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

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 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 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 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 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.

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 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, Mantle of the Golden Sun, Sparklight Robes, Klaxxi Lash of the Orator, Exiled Dabbler’s Gloves, Netherweave Boots, Matsuba’s Breadmaker
In these sets, I’ve endeavored to use only items that I think I can reasonably expect to obtain solo at level 90. If you do guild-based raiding, however, the normal-mode version of Quet’zal’s Crackling Cord coordinates perfectly with this robe.

Shado-Pan Assassin (Rogue)

Replica Shado-Pan Helment, Shoulderpads of the Silvermoon Retainer, Scouting tunic & gloves, Belt of One-Hundred Deaths, Nightslayer Pants, Defiler’s Lizardhide Boots, Black Swashbuckler’s Shirt, Malchazeen
The shirt is an essential component of this outfit because it fills in a gap between the sleeves and the gloves. I would have preferred to use gloves that cover the whole hand — assassins should not leave fingerprints — but I couldn’t find any that coordinated suitably well with the rest of the set.

Shado-Pan Summoner (Warlock)

Replica Shado-Pan Helmet, Merciless Gladiator’s Felweave Amice, Simple Blouse, Silver-Thread Sash, Coven Britches, Black Mageweave Gloves + Wraps of the San’layn, Oilfoot Slippers, Zhar’doom, Greatstaff of the Devourer
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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Primal Mooncloth at last

Laeleiweyn of World of Lae has kicked off a series of Alt Appreciation weeks to “celebrate all the classes!”

This week, it’s the Priests‘ turn in the spotlight.

When I began raiding, back in Burning Crusade, before Armor Specialization was introduced, Druids and Paladins wearing Primal Mooncloth were a common sight because it had the BEST stats for healing. It was such a beautiful set, but it was also BoP to the crafter and required the proper Tailoring specialization. I liked Kamalia being a Leatherworker, however, so all I could do was sigh longingly and plan for my Blood Elf Mage to pick up Primal Mooncloth specialization — even though it wouldn’t be optimal for her as DPS — if and when she ever managed to reach level 70.

I don’t remember whether or not Kaelinda managed to reach level 70 during Wrath of the Lich King, but she definitely didn’t get her Tailoring skill high enough to make the Primal Mooncloth set.

Then Cataclysm was announced, and I was excited to roll a Tauren Priest because now Tauren would finally have a cloth-wearing class.

(Speaking of racial classes and armor type distribution, if Blizz adds only one new class/race combination in the next expansion, it needs to be Gnome Hunter or Shaman, because Gnomes are the only race that does not yet have access to at least one class that wears each armor type.)

So I rolled my Tauren Priest, but I didn’t get much leveling done during Cataclysm itself. It’s been only recently, really, that I’ve put in a lot of play time with her. By the time Kaohana reached level 70 and got her Tailoring up to 375, however, I’d only managed to gather about half of the four dozen Primal Life required to craft the Primal Mooncloth set. Then I got busy doing other things with other alts. This week, therefore, I farmed Heroic Underbog with all my main-server level 90s. Now, I can wear that beautiful Primal Mooncloth set at last!

Primal Mooncloth

Cassandra’s Grace, Primal Mooncloth shoulders robe & belt, Replica Virtuous Gloves + Dryad’s Wrist Bindings, Key to the Planes

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the twins at 80

With Kaohana, I played through the Taunka’le and Icemist Village questlines, then moved on to Grizzly Hills. Although I really like the environment and the music of Grizzly Hills, I don’t usually quest there when I’m leveling through Northrend. I played through the Silverbrook Worgen questline and the Conquest Pit, leaving the final quests until I reached level 80 and was strong enough to solo them as Disc. Then I went up to Camp Oneqwah and did the Thor Modan & Dun Argol chains. I usually do either Taunka’le Village or Camp Winterhoof, but it had been a long time since I’d done the quests at Camp Oneqwah. I finished up Northrend by playing through the Crusader’s Pinnacle and Crusader Bridenbrad questlines. The rest of her XP came from LFD, herbing, and a bit of grinding Converted Heroes for Frostweave Cloth at the very end.

