Recently in Gear Category

I was looking over my gear on the different 70s I have, after a productive set of Kara runs, one of which saw my Druid get Staff of Infinite Mysteries, and the other saw my Draenei Paladin, Telaan, get Gorehowl. Before these drops, I already knew I would have a fair bit of my current gear on all but my Hunter when I hit 75, since Medros has only replaced a few pieces of gear by his current level of 76 on the beta. The one thing which has always perplexed me is comparing raw stats to proc stats. For instance, a trinket that gives me XX stamina, XX strength, and XX to crit, versus something like my Skyguard Silver Cross and Darkmoon Card: Crusade. Which would be better? At what point is the new hotness good enough to replace the old and busted?

Another thing that has been throwing me for a loop as I leveled Medros through beta, id the seeming change in 'Ret' gear. Oh, and yes, he is the only one I have actually leveled, as I do not see a need to spend all my time leveling all my 70s to 80 in a world that will be gone in 40 days. I have noticed a lot of gear I am told is 'Ret' gear(or melee DPS plate gear) has Armor Penetration, and while I am told this was scattered on items from Burning Crusade, I cannot recall it being this prevalent on gear, and I also do not know how to equate it to my Burning Crusade gear, which all have what I call the TBC standards, strength, stamina, attack, crit, and hit. How do I account for this new stat when I am choosing gear, and by sticking to the old stats, am I losing out on awesome gear?

I guess what I am asking is whether there is a site that ranks or explains these stats and how the equate to TBC thinking? I have been playing in the TBC world for 2 years, and I just don't know how to make the switch. Anyone have thoughts? Are there conversions that have you stuck? Let me know in the comments and maybe we can all get some help and clarification for our playtime!

As I have been looking over my guild's Zul'Aman stat requirements, I have become frustrated that only one of my characters can go there. Arita, with 3 pieces of Tier 4 and more gear form high end places than any other character, and who was originally a secondary alt back in the day, is the only character I have that can meet the requirements. What follows is a list of the gear I want for Medros, though in no specific order. After the slot is the current piece in that slot.

Head - The Horseman's Helm

• Amani Mask of Death  -  G'eras  -  75 Badges

Shoulder - Warchief's Mantle

• Ragesteel Shoulders  -  Blacksmith
• Pauldrons of Gruesome Fate  -  G'eras  -  60 Badges

Wrist - Sha'tari Wrought Armguards

• Eternium Rage-shackles  -  G'eras  -  35 Badges

Waist - Rubium War-Girdle

• Crimson Girdle of the Indomitable  -  Moroes  -  Karazhan
• Deathforge Girdle  -  Talon King Ikiss  -  Sethekk Halls
• Chain of Unleashed Rage  -  G'eras  -  60 Badges

Ring - Ring of Ghoulish Delight | Violet Signet

• Eye of the Stalker  -  The Black Stalker  -  Underbog (Heroic)

Legs - Legguards of the Shattered Hand

• Doomplate Legguards  -  Exarch Maladaar  -  Auchenai Crypts (Heroic)
• Ornate Leggings of the Venerated  -  Blackheart the Inciter  -  Shadow Labyrinth
• Wrynn Dynasty Greaves  -  The Curator  -  Karazhan
• Bloodlord Legplates  -  The Maker  -  The Blood Furnace (Heroic)
• Vanquisher's Legplates  -  Pathaleon the Calculator  -  The Mechanar (Heroic)
• Bloodthirster's Wargreaves  -  G'eras  -  75 Badges
• Legplates of Unending Fury  -  SSO Badge Vendor  -  100 Badges

I know, a long list, and I should point out that at halfway through 73 and having worked through Borean Tundra, Howling Fjord, and part of Dragonblight, I still have some of the pieces I want to replace, though I have had a hard time adjusting to the stats on gear in Northrend. I still have my helm, belt, my Violet Signet of the items on this list, and my Bulwark of Kings, Royal Cloak of Arathi Kings, Justicar Gauntlets, Skyguard Silver Cross, Darkmoon Card: Crusade, Shattered Sun Pendant of Might, and Vortex Walking Boots.

Really, I have only replaced a few pieces, but I am finding it really hard to find groups on the beta realms, especially when the realms are going up and down so frequently. I also have a hard time deciding on items with procs, which a lot of these have. The pendant, card, and cross all have procs that are huge. The cloak, the chestpiece, the guantlets and the boots are all late game epics, which took a lot of time and effort to get. Time will tell on the rest!

