Woot!

We went into 10 man Naxx and got him down on our... no clue # attempt. We kept having issues with getting the timing right with both tanks coming in on him. On the successful attempt it still didn't go as planned although I didn't hit him until after the MT I ended up tanking him with the MT taking the hurtful strikes. This really sucked because we were planning on using my innervate this attempt between hurtful strikes... oh well, it worked out with a healer getting the killing blow using holy nova right before we wiped... good times.

We went on to try Grobbulus but couldn't quite get him down.

So, here are some of the new shiny's I have gotten recently...

Gilt-Edged Leather Gauntlets - Kitty gloves
Trollwoven Girdle - Kitty Belt
Trollwoven Spaulders - Kitty and Bear shoulders chanted with Defense and Dodge
Ravenous Leggings of the Furbolg - Kitty pants
Hemorrhaging Circle - Kitty ring... possible Bear ring post armor nerf
Staff of Trickery - Kitty staff until armor nerf
Cloak of the Gushing Wound - Kitty cloak... possible Bear cloak after armor nerf
Necklace of the Chrono-Lord - Kitty neck
Signet of Bridenbrad - Kitty ring

I have been pretty fortunate thus far with Heroic drops. Nice to see so many pre raiding upgrades in Heroics for ferals. In BC there was little to nothing in Heroics to prep us for Kara which was pretty sad.

What I want/need next...

Shroud of Darkness - I really need a helm upgrade - Heroic Violet Hold
Drake Rider's Tunic - Wearing a quest chest is never a great thing - Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle
Gored Hide Legguards - Ok, I just like the color purple and it's a Bear upgrade as well - Heroic Gundrak
Slag Footguards - Replacing another quest reward and sockets are good too - Heroic Lightning Halls
Band of the Kirin Tor - Too much gold after buying my Polar set but maybe eventually
Mirror of Truth - 1 Badge away - A kitty trinket but atm I don't believe there is anything bear that is an upgrade... wait, I am wrong... good, something for another post.
Sphere of Red Dragon's Blood - Heroic Nexus
Nerubian Shield Ring - Bear ring until armor nerf - Heroic Ahn'kahet
Essence of Gossamer - Bear trinket - Heroic Azjol-Nerub
Darkmoon Card: Greatness - Bear and Kitty trinket
Stave of Shrouded Mysteries - I just realized until the armor nerf this is to good not to be using
Bindings of the Tunneler - Bear wrist - Heroic Utgarde Keep
Mask of the Watcher - Bear Helm - Heroic Oculus

So, I have an upgrade in almost every Heroic. As far as upgrades I am done with...

CoT Strath
Halls of Stone
Drak'Tharon Keep

Kiity upgrade from solo questing...

Yes, another list. This is one where it is possible to get upgrades from solo questing in wrath. Basically a list of the best possible gear in each slot that you can get solo questing. There are better in slot from group quests or quests inside instances but for now I am going to list stuff you can do all by yourself. I won't get into crafted items either even though there are some pretty good one's out there for you daily gold grinders. Keep in mind some T5/T6/S3&4/badge gear from TBC might still be better than these items.

Head - Tirion's Headwrap from questline starting with

Into The Frozen Heart Of Northrend which to obtain you must complete all pre-requisite quests at The Argent Vanguard as well as the Valley of Echoes.

Neck - Betrayer's Choker or Choker of the Betrayer from quest chain the starts with an item Unliving Choker which drops from Withered Troll. I prefer the hit rating on the first one.

Shoulders - Spaulders of Frozen Knives from Sons of Hodir Honored rep. The quest chain They Took Our Men!, began by Gretchen Fizzlespark in K3 within The Storm Peaks, begins the path of reputation for the Sons of Hodir. You will need this rep anyway for Wrath shoulder enchants. If I remember correctly every quest in the chain can be soloed.

Back - Cloak of Holy Extermination from Honored with Argent Crusade. Visit these locations for quests rewarding reputation.

Bases

• Dawn's Reach in the Dragonblight
  
• Light's Breach in Zul'Drak
  
• The Argent Stand in Zul'Drak
• Argent Vanguard on the edge of Icecrown
  

Chest - Exotic Leather Tunic from Junk in My Trunk quest in Utgarde Pinnacle. You have to be level 78 to get the quest but after that you can quietly stealth through the instance picking up the items needed away from agro range of mobs. You will need to reset the instance at least once to get all the items.

Wrist - Njorndar Furywraps from a questline starting from an item Dr. Terrible's "Building a Better Flesh Giant" dropped from killing Apprentice Osterkilgr in Icecrown.

Hands - Rough Climber's Grips from the quest The Reckoning which is in the same line you should be doing for Son's of Hodir reputation... see above for where the questline starts.

Belt - Belt of Njorndar from quest The Sum is Greater than the Parts which you are already doing for your wrists above and is part of the same questline.

Legs - Cured Proto-Drake Leggings from quest Discipline yet another quest in the same line of quests for Son's of Hodir rep... see above.

Feet - The Darkspeaker's Treads from quest Mind Tricks which technically is a 3 man quest however since I was able to solo him. You are going to have to use all your cooldowns, potions, trick, stuns and heals to get it done but it is doable.

