What Would I Do IF I Got A Beta Key!

I would like to get in just as much as you want to. I know you check your mail box just to make sure it didn't sneak in unannounced at some point during the day. As of yet Blizzard dosen't like Ardent Defender enough to send me one.

But honestly what would I do if the Blessing of Silvermoon be grated upon little old me that I be so fortunate to get a WotLK Beta Key. What would I do if I got that invite?

I Would Give Away The Beta Key!

There are some very solid players of my class that would love to get into Beta to contribute to our class change and developement. I would probably give it to any one of them if they didnt as yet have a Key. As much as I'm excited about Beta I honestly just won't have the time to play around doing Beta Testing.

Having now said that, Blizzard would think it now funny to now send me a WotLK Beta Key.

Poll Closed, The Numbers Are In

Had a Poll up for a few days on leveling one last Alt character before WotLK gets here if I can live through leveling one. So asked the readers to vote on which of my character they think I should level. As the Poll has ended it was pretty stiff competition between leveling a Druid or the Shaman both of which I do live in some way. And the highest votes were:

Which Would You Level?

Lvl 21 Druid - Gorias: 70 (32%)

Lvl 21 Shaman - Voodoolion: 68 (31%)


Pretty close numbers. So why so close a race between leveling a Druid or a Shaman?

Latest Paladin WotLK Beta Changes.

These changes keep taking place daily and these are the latest notes as of today. At some point you get overloaded with WotLK Beta changes even though its exciting to see the direction the Devs are making to the class as a whole. So far its exciting many the changes the class is getting. Cross fingers many these changes make it officially live into WotLK when its all said and done or we sure will all be disappointed. I'm already getting tired of reading WotLK stuff, with brain overload. But if it matters to you this is what's new. Only thing worst that reading Beta Notes is not being in it.

Paladin

* Consecration now scales with attack power and spell power.
* Divine Protection now reduces all damage taken by 50% and increases time between attacks by 100%.
* Exorcism mana cost reduced and now scales with attack power and spell power.
* Eye for an Eye now reflects 10/20% damage from all critical hits.
* Fanaticism now increases chance to critically hit by 5/10/15/20/25%.
* Forbearance duration increased to 3 minutes.
* Improved Blessing of Might increased to 10/20/30/40/50%.
* Judgement has been replaced with 3 new spells; Judgement of Light, Judgement of Wisdom, and Judgement of Justice. All Judgement spells are considered ranged attacks for purposes of how they hit and how they critically hit. All cause damage based on attack power and spell power.

- Judgement of Light now heals based on the Paladin’s attack power and spell power, the effect can not trigger more than once ever 4 seconds.
- Judgement of Justice will no longer prevent Fear effects, but will only prevent NPCs from fleeing (e.g. at low health).
- Judgement of Wisdom now restores mana based on the Paladin’s attack power and spell power, the effect can not trigger more than once every 4 seconds.

* Precision has been removed.
* Pursuit of Justice reduced to 2 ranks for 8/15% movement increase and 1/2% less chance to be hit by spells.
* Righteous Defense no longer costs mana and the global cooldown has been removed.
* Sacred Duty now also reduces the cooldown of Divine Protection.
* All Seals have been reduced to 1 rank and now cost 14% of base mana. The duration has been increased to 2 minutes and are no longer consumed when a Judgement spell is cast. The effects can be triggered from all weapon based special abilities.

- Seal of Blood now increases Judgement damabe by 45% of weapon damage.
- Seal of Command now increases Judgement damage by 30% of weapon damage, 60% on stunned targets.
- Seal of the Crusader has been removed. The effects of Judgement of the Crusader have been folded into all relevant abilities.
- Seal of Righteousness deals damage based on weapons peed plus an amount based on attack power and spell power, increases Judgement damage by 25%.
- Seal of Vengeance damage over time effect duration increased to 18 seconds and now applies its effect on every swing, causes damage based on attack power and spell power, and increases Judgement damage by 10% per stack of the damage over time effect.

* Summon Warhorse and Summon Charger mana cost removed and no longer causes a global cooldown.
* Vindication reduced to 2 ranks for 10/20% attribute reduction.

The Irony of the The Sun Eater

In over 11 months of running Heroic Mech, I have never seen The Sun Eater drop EVER......when I really wanted it. This weekend one of our guild newer warrior wanted to run Heroic Mech plus he needed some gear from there, just about everything would be a upgrade for him. So agreed to run Heroic Mech. I mean really he did barely 275 dps in the Heroic run. Thats some really low dps to say the least. He really needs gear I must say.

He asked me If I had the Sun Eater, I said no. He asked If I wanted it, said yes though don't really need it for any primary need. Though be nice to pick it up but have never seen in drop in over 11 months and not expecting to see it drop. So I said if it drops he can have The Sun Eater if it drops. We get to the last boss and what do you know. The Sun Eater dropped. How damn ironic that is! Of course I let him have the Sun Eater as agreed, the warrior needed it much more than I did anyway. I'm not expecting it to drop anytime soon again. But then again, I really don't need it all that much either. A situational weapon at best. Needless to say the Warrior was very happy with his new Sun Eater. I was just happy to have 4 more Badges.

In Other News:

Ran a few Heroic for the weekend for some extra badges. Has been quite a while not being in Heroics leveling the alt for a while. For now just banking badges to maybe replace gems or just bank badges for now.