I was reading a blog post from my friend, the ever insightful and interesting Alyviel over on Bitter Roots. While we are of the same guild, officers both, we have differing viewpoints. This does not prevent us being friends, thankfully, as everyone needs friends, but there are issues at times. One of those such issues is a difference in perspective. I am a casual raider, raiding when time and other things in life allow.

I write many things, not just these stories, and I also have the podcast. Raiding is maybe 8th or 9th on my priority list. I like the gear Arita has, and hope to get more for Med to bring him up to par, but if I had a choice between a 3 hour raid and 3 hours of writing, podcasting, or even questing, I would take them. Progression, epics, and all that goes with raiding is great for many, but does not have an overarching dominance within my realm of interest to be honest.

So, when I read Aly's post today, and her statement,

However, I've been looking at some boss fights and I think we're ready to move on.

This made me sad. I love my guildies to death, they are like a family, but I just don't see this push to raid, to move past the content. I am not saying we can't go on to 25 mans, but it takes more than 10 people to go to Mag, ot Tempest Keep, or even Serpentshrine Cavern. What her post shows is that we have 10 people who have hours on end to kill in a dungeon on a Sunday afternoon, forsaking all other plans. Her post doesn't say a thing about the Zul'Aman run that was canceled because their full run tired everyone out.

Perhaps I am taking Aly's words a little too literal. Perhaps she only means less Kara. The way I see it, though, is that there are only 7 days in the week, and we can't run Kara to get people geared for those 25 mans if we hit 25 mans every other night, not as long as we hit Zul'Aman at the same time. I understand burn out, I see what it does to people. I just think that Eledith, her healer, doesn't need to be on a run every week.

We have at least 4 or 5 other decent healers who can main heal in Kara, be it raid or main tank. So let Eledith and the other top geared players who are tired of Kara and don't care about Zul'Aman go off and hit Magtheridon, Tempest Keep, and Serpentshrine Cavern with 15 PUGs or another raiding guild, and let those of us who still want to learn Karazhan, and still feel we have something to experience do so. Just because we now have more raid focus than before, doesn't mean we need to leave the beginner raids behind.

It all started with "Anyone want to go to SV or Heroic SP/UB" which I typed into guild chat. That elicited a few interested people, but not enough for an actual group. It did, however, bring about an interesting conversation with a fellow Ret Paladin in my guild the Shadow Walkers. He asked if I was planning to go to Heroic SP to work on the 'unofficial ret set'. I said no, not understanding what he was referring to. He went on to link me a few items from this Unofficial Ret Set. Ornate Boots of the Sanctified & Ornate Leggings of the Venerated were the pieces he linked, and one look told me the place he was going. The conversation also pointed to Bracers of Just Rewards as another 'classic ret piece'.

For any of you who saw my recent Gear Review for Medros, you will notice that there is a very different tact in gear and stat selection in the gear my beloved Paladin has. Strength. Agility. Attack Power. Hit Rating. Crit Rating. All of these are what I have built my DPS for Medros on. Now, I will admit that Ret Paladins use a fair number of spells. Avenging Wrath, Consecration, Crusader Strike, plus our seals and judgments. However, most of the ret spells I use are based around my attack power and melee damage.

So, friends, allies, Paladins and admirers, what do you think? With the coming changes to Retribution gear, should we just wait and see what blizzard is doing? See what the stat change that they say will increase our DPS is going to be? Do you think we need to focus on spell power or attack power?

I have had a lot of people find me on my site and in game who are asking me about gear. A lot of new guildies who have just hit Level 70 are also looking at our guild's minimum requirements for Karazhan with shocked disbelief at the disparity between their numbers there as compared to what they are at now. The plan here is to link you my characters WoW Digger Profile, and explain why I chose it and where I got it from.
Profile: Arita
Slots:
Head - Druidic Helmet of Second Sight | Sockets:: Gleaming Dawnstone, Glowing Nightseye, Glowing Nightseye | Enchant: None
Neck - Torc of the Sethekk Prophet
Shoulder - Mantle of Autumn | Enchant: Inscription of the Blade
Back - Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran | Enchant: Enchant Cloak - Spell Penetration
Chest - Tunic of the Nightwatcher | Sockets:: Potent Noble Topaz, Potent Noble Topaz, Solid Star of Elune | Enchant: Enchant Chest - Restore Mana Prime
Wrist - Illidari Bracers of the Invoker | Enchant: Enchant Bracer - Major Intellect
Hand - Clefthoof Gloves | Enchant: Enchant Gloves - Spell Strike
Waist - Windchanneller's Ceinture of the Sorcerer
Legs - Kurenai Kilt | Sockets:: Runed Living Ruby, Gleaming Dawnstone, Gleaming Dawnstone | Enchant: Mystic Spellthread
Feet Shattrath Jumpers | Sockets:: Glowing Nightseye, Great Dawnstone | Enchant: Magister's Armor Kit
Rings - Violet Signet & The Horseman's Signet Ring
Trinkets - Scryer's Bloodgem & Vengeance of the Illidari
Main Hand/Two Hand - Bloodfire Greatstaff | Enchant: Enchant Weapon - Major Spellpower
Off Hand -
Ranged/Relic - Idol of the Unseen Moon

Have questions about gems, improvements, and enchants? Reply to this comment or email me, med2008@allthingsazeroth.com!