Ring - Signet of Bridenbrad from Light Within the Darkness which supposedly starts from the same chain for the helm Into The Frozen Heart Of Northrend. A tale of valor is the next quest after you get the helm and the chain just keeps going until you get this ring.

Signet of Baron Sliver from quest Free Your Mind which is a chain starting with It's All Fun and Games.

Trinket - Fezzik's Pocketwatch from questlines starting with Defending The Vanguard and other questgivers with Argent Vanguard on the edge of Icecrown. Just keep doing quests until you get it, there are like 2-3 quest chains you have to do to open up the final quest The Last Line Of Defense.

First Mate's Pocketwatch from long quest chain starting with Orfus of Kamagua. Just keep following the quests til you get the trinket.

Idol - To my knowledge their is most likely no upgrade you can solo to get over whatever you have now.

Weapon - Staff of the Sorrowful Chieftain from quest Wanted: Ragemane's Flipper. You need to be level 74 to get the quest but I think I soloed it at level 78 or 79. Another option is Hardened Vine of the Mauler which is from a questline starting with On Brann's Trail.

WHOA Part 2 - Kitty Swipe!

Blue Post...

There is definitely a lot of AE (area effect damage) going on in World of Warcraft dungeon runs at the moment. We’re not too worried about it for now – on the contrary it’s nice to see so many people doing the level-up dungeons on the way to level 80. If we find that AE tank + AE damage strategy (with no sheeping, sapping or other crowd control) is the only way people are running heroics and raids, then we’ll probably make some changes, but for now we’re content to just see what happens.

Having said all that, we feel like a few groups are being left out of the AE fun, which makes them of less utility in the 5-player dungeons. We aren’t able to provide a lot of details yet, but here are some upcoming changes we’re making.

• Shaman – we are removing the threat component from Fire Nova Totem and Magma Totem and increasing the damage from Magma Totem. This should provide the Elemental shamans in particular with some formidable AE.
• Rogue – we are removing the cooldown from Fan of Knives and adjusting the damage calculation slightly to make daggers more useful for this ability.
• Druid – we are adding Swipe (Cat) as a baseline ability.

WHOA!

I went ahead and dropped a bunch of my gold today get some things crafted to get ready for Heroics and raiding...

Polar Vest
Polar Cord
Polar Boots

With those 3 items all gemmed with Solid Sky Sapphire I am sitting at 33587 with my MotW and Fort buff.

That's just sick.

Rounding out my current tanking gear is...

Vengeful Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - This really needs an upgrade from a Heroic run... hopefully Shroud of Darkness from Heroic Violet Hold.

Amulet of Wills - Happy with this at the moment

Shoulderpads of Fleshwerks - Going to upgrade to Trollwoven Spaulders once I have more gold or I get a Frozen Orb.

Slikk's Cloak of Placation - Once the armor change happens probably switching to Screeching Cape while working toward Platinum Mesh Cloak

Guardian's Dragonhide Bracers - Fine until Naxx drops Sinner's Bindings or Thrusting Bands.

Brutal Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - Until quest to get Handwraps of Preserved History which is just one CoT Stratholme run away.

Eviscerator's Legguards - Mind-Expanding Leggings will most likely come next while waiting for Tier legs.

Ring of the Stalwart Protector and Violet Signet of the Great Protector - Probably going to replace with Signet of the Impregnable Fortress and Palladium Ring of which the later is sitting in the bank. Then hope to get somehting from Heroics or Naxx.

Commendation of Kael'thas and Badge of Tenacity - Replacing Badge with Darkmoon Card: Vengeance already in bank and waiting to get Essence of Gossamer from Heroic Azjol-Nerub.

Staff of the Sorrowful Chieftain - Replacing with Stave of Shrouded Mysteries ASAP until Naxx replacement or Staff of Trickery from Heroic Violet Hold.

Ding 80

Goodnight.

The Bear List

Gear before raiding... the Bear version...

Head-
Shroud of Darkness - Heroic Violet Hold
Weakness Spectralizers - If you are an Engineer
Mask of the Watcher - Heroic Oculus

Neck-
Titanium Earthguard Chain - Doubt it comes cheap but it is one of the best
Amulet of Wills - Regular Halls of Stone (I got lucky and this fall my first time in)

Shoulders-
Trollwoven Spaulders - Crafted and probably not cheap... but top 10 shoulders soooo...
Concealment Shoulderpads - Heroic The Obsidian Sanctum
Sprinting Shoulderpads - Heroic Ahn'kahet
Spaulders of the Careless Thief - Heroic Nexus
Shoulderpads of Fleshwerks - Quest reward from The Flesh Giant Champion and quest chain starts with He's Gone to Pieces I believe.
Ceremonial Pyre Mantle - Regular Utgarde Pinnacle
Charred Leather Shoulderguards - reward from Diametrically Opposed quest.
Spaulders of Frozen Knives - Rep with The Sons of Hodir
Shoulderguards of the Ice Troll - Regular Gundrak

