cricket collection

Along with leveling a character of each class to the current level cap, one of my long-time WoW goals has been to raid-heal with each of the healing classes. Mists LFR has been an absolutely Golden Age for me in that regard. I have a healer of each class who has completed at least Terrace of Endless Spring from T14, all of Throne of Thunder, and Siege of Orgrimmar through the Sha of Pride.

As proof that I have indeed completed my Mists expansion goal of healing in LFR with each of the healing classes — and before Patch 6.0 wreaks havoc on my action bars and addons, too! — I now present a couture collection featuring that most charming of Siege of Orgrimmar healer loot drops, the Purehearted Cricket Cage.

Waterfall Cricket

Greenweave Mantle, Waterfall Robe, Councillor’s Sash, Replica Virtuous Gloves, Rejuvenating Scepter, Purehearted Cricket Cage
This Kun-Lai Summit quest reward robe matches the tailored Windwool set, which has a tunic chestpiece instead of a robe.

Hoodoo Cricket

Self-Reflecting Mask, Runetotem’s Mantle of Conquest, Jinxed Hoodoo Skin & Kilt, Hurricane Belt, Cenarion Gloves, Miniature Winter Veil Tree, Purehearted Cricket Cage
This outfit is based on Zazzy’s grand-prize-winning final round entry for JD Kenada’s Amazing Transmog Survivor competition. Kerisa already had the shoulders, chestpiece, and kilt of Zazzy’s kit — though as a Druid, she of course could not use the same belt.

Fire-Charm Cricket

Fire-Charm Mantle, Jinxed Hoodoo Skin & Kilt, Serene Yellow Belt, Grips of Slicing Electricity, Ethereum Phase Blade, Purehearted Cricket Cage, Veridian Cloak
A variation on Zazzy’s grand-prize-winning final round entry for JD Kenada’s Amazing Transmog Survivor competition. As a Monk, Koralyra could get the chestpiece, belt, and kilt easily — but she’d have had to farm for the lookalike T9 Druid shoulders, as Zazzy had. Fortunately, the glow of the T15-LFR Monk shoulders matches the Jinxed Hoodoo items just as nicely as the crystals on the T9-Horde Druid shoulders do!

Suncrown Cricket

Bog Pauldrons, Suncrown Hauberk, Myrmidon’s Girdle, Cenarion Reservist’s Legguards*/Green Iron Leggings, Green Iron Gauntlets, Tsunami Boots, Light’s Justice, Purehearted Cricket Cage, Xing-Ho, Breath of Yu’lon
So, yeah, I decided to get the Legendary Cloak for Kamalia’s DPS spec. Hopefully, it’ll make at least the first few levels of 90 to 100 a little easier, considering that I don’t (and won’t) have a Garrosh Heirloom weapon.

Jade Cricket

Jade set with Acid-Etched Pauldrons, Qon’s Flaming Scimitar, and Purehearted Cricket Cage
I put up with the Jade set being platekini because I love its unique coloration so much. I’d be much happier if it looked on my female character the way it looks on male characters, though!

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Mog the World in 80 Days wrap-up

After three intense months of mogging, Dragonray’s Mog the World in 80 Days competition has come to an end and the Grand Prize has been awarded. Dragonray, Navimie, Cymre, and I discussed at least three different methods of determining the overall winner, and Syrco came out on top in every analysis!

prize banner by Cymre

Bravo, Syrco!

Runner-up Plaid Elf came in a very close second in all the same analyses. Her winning set for Uruguay in Week 8 would make a totally boss outfit for Anduin Wrynn, dontcha think?

I spent quite a while trying to get the face to look right before I gave up and cheated by putting in the face from my WMV pose reference picture.

I had a blast helping to judge the competition. I was so impressed by the creativity of all the participants. I looked forward to seeing what fabulous new outfits would be up in the Judges’ Corner each weekend. Here are some of my personal favorite outfits from each week that didn’t win — either I gave my highest score of the week to this outfit but the outfit I gave my second-highest score to won instead, or I gave my second-highest score to this outfit on a week in which the outfit I gave the highest score to did win.