ZA: Guild Run Akil'zon to Halazzi

Saturday we had a scheduled ZA raid which Included several of our guild Vets and a few newer members. Pretty much the goal was to get the Dragonhawk Boss Jan'alai. Was kinda nice to be back raiding a bit form the hiatus of leveling a alt and more so doing ZA which to me is much more fun than Kara. I really don't sign up much to do Kara either and couldn't tell you the last time I was there in recent memory.

Akil'zon - Eagle Boss
So to ZA we went. I was MT for this run and we had one of our great Feral Druid Aero OTing. We quickly did the Eagle Boss Akil'zon which we have done a few times now and have pretty much got the fight down with our dps and healing team. We ended up trying the boss two times as we wiped the first time at around 2% or so the first time. It appear that as the boss was almost down the healers eased up on healing or just about stopped it appears and we wiped at around 1%. Hate those kind of wipes. On second try we got the boss down easily but that cost us a bit of time on the time events. Really fun boss though. Its a matter of time I know, but hope Boss drops the Amani Punisher soon. My 2 Blue Swords my Continuum Blade and Crystalforged Sword have seen almost 2 entire compete gear change and they are still primary piece of my gear set. My weapons are old enough to be antiques or permanent armor pieces.

Nalorakk - Bear Boss
So then we headed off to the Bear Boss Nalorakk and were pretty used to him by now a few times and we got him easily without any real problem. Bear Boss was real nice to drop me a pair of Jungle Stompers. I already have Sabatons of the Righteous Defender from badge gear so more options for gear variations as they are a nice pair. We were then off to the Dragonhawk Boss Jan'alai.

Unlike Kara I really find everything in ZA just more fun, even the trash is Fun. I say overall we were just having a good time the raid. Getting to the boss wasn't that much a problem. From the Bear Boss we just kept going straight all the way around straight through the Egg Hatchery. At the hatchery I just pulled a hatcher who then brings several dragonhawks with him. Just AoE then down in pulls all the way through the Egg Hachery to the other side. Allot different to the first time we ever went there we had no idea where to go or how to get through there in a good way and wasn't fun. From there was one or two pulls on scout and then pulling a patrol and then was at the bosses platform. Pulled a patrol at the boss platform which was fun to just AoE the packs down. These trash are just fun to me. Then were pretty much at the dragonhawk boss.

Jan'alai - Dragonhawk Boss
We had Aero the Druid tank the Boss and I tank the Dragonhawks as they spawn. It took 2 tries I remember the first time we wiped which wasn't quite clear why. Its always good to know just why we wiped, but I could not really tell being busy with the adds. One the second try we found it was much easier to just let ALL the eggs hatch on one side having killed one the Hatcher and letting the other hatch them all. I'm still uncertain other than the DoT from consecration what target the Dragonhawk chooses initially to aggro. Seems a few times they headed to the healer but then snapped back in consecration. Now that was really allot of dragonhawks though when they hatched. I had BoS up to make sure got all the birds which seemed to have helped. Yet was a bit starved on mana a bit after as well. All I could see on screen was birds! They don't seem to hit all that hard and die fast on AoE, just a bad debuff.

We found dropping a frost trap by a Hunter on the very edge of the bridge really did help in slowing down the brids to get DoT from consecrate as they seem to fly real fast. I had more debuffs than I can count, actually couldn't count them at all they were so many. Only real way I found easy to remove all those dragonhawk fire debuffs was just to Devine Shield and clear them quickly as just did not have the mana to keep decursing. I find Mana was really a problem here and pretty much had to pop a potion when the other Hatcher was up for the other side to hatch.

On the second round we let all the eggs hatched on the other side and did the same thing again. We got all the birds down without much problem. That really left us with a whole lot of time to just finish up the boss. having hatched all the eggs was surprised how much time we had to just dps the boss. Avoiding the bombs wasn't that hard as you could see clear spots to move to all around in the time before they detonated. Our Druid tank eventually went down right before the boss went down and had to pick the boss up and tank him the rest of the way. We got the Boss down for a progression kill for our guild which made it now 3/6. Boss was real nice and dropped a Shield. In all of raiding I've never been that lucky with loot or two pieces of loot on the same run or even lucky enough to have ever gotten T4. Since we had no Warrior to compete with for loot, thank goodness I was able to get the Bulwark of the Armani Empire Shield. Woot! I got those fully gemmed and enchanted later before I logged out for the night. That makes about 5 Shields I tote around at all times now.

Halazzi - Lynx Boss
We decided to head off to see the Lynx Boss Halazzi. We didn't have a any real problem getting to this boss. We just followed the path staying to the right then clearing a troll hut getting all the patrols outside then the inside patrol guy and one on top of building. That allowed the lone NPC troll there inside the hut to move walk down the stairs and open up access for rapairs. That helps allot. Reminds me of the Blacksmith in Kara after Midnight or the NPC guy before Chest event for repairs. All the trash Lynx was just fun as well the handlers, most were real easy. Just have to watch for hidden adds or patrols. Some the Lynx were stealthed and appear when your close. Was just easy to just drop a Judgement and AoE all of these all the way to the boss area. Really allot of fun! So no real problem getting to the boss. At the Lynx Boss room we just pulled the patrol group each back and wasn't a problem.