Back-
Cloak of Tormented Skies - Crafted... Currently 2nd best... with the armor change to bears might be falling down the scale quite far
Cloak of the Gushing Wound - Heroic Violet Hold
Shroud of Reverberation - Heroic Halls of Lightning
Screeching Cape - Regualr Violet Hold... not currently too high on the list but could move up after the armor change
Bloodbane's Resolve - Quest reward from The Fate of Bloodbane
Cloak of Holy Extermination - Honored with Argent Crusade

Chest-
Polar Vest - Crafted and basically the best in slot. Again, won't be cheap.
Crystal-Infused Tunic - Heroic Nexus
Exotic Leather Tunic - Quest reward from Junk in My Trunk in Utgarde Pinnacle... easy to get so I won't go further down the list... SO EASY YOU CAN STEALTH SOLO THIS QUEST WITH 1 INSTANCE RESET TO GET THE 2ND CUP. Absolutely no reason to be tanking without this once you can get the quest at level 78.

Wrist-
Bindings of the Tunneler - Heroic Utgarde Keep
Advanced Tooled-Leather Bands - Heroic Halls of Lightning
Njorndar Furywraps - Quest reward from Not-So-Honorable Combat quest chain starting with The Sum is Greater than the Parts. Again, I am not going further down the list with this being a quest reward item. These are only slightly better than T6 wrist.

Hands-
Handwraps of Preserved History from quest A Royal Escort speak to Chromie on the way in I believe. Get these... period.

Waist-
Polar Cord - Crafted.
Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt - Heroic Utgarde Keep
Trollwoven Girdle - Crafted.
Treasure Seeker's Belt - Heroic Azjol-Nerub
Ley-Whelphide Belt - Regular The Oculus
Batrider's Cord - Heroic Drak'Tharon
Glitterscale Wrap - Revered with The Oracles
Eviscerator's Waistguard - Crafted

Legs-
Ravenous Leggings of the Furbolg - Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle
Legguards of Swarming Attacks - Heroic Ahn'kahet
Chain Gang Legguards - Heroic Violet Hold
Mind-Expanding Leggings - Kirin Tor Revered
Constellation Leggings - Regular Halls of Stone
Eviscerator's Legguards - Crafted

Feet-
Polar Boots - Crafted
Slag Footguards - Heroic Halls of Lightning
Gorloc Muddy Footwraps - Heroic Gundrak
Boots of the Whirling Mist - Heroic Halls of Stone
Jormscale Footpads - Crafted
Eviscerator's Treads - Crafted

Rings- Again... tough to say until the armor change... instead of listing a bunch of rings just be ready to look at drops from Heroics with High stamina and other feral type stats.
Ring of Earthen Might - Crafted is a start
Ring of Ancestral Protectors - Quest reward from The Leaders at Jin'Alai might even be pretty good for a little while.
Band of Torture - Heroic The Oculus look like it has potential as well

Trinkets- Another area that will change. I guess I can toss out some guesses...
Essence of Gossamer - Heroic Azjol-Nerub should be number 1 after the armor change
Sonic Booster - Crafted would be #2 I think... but you have to be a Engineer... bummer
Commendation of Kael'thas - Still good if you are not a Jewelcrafter, Engineer, or Alchemist.

Weapon- Again, these will be ranked differently after the armor change... So I look ignoring the current armor bonus.
Staff of Trickery - Heroic Violet Hold might become the best pre raiding staff.
Enraged Feral Staff - Heroic Utgarde Keep
Stave of Shrouded Mysteries - Revered with Kirin Tor
Witch Doctor's Wildstaff - Normal Gundrak
Hewn Sparring Quarterstaff - Regular Halls of Lightning

Idols-
Idol of Terror - Still the best I can see. Buy it if you don't have it and have badges left over from TBC.
Idol of Perspicacious Attacks - For an increase in threat
Idol of the Wastes - Good for threat as well from Quest My Old Enemy

Gear upgrades before Raiding...

Cat form first... this considers that you are in T5 and badge gear only... people in T6 or greater gear might have better in any given slot already.

Head -
Mask of the Watcher - Heroic Oculus
Hood of the Furtive Assassin - Regular Halls of Lightning
Helm of Cheated Fate - Heroic Gundrak

Neck -
Necklace of Arcane Spheres - Heroic Violet Hold
Necklace of the Chrono-Lord - Regular CoT Stratholme

Shoulders-
Spaulders of the Careless Thief - Heroic Nexus only... pretty sure at least
Spaulders of Frozen Knives - Honored with Son's of Hodir. The quest chain They Took Our Men!, began by Gretchen Fizzlespark in K3 within The Storm Peaks, begins the path of reputation for the Sons of Hodir.
Ceremonial Pyre Mantle - Regular Utgarde Pinnacle

Back-
Centrifuge Core Cloak - Regular Oculus
Bloodbane Cloak - Quest The Fate of Bloodbane - might be a chain but isn't mentioned on wowhead
(I am leaving out 2 Heroic drop cloaks around the same DPS value because the Centrifuge is in a normal instance and better or on par with the Heroic drops.)

Chest-
Drake Rider's Tunic - Regular Utgarde Pinnacle. Period. End of story. Run this til it drops.