Updates:
After a great weekend in Kara, I have replaced:

• Manasurge Pendant
• Ruby Drape of the Mysticant(replacing Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran from an earlier run)
  
• Bracers of the White Stag
• Mitts of the Treemende | Sockets: Radiant Talasite & Veiled Noble Topaz 
• Ruby Slippers(replacing Boots of Foretelling from earlier in the run)
• Violet Signet
• Spectral Band of Innervation

I have had a lot of people find me on my site and in game who are asking me about gear. A lot of new guildies who have just hit Level 70 are also looking at our guild's minimum requirements for Karazhan with shocked disbelief at the disparity between their numbers there as compared to what they are at now. Since Retribution Paladins are the rarest of the 3 classes I play at 70 now, I felt it would be most beneficial of the toons. The plan here is to link you my characters WoW Digger Profile, and explain why I chose it and where I got it from.
Profile: Medros
Slots:
Head - The Horseman's Helm Sockets: Infused Nightseye | Brilliant Dawnstone | Lustrous Star of Elune | Enchant: Glyph of Ferocity Listeners to the podcast, or players of WoW for more than a couple months will know that this dropped off the summoned boss in Scarlet Monastery during the Hallow's end Festival this year, causing uproar and anger by many players in game by the quality of loot dropped. This helm was the rarest item he dropped, and took many runs.
Neck - Necklace of Trophies I tried very hard to far this item up, as my Choker of Repentance was just not doing it for my, even with it's epic status. In the end, since this is a world drop, I decided to buy it off the AH for about 40g. I choose this for it's improvement to my hit rating and crit rating via the agility.
Shoulder - Warchief's Mantle Sockets: Bright Living Ruby | Brilliant Dawnstone | Enchant: Inscription of Vengeance This item was a quest reward from the Escape from Durnholde instance at the Caverns of Time. I chose the intellect gem because while Retribution Paladins do not use as many spells as out holy counterparts, we do use a few and therefore need a noticeable mana pool.
Back - Royal Cloak of Arathi Kings | Enchant: Enchant Cloak - Greater Agility This was my first piece of gear from Karazhan, which dropped on my first run off of Moroes. The enchant was easy to get the materials for. Again, more improvement to hit rating, attack power and crit rating.
Chest - Breastplate of Kings Sockets: Balanced Nightseye | Wicked Noble Topaz | Wicked Noble Topaz | Enchant: Enchant Chest - Restore Mana Prime This breastplate was crafted via my Armorsmithing profession, the first in a series of breastplates that end in Bulwark of the Ancient Kings though between you and me I think we'll see the Wrath of the Lich King hit store shelves before I see a Primal Vortex in my inventory.
Wrist - Sha'tari Wrought Armguards Sockets: Smooth Dawnstone | Enchant: Enchant Bracer - Assault - One of two pieces I wear that was a quest reward from a run into the Shadow Labrynth. Quest: The Soul Devices
Hand - Gauntlets of the Skullsplitter | Enchant: Enchant Gloves - Assault - This item, discovered via a piece about Retribution Paladin gear on WoW Insider, was bought off the Auction House until a better piece can be found.
Waist - Rubium War-Girdle - Dropped off Zereketh the Unbound on one of the few times I have seen him killed as he is tough and easily bypassed.
Legs - Legguards of the Shattered Hand | Enchant: Cobrahide Leg Armor - These dropped while I was out killing Air Elementals in Shadowmoon Valley with my good friend Nafaerah, who was there for the Leather dropped from the snakes and scorpids in the area north of the Altar of Sha`tar
Feet - Sha'tari Wrought Greaves Sockets: Bright Living Ruby | Balanced Nightseye | Enchant: - Second quest reward from Shadow Labrynth. Quest: Into the Heart of the Labyrinth
Rings - Ring of Ghoulish Delight & Violet Signet - The first is a drop from the Headless Horseman(See Helm) and the second is a reputation based quest from the Violet Eye, whose reputation comes from Karazhan. This ring is the Honored version. Quest: Down the Violet Path
Trinkets - Core of Ar'kelos & Skyguard Silver Cross - The Core is a reward from the quest Ar'kelos the Guardian while the Cross is purchased from the Sha'tari Skyguard at Exalted reputation for 4g and change.
Main Hand/Two Hand - Hammer of Destiny | Enchant: Enchant 2H Weapon - Savagery - I would love to say I got this in an epic battle, but I actually just bought it off the Auction House for 950g. It can now be had for roughly 500-700g on my home realm of Argent Dawn. With the Savagery enchant, which makes the weapon drip red like it is bloodied, this weapon is very imposing on the enemy.
Off Hand - N/A
Ranged/Relic - Libram of Saints Departed - This Libram is a drop from The Maker in the Blood Furnace. There are much better Retribution Librams in the game, but I didn't even consider changing to Ret until well into 70 and most of the good quest reward ones had been passed by.