We wasn't quite sure what to do on the boss but we tried him anyway. I hadn't had time to read anything much on the Boss either. We has one person in raid that had seen the fight before in another guild. However we weren't all quite clear how the fight progressed. However we tried the boss to get a feel for it. Didn't last too long. Did all my research for the boss later after the raid and pretty much understood the fight for the boss. On Sunday ZA reset and we did all three bosses again, this time we had our Guild Warrior MT and I OT. Had a few hickups due to having several different raid member team than the day before mainly on the dragonhawk boss. We had different healers as well as dps. We didn't have a Hunter this time and that made it a bit more difficult to effectively slow down all the fast flying dragonhawks which seem to always go straight to the healers it seem. Can only suspect they aggro to healing. We did again eventually get to the Lynx Boss and tried him a few times.

On the Boss on this raid our warrior Zan MT and I was on the Lynx Spirit. Best I can recall we got the boss to 2 Human Phases at best that I can remember. I didn't have a real problem picking up the Lynx as he spawned close by while I had a consecration down before the boss changed phase. I just dropped a Instant judgement as the Lynx spawned. One time the Lynx did spawned a bit away from the Boss and took a sec or two to pickup. I had a Macro to cast a instant Judgement to the Lynx but he was out of range of Judgement. Wasn't much a problem on the Lynx otherwise. The first Human >Troll/Spirit Phase or Phase 2 we did not have as much a problem I could tell.

Where we seemed to have much a problem with is not so much as keeping up both tanks in Phase 1 when the boss is in Human form but more so in Phase 2 when the totems are up. Seems dps was having a hard time getting the Corrupt Totems down quickly and we wiped a few times due to excess raid damage. I would help out at times while tanking on the boss dispelling the Flame Shock when it was up since was just OTing. However usually don't like to do dispelling MT as that always clashes with my Global Cooldowns doing that MTing. We ended up trying the Boss 4 times and kept running into the same problem mostly it seems with the Totems being up too long and raid members going down. We ended up calling it a night after that.

Ask the Reader?
The question we kept asking and wondering was which way was best?

• Was it easier to just burn the Spirit of the Lynx down so the boss changes phase back to Human and less time spend dealing with Totems and Shocks?
  

• Or was it easier to burn down the Boss in Shaman Phase since he already had all the buffs up and ticking on Boss already and just control the Lynx while he's up? Challenge with that is it seem more healing intensive in the Human Phase. Yet you don't have Totems or Shocks to deal with for extra damage either.

Either way the dps team still seem to have problems with the Totems getting them down in time. We had dps try and focus on the Totems to get them down quickly whenever they were up, but it wasn't sure how many people we needed on Totems at best as seemed to cause dps problems. From what I had read the Totems had something like 9k health and needed quick burst dps to get them down. Either way we seem to have had much problems with these. I'm also not sure if the Boss Earth Shock or Flame Shock contributed to the problems. However I know I was helping dispelling the Flame Shocks whenever it was up on a raid member. But that was not indicated as a problem. I just remember being silenced a few times at best. Hopefully next time we can get a better try at this boss.

Screenshots from ZA: DragonHawk Boss Down!

This would be another "Guild First" for out Guild Alamat! The team really did well so we are now 3/6 in Zul'Aman. Always good to be in there on All the progression kills. I Tanked all the Eagle adds on Jan'alai the DragonHawk Boss our Feral Aero Tanked the Boss. Our Feral Tank Aero went down just below 10% somewhere and I got to finish up the Boss. A TEAM effort in my book all the same for our Guild. Really a fun Boss fight though. Then we decided to go peak and see who was next, so we made it over to Halazzi the Lynx Boss area.

Will write up the rest later officially and I even got Phat Loot! This is just screenshots because I like pictures.

Theorycrafters In Beta

Seems Vanifae a regulars and long time Theorycrafter on the Maintankadin Forums (Tankadin Forums) got into the Beta as well as Tybalt as well and started doing real testing for Protection Paladins. Good Stuff, just what we need for the forums over there on the forum boards! Be sure the forums gonna be hot with all things Theorycrafting for Protection Paladins as always hammering things out. Of course we have also have Rohan over at Blessing of Kings so good mix for a start. Blizz just need to let more of us in.

Can be sure they will provide lots of feedback and get lots of testing done on Protection Paladin changes in Beta. As well as provide feedback on the WotLK Beta Forums with real hard numbers as a result of testing. So far so pretty interesting results are showing up with some our spells using SP only and others AP only.

No Beta here, waiting just like you.

Hunter New Mount: A War Talbuk

Yeah its not my Paladin he goes to ZA this weekend. But needed to level up Razorthorn my lvl 65 Ravager so I figure that I do something that gives me reps while I'm at it. So went grinding away in Nagrand at the caves with a bit of focus on the task for a few hours. In the process got Razorthorn to 67, got Exalted with The Mag'har, and as a side benefit got Krovon a new Epic Ride and ditched the Chicken. Did lots of mining in the process as well for profiting. Wasn't too bad really I did have fun, Traping, Multi-shoting and all that goodness even though didn't need to when you can kill stuff rapidly. It was just making something your doing fun with a purpose.

Didn't think of it as a grind, since was leveling up my Pet which I needed to do anyway. However its all done and got it done all in one session from Revered to Exalted about 20k in reps since I was barely Revered before. Does really look nice for a Hunter riding a War Cobalt Talbuk, much better than riding around when on the ground on a Chicken. Not bad for a newly minted 70 Hunter either.

WotLK Gear: Strength A New Important Stat for Tankadins

All Images Courtesy of MMO-Champion.

Looking at some the gear mined from the WotLK database so far and dungeon loot, seems to me looking from the gear images that's it even more confirmed to me that Strength is becoming important to Protection Paladins in WotLK. With all the changes for Stats in AP affecting Spells along with SP scaling (Currently in Beta) for spells and conversion of Strength to (2Str:1BV) Block Value which greatly affects the new Shield of Righteousness it seeming clear Strength is gonna be a needed stat in Talents. WTB more talent point from a bloated tree!