Candle in a Tempest

Stiffened Corpse Shoulderpads, Robe of the Moccasin, Belt of False Promises, Black Mageweave Gloves, Mok’Morokk’s Beat Stick
This outfit is probably as close to being a Shadow Priest as Kaohana will ever get. Aside from its lack of AoE, I have found Discipline to be quite satisfactory as a questing spec.
I started looking for these shoulders on the AH after I designed my Albus Dumbledore Transmogrification kit. Someday, I will start farming Karazhan with ‘Hana for the robe I used in that set. Until then, this robe from Wailing Caverns also coordinates wonderfully well with the shoulders.

With Karaelia, I did the ley line disruption questline in the Dragonblight and enough of the quests at Wyrmrest Temple to become friendly with the Wyrmrest Accord. I did the two little quests at Jintha’Kalor, then went up to Light’s Breach and started working on the Argent Crusade quests in Zul’Drak. The 2H Holy set lasted until level 74, when I went to Drak’Tharon Keep and won Tharonja’s Aegis. That shield all by itself had almost as much intellect as my 2H “of the Owl” mallet, so I reluctantly went back to heirloom mace and shield for my Holy set. After completing the Argent Stand quests, I did the Crusader’s Pinnacle and Crusader Bridenbrad questlines in Icecrown. LFD — both as healer and as tank — and mining filled out the intervals.

Redeemed Blood Knight II

Embossed Plate Pauldrons, Ursa’s Embrace, Bloodfist belt gloves & boots, Leggings of the Ursa, Rescuer’s Cloak, Blade of Wizardry, Bloodforged Guard
The red-and-black color scheme traditionally used with this shield just doesn’t fit Karaelia’s personality. She is a Sunwalker, after all. Instead, I decided to use a darker-toned red-and-gold scheme. In the long run, when I’ve got the JPs to spare, I would like to use Liadrin’s Spaulders with this set.

Conqueror

Conqueror’s set with Pristine Lightforge Spaulders and Insignia Cloak
This set with these shoulders is a very popular combination, for good reason!

Customarily, when a character reaches level 77, I send her to the Argent Tournament and keep her there until she becomes a Champion of her home city. I was in too much of a rush to do that with these characters. Karaelia will eventually come back — after she’s LFDed her way to Exalted with the Horde home cities — because she wants to earn the Crusader title in her own right and acquire the Argent Charger. Kaohana may or may not ever do the Tournament.

I wasn’t really surprised when my first staff meetings this past week filled up my calendar for the coming week with even more meetings that I’ll have to attend before classes begin. I’ll probably still have enough play time to get one character from 80 to 90, but I might not have time for two. I’ve decided to prioritize the Paladin, pushing her straight through to level 90 before I even begin taking the Priest through the Cataclysm content. The Paladin is the one who really wants the ilevel 502 boots from the Seer Hao Pham Roo quest, anyway. Because the Priest is usually in robes or kilts, she doesn’t have any great desire for those boots for Transmogrification purposes, but the Paladin does. Additionally, my Warrior has learned all the Crafted Dreadful Gladiator’s blacksmithing patterns by now, so the Paladin will have decent gear to go into the Battlefield:Barrens questline whereas the Priest, being herself my Tailor, will not.

With the twins at 80, my accumulated levels are now an even 1700. If I hadn’t deleted 262 levels worth of characters since last summer, and if I were using JD Kenada’s level adjustment scheme for DKs, I’d now be at 2022 levels — nicely over “2013 in 2013″. ;)

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the twins at level 70

Starting from level 67, it didn’t take long to get to level 70.

On Thursday, finishing up Kaohana’s questing in Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley left her somewhat short of 70, so she had to run Utgarde Keep a few times to get the ding. Her main objective was to acquire the Staff of the Redeemer.

Astralaan Archon

Junior Technician 3rd Grade Goggles, Aurora Mantle, Astralaan Robe, Wizard’s Belt, Soulcloth Gloves, White Swashbuckler’s Shirt, Staff of the Redeemer
That staff glows so brightly that she’d be blinded very quickly if she wasn’t wearing shades!

On Friday, Karaelia reached 70 before she finished her questing in Shadowmoon Valley because I have more plate heirlooms than cloth heirlooms. Her main objective was to acquire the Spellbreaker’s Buckler. While I was idly browsing the AH, however, I found this weapon:

Its stats aren’t quite as good as the combination of the heirloom healing mace and the Spellbreaker’s Buckler, but I just couldn’t pass up an opportunity to use the completely unique 2H Greatsword of the Sunwalker in a Holy-spec Transmogrification kit.