Wrist-
King's Square Bracers - Regular CoT Stratholme... drops in Heroic mode as well
Advanced Tooled-Leather Bands - Heroic Halls of Lightning

Hands-
Charged-Bolt Grips - Heroic Halls of Lightning (almost the best in slot, you really want these.)
Bile-Cured Gloves - Heroic CoT Stratholme
Handwraps of Preserved History - CoT Stratholme quest reward.
Sidestepping Handguards - Regular Oculus
Eviscerator's Gauntlets - These can be crafted if all else fails. Honestly the Eviscerator's set is a good place to start replacing more TBC gear.

Waist-
Batrider's Cord - Heroic Drak'Theron Keep
Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt - Heroic Utgarde Keep
Don Alejandro's Money Belt from Hyjal is still pretty good but if not look to Eviscerator's once again until something better comes along.

Legs-
Ravenous Leggings of the Furbolg - Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle
Mind-Expanding Leggings - Kirin Tor seems like a good faction to grind as a Feral Druid.
Eviscerator's Legguards - crafted and works until better comes along.

Feet-
Slag Footguards - Heroic Halls of Lightning (just run it until they fall)
Gorloc Muddy Footwraps - Heroic Gundrak
Eviscerator's Treads - Crafted and good... really good... unless you already had Footwraps of Wild Encroachment from TBC

Rings-
Band of the Kirin Tor - 8K gold... ugh
Stained-Glass Shard Ring - Zone drop in Heroic Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom
Bjarngrim Family Signet - Regular Halls of Lightning
Signet of Bridenbrad - Quest reward from Light Within the Darkness
I am going to stop here but needless to say there can be a lot of upgrades here both crafted and quested as well.

Trinkets-
Darkmoon Card: Greatness - probably going to cost you more than that ring I mentioned.
Meteorite Whetstone - Heroic Utgarde Pinnacle
Incisor Fragment - Heroic Drak'Theron
Darkmoon Card: Crusade - still decent and so is Bloodlust Brooch and the like...
Fezzik's Pocketwatch is behind the 2 mentioned above and even a little behind the Brewfest DPS trinket but barely.

Staff-
Jailer's Baton - Regular Violet hold
Hewn Sparring Quarterstaff - Regular Halls of Lightning
Stave of Shrouded Mysteries - Kirin Tor rep and good for Bear and Cat
Enraged Feral Staff - Heroic Utgarde Keep
Lightning Giant Staff - Heroic Halls of Lightning
Staff of Trickery - Heroic Violet Hold
5 of the top 6 staff's are from Naxx raiding... FYI

Idol-

Idol of the Ravenous Beast - 15 Emblem of Heroism

Tuesday Leveling Update

Well, since I can't level I guess I will toss out an update...

I just hit 76 last night and then promptly ran Violet Hold a couple more times and found myself quickly 4 bubbles into 76 before I decided to get to bed.

Thus far the only upgrades I have stumbled upon have been from Violet Hold.

Jailer's Baton
Screeching Cape

I don't plan on going to the cape until the bonus armor from my Slikk's Cloak of Placation is no longer being multiplied.

By now I guess many people have ventured out into Northrend and are either real happy or really sad about the difficulty of the new content or lack thereof.

So far leveling has been very easy with the exception of a couple quest areas with few mobs and slow respawn times and 1 or 2 group elites that just can't be soloed. For the most part however respawns are fast for the crowds and group quests are soloable in T5 gear or better... at least for this feral druid.

So far I have tanked these instances and they have all been ridiculously easy... I am sure running them with all T5 or better geared toons didn't hurt.

Ahn'kahet
Azjol-Nerub
Drak'Tharon
The Nexus
Utgarde
The Violet Hold

The Violet Hold is a great way to instance grind XP if you are into that sort of thing. It runs much like Black Morass in TBC with portals and bossfights on a timer. You should be able to complete the instance in under 30 minutes easy.

So far I have not worked on leveling any professions or bought anything new and shiny from the new land especially since I prefer riding around on my Wintersaber you see above.

I started Northrend in Borean Tundra, moved on to Howling Fjord, and I am just finishing up Dragonblight getting the achievements in each zone for questing in the process.

I believe my next stop is Grizzly Hills.

One thing to note. The book for Heavy Frostweave drops all the time in instances but at 375 first aid you won't get to roll on it. Use some Frostweave and get your First Aid to 390 to make sure when the book falls you can pick it up.

I am currently using a mixed build of bear and cat talents for leveling and running instances. So far so good, I took OoC in the resto tree so I took berserk at 71 and then put points from 71-76 into rend and tear for the increase damage to maul and FB crit. Anyone interested can take a look at my talents and let me know if they have a better suggestion for a leveling feral druid.

Oh, and lastly. I learned savage roar at 75 but I don't use it for leveling... mobs die with just a couple mangles, a bleed, and a FB.

1:15AM Wday

Decided to go to the Midnight release at GameStop... Got there at 12:10am and left around 12:45am. The manager said it would have gone faster had the credit machines not been down.

After a quick stop at Walmart for milk I am finally home installing Wrath.

I updated my account.