**In Other news seem level 60-70 is being looked at to get a level speed increase just like lvl 20-60 thats from Tiogle (Blue) at Blizzard.

Movie: WotLK Beta Blood DeathKnight

BloodDKEscort.wmv

I remember doing those quest as a Pally wasn't that easy. DeathKnights are smoking hot do look real awesome in play or pretty Epic after all if you have being reading the WotLK DK Beta Forum like I have. DK are pretty good at AoE grinding too and put out some pretty awesome DPS. Thats a Blood Spec DK in action.

Anyway that DK chick in the Video name is "Jayde" played by a guy. He is also a Blogger and has being playing a DeathKnight since the very start of WotLK Alpha. Seems so far to be one the highest DeathKnights in Beta. He's also very active on the WotLK Beta forum with feedback and seem to be very knowledgeable of the DK class so far.

Anyway he runs a Blog which and since we all read blogs probably be the first DeathKnight Blog on my read list for good source of Info Blog wise. So far he keeps it updated regularly and with Beta Video's which are always cool. Might want to put it on your blog list. His Blog is: World of Feedback

Man I can't wait to have my own DK and you can't tell me with a straight face you don't want to play one too.

Weekend on the WotLK Beta Forums

Well I haven't gotten no Beta Invite, still checking my main to no avail. Wish I had more time to write a decent post also as I spend the weekend after all the WotLK news release reading on the live Beta Forums for Paladins and DeathKnights so I can be in the know of things. Also spend a bit of time reading over at Maintankadin as well with all the buzz of all things new in Tankadin land. Its pretty exciting stuff. Hell I'm excited myself more so than in recent months.

WotLK Beta Paladin Forum.
WotLK Beta DeathKnight Forums.

First off DeathKnights from everything everyone been commenting is pretty darn Epic! Seems everyone loving being a DeathKnight at least at this point in Beta and with the starter quests which are incomplete at this point also. Protec Paladin from the Beta Forums seem to be getting a lot of changes especially where it seems our spells will not be affected by AP and SP both. So far in Beta it seem they will scale for threat as well as damage. Seems Strength will be playing a big role in Block Value conversion for our stats as it seem to be becoming a somewhat important stat so far as Beta goes.

One the Big change is it seem the Judgement system is getting a needed overhaul with a more interactive judgement system with more effect as well as damage. This seem to be undergoing a lot of testing. So far I personally like the change. New Judgement system in short will be including a choice given that a seal is active a choice to either judge SoL, SoW, JoJ which all will now do Holy damage (somewhat equal to the live JoC) on Judgement AND also the effect of the Judgement. That is awesome. It will still keep the previous seal active. You just have a choice what to Judge of the three seals. Judgements can not crit for 200% damage all Holy. So far it seams Seals and Judgements scale with AP and SP both.

The Judgements now heal on SoL for a good amount (debatable what good amount is) as well as does JoW for mana gain to group or raid. It gets a bit in debt beyond that which i don't have time to write about today. But its all on the Paladin Beta forums in the testing. So far I'm pretty excited but that can easily change as devs change stuff which may not always be so good in the end. As far as the Beta forums go you can read the threads but you cant post or comment unless your in the Beta yourself.

Possible WotLK Paladin Talent Calculator

WoWhead has a talent Calculator that could quite possibly be what will be the Paladin Talent tree. Not offically but it looks close for now. Honestly it really still looks bloated with talents for Protection Paladins. You can find it and use it HERE.

Start figuring out your new Talents! Best I can come up with is 5/56/10 at this point. WTB less bloated tree and more talent points!

Edited: Changed to WoWhead Calculator

Update 07/20/08
That build could quite possibly change as it seems in WotLK Protec Paladins will be benefiting both from AP as well as SP (Spell Power). Strenght it seems as a stat may be playing a role in Blocking as a desirable stat based on feedback on the Beta Forums. That could very well change talent makeup. But damn tree is too bloated and need more talent points.

WotLK Beta: Got Your Death Knight Name Figured Yet?

With all the WotLK Beta and Death Knight (DK) news seem Beta will soon be knocking on some random folks door. Still checking both my account emails, hope you do as well. I know for absolute certain I will roll a Death Knight and make him my 3rd 70. Will use him as a Tank of course because I'm good at it. I like the idea of being a Dark Knight and its a new class to learn and have fun with along side my Protecion Paladin because I'm good at the tactics of tanking.

I've started wondering just what I'm gona name my own ne lvl 55 Death Knight "If" I'm so lucky to get a Beta Invite that it seems some have already gotten. For me I know I really spend allot of time really thinking about my own characters name, may not be that important to you and maybe it is also. But I think about my character names seriously, I give it some thought at least. Kinda funny when you see someone with a name: Critcritcrit or Ipwngnomes. It took me over and hour when I first created Galoheart my Paladin as a name and that name is still very unique to this very day in the WoWArmory. All my Alts have very unique names that I've thought of and did some research to come up with a name I like.

So I guess I'm going to have to have to start figuring out a unique name for my soon to be Death Knight especially If I get a Beta Invite and not have wonder steering at the DK screen what to name him. Of course my DK will be a Elf of course and a Dark Elf suits me just fine. I guess I'll be looking deep in dark mythology to fine me a name or one I can bend to my taste. You have yours figured out yet?