Have questions about gems, improvements, and enchants? Reply to this comment or email me, med2008@allthingsazeroth.com!

Updates:
I replaced my Sha'tari Wrought Greaves with Vortex Walking Boots socketed with Brilliant Dawnstone and Balanced Nightseye

So I was talking the other day, about birds, and which one to get when I get to 70 on each of my two major characters. I would like to get snowy ones for each of them, but they are by far the more common of the birds. This shot here is merely evidence on the matter. It is at least a 2:1 ratio of snowy to either of the other versions, or more, on Argent Dawn. So, would I be more unique if I got a plain one? I have now spent almost all of my 60 some odd levels riding that same bird, though. Maybe they should change up some of the gryphons in game to the other forms we can buy? Nah, it would probably take away from their speciality.

As well, on the bird front, Tseric posted in the forums that Blizzard is working on an epic flight form for druids, which will be a quest line(similar to the Paladin and Warlock epic mount quests?) but will require the Epic Riding skill to begin, so I would expect it will not be nearly as high on the cash outlay as the Paladin and Warlock epic quests are. Still, that Blizz is noticing that druids deserve the love that Paladins and Warlocks got for the land based mounts is definitely a good sign, and that, along with a lot of other things that have been tagged as 'upcoming content patch(es)' is much to look forward to, and another sign Blizzard is not slowing down between expansions.

Now, to the in game stuff. Sadly, no birds for me just yet, least not the ones that are only a one time payment, but there is one thing of note. After now 3 failed attempts to complete The Blood Furnace instance, we have only met with frustration. The first time was doomed, as it was an early, early morning run(2 or 3 AM start) with 2 members who were dead tired. When those two are your tank and your priest, you should pretty much just fork over your gold to the repair vendors and call it before you start. Drissa and I did get the fel orc blood quest done, so that was a good thing.

The next day, myself, Drissa, Falaurus on his Priest, Megawatt on his Warrior, and Cancey, another guildmate, tried very hard to finish what had been started the night before. Alas, the forces of bit and byte would work against us, as the Instance server decided on this day to be utter and complete crap. We twice got within site of the room with the second boss, only to have the Instance server die on us and after a good solid 3 hours of trying to get in, only to get partially done and ave the server crash, we called it. We hope to get another run, hopefully more successful, tonight. Drissa did get a nice drop(I think) off the first boss on the second run, and I got a new Libram off the first Boss on the run the night before, which I will be switching out with my current one, a demon/undead specialized one.

Therefore, a ding, since Drissa and I were both so close, was left to grinding. We went out killing wolves and Warp Stalkers, as we both needed Worg Tails and Drissa needed more Warp Burgers, a nice +agi buff food that Medros can cook and even get skill off of still. After many kills, and enough meat to make a levels worth of burgers, I am happy to announce...

Live from Outlands, it's Level 66!!!!

That is right, only 4 more levels until Medros could fly on a bird. I am sitting a little under 1/4 of the way to a bird, and think I just might need to get Arita some questing done, as he now has most of the starter quest in Zangarmarsh. I need some Paladin gold, since my Paladin put so much gold into his epic. Time for a little role reversal, me thinks. I think I might do some questing on Traluun, my Draenei Hunter, as he is in need of some leveling, and has 100% rested XP at this point as well. I guess we'll have to see.

Hope to be recording the next episode of All Things Azeroth with Lelia in the next day or two, so look for more on that in a week or so, once I have time to edit it and all. See you soon, and take care.