Bright New Day

Bloodcraver Pauldrons, Leonine Breastplate, Studded Girdle of Virtue, Starcaller’s Plated Legguards, Spiritualist’s Gauntlets, Earthmender’s Plated Boots, Rimblat’s Cloak, Greatsword of the Sunwalker, Sen’jin Tabard

At the moment, I’m thinking that I’ll try to push Karaelia through Northrend and Cataclysm ahead of Kaohana so as to better build up a stockpile of cloth for leveling Kaohana’s Tailoring.

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the twins race to 90

ready… set… GO!

Given that Patch 5.4 will be released on 10 September, perhaps, if I play really hard over the next few weeks, I can get my Priest and my Paladin — both currently level 67 — to level 90 and into their 502 boots from the Battlefield:Barrens quest chain before the patch comes.

I will have to devote my playtime almost exclusively to that project, though, because with summer winding down and autumn in the air, my lazy days at home are numbered. The first staff meetings for my part-time chemistry lab instructor job at a local university are next week, and classes start the week after that. Additionally, BTH and I have just been given a new responsibility in our church congregation that will require us to be out of the house one evening a week.

Kaohana (the Priest) has been running without heirlooms and she’s still quite OP for the content she’s doing (Disc is awesome for questing!). Now it might be time to equip a few so that she can pack on the XP while she’s finishing up a few more quest chains in Outland and then burn through Northrend and Cataclysm. Karaelia (the Paladin) needs to retrieve my plate heirlooms from my secondary Warrior and put in some serious tanking and healing time in LFD.

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Bluebird of Happiness

Bluebird of Happiness

Raven-Heart Headdress, Hide of Chromaggus, Polar Vest & Boots, Clefthoof belt, Stormrider’s leggings & gloves (N), Cloak of Cheerful Flowers
Kerisa longed for the Druid T11 shoulders from the first moment she saw them in early Cataclysm. I was too slow in getting her leveled and geared to raid, however, and she only saw the T11 shoulder token drop once before Firelands debuted. At that time, she passed on the token in deference to the Resto Druid leader of my guild’s alt run, saying that the raid leader deserved it more. Later, I selfishly wished I’d rolled on it normally. During Cataclysm, the BoE lookalike shoulders occasionally showed up on the AH, but I never felt like I could afford them. After Mists began, it was several months before I saw the BoE shoulders on the AH again — at which point I snapped them up just as fast as I could. Now, Kerisa is jumping for joy to finally, finally have these gorgeous shoulders.

Gossamer Moonlight

Gossamer Headpiece & shoulders, Mooncloth Robe, Sage’s belt & gloves, Dryad’s Wrist Bindings, Durak’s Wand, Dreamseeker Dandelion, White Swashbuckler’s Shirt
Kaohana was quite excited to finally have reached the appropriate character and Tailoring skill levels to craft and wear this beautiful robe.

Ow Mon, Me Eyes!


Crown of Flame (Normal), Skom Spaulders, Formidable chestpiece, Stormleather Sash, Felstone Leggings, Sundered gauntlets & boots, Amun-Thoth, Sul’s Spiritrending Talons (LFR), Eye of the Ancient Spirit (LFR)
This kit went through a few iterations before reaching its present eye-dazzling perfection. The first used the shield with Carapace Breaker in an outfit featuring just cyan and magenta tones. The second used the fist weapon with the Enamelled Disc of Mojo/Loa-Binder Disc and just cyan and orange tones. Presently, I thought to pair the Throne of Thunder fist weapon with the Mogu’shan Vaults shield and voila! The cyan, magenta, and orange are quite the blinding combination!

Dark Sunreaver Juggernaut

Great General’s Crown, Shoulderguards of Empty Memory, Druidic Guardian Plate, Goblin Girdle, Legguards of the Shattered Hand, Embercrusher Grips, Deathseed Crushers, Greatsword of the Sin’dorei, Sunreaver Onslaught Tabard, Red Workman’s Shirt
As Keija was questing through Hyjal, it occurred to me that the set she was collecting would coordinate rather nicely with the Sunreaver tabard. So I hung onto it, and, indeed, it did, mostly. The quest reward belt didn’t work very well with the tabard, but the Goblin Girdle which did go with the tabard didn’t go with the rest of the quest reward set. So I switched out the pants, too, and I think the result looks great with the tabard and decent without it.
This outfit is the “Dark” Sunreaver Juggernaut because I have a “Bright” Sunreaver Juggernaut planned for later.

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