In Case You Missed It: WotLK Patch Notes & Paladin Class

A Busy Night of Wrath Info. But in case you missed it there it is. Think Paladin by far had the longest notes for any class undergoing changes. Not all the proposed changes for Paladin are there also since the proposed class changes is yet uncompleted. Only publishing notes below related to Paladins as a class.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King: Beta

Welcome to the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Beta Test. The list below contains information on the current available content for testing and general information. This information is subject to change. Alpha testers should note that your characters have been temporarily locked out. In a few weeks time, we will unlock these characters and you will be able to continue to level them. Please visit the Beta forums to submit feedback and discuss the expansion development with others.

General

• The continent of Northrend is now available! To travel there, visit one of four transportation masters in either Orgrimmar, Undercity, Stormwind Harbor,or Menethil Harbor.
• The floating magical city of Dalaran is now available!
• The Barber Shop has been implemented and you can now visit one of the Barber Shops in the major cities to change your appearance.
• The all new Achievement System has been implemented.
• Transportation between Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra can be found at the Tuskarr villages in those zones.
• The level cap is currently set to 77.
• Hit Rating, Critical Strike Rating, and Haste Rating now modify both melee attacks and spells.
• Spellpower:
  • All items and effects which grant bonuses to spell damage and spell healing are being consolidated into a single stat, Spellpower. This stat will appear with the same values found on items which grant “increased spell damage and healing” such as on typical Mage and Warlock itemization.
  • For classes which do not heal, they should see no change in the character sheet other than new tooltip wording.
  • Healing characters will see their bonus healing numbers on the character sheet decrease, however, all healing spells have been modified to receive more benefit from spellpower than they received from bonus healing, with a net effect of no change to the amount healed by their spells. Some talents have had to be rebalanced to accommodate this change, but the amount healed will remain roughly the same. In addition, some talents will provide only healing spell power.
• NPC Transportation Locations
  • Horde:
    • Undercity to Vengeance Landing (Howling Fjord)
    • Orgrimmar to Warsong Hold (Borean Tundra)
  • Alliance:
    • Menethil Harbor to Valgarde (Howling Fjord)
    • Stormwind Harbor to Valiance Keep (Borean Tundra)

Known Issues

• The current patch notes are incomplete, but will be more progressively more comprehensive in each patch.

World Environment Zones

• The following zones are available for testing: Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, Dragonblight, and Grizzly Hills, Sholazar Basin, and Zul'Drak.

Dungeons

• The following dungeons are available for testing:
  • Howling Fjord: Utgarde Keep (70-72)
  • Borean Tundra: The Nexus (70-72)
  • Dragonblight: Azjol-Nerub (72-74)
  • Grizzly Hills: Drak’Tharon Keep (74-76)
  • Storm Peaks: The Halls of Stone (77-79)

Classes

• All Classes are available for play. Spells and talents will be available for testing past 70.
• The Death Knight Hero class is now available for play.
  • Death Knights will now start with 0 talent points at level 55.
  • Creating a new Death Knight will start you at level 55 in Eastern Plaguelands.
  • The Death Knight start zone, Acherus, the Ebon Hold, is fully implemented and is located in the Eastern area of Eastern Plaguelands.

Paladin Class Notes Only.