I did not win anything from my scratch off card.

This is going so slow I might head to bed and worry about the patches and playing in the morning.

Might...

Do you know this guy?

Yes, it's the brother from ICarly, for you WOW parents out there. What I didn't know is that Jerry Trainor is also a part of Project Lore a site that offers multimedia game guides. Really cool site and vids on WotLK including pulls in the first instance and beyond for you tanks that want a head start learning the runs.

Needless to say when I show my daughter the video tonight she will probably think it is pretty cool that Spencer from her nightly show plays WOW... she is really working hard on her reading at age 7 so she can start playing without having to sit on my lap.

Guardian of Cenarius

You meet some nice people while farming for new titles...

And yes, I am now sporting another new title and I hope to never have to see another mob with "twilight" in their name.

HUGE Feral Druid news

BLUE POST

The best change is... No more party size requirement for damage reduction. Unfortunately this won't be in effect for when Wrath hits... hopefully it won't take too long for the change to make the O crap solo leveling situations a little easier.

No more bear multiplier for armor from accessories. I have mixed feelings about this because of all the stuff I have that is probably no longer best in slot but it should mean less time in the expansion trying to min/max finding that 1 piece of gear because of it's bonus armor. Funny, with the ability to talent uncritable the resillience gear and chants went the way side and now this... I guess we are now really close to having 1 set for bear and kitty... I guess we shall see.

P.S. When this change hits be ready with new gear to swap in for cloak, rings, trinkets, and possibly even weapon.

And there you have it.

Outland Solo action

Today I went into Dire Maul to finish off all the classic dungeons for my Achievements.

Last 2 bosses down in the North and West wings.

Then I noticed I was missing 3 Outland dungeons for the BC version of the Achievement.

The Black Stalker - Underbog
Quagmirran - Slave Pens
Keli'dan the Breaker - Blood Furnace

All down solo style.

Keli'dan was the easiest but took the longest because you have to beat all the previous bosses.
Stalker was the fastest but the hardest and had me the closest to death.
Quagmirran wasn't too bad at all.

OMG another long Tuesday

Ok, so I am posting today out of sheer boredom.

I have already taken a visit over to Elitist Jerks and read a little of the long Feral WotLK thread... seriously, I don't know how they expect people to read a 130+ page thread.

Let me give you the summary.

• A perfect DPS rotation is still unknown
• Once it is known it will be a major PITA to keep it going

I took a look at most everyone's blogs but got tired of reading their thoughts on the Zombie invasion.

I added a couple of songs in my project playlist that I heard on the satellite radio this morning.

I read a couple posts on Emmerald's forums, nothing new or interesting jumped out.

Things I am trying to get done...

1. Exploration - I can't believe all the little nook and crannies I missed in some areas. This is a great thing to do at work between calls.
2. Gnome rep - it's the last one I need for the Achievement. I finished Exodar last night through questing on Azuremyst Isle and finished the exploration while I was at it.
3. 2 more bosses in DM - killed the PITA demon dog where you have to down all the damn shield generators.
4. Loremaster - Ugh
5. 50 pets - I think I need like 6-7 more. I have all the horde ones and alliance ones through vendors so it is getting down to drops and grinding.
6. 50 mounts - I just can't decide on this one. I bought all the dwarf mounts and was ready to buy all the horses, tigers, and elephants but I hate seeing my gold go down.
7. Work on Outland dungeon completion - Last on my list since I am so pissed I have done all these already but didn't get credit. That and to finish it completely I will still need Archie (my guild keeps shying away from even attempting him), Illidan, and Sunwell (doubt I ever see this at all).
8. Get my horde hunter to level 70 - might grind some invaders and try to get some epic gear on the cheap.

So off to surf the web, hopefully the servers are back up soon.

Boomkin Feral FTW!

Went into Hyjal last night and I had a complete blast wearing my healing gear during the trash waves.

Hurricane with no CD had me doing between 2.5K and 3.5K of AoE DPS, and that was with suboptimal healing gear with no crit. Went with Wrath spam on the spread out gargoyles and frost wyrms.

This fun had me thinking, maybe it is time for a little change and have a little fun...

So look for a Boomkin respec post sometime soon... going to dig through my bank and pull out those couple of Heroic MrT drops and old idols and see what I can throw together for a Boomkin set.

P.S.

I was losing NO mana spamming Hurricane... I think cause of OoC. Wrath spam barely put a dent in my mana as well.

Kael is down... and Vash... again...

Let me start by saying to all the QQers that don't like sharing the title, get over it.

Is Vash and Kael easier... Yes.

Can a bunch of players with heroic gear and a couple of Kara peices pug it?

No. Absolutely not.

Both fights have become more forgiving but both still need everyone to work together, do the right things, and think fast on thier feet.

Having downed Vash pre nerf, I can appreciate the difference but I wouldn't belittle the accomplishment even still.

The only thing that kept me from downing Kael before the nerf was a lack of time and interest from other players with the pending expansion... and a couple of complete morons in a couple pug attempts.

The Vash fight still needs the coordinated effort she always has but the adds go down faster so a couple of screwed up core tosses won't wipe the raid... which is nice. You still have to be good, just not perfect like it used to be.

