PUG'd Out

or Bringing Up Number Two

Arggghh. The realms are down for emergency maintenance. Darned lag and arena issues....

That's OK though it gives me a few moments to write a little update on the gang.

Fin has been working hard running PUG heroics, and we all know what a crap shoot that is. My experiences have been pretty positive though and I attribute that to the fact that he is a healer.

Here are some of the drops that he is sporting: Helm of Anomalus, Cape of Seething Steam, Gavel of the Fleshcrafter, Annhyld's Ring, and a Band of Guile.

For crafted epics I have been using Earthgiving Boots, and Earthgiving Legguards, and I am currently gathering materials for one Wispcloak.

Gathering the mats is kinda fun, I am currently working on gathering 100 clams to purchase a Siren's Tear from the Murloc Ahlurglgr in Borean Tundra.

Being a little tired with Pugs I decided it was time to start bringing up my second character. It looks like my Death Knight Bert will be the next to make the jump to Northrend.

Leveling has never been faster. I left Bert at Falcon Watch with about half of the Hellfire Peninsula quests finished. When I was done with Hellfire Bert was almost halfway through level 64 so I went ahead and skipped the Zangarmarsh and Terrokar Forest zones and went right to Nagrand.

The Nesingwary quests, half of the Garador, and Throne of the Elements quests have Bert at level 66. It is time to research DK tanking specs. I'd like to have that picked out by level 70 so I can be fully familiar with how the mechanics work when I try to start running level 80 dungeons.

Well, realms seem to be back up.

I'll keep you updated on my progress. I am also working on a post about how to use the Routes add on. Big Bear Butt mentioned it on his blog (I can't seem to find the post though), and I have fallen in love with it.

More later.

Fin's First Bling!

Finegas got his first gem-able item this morning. I picked up a Band of the Victor from Battlecryer Blackeye, the Thrallmar pvp reward vendor.

This rare level ring is very easy to come by even at level 60. All you need to do is complete the daily pvp quest Hellfire Fortifications five times.

The quest has you capture the Stadium, Broken Hill, and The Overlook all of which are in the center of Hellfire Peninsula. Each time you complete the quest you will receive 3 Marks of Thrallmar, and the ring will cost you 15 marks.

It is very easy to complete these while doing your normal quests in this zone. Basically you enable your pvp flag and stand inside the structure until your faction's flag appears.

If you get lucky and have some successful pvp encounters while doing this quest you will get your ring even faster.

As a hopeful tanking bear I chose the ring which gives the bonus to my critical strikes and attack power, there is an equivalent ring for casters and healers.

I chose to use a Shifting Nightseye as a gem. This purple gem fits in any blue or red gem slot and splits my bonus to Stamina (for added health), and Agility (+4 for armor, crit rating, attack power, and health). The gem itself set me back 35 gold, but now that Fin is transmuting Arcanite Bars and selling raid level potions I'm not sweating it too much.

Hunter Gear

Ok I couldn't post a druid gear list without showing some good hunter lovin' too.

Way back when Vik was Echo Isles' number one huntard (read this time last year) I looked to Big Red Kitty for advice on replacing my Shammy blues and low level greenies with gear that would allow me to step into Karazhan.

I found this post of his on WoW Insider that very week. It also led me to Kaliban's Loot Lists for hunters. Between the two I am now laying out what Lassiter will be wearing when he hits level 70.

The best part is that a lot of it is gear from Quest Rewards or items that can be purchased on the Auction House without breaking your stride on the way to a flying mount.

In some cases there is more than one viable choice. I have put an asterisk next to the items that Vik used and I was happy with. He is actually still using a few of these pieces.

Remember, just 'cause its purple doesn't mean it is an upgrade. Especially with the ability to gem the blues. I slapped three +4 agility, + 6 stamina gems into my Stalker's Helmet of Second Sight and had a hard time replacing it. Not bad for a quest reward.

Edit: On the same token just because an epic piece of gear is leather doesn't mean it is a downgrade either.