Paladin

• All Auras now affect all party and raid members within the area of effect.
• Anticipation (Protection) moved to tier 1, now increases chance to dodge by 1/2/3/4/5%.
• Avenger's Shield (Protection) cast time reduced to .5 seconds, duration increased to 10 seconds.
• Avenging Wrath no longer causes Forebearance, damage increase reduced to 20%, now increases healing done by 20%.
• Blessing of Freedom renamed Hand of Freedom. Only one Hand spell can be on the target per paladin at any one time. Now costs 6% of base mana.
• Blessing of Light and Greater Blessing of Light removed. Their effects have been folded into all relevant abilities.
• Blessing of Protection renamed Hand of Protection. Only one Hand spell can be on the target per paladin at any one time. All ranks now cost 6% of base mana.
• Blessing of Sacrifice renamed Hand of Sacrifice, is now only 1 rank and transfers 20% of the damage taken to the caster, duration reduced to 12 seconds, cooldown increased to 2 minutes. Only one Hand spell can be on the target per paladin at any one time. Now costs 6% of base mana.
• Blessing of Salvation renamed Hand of Salvation, now reduces total threat on the target by 2% per second for 10 seconds while also reducing all damage and healing done by 10%. Only one Hand spell can be on the target per paladin at any one time. Now costs 6% of base mana.
• Conviction (Retribution) now increases critical chance with all spells and melee attacks.
• Divine Intellect (Holy) moved to tier 2, increases total Intellect by 3/6/9/12/15%.
• Divine Intervention cooldown reduced to 20 minutes.
• Divine Protection and Divine Shield now cost 3% of base mana.
• Divine Purpose (Retribution) now reduces chance to be hit by spells and ranged attacks by 1/2/3%.
• Divine Strength (Holy) moved to tier 1 in the Protection tree.
• Greater Blessing of Salvation removed.
• Hammer of Justice now costs 3% of base mana.
• Hammer of Wrath is now considered a Retribution spell, moved from Holy, mana cost reduced, missile speed increased, now usable on targets below 35% health.
• Healing Light (Holy) moved to tier 2.
• Holy Shield (Protection) cooldown reduced to 8 seconds.
• Holy Shock (Holy) range changed to 20/40 yards when used on enemies/friends respectively, cooldown reduced to 6 seconds.
• Holy Wrath is now instant cast, causes a 3 second stun, cooldown reduced to 30 seconds, radius reduced to 10 yards.
• Illumination (Holy) moved to tier 3.
• Improved Concentration Aura (Protection) moved to the Holy tree.
• Improved Concentration Aura moved from the Protection tree to tier 4 in the Holy tree.
• Improved Devotion Aura (Protection) moved to tier 4, reduced to 3 ranks, now increases armor of Devotion Aura by 17/34/50% and increases all healing done to units affected by Devotion Aura by 1/2/3%.
• Improved Hammer of Justice (Protection) now reduces cooldwon by 10/20/30 secs.
• Improved Righteous Fury (Protection) threat bonus folded into base spell, talent still reduces all damage taken by 2/4/6%.
• Improved Sanctity Aura (Retribution) renamed Sanctified Retribution, now causes all units affected by Retribution Aura to cause 2% more damage.
• Improved Seal of Righteousness (Holy) moved to tier 1, renamed XXX, now affects Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Vengeance and Seal of Corruption.
• Improved Seal of the Crusader (Retribution) renamed Heart of the Crusader and the effects now apply to all Judgement spells.
• Judgement of Justice will no longer prevent Fear effects, only prevent NPCs from fleeing (e.g. at low health).
• Lay on Hands no longer drains all mana, cooldown reduced to 20 minutes.
• Pure of Heart (Holy) reduced to 2 ranks, now reduces duration of Curse and Disease effects by 25/50%.
• Redoubt (Protection) moved to tier 2.
• Repentance (Retribution) mana cost changed to 9% of base, duration increased to 1 minute (10 second PvP duration), now usable against Demons, Dragonkin, Giants, Humanoids and Undead.
• Retribution Aura damage increased and now gains damage based on Holy spell power.
• Righteous Fury now increases threat caused by Holy damage by 90%.
• Sanctified Light (Holy) now also increases the critical chance of Holy Shock.
• Sanctity Aura (Retribution) removed.
• Seal of Justice/Judgement reduced to 1 rank with all the effects of the previous rank 2, the Judgement effect no longer prevents Fear.
• Seal of the Crusader has been removed. The effects of Judgement of the Crusader have been folded into all relevant abilities.
• Seal of Vengeance damage over time effect duration increased to 18 seconds.
• Spiritual Focus (Holy) moved to tier 1.
• Stoicism (Protection) moved to tier 2, now reduces duration of Stun effects by 10/20/30% and reduces chance your spells will be resisted by 10/20/30%.
• Toughness (Protection) moved to tier 3.
• Turn Undead (ranks 1 and 2) removed. Turn Evil now granted at level 24, mana cost changed to 9% of base.
• Unyielding Faith (Holy) moved to tier 2.

*Deep Spec Protection Paladin will be getting a "Seal of Corruption" it seems that does X over X damage in a AoE radius it seems. More info to come on that in time as things gets sort out for the class. Salvation seems to have gotten nerfed as well and left to be seen if that is set in stone.

Let all the theorycrafting officially begin! Hope you do get a sweet spot in the WotLK Beta, do let us know in case I'm that unlucky to get one. Playing the waiting game now.

Perspective of Gearing My Alt Hunter

Was working on this after I hit 70 on my Hunter a few days ago, but was just kinda beat after working the weekend and then trying to lvl my Hunter on Monday morning after working all night. After getting to 70 I went to bed and sleep all the way to Tuesday. Turns out I missed a entire day as well. I think I was really beat! Then on Tuesday after work spent all night in Shatt trying to find some Enchants for my Hunters gear. Was hard trying to find a enchanter for 2H Weapon Major Agility which I never did but eventually did yesterday.

On my way to 70 was able to start picking up a few things. From 65-70 Hunter pretty much had somewhat decent gear. It was entirely "Of the Bandit Gear" which I had sitting in my Alt Bank. I had read a post way way back that BRK did for WoWInsider last year that I had it bookmarked for some reason in a folder I had on my Desktop of all kinds of stuff I bookmark for later reference. So I re-read it and just went through the list of stuff i could easily pickup. That also allowed me to research other things as well from the reference list. Then I say BRK had a related post a few days ago and though it was Ironic as well.

My Hunter by craft is a Skinner and Miner, a gather for short and like both craft. So can't make much use of having LW to craft any nice Epic pieces that some LW can do right off the bat. So on the way to 70 on my Hunter was able to check AH and pickup the Crystalforged War Axe for about 45g a good deal on my AH. Picked up a Felstalker Bracer for about 40g or so which seemed cheap given the out of space price of Primal Air on my server and to craft one as well in mats. The two other piece of Felstalker Armor Set the Chest and the Belt I pretty much had most the mats since my Hunter does skinning and had lots of mats. Only thing I needed was Primal Air. I didn't feel like going out to farm any. So I coughed a bit and bought about 12 Primal Air on AH at around 31g a pop. Then had a guild LW craft the other Felstalker Belt and Felstalker Chest piece which gave me the three piece bonus for Hit Rating and is a really nice Blue set.

Getting to 70 was already Honored with Thrallmar, so was able to pick up the rep piece the Stalker's Chain Guantlets. From CE since was Honored was able to get the Stalker's Chain Leggings right away as well. Was already revered with The Mag'har in Negrand so was able to get the Talbuk Hide Spaulders. Since I did more end leveling in Netherstorm had already done a easy quest that gave me some nice green boots Duro Footgear. Turned out Hunters mail boots are hard to find and the greens were pretty good already though can still pick up another pair questing in SMV on a long chain quest somewhat similiar. However I know a nice pair of Mail Boots for Hunters drop in Heroic Botanica on the last boss, hell when I'm tanking it drops more time than I can count, so should be easily obtainable. I had a Valano's Longbow sitting in the bank some time now so was able to equip that. Rest of gear was just stuff from Blue quest rewards leveling to 70. I still had 2 lvl 68 Rings of the Bandit with decent stats equipped.