For everyone who participated, I’ve made this badge to display on your blog, if you wish:

Thank you, Dragonray, for hosting such a splendid Transmogrification event!

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but… my *wings*…!

Apparently, the thing which most stood out to me from the 6.0 patch notes was “Avenging Wrath will now be Retribution-only”.

Despite the fact that I already have a Retribution Paladin, and that she is still nine levels short of getting Avenging Wrath herself because I haven’t played her in ages because the Ret playstyle didn’t really click with me, here I have rolled a second Tauren Paladin to be Ret and have wings…

And because that gave me two of every Tauren class except Priest, here is a second Tauren Priest.

And despite my long-held distaste of the notion of a Tauren Shadow Priest, and the shudder I continue to experience whenever I see a Tauren Priest in shadowform, I seem to have an even greater distaste for having two characters of the same race, class, and specializations — though mini-Kam started out as a Resto/Elemental clone of Kamalia, she has since changed her DPS spec to Enhancement in part to not be a clone anymore — and thus this new Priest is, indeed, Shadow. I have rationalized it with myself in the same way that I initially rationalized creating a Tauren Death Knight: she is Grimtotem, one of the fraction of the tribe who chose to forsake Magatha and swear allegiance to Baine at the end of The Shattering. If Blizz ever introduces Grimtotem warpaint as a customization option for Tauren characters, my DK will probably not take it — but this Shadow Priest will.

And then, before I even got this post to press, the WoW Insider interview with Celestalon and Zharym went up, and they said:

…feedback to [changing Avenging Wrath to Ret-only] was “I want my wings.” The [Guardian of Ancient Kings] angel is more recent, but the wings are more iconic and have been there forever. Not an announcement, but we’re currently strongly considering merging Divine Favor into Avenging Wrath, so Holy get wings, and when Prot pulls out the Guardian of Ancient Kings they might get their wings while it’s out.

So maybe I won’t have to be a Ret Paladin to have wings, after all. I think these two new characters will be sticking around anyway.

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a mediocre healer’s thoughts on the proposed healing changes

I’ll admit, I’m not that great of a healer, and really, I probably never was. Kamalia scraped through Proving Grounds Silver by the skin of her teeth and still hasn’t gone back for Gold (let alone Endless/Proven!).

I made the Paladin get her own Proving Grounds Silver — it took several attempts — before I started taking her to LFR. I plan to do the same with the Priest, the Druid, and the Monk before I take them to LFR. This is not a new objective, sparked by the news that a Proving Grounds Silver will be required to random-queue for Heroic Dungeons in Warlords; rather, it is something I have planned to do with my healers ever since the Proving Grounds first came out and Ghostcrawler commented that in the future (i.e., next expansion) a Proving Grounds Silver might be required to queue for LFR.

Because Shaman have so few instant-cast heals — only Riptide and Nature’s Swiftness + [heal] when I first began raiding — I learned to be a turret. I never properly learned how to use Spiritwalker’s Grace; I’m always forgetting about it and realizing only later, “oh, that bit of the fight would have been a good time to use SWG”. I don’t always remember, the next time I do the fight, to use SWG at that particular point, either.

With my Paladin, running LFR, I forget to use Avenging Wrath, Guardian of Ancient Kings, and especially “Raidwall”, because I never can remember what the real name of that spell is. But I have learned to use my instant-cast heals on the move, tossing out Holy Shocks, Eternal Flames, and Lights of Dawn as I run out of the fire. When Patch 6.0 comes, I will have to unlearn that behavior.

