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.