Was able to get some raw gems cut and got the gems to completely gems every gems slot of the Felstalker set which gave some pretty decent stats. I picked up a Armor Kit in AH for the leggings at not too bad a price and slapped that on. I had some Arcane dust sitting around so was able to get some AP enchants for Gloves and Bracers. Got some enchants for the shoulders as well. Got the Crystalforged War Axe Enchanted and got a Adamantite Scope for the new Bow. When it was all done had every piece of blue completely gemmed and every piece of gear enchanted with exception the the Helm which requires CE Revered to obtain not too hard to do.

Its just Blue gear with a few green pieces and had it all hooked up within a few hours of getting to 70. It looked pretty decent. So I was in Org and Shatt since I was back and forth to AH and started looking at other Hunters gear to see how do I fare just being a new 70 as well as seeing if I see something I can easily obtain as well. I was completely shocked I what I saw with some Hunters and their gear. Now they were some Hunters with really Impressive gear and gave me some ideas looking at the gear and pieces. Most of what I saw just about everything was PvP gear mostly. But I saw lvl 70's wearing Merciless and Gladiator gear and still had on lvl 50+ greens. While the Epic piece looked nice it was a bit soured seeing several green gear next to it.

Saw one Hunters still had on SM gear, which was really unbelivable standing at the mailbox with Epic PvP gear on as well. Almost wished I could say something to ask the person a question but I didn't. Saw some (Not All) Hunters with 2-3 pieces of Arena season gear of some sort with absolutely no gems, no enchants and then along side with that low level 60's gear. I was a bit shocked to say the least. Because here I was a brand new 70 not even 2hrs old and I had already switched up to mostly decent Blues and had my gear almost fully enchanted up and gemmed up already. Some Hunters that I saw had various season gear and barely done much to it. So I was quite amazed to say the least and shocked in some ways. I can only imagine these are some of the players that show up in PuGs of all sort including mine when I'm tanking a run.

Now I know with Hunters it mostly Skill in how you play the class and I learn that well leveling a Hunter. I learn they can do really Amazing DPS played well. But it was amazing to see how some Hunters don't seem to take some sense of pride in the gear they wear or lack of effort to get better gear which don't take that much effort. Call it laziness or whatever. But If a Tank shows up in a 5 man or Heroics in crappy gear or don't take some sense of pride in their gear its not going to go well or with the group at hand. So I started to see how my brand new hunter gear matches up with some my guild Hunters which we do have allot also. He looks decent compared to many the guild Hunters in similar gear.

Overall It seems my Hunter looks very decent, even just in blue compared to many that even with several pieces of Arena, BG's or other gear pieces. I would say my Hunter has good enough gear that he can go right into Kara and do fine. But Kara is not really big on my list for my Hunter, so will have fun doing 5 man Instance for fun. Then after I got a bit upset, because I remember how long it took me as a Tank to assemble a decent set of Blues to Tank Instances, Heroics and preparing to Tank Kara when I was doing that which was all locked inside a Instance. A decently geared Hunter and one with good skill and waltz into Kara just about.

I didn't find gearing up my Hunter that hard or in Blues. Pretty damn easy by far compared to gearing up as a Tank. So for now my little Hunter is working on SSO and Skyguard dailies a bit.

Screenshot: MY Hunter Dinging 70

My BM Hunter Krovon & Razortalon Dinging 70 in SMV just outside Horde Camp doing a collection quest. It's always fun to try and capture the screenshot right as it happens. Runs Back to Camp to get Flying Mount.

Pets
Razortalon - Raven. Tank. He AoE aren't that great. Love screech!
Razorclaw - Owl. DPS pet. He AoE too. Imagine that.
Razorthorn - Ravager. DPS pet. My other Wicked pet.

Krovon paid for his own Flying Skills. Galo Private Investment Banker Alt lent him the dough to get a Green Epic Flying Mount. So he now owes my Alt Banker loan repayment plus interest. Better get to work lad to start repaying that loan off and replace that Bandit outfit while your at it too pronto! No Welfare here.

Almost There Bandito

Well just to keep you all updated a bit. Have being a focused on leveling my BM Hunter Krovon who will soon be my 2nd seventy. Right now he's at 69 and almost there and decked out like a green Bandit. So have 60% more XP to go to make it and will be finished with the grind as it does feel like it. Thought I would get him there today, but be busy working all weekend. So will get him there some time this weekend hopefully, until them he's stuck in a Inn building rest bonus to make that last XP grind a bit easier.

Won't be as bad trying to level up my pets, Razorclaw 68 Owl, Razortusk 67 Boar, Razorthorn 64 Ravager. Well my Bandit Hunter is almost there.

Spec Your Death Knight

Saw a post over at WoWInsider that Wowhead now has a talent calculator up for Death Knights (DK's) and a few other classes based on actual information from playing the classes at the recent WoW Invitational in Paris.

Anyway I'm excited about DK's so wowhead apparently have a talent calculator up for Death Knights. If your bored till WotLK arrives where everything will be official and set in stone well you can play around and spec your imaginary DK. You can play around and have a idea of where your want to go when your DK spec. Linked Here.