Blizz is backtracking on the “smart heals”; I seem to remember that when they were first introduced they bounced randomly, and only later were changed to prefer the most-damaged player within range. The notion that ground effect and other AOE type heals should be most mana-effective when two or more players are within them, well, isn’t that how it should have been working all along? Even if I was not very good at actually choosing my targeting/placement? So, whatever. Maybe I’ll actually learn to be a better healer again in Warlords after the decay I’ve suffered since quitting regular guild-based raiding and becoming an LFR Tourist-and-Transmog raider.

To me, it seems like the most difficult part of the healing changes will be getting the DPS mindset to accept that it’s OKAY to be at less than 100% health some or even most of the time and not be continually whining for heals and blaming the healers for every wipe.

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an oracular cow

Oracle of the Shifting Sands

Crown of Endless Knowledge, Replica Virtuous Mantle & Gloves, Vestments of the Oracle, Apothecary’s Waistband/Captain Sanders’ Sash, Earthmender’s Bracer of Shattering, Scarlet Filigreed Doublet, Invincible Stave
Each week since she reached level 90, Kaohana has been squishing bugs in Ahn’Qiraj — Prophet Skeram, the Bug Trio, Battleguard Sartura, Fankriss the Undying, and all the trash in between — hoping that Fankriss will drop the Robes of the Guardian Saint for her. Though Fankriss has dropped those robes at least three times for my Warrior while she was farming him for the Silithid Carapace Chestguard, my Priest has yet to see them.
Meanwhile, she’s been racking up the Brood of Nozdormu rep. This past week, she finally made it to Honored, and so, with a little help from Plaid Elf for the Twin Emperors and C’thun, I accomplished one of my longtime WoW goals: I acquired one of the insect-wing robes from Ahn’Qiraj. The red & gold Priest version is the only one available to Tauren; someday, I’d like to get the blue Mage version and the lovely purple Warlock version with my Blood Elves. I wish Blizzard would change the Brood of Nozdormu rep grind to start from Neutral instead of Hated!
The Scarlet Filigreed Doublet is just the right shade of red to blend with this robe and fill in that little gap between the sleeves and the bracers. The Red Linen Shirt is too light and orangey, and the Red Workman’s Shirt is too dark.
The Invincible Stave isn’t quite Benediction, but since the latter staff is no longer obtainable, it will have to do.

Darkmoon Oracle

Duskwoven Turban, Slime-Encrusted Pads, Willow Robe, High Councillor’s Sash, Soulcloth Gloves, Crescent Wand, Aboriginal Rod, Cloak of the Darkmoon Faire, Golden Filigreed Doublet
Kaohana wore this outfit during the December Darkmoon Faire, immediately prior to finishing her Shado-Pan rep grind.
The Aboriginal Rod is one of a few off-hand frill items that looks like a staff — the Highborne Star is another — thus allowing a caster to emulate Gandalf’s sword/dagger + staff style of magical combat.
The purple Mystical Headwrap might look even better with this outfit, but I have plans for another outfit for Kaohana that will use the green turban, and I don’t have any plans for outfits using the purple one.

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Things My Characters are Wearing with their Shado-Pan Helmets

Leather

Shado-Pan Ninja (Monk)



Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Puncture-Binding Spaulder, Pozzik’s Vest, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Nice Shorts, Bard’s gloves & boots, Stylish Black Shirt, Monk’s Staff
This outfit is adapted from Draynee’s Black Ninja Monk kit.

Shado-Pan Domain Keeper (Monk/Druid)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Shizzle’s Muzzle Cover, Leather Tunic of Eminent Domain, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Honorary Combat Engineer’s Leather Trousers, Loramus’ Gloves, Prospector’s Boots, Spear of Xuen
The brick red and black colors of these Rogue T9-lookalike items awarded early in the Jade Forest questline just begged to be part of a Shado-Pan set. Due to the factional dimorphism of the T9 sets, this outfit is Horde-only. The Prospector’s chestpiece and leggings or the chestpiece and leggings from the same set as the shoulders & gloves could be used for a similar look.
Other leather-wearers might want to use the Burning Blade Devotee’s Cinch.