The Kael fight does not seem that different. The bosses and weapons do go down a little faster but it is still about doing the right things and making few mistakes. By no means is it a gimmie fight from the patch... just a little more forgiving.

Will I be sporting my new title... I dunno... Jacemora Jenkins still has a nice ring to it (especially to those who know me) and Guardian of Cenarius might be in order as well.

Holy Cow... I almost forgot!

Last night I tanked and healed the Headless Horseman fight... at the same time!

/flex

T5 shoulders and pants for the 2T5 bonus of instant HoT FTW. Healed myself between phases.

The rest of the leather was S3 and S4 with tanking accessories and SSC weapon.

Honestly, the DPS was so leet I probably would have been fine without heals... but what fun would that have been?

6 attempts (I had the quest from Goldshire) with not one death (DPS, stay away from his whirl when the head detaches please.)

Well hell, if all the other Druids are doing it...

Here is my obligatory Hunter post.

I have a horde hunter, level 66 and rising.

She currently has a White Lion (FürElise), a White Gorilla (Bumble), and my wittle pal Slurpee the white Core Hound.

True story, when I first tried out the game right around the time of the BC release my initial thoughts were to become a hunter. A Coworker of mine had leveled a hunter pre BC and had started playing again in the expansion so I asked him a very important question... Can you tame any beast in the game? I had started out as a druid because without any outside influence or information it sounded like a class that suited me, but I was really torn between that and going hunter and having a pet.

His answer... No. I believe he said that at one point they could tame elites with all their abilities but all I know is when I asked there were many pets that could not be tamed. This was a hunter deal breaker for me and he basically talked me out of the hunter role with the lack of pet options and the little stable. I was pissed however that hunters could name their pets while my Warlock alt was stuck with the same goofy ass names every summon of my demons but that is fodder for another post.

Well, later in the game my daughter wanted a horde character so we decided on a Blood Elf Hunter (she looks like a porn star) with big hoop earrings (not my choice). I have played the hunter with and without my daughter trying to get her to level 70 before the expansion.

Then WotLK is coming, the hunter changes are announced, patch 3.0 comes down the line and OMG...

Bottom line, hunters got the most love in the expansion as far as the fun factor goes. More stable slots (not enough however to keep my loyal cat and add a rhino and white dino), tons of new pets to tame with awesome abilities, Pet talent trees, and just general killing stuff OPness.

Compared to the little tweaks my feral druid has been given it hard not to switch over to the dark side and fly through Northrend with a stomping air freezing dog named after popular quicky mart drink that gives you brain freeze.

I was glad I make it a point to read BRK's blog daily since I had not been in a stituation yet where I needed Heart of the Phoenix. And it was nice to find out I wasn't the only person affected by having Cower screw up a pull after reading a BBB post. Heck, even warrior bloggers are posting about their hunter exploits.

Ok, so there is my obligatory hunter post. Notice I didn't cover anything strategy related because A. I am a hunter noob even at level 66 and B. There are MANY hunter blogs out there that tell you all you need to know.

Wait, I have 1 tip. Don't grap a shiny new white ape at level 66 and think at level 60 it is going to hold any kind of agro in Negrand while you are unloading. Farm some leather in Hellfire while killing boars and leveling him first.

P.S. To all those new people coming into the game that are being sent to Drenden (I know you are since I have a wait time now to get into my server for the first time in over a year) you might want to roll a hunter. They are serious fun and a pretty easy class to play.

Ok, starting to have fun again...

Note to Blizzard:

Tune all raids, even pre BC raids, to the usual levels above the allowed players. That way instead of experiencing old content at breakneck speed it can be something challenging guilds could add to their accomplishments.

I have really enjoyed these couple trips into old content like MC and AQ40 but if these scaled up in difficulty it would be more game that is still challenging for people to experience.

Ok, I am now focused on achievements on my main. Blizzard added the ability to track old low level quest givers on the mini map so I plan to work extensively on getting my Loremaster done.

I am currently trying to get done the achievements for the world event which led me to the BG's for some NERDS rage... which leads me to a PvP topic.

Without getting the 51 point talent in order to have OoC for raiding some BT and maybe Sunwell I found a nice combo to burn cloth wearers CRAZY fast.

Prowl, Cat Charge, Pounce, Mangle, Shred, Shred or Mangle depending on position (keep an eye on combo points we want 5 here), Tigers Fury, Ferocious Bite.

If you spec for PvP/Arena having Berserk might be better than OoC, but either way if you put points into Infected Wounds and Rend and Tear I think the above combo will drop any cloth wearer before they can do anything. Frost mages might have a little window to get some distance but for them save the kitty charge for after you shift out of their frost nova.

I think I am going to respec next week from mainly tanking talents to mostly PvP Cat talents and take a whack in arenas with a BM hunter and a core hound stomping around.

On another note, I am starting to get a little drawn to testing out a Boomkin build. I have some decent caster gear in the bank and might play around with the idea of leveling 70-80 as a Boomkin.

So I am a little bummed.