Much of the gear in Karazhan that a hunter would be interested in are leather items. If a drop has bonus to Agility, Intellect, or Stamina; with additional bonus to Attack Power, and/or Hit Rating then you need to be piping up to get a roll in.

Keep in mind that that same gear will be useful for a tanking druid as well, you may need to pass on that drop in favor of getting your raid group geared up.

Just don't get hornswaggled into not rolling for gear just because it is leather and your class can wear mail. The hunter is a ranged attack class. If you play your hunter well in a raid situation by the time the boss is chewing through that leather the clothies will be lunch, the tank will have died, and the healer is next on the snack list.

You will see the quest reward and rep gear get edited in as Lassiter gets closer to Outlands.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, on with the list!

Weapons
*Valano's Longbow (AH) - Level 70
*Crystalforged War Axe (AH) - Level 69

Armor
Felstalker Bracers (LW350) - Level 70

Felstalker Belt (LW350) - Level 70
Girdle of Gale Force (AH) - Level 69

Felstalker Breastplate (LW350) - Level 70
*Breastplate of Rapid Striking (AH) - Level 68

*Scales of the Beast (AH) - Level 66
Leggings of Beast Mastery (AH) - Level 70

Swiftsteel Gloves (AH) - Level 70
Crystalhide Handwraps (AH) - Level 70

*Cloak of the Craft (AH) - Level 66

Pathfinder's Band (AH) - Level 70

Trinkets

Enchants/Enhancements
Khorium Scope (AH) - Level 55
*Stabilized Eternium Scope (AH) - Level 60

Gems
Delicate Living Ruby (AH) - Red Socket
Rigid Dawnstone (AH) - Yellow Socket
Shifting Nightseye (AH) - Red or Blue Socket
Glinting Noble Topaz (AH) - Red or Yellow Socket
Relentless Earthstorm Diamond (AH) - Meta Socket

Feral Druid Gear List

or Gearing for Karazhan and beyond.

I will be updating this list as I learn more about druid gear. Anything with an asterisk is something I have acquired and am happy to use. Hover on the link to see the WoWHead tooltip. Click on it to be taken to the WoWHead page regarding the items.

The purpose of this post is for me to create a reference list of the important gear for me to acquire on my way to level 70 and on into the endgame. Right now I am using Big Bear Butt Blogger and Kaliban's Loot Lists as my resources, in addition to my own finds as I play.

My goal is to be a good tank in instances.

I am not so worried about gear from Kara or above at this point so this list will be limited to the gear that will allow a druid to start tanking in Kara and/or be ready to move into the expansion.

For professions I will likely go Engineering for the tanking gear, and Alchemy for cash flow.

Idols
* Idol of the Wild - (QR) Level 63 This is listed as a 2 person quest, but I was able to solo it at 62 in bear form with some creative use of rooting and moonfire.

Weapons
*Braxxis Staff of Slumber - (AH) Level 64 Keep an eye on the AH. I got this item at 46% of its normal listed price.

Armor
Stylin' Purple Hat - (AH) Level 69
Deathblow X11 Goggles (Created) - Level 62, Engineering Level 350

Manimal's Cinch - (QR) Level 68, Shadowmoon Valley
Belt of Natural Power - (AH) Level 70

*Necklace of the Deep - (AH) Level 65 Again, I found this item at a significant discount just by looking for it now and then as I was leveling up.

Bogstrok Scale Cloak -(QR) Level 64, Slave Pens
Cloak of the Valient Defender - (QR) Level 67, Netherstorm

*Band of the Victor - (pvp) - Level 60, Hellfire Peninsula
Delicate Eternium Ring - (AH) - Level 70

Trinkets
*Charm of Alacrity - (QR) Level 61, Hellfire Peninsula
*Regal Protectorate - (QR) Level 58, Hellfire Peninsula
Badge of Tenacity - (AH) Level 70
Goblin Rocket Launcher - (Created) Engineering Level 350
Gnomish Poultryizer - (Created) Engineering Level 340

Gems
*Shifting Nightseye, Purple