While out questing with Sardrissa today, and we decided to make use of some coordinates that a guildmate gave me the day before, so we travelled out Aldor Rise in Shattrath City, and headed into Nagrand. This shot was the first one I took just outside of Aldor Rise. The primary reason I decided to take screens out there was a post on Starman's blog about how amazing it looks. He wasn't wrong. This scenery, above all the rest excluding the sky in Hellfire, is the most breathtaking views I have seen in Outlands yet.

We travelled westward to Telaar, and got what I think is the most aggravating flight point I have found yet. I can see a lot of people dying off that man made cliff. I took some more screens, of floating waterfalls, unknown towns, and the amazing scenery, then we flew on back to Telredor in Zangarmarsh. After a little while there, while waiting on our group to be ready for some boss farming in Hellfire Ramparts, Sardrissa dinged while we were killing Ogres or some such. Then, out of the blue, about a half hour later or so....

Live from Outlands, it's Level 64!!!!

That's right, I dinged 64 on Medros! Training brought me a new Holy Shock, Rank 4, for 20s, and Seal of Vengeance, a new Seal that does nice Holy Damage when judged, and has a chance to do extra damage when it procs. Not a bad training overall. As Sardrissa had to get her training there too, we both flew to Shattrah, then portaled to Stormwind. While in Stormwind Sardrissa decided to... investigate an armor upgrade. What do you think?

Once our hearthstones where cooled down, we hearthed back to Telredor, and went back to questing. Once we hit Orebor Harborage, we both had more quests we could grab, and did, once of which was to travel to Sylvanaar, in the Blades Edge Mountains. A guildmate was already there, so after killing some spiders of varying sizes but oddly the same level, we found our way past Fey Drakes, lovely sprite like creatures, and Lynx, to find the elven outpost. I rejoiced to find that I can once again grind rep with Darnassus, especially since Medros is so close to exalted for his cat. Yes, I have a wicked looking Charger, and I want an epic cat.

Being one who loves to explore, and stupid enough to try in a land of mobs so far above me, I convinced my dearest to travel with me to the other two outposts in Blades Edge Mountains. We rode through relatively danger free areas to get to a gnomish outpost, Toshley's Station, which is where I found a cute little gnomelet with what looked like either a deathray or a water gun. You decide. We then headed north, meeting up with some extremely unpleasant looking mobs along the way but not being dismounted even once, to arrive at our final destimation, Ruuan Weald, and other elven outpost, this time run by the Cenarions. Our adventure done, and our party nearly ready, we flew all the way to Honor Hold, so I could log onto Arita so he could get rep and XP from runs into Ramparts, since Medros had his pieces I wanted from there.

Speaking of pieces Medros has, I wanted to take a second from my day to show off a few pieces of gear Medros has gotten. Other than his first ever Libram(Yay! Ranged slow no longer useless) which was from a quest, after several runs through Hellfire Ramparts, Medros finally got his Light Touched Breastplate which I had socketed with Teardrop Blood Garnet, Brilliant Golden Draenite, andSolid Azure Moonstone. The combined bonuses are amazingly nice, and I am loving the look of it. This adds to my Heart Fire Warhammer which I got my first run, and, which we downed the demon on the second try. Sardrissa is still looking for the Shadowrend Longblade, which drops off Watchkeeper Gargolmar, who also drops the breastplate.

So, back to the run through Ramparts. We got delayed here and there, by people being in the middle of other stuff, and then we finally get going. I have a few fire pots, and such, in case her sword drops and we decide to continue on, and had spent the time waiting for people farming Dreaming Glory for Super Healing Potions, and then, just as we are less than 10 minutes from going...World Server Down. After another half an hour of server coming up, then going down, and so on, it finally stabilizes, and we get going. First run, no sword, and the group decides to not stop, even though the plan from the beginning was to farm the first boss for the sword.

We go through the entire way, wiping a few times, Arita dinging 62, and down the dragon with ease. Our warrior is in his groove, and we did great on the last fight. This done, a priest pice falls, so one of our hunters grabs his Priest to take it, and decides to stick around for a couple more first boss runs. Yay! No more healing for Arita. All Moon turkey, All the time. We clear to the first boss 2 times in 30 minutes, and no wipes, all going amazingly well, but no sword.

So I end the night with a 64 Paladin, and a 62 Druid, my hunter is 52 and has several nice pieces of gear, and using up all the Thorium Headed projectiles I stocked up on before they decided to into Wicked projectiles, and he could very well be 60 and working through outlands in no time flat. So there you go. How I began, worked through, and ended one big, long, day in WoW. I will, though, leave you with one final screenshot, this of Medros wearing his Mirren's Drinking Hat, a cheap knock off of the Crimson Felt Hat, his new Breastplate, and his lovely, shiny(even without enchant) hammer. See you soon.