Ordered

I ended up missing my last lottery pick with FigurePrints (was right around the time my MBP needed a rez), so when I got another congratulatory email last week, I figured I should jump on it. Timing is pretty good too, as this little piece of art will be a good snapshot for what Ex looked like at the end of the Burning Crusade. Final price came out to $163.39, a little on the steep side, but having a physical representation of something virtual is worth something IMO.

Ironic that the best-matching set of gear is his PvP gear, but whatevs. :)

Pics to follow upon delivery.

Is Just Theorycraftin'

Boy do I like teh chart above (source), as it bodes well for both Exelus and Ciribrus (who will likely go back to Doomchicken in Wrath). Ofc it's all speculation in the World of Mathcraft (BETA), but I sure do like them purty bars.

Moar. DPS. FTW.

Nerf bat inc.

Honor Points and Macs

Looks like our saved honor points will be reset for the upcoming expansion, which means any plans to save them for Wrath welfare epics are now foiled. Not all is lost, though: I had previously held-off on buying the much-needed PvP trinkets in favor of armor/weapons, so now it's finally time to pony-up and spend my remaining honor on them before I lose 'em.

In other news, I'm considering a new computer purchase in preparation for Wrath... Currently I play on a "Santa Rosa" MacBook Pro (2.2ghz Core Duo 2) hooked up to a 23" Apple Cinema Display - which works great - but I have to constrain framerates in order to limit heat on the machine. It's a great portable/backup machine, but I want moar powah!

Up for consideration are the 24" iMac and the Mac Pro. Both machines, when equipped with the Nvidia video option, appear to be full of awesome, well capable of running the game at full settings at high framerates. I like the all-in-oneness of the iMac, and would prefer the 20" over the 24" (just obnoxiously big), but the 20" only comes with meh ATI video. Then there's the issue of what to do with my ACD, no longer would be needed.

The Mac Pro would go nicely with the monitor I already own, and would be more future-proof, but is pretty dang expensive: the config I'd want costs around $2,500. >.< Although the 24" iMac is no bargain either at $2,000, but at least I could sell the ACD...

Hmm, decisions...

And no, I'm not considering PCs. Pfft.

Pre-Wrath Update

Well shiver me timbers, if it ain't National Talk Like A Pirate Day! First, my favorite knock knock joke of all time:

knock knock
who's there
impatient pirate
impa...
aaarrrrrr!!!

Thank you, I'll be here all week. :P

So with the announcement of an official release date for Wrath of the Lich King, I've made my pre-order of the collector's edition and will likely be taking a Wowcation for a day or two after the release. Funny, I remember doing the same when WC3 The Frozen Throne came out.

Being that Exelus is as geared as I'm willing to invest in currently, I've been working mostly on the Druid lately, practicing the art of healing as much as possible. He's been to Kara a few times now, and has made it past Curator to Illhoof and Aran. This weekend's followup will likely bring the challenges of Netherspite and Prince. Oh, and ezmode Chess. :)

Stats-wise, Ciribrus was heading over 1700 +heal but was feeling light in raw stats dept, so I made a few adjustments to gems, keeping the +heal over 1600 but inflating survivability and longevity (stam and int, respectively). His MP5 is around 140-ish, which seems reasonable given the efficiency of Tree healing.

Also found the rare Ace of Beasts on the auction house for the bargain price of 299g, which was the final card needed for Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon. Woot! This level 60 trinket has a proc that returns 100% of your regular mana regen for 15 seconds... so unless they change this item, its one of the few (only?) cards that will scale all the way to 80! Perfect for both grinding and healing during long fights, methinks. :) It's like a mini-innervate!

Now, the dilemma I have is my level 48-ish Priest, who recently took on the name Haelus from my deceased Resto Shaman project toon. The general plan is to level him Shadow till 60, then park him in Outland and level him by healing instances packed with Death Knights. In a way, this frees up Ciribrus from healing duty, as I may be transitioning him back to Laser Chicken for Wrath. Being able to root indoors, plus all the new Balance goodness means that Moonkin should be able to compete with Mages for ranged DPS spots in 5-mans more easily.