Shado-Pan Brewmaster (Monk)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Dark Warder’s Pauldrons, Vest of Welcome, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Sunroc Pants, Swashbuckler’s Gloves & Boots, Tremendous Tankard O’ Terror, Ced’s Crusher
Most of my characters are tee-totalers because, well, I am. Way back when acheivements were the new hotness, Kamalia picked up several of the Brewfest acheivements, but she hadn’t bothered to get Brew of the Month — and thus the “Brewmaster” title — because she knew she wouldn’t actually be interested tasting the brews of the month themselves.
That was before I had a Brewmaster Monk, however. This year, Koralyra wanted the “Brewmaster” title, and so it fell to Kamalia, who was only one achievement short, to get the meta for the whole family.
The keg-shaped maces are probably my favorite Mists 1H-Mace design.

Shado-Pan Smoke Knight (Monk)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Righteous shoulders pants & gloves, Scouting tunic & boots, Red Belt of Gentle Persuasion, Aspirant’s Staff of Harmony
I originally designed this kit to go with the Ironpaw cooking accessories. Serendipitously, it also looks great with the Shado-Pan helmet!

Shado-Pan Assassin (Rogue)

Replica Shado-Pan Helment, Shoulderpads of the Silvermoon Retainer, Scouting Tunic, Ruffian Belt*, Nightslayer Pants, Bandit Gloves, Defiler’s Lizardhide Boots, Black Swashbuckler’s Shirt, Amber Slicer of Klaxxi’ves, Wind Reaver’s Dagger of Quick Strikes
The shirt is an essential component of this outfit because it fills in a gap between the sleeves and the gloves.
The Bandit Belt would be a suitable replacement for the Ruffian Belt.
Why, yes, I did do Klaxxi rep with my Rogue just so that I could have both styles of Mantid trophy dagger to use in this kit.

Shado-Pan Wildshaper (Druid)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Thunderheart Shoulder Pads, Robes of Summer Flame, Vicious Leather Belt, Gilt-Edged Leather Gauntlets, Tian Monastic Staff
I decided pretty much immediately that I wanted to use this robe for my Druid’s Shado-Pan kit. Figuring out all the rest of the pieces, though, took quite a bit of iteration.
I don’t remember if I was offered the +Agi staff as a reward option from that Tian Monastery quest or if I had to switch my loot spec to see it. Whatever happened, I thought that the +Agi staff would have better Transmogrification potential with the rest of my Druid’s wardrobe than any of the +Int options — and I’d surely get a better weapon from some other quest later. So I took it, and now I am quite glad that I did.

Shado-Pan Blade-Dancer (Demon Hunter)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Mantle of Darkness, Primalstorm Breastplate, Blackwhelp Belt, Tough Mushanhide Leggings, T’wansi’s Handwraps, Prospector’s Boots, Cloak of the Untamed Predator, Shado-Pan Tabard, Misery’s End
Making a Shado-Pan kit that included both the hat and the tabard has been problematic for me because I couldn’t quite figure out how to manage the hue gradient between the bright, orangey, scarlet reds of the tabard and the deep maroon of the helmet scarf. The key to this kit, for me, was the pants; they brought in enough of the brighter red-orange hue to balance out the maroons from the other pieces I wanted to use.
I chose the chestpiece primarily to leave the arms bare with the tabard on and secondarily to look good with the tabard off.
For this outfit, I also used the Barbershop to change her blindfold to the simpler of the two red & gold Sin’dorei styles and to change the color of her tattoos from their usual dark green to black.

Mail

Shado-Pan Spiritwalker (Shaman)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Pauldrons of Wild Magic, Salvager’s Hauberk, Bloodspattered Sash, Heroes’ Earthshatter Kilt (T7-10s), Seer’s Linked Gauntlets, Suen-Wo, Spire of the Falling Sun
Umlaut Paradots‘ mail contribution to These Boots Were Made For Mogging reminded me of the Salvager’s Hauberk. As I thought about what kind of set I might like to make using this chestpiece, it occurred to me that the stripe detail, especially in the back, is somewhat similar to the stripe detail on the Shado-Pan NPC uniforms. Kamalia already had plenty of dark blue in her wardrobe, but she did not have much red in her wardrobe before I created this outfit for her!