Logged Jacemora... Talented up, went and soloed an old world instance for the achievement. Meh, whatever.

Yes, Swiping to AoE is fun. Mangle in bear does serious damage... yadda, yadda. Reports still have us not putting out great DPS compared to the other classes even with every last point in cat talents. Bear... I don't know, all I did was dabble with some old instances in full season gear for the armor bonus that has not been stripped yet.

Logged my Lock, Talented up in the Demon tree for Demon form... went on a Heroic run... meh. Demon form is silly. I guess it is useful to save someone if a mob gets away from the tank (which it shouldn't these days). I don't feel like I am doing any more damage then I was before and then you read about the fun mages and balance druids are having... bleh, my lock is not that much fun now... I might try another spec I suppose.

Logged my level 65 Horde hunter... OMG... hunters not only are so much fun now with getting exotic pets (I am running around with my white core hound Slurpee) but I am taking on 4-5 level 65 mobs with a level 60 ape without breaking a sweat.

I will say right now, had I leveled this hunter alliance I very likely would have changed mains. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't.

Anyone want to guess when we get to play again?

No prizes, just Stormwind Harbor street cred.

I am guessing 11:30ish PM EST.

By the way, there is a post on MMM Champion which refers to people that did somehow get on, converted thier pets and mounts, and then lost them all in a server crash.

I know as a druid clearing up my bags and reorganizing was going to be my first priority however it might be prudent to wait until tomorrow or until the all clear is given. I hear the Que for support in game is now 12 hours.

Hmmm, interesting thought...

They'll obviously have to be very careful with how they implement dual specs. I'm guessing a very limited number of times a day and probably a long 'cast' time or something. Otherwise you'd end up with stupid stuff like "oh our healers are dead -> NE ferals ghetto vanish (so ooc) -> respec -> swap items -> resto druid in just a matter of seconds.

Wait.... What?

Dual-Spec system

The dual-spec system will be introduced in a content patch. The goal is to let you switch specs very easily in raid, even between fights !

Yep, a recent blue post.

Now how can druids complain after this hits, we can go from being MT able to Top Melee DPS... within the same fight!

Ok, I will stop complaining about tanking in my DPS leather now.

I am sure this is going to work the same way for Warriors and Pallies... the question is does this make the game and raiding easier or the need for more skilled players even more important.

I am thinking raiding with quick thinkers that react well to sudden changes will have more success than ever.

I can see it now... damn, we are down to a tank and 4 healers... it's a wipe... HELL NO, you 2 pallies switch to RET Spec NOW!

Awesome!

My leveling Spec @ 70

Lets start with the first 5 points...

5/5 Ferocity - When grinding and leveling we rip not bite so no Feral Aggression
3/3 Feral Instinct - We want the best chance of going undetected in stealth
2/2 Savage Fury - +20% Mangle DMG
3/3 Thick Hide - For bear O crap moments
2/2 Feral Swiftness - +30% faster in cat form even indoors now and +4% to dodge
1/1 Survival Instincts - Another O crap button but used in Cat or Bear
3/3 Sharpened Claws - +6% to crit
3/3 Preditory Strikes - Bonus attack power
NO SHREDING ATTACKS - not wasting 2 points on shred or lacerate
1/1 Feral Charge - now used in cat form as well.
NO Nurturing Instinct
2/2 Primal Fury - Faster combo points
2/2 Primal Precision - 10 Expertise and 80% refund of energy on missed attacks
5/5 Heart of the Wild - Greater Int, STA, and AP
3/3 Survival of the Fittest - Increase of all stats and less chance to get Crit
1/1 Leader of the Pack - +5% to Crit
3/3 Preditory Instincts - +10% damage to Crits
3/3 Infected Wounds - -20% of attackers attack speed
1/1 Mangle - of course
3/3 King of the Jungle - Tiger Fury gives an instant 60 Energy
2/2 Improved Mark of the Wild - increased stats

3/5 Furor - I don't shift much between mobs when leveling so I am fine using this as a filler and getting 60 energy on shift
5/5 Naturalist - +10% damage
NO Natural Shapeshifter - see above, when I level I don't shift out of form much
1/1 Omen of Clarity

Ok, 4 points left...

Going with 2/2 Improved Leader of the Pack - Free heals and mana return while in form
and
2/2 Brutal Impact - 1 more sec on the initial pounce stun so maybe 1 more shred.

Notice I am not going with our 51 point Berserk talent. Sorry but for leveling I think I will live without it until level 71

71 - 1/1 Berserk
72, 73, 74 - 3/3 Mother bear (might start needing this to tank instances)
75, 76, 77 - 3/3 Natural Reaction (might go back and forth with this and the above between 72-77)
78, 79 - Improved Mangle

80 - All bets are off, depending on what I am needed for raiding will determine my build and by then a lot of these talents might have changed.

Here is my level 70 Spec come Tuesday...

SPEC

The Political post...

So I decided to sit in the tub this evening and watch the Presidential Debate.

After listening to both sides and the state of current affairs in and out of the country I had formed an opinion about our future... us... our kids... their kids...

and while I was thinking about how humanity is at a crossroads of what is important and how we as a planet must come together going into the future I happened to channel surf right into "The Girls Next Door" and kinda forgot everything I had to say.