So anyway, do I save the Darkmoon card for Haelus instead? Decisions, decisions.

Oh, and I just heard the mammoth mount is going to cost 16,000 gold? Ouch.

Big Weekend

This past weekend was huuuge on the GTD front, both from a guild perspective and a personal in-game goal perspective. First, let's talk about our guild's First Full Karazhan clear!

On Tuesday we did our usual "first half" clear through Curator, no issues, no wipes, all good. Then Friday we one-shotted Aran, collected our free epics from Chess and proceeded to Prince.

Prince, what a PITA.

After several attempts, we just couldn't seem to pull it off... between super-unlucky infernal drops and being a little light on DPS, we had to call it and regroup on Sunday.

/recruit Mages,Warlocks,Hunters

Sunday rolls around and we're one DPS short, but luckily a guildy knew a very-well geared Mage who graciously agreed to come. :) Our guest's abilities and strategy advice proved invaluable the rest of the night.

First we one-shotted Illhoof, /target Demon Chains ftw. Our offtank picked up a very nice cloak, grats! Then we went to visit Netherspite, a boss that the guild has maybe downed once? Not that it's particularly hard, it's just VERY gadgety. Beams, phases, aggro resets, it just takes a bit of coordination. After a few tries we got the timing down and he fell. :)

Feeling good, we went up the tower to re-visit Prince and tried the usual tanking spot, far left against the wall. Bad luck with infernals and range issues had us looking for a new tactic, so we made another attempt with the Pandadin tank along the right wall, with ranged in the doorway. This time we got lucky and were able to apply enough DPS, Prince downed!

Our guest had the urn to summon Nightbane, so even though it was late and not many of us had done the fight before, we crammed on the strategy and... one-shot big nasty Bane. /cheer! Even made out with some nice hunter loot.

By this point, I had 103 Badges of Justice... just 2 shy of Vanir's Lolfist. Out-of-the-blue I got a /w from a friend-lister and off I went to Heroic Blood Furnace. It was a bit of a struggle (putting it mildly), but we persisted and made it through.

/beeline Isle of Quel'Danas
/buy Vanir's Right Fist of Brutali-tay
/apply Mongoose

Since buying Vanir's freed up the honor I'd been saving for the PvP fist (no longer needed), tonight I'll be able to replace my last blue item with this one. Woot!

Ciribrus the Durid Alt also managed exalted with Shattered Sun Offensive and has just over 3k gold, working towards epic flight... maybe in a few weeks?

In other RL news, the Seahawks got crushed by the freakin' Bills. /cry

Karazhan Loot Watch List

Even though Wrath is only a few months away, those of us still running KZ for fun and profit will likely be able to continue using our epics into the first few levels of Northrend, making raiding as worthwhile as ever. So better late than never, below is a list of Karazhan loot to watch for as an Enhancement Shaman!

Disclaimer
A few months ago I would have left out the "hunter loot," but with upcoming changes to how we get our attack power, having Intellect will no longer be as worthless as it is today. Also your mileage will vary depending on what you already have and have access to - for example, some crafted and PvP epics will definitely outrank items listed below. Use EP and RatingBuster to determine what works for you!

Now on to the list!

Trash Mobs

• Grips of Deftness and Zierhut's Lost Treads - normally we like leather because it often comes with stuff like hit/crit, but these gloves and boots have decent raw stats and may be an upgrade for whatever you're currently wearing.
• Belt of the Tracker - pass on this for hunters in your group, but take it in lieu of disenchanting and bank it. Depending on what gear you have when Wrath hits, you may gain some attack power from Intellect.

Attumen

• Gloves of Dexterous Manipulation - gem it with two +8 strength gems and you're good-to-go!
• Stalker's War Bands - hunter loot, but has decent stats and may be less huntery after Wrath hits. I still have these as nothing better have come along yet.
• Worgen Claw Necklace - nice balance of stats and comes with hit rating. A solid entry-level raiding piece.