Shado-Pan Beastmaster (Hunter)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Ravager’s Mantle, Warmonger’s Chestpiece, Bloodspattered Sash, Bloodmail* Legguards gloves & boots, Cloak of Beasts, Master Builder’s Shirt, Bronze Blaster
This is something of an “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” kit. Although I only really wanted the Bloodmail Legguards, I’d collected all the rest of the set by the time the pants finally dropped. I decided to keep the whole set, “just in case”, and dumped it into Void Storage. Now I’m glad that I did!
I borrowed the combination of the Shado-Pan Helmet with the Warmonger’s chestpiece from WoW Roleplay Gear.

Shado-Pan Serpent Rider (Shaman/Hunter)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Ordon Legend-Keeper Spaulders & Greaves, Tunic of Masked Suffering, Ebonhold Girdle, Bloodmail Legguards*, Grotesque Handgrips, Big Black Mace, Bloodforged Guard, Sawbones Shirt*
Mini-Kam has been working (when I feel like it) on collecting Skyshards, but she still has a few yet to find before she can tame Milau’s momma.
The shirt just fills in the midriff and elbows; the red in the shoulders and underarms is in fact part of the chestpiece.
Suitable weapons for Hunters to use with this kit might be the Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle or Heartstriker.

Plate

Shado-Pan Runeblade (Death Knight)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Blood-Soaked Saronite Plated Spaulders, Warlord’s/Warmaul chestpiece belt gloves & boots, Legguards of the Shattered Hand, Acherus Knight’s Shroud, Runed Soulblade
I didn’t want to just plop the Shado-Pan Helmet atop one of the black-and-red outfits I’d already made for Kregga — though it would certainly work well with either of them. The red-plum-blue tones of the Warlord’s/Warmaul set evoke the palette of the navy-and-brick-red version of the Shado-Pan NPC uniforms, and I’d been wanting to use those items in a DK set for some time. The DK shoulders added just the right amount of menace to the overall appearance.

Shado-Pan Dark Disciple (Death Knight/Paladin/Warrior)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Runic Plate Shoulders, Slavebreaker Chestguard, Thorium Belt, Hollowheart Legguards, Zaxxis Gloves, Bloodforged Sabatons, Cloak of the Dark Disciple, Rustic Workman’s Shirt, Rage Reaver
I could have just plopped the Shado-Pan Helmet atop the black-and-red “Blood Runes” outfit I’d previously made for the Underpowered Death Knight. It would have looked great, but I wanted to make a new outfit. As I looked through her available gear, I discovered that I really liked the way the browns of the quest reward items from the first part of the Tanaan Invasion questline looked with the dark brown wooden brim of the hat.

Shado-Pan Lightbearer (Paladin)


Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Runic Plate Shoulders, Alabaster Breastplate, Thorium Belt, Greaves of the Martyr, Bloodforged Gauntlets, Lavawalker Greaves, Redpine Cloak, Firestorm Hackblade, Bloodforged Guard, Stylish Black Shirt
This outfit is adapted from a striking black, white, and red ensemble originally designed by Honeypants of Mogoholic.

Shado-Pan Bulwark (Paladin/Warrior)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Shoulderguards of Empty Memory, Glory of the Defender, Ogre Beater’s Belt, Legguards of the Fallen Crusader, Grips of Arcane Imprisonment, Deathseed Crushers, Rescuer’s Cloak, Stylish Black Shirt, Firestorm Hackblade, Shield of the Void
As long as Mists remains the current expansion, items containing both red and black will always immediately suggest that they be used in a Shado-Pan Helmet kit. Mists was already well enough along when I leveled my Paladin that I saved these Cataclysm quest reward items for future use in a Shado-Pan kit. Although her first Shado-Pan kit didn’t need them, they came in handy to coordinate with this chestpiece, which dropped while I was farming the Hyjal raid for something else.