Maybe tomorrow I will have some time to review the cliff notes and reform an opinion.

On another note, Pam Anderson surprised Hef on his birthday delivering a cake in the nude and the Girls gave Hef chocolate impressions of their privates.

I wonder if he thinks about the future of humanity?

Locktards?

I have a level 70 lock... I don't talk about her much. My daughter created her and we/I have leveled her to 70.

Last night I took her on a ZA run, full clear and with a Destro spec, crafted and Kara gear (no Tier gear or anything from 25 man raids or badge gear and only PvP S2 staff) stayed pretty competitive I thought.

I am spec Destro, sack a wentch for the buff, curse for added shadow damage, and spam either SB, seed, or banish throughout the run.

We take down the first boss (Eagle) and my DPS is so/so because I keep being flung into the air or made the storm... lol... so I had a lot of down time and didn't quite break 1K DPS.

We take down the 2nd boss (Bear) and I am 3rd in DPS and not really that far from the leaders breaking 1K DPS.

We take down the 3rd boss (Phoenix) and I am 2nd in DPS while managing the dudes breaking eggs and seeding the adds while staying alive from the bombs.

We missed the timed chest... oh well, no big...

We take down the 4th Boss (Lynx) and I am a solid 3rd in DPS and right there with the leaders.

We take down Hex Lord and my DPS falls quite a bit since I am keeping an add on focus and rebanishing it over and over. Hurt a little with 3 priests in the group since when they get MCed they would cleanse my banish... doh.

We kill Zul'jin and my DPS falls because I die to a Lynx rush... Healthstone didn't even make a dent as I croaked... remember, my gear is not stellar except for my Belt of Blasting... Frozen Shadow since level 70 FTW... lol

A couple points I would like to make.

1. Locks are increadibly easy compared to DPSing with a feral druid. I life tap when I need mana, I keep an eye on my Corruption DoT timer, I make sure Curse is up, I spam SB.

2. Locks are WAY more gear independant than my feral druid. No way I could have come in ZA as a feral in no badge gear, no head enchant, S2 mace, and only some bought rep peices and Kara drops with no Tier gear and been close to contributing as much as I did on my Lock.

Because of stuff like this and having to share rogue gear now I start to consider changing my main to my lock which really sucks since she has not even ran 1 Herioc... not 1. She has no Outland rep to exaulted except for Scryer.

Again, she is breaking 1K DPS in a 10 man and really didn't have to do shit to get there. I had to grind my ass of on my druid, spend tons of badges and gold, get all kinds of rep... ugh.

Now I am going into Wrath, I am going to be sharing leather with rogues, I have to choose between specs to either MT or DPS, I have no clue if being an OT/DPS will still be possible and even if it were now I have to juggle energy regaining abilites, lose what was the best Tier bonus in the game (2T4), and possible add more attacks/casts into both my tanking and DPSing rotations. So now I might be timing Mangle, rake, shred, rip, Fury, bezerker... you get the point.

Do I really want to put myself through even more min/max gear and playstyle when I could just level my lock and roll into the first raids with some crafted crap and top the DPS meters by spamming 1 or 2 spells?

I just don't know.

I guess I could just spec resto and be done with it. I think I am going to bounce between Tanking spec and Resto spec that way I can always find a group for a 5 man while getting to 80.

If my lock didn't look like a craigslist special of the week maybe I would think differently.

Fun in Molten Core

Grats to my buddy Petsareus on his new (Molten)Core Hound.

I have never had so much fun dying and healing... FYI, don't try this little stunt unless you have 60+ gold for repairs and spec Resto for the threat reduction.

I guess I should mention this was on the PTR. We are going to Fraps it when we do it on the live server in 2 weeks.

New upgrades...

Well, I forgot to mention some new upgrades I was able to get. Let me start by saying Myself and my PvP arena partner got to 158something so I was able to get a couple S4 PvP upgrades.

Guardian's Dragonhide Bracers
Brutal Gladiator's Dragonhide Legguards
Brutal Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves

We are hoping to get over that 1600 hump maybe next week and I already have the points to get...

Brutal Gladiator's Dragonhide Tunic which is why I have kept passing on the Nether Shadow Tunic that has dropped 3 times now in BT... that and I don't want to tick off any rogues... but that is another story.

We are just 30 points away AGAIN fom the 1600 I need... here is to hoping we get a couple easy teams instead of dual glaive rogues in all S4 starting a new team to get someone cheap epics.

I had also forgot to mention the gear I have gotten here recently in BT...

Treads of the Den Mother - With these I hit 34K armor partly raid buffed... is sweet.
Shadowmoon Destroyer's Drape - Best melee DPS cloak in game and the + Hit will come in handy for leveling in Wrath.
Idol of the White Stag - I don't see this as better than Everbloom Idol or Idol of Terror until late into Wrath and just for leveling. Once I hit 80 I am sure the Idol of the Ravenous Beast will be the tops for raiding... or Idol of Worship will be... will have to see I suppose how the theorycrafting numbers work out.