Moroes

• Edgewalker Longboots - nice stats, sockets, hit rating, a definite upgrade from Zierhut's.
• Royal Cloak of Arathi Kings - seems tailor-made for Burning Crusade-era Enhancement Shaman. Strength, Stamina, hit rating = win. Slap on an agility enchant.
• Formula: Mongoose - this drop gets special mention because dual-Mongoose on your weapons are considered best until super high-end raiding (T6/Sunwell).

Maiden

• Bracers of Maliciousness - leave this for kitty druids, otherwise take 'em if they're an upgrade.
• Gloves of Quickening - hunter loot, but with two pure strength gems they're not bad.

Opera

• Big Bad Wolf's Paw - ugliest weapon in the game, but decent stats and nice slow speed will tide you over until you can get a PvP or badge weapon.
• Romulo's Poison Vial - there are way better trinkets for us, but if everyone passes, take it - especially if you're low on hit rating as it may improve DPS on boss fights.
• Beastmaw Pauldrons - more hunter loot, but take it if it's an upgrade.

Curator

• Gloves of the Fallen Champion -> Cyclone Gauntlets - not the best gloves out there (I like Felfury Gauntlets), but it's your first piece of official T4, so grats! It also gets better with the set bonuses, so /roll away. (You can also exchange the token for PvP gloves if you're into that sort of thing.)
• Garona's Signet Ring - almost missed this one (thanks Mend Pet), a very decent compliment to your Violet Eye quest reward ring.
  

Illhoof

• Fool's Bane - PvP and badge weapons are better, but this is very decent if you have neither.
• Girdle of the Prowler - sigh, more hunter loot, maybe take it for Wrath.

Aran

• Rapscallion Boots - kitty druid boots, but a nice amount of attack power.
• Steelspine Faceguard - yet again more hunter loot, take it in lieu of DE.
• Drape of the Dark Reavers - a very nice cloak, will tide you over until you can farm mats/gold for the Cloak of Darkness (Leatherworking recipe available to those exalted with Karazhan's faction, the Violet Eye).
• Saberclaw Talisman - kinda meh, the easily-attainable SSO necklace is better, but this still may be an upgrade in the meantime.

Chess

• Bladed Shoulderpads of the Merciless - argh, been waiting for these to drop for a while! AP, crit, hit, sockets, it's all good. And they're rated above the T4 shoulders for us enhancers.
• Girdle of Treachery - kinda kitty or rogue, but may be an upgrade - at least the two red sockets (which should always be filled with pure strength gems) will get you the agility bonus.
• Fiend Slayer Boots - huntery, but not terrible with the two gem slots.
• Mithril Chain of Heroism - raw stats FTW. Maybe slightly better than the SSO neck if you aren't Exalted with Aldorks yet.

Netherspite

• Cowl of Defiance - 100 attack powah, gotta love that. Oh, and hit and other stats too!
• Skulker's Greaves - itemized for ferals, but has decent stats and three sockets.
• Rip-Flayer Leggings - lots of Int and MP5 make these hunter loot, but three slots would serve you well with all strength gems until Wrath arrives.
• Mithril Band of the Unscarred - more raw stats FTW.

Prince

• The Decapitator - still a very nice weapon, but has since been out-itemized by S2 PvP and badge weapons.
• Farstrider Wildercloak - there are likely far better blue-quality cloaks out there, but if it drops, no one wants it and it's an upgrade, I guess /roll on it. Totally meh.
• Ring of a Thousand Marks - another very nice compliment to you Violet Eye ring, has all the good stuff on it.
• Helm of the Fallen Champion -> Cyclone Helm - grats on your next piece of T4! The 2-piece set bonus grants an additional 12 strength from your totem - not great, but not terrible.

Nightbane

• Chestguard of the Conniver - looks to be a fairly decent piece, if you can wrestle it away from rogues and cat druids. Even better though, is the Shadowprowler's Chestguard with it's 3 slots, another LW pattern available at the Violet Eye quartermaster.
• Ferocious Swift-Kickers - decent boots given the two gem slots, and they visually match the rest of our T4 stuff.
• Scaled Breastplate of Carnage - healthy does of Int makes this a hunter piece (do I sound like a broken record yet?) but may come in handy in preparation for Wrath.

That's it for now, happy hunting!