Shado-Pan Blademaster (Warrior)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Expedition Mantle, The Exarch’s Protector, Darkcrest Belt, Legguards of the Shattered Hand, Inferno Tempered gloves & boots, Gilded Thorium Cloak, Red Martial Shirt, Sturdy Yaungol Spear
Keija tried really hard to talk me into letting her use Hellreaver for her Shado-Pan set, even though I think it’s just about as overused a weapon as Judgement is a gear set (especially since Demonology Warlocks got that glyph that lets their Felguards dual-wield the things). Then, as soon as she’d actually tested how it would look, she capitulated and agreed to use the spear that matches the NPC weapon. I’ll just have to come up with some other set for her to use Hellreaver with.

Cloth

Shado-Pan Mystic (Priest)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Consortium Mantle, Amaranthine Robe, Silver-Thread Sash, Black Mageweave Gloves, Arakkoa Divining Rod, Inscribed Fan, Stylish Black Shirt
This outfit is largely inspired by the Shado-Pan Helmet set designed by WoW Roleplay Gear.

Shado-Pan Arcanist (Mage)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Nether Guards, Sparklight Robes, Girdle of Glowing Light, Black Mageweave Gloves, Unassuming Slippers, Rod of the Blazing Light
When I was originally designing this outfit in MogIt, I was struck by how well the T15-Normal Priest-lookalike Quet’zal’s Crackling Cord matched this robe. That item was well out of my solo-player reach, however, so I chose something else. Later, the rep requirements for many Shado-Pan Assault items were lowered, allowing me to gain the required reputation (Friendly) to buy the Valor Points version of the belt from a single clear of the first wing of Throne of Thunder LFR. Huzzah!

Shado-Pan Archmage (Mage/Warlock/Priest)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Mantle of the Elven Kings, Red Mageweave Vest, Sash of the Burning Heart, Legs of Ringing Echoes, Gloves of Tirisfal, Saltarello Shoes, Cloak of Passion, Dark Silk Shirt, Archmage’s Staff*
This kit resulted from the notion of using these specific pants in a Shado-Pan helmet outfit. I chose this tunic because it makes the red band at the top of the pants looks like an extension of the tunic rather than part of the pants themselves.
This staff came from the limited-time pre-Mists-launch version of the Theramore’s Fall scenario. There are several other staves that would look good with this kit, though.

Shado-Pan Summoner (Warlock)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Mantle of the Corruptor, Simple Blouse, Fire-Cord of the Magus, Coven Britches, Black Mageweave Gloves + Wraps of the San’layn, Oilfoot Slippers, Shadow Prowler’s Cloak, Matsuba’s Breadmaker
More decadent Warlocks may prefer to use the Cournith Waterstrider’s Silken Finery.

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Dress Up! #11: Dreamseeker

The tauren priesthood is fundamentally a divergent sect of tauren druidism. Perhaps they might best be understood as Balance druids who have gone past the balance point and out to the other extreme in an attempt to balance tauren society as a whole. Whereas many druids draw their power primarily from the moon, Mu’sha (Elune), and Balance druids attempt to maintain an equilibrium between the power they draw from the moon and that which they draw from the sun, tauren priests, or Seers, are essentially druids who draw their power primarily from the sun, An’she.

The color scheme and the names of key items in this ensemble for the eleventh Batinna’s Dress Up theme reflect the druidic roots of a tauren priest’s power.

Dreamseeker

Greenweave Mantle, Mistyreed Tunic, Councillor’s Sash, Elunarian Sarong, Hewing Gloves, Rejuvenating Scepter, Dreamseeker Dandelion, Green Linen Shirt

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