Will play with it when I have time myself. All three specs seems viable to some degree for individual spec's vs cookie cutter specs.

Hardcore Casual: Lassirra Said It Best!

Lassirra over at the The Hunters Mark over the last few days has had two very great perspective post that mirrors much of my own thinking: Casual By Circumstance and More Casual/Hardcore Musings. I can only say She Said it Best in both her two posts even if its a bit personal in nature because I guess that's how one feels at times, Hardcore at heart but Casual by Circumstance for many reasons some not always on our own accord. That strikes at something that has been on my mind or affected my play all through the game and even in the endgame of things in all seriousness.

"How many people do you know, in your immediate circle of friends alone, that are forced into a more casual style of play than they would prefer simply due to the circumstances they find themselves in? (You might even be such a person yourself.) The reasons could be any number of things"
The Hunters Mark (Lassirra)

I'm going to try and not repeat much of what Lassirra already said in her two posts but will only speak for it from my own perspective. I've already attributed to this before to some degree. I don't want to be Hardcore, I already am Hardcore in how I play WoW! I can't really change the fact that it is my play style, but overtime I myself have being forced into a casual playstyle some not of my own choosing and some eventually to it as well due to my guild enviroment. I've always been all about serious business getting things done. Yet for all that effort and for all that time where I envisioned myself to be is nowhere close to where things are presently. Due to time, new content being imminent on the horizon and other goals I've made the decision to eventually settle in a casual mode. Does it mean I'm happy where I am, No. I'm just content at the moment.

Much of WoW I've learned the game on my own, leveled in a unconventional spec despite what everyone else said, Tanked when it wasn't popular. I learned to play my class in a very soloistic playstyle figuring out the game and learning how to play. Yes I played it hardcore, even if it was totally solo. I too spent a lot of time researching endlessly for information on my class at a low level to ever improve my play. It was how I found many the older WoW class blogs. I studied allot of the information and applied it to my playstyle. I looked over many gear list they had or recommended and when I got to 70 I did exactly what they had recommended for gear list with some variation of my own as things changed along the way.

I've never complained how hard it was to get gear or that I had to run SV eighteen times to get my cape or that It took almost 30 times to run Botanica to get my shoulders. I just did it! I never cried because I wasn't in a guild to help me do quests or run Instances or do stuff for me. It never bothered me! As a matter of fact I shunned joining guilds for the first half of the time I was at 70. Why did I need a guild when I was good at running PuGs? Were they always good? No! But I did it anyway! It was my own hardcore playstyle why I did all that with pure dedication and grit and never complained. Every Instance made me better being down in the trenches learning how to tank when I was real green as a Tank. The more I did the better I got and the more friends I made the better I got. Still no guild. People offered, but I refused to join any guild. Hell I was doing just fine without one gearing my self up. I took great pride in acquiring all my own gear from greens to Epics. Did it bother me that I did not have a guild to chat with, No. I don't chat much in the the one I'm in today either.

Back then lots of people run Instances. Much Instances did I run over and over as well as research the gear pieces I picked up to see what was better, which instance I needed to run or where else I could pick up alternative gear for my Tanking needed or from quests. From Blogs of others that played my class I learned many other things about my class, gear and perspective, hell I was writing one myself all at the same time. But if you ask me how much time did I spend daily doing research it was more than 60% of my time involve in research of lots of things vs actually playing the game. How many people actually spend that much time doing that very casually? Many I know, but I'm still not sure. I still spend that much time doing research and looking over boss strats or figuring out strategy or reading my class forums not at WoW but at Maintankadin or Tankspot or elsewhere. Needless to say the reading countless blogs in my community of my class and and others for perspective in playing the game we all play.

Allot of people play WoW casually some with more time than others and don't care to put in that much time. Many do it in guilds where a lot of the stronger members carry the load of guilds doing the research for gear and strats. Some reading over countless websites, first hand blogs figuring out the boss strats for everyone else casual attitude in raiding or instancing. I've done that to various degree. But that does suck the life out of those that does that.

I've been in just three guilds on my server as I'm also not much for hopping guilds. Yet at some point I may or do decide to leave when its time to move on. I do have some sense of loyalty to a high degree and thus guild hopping have never been much in my nature. I enjoy being able to be apart of something and help it to become better than it aspire to be. However joining guilds have never been much in my nature either. Finding a like minded members or guild is not the easiest thing to find. But I've been in just three real casual guilds. One was casual social and just not my idea of a guild to go anywhere I wanted to go so I left. Another was a casual guild that did seen to be going places but just was not the right place for me with too many tanks already there so I left quickly. I actually hate guild hopping, it sucks! My current guild I was there when it was formed, and though I've left and returned I was there at the beginning. I remember PuGing with my guild GM down in the trenches called PuGs.

Yet my server is a very small server and young. I've had opportunities to move on to other guilds, I've had many guild Invites because I've PuGed with many form the top guilds. Yet many those guilds unfortunately have now fallen apart, no longer raid or left server. Few remain and are still progressing. But do I really want to join a mature guild and having to make friends with people that I may not care to like just to be fully accepted into a guild or their way of doing things? Not really!

I remember how difficult a choice it was to join just one guild. So many are just social hubs or full with unskilled players or members just there to be casual playing WoW. I'm not really there to be casual. Yet you never quite find the right guild ever at first its seems. Too many variables that goes into what you want in a acceptable guild and desire vs what you actually find when you get there in its members that determine how log you stay or not. I can say for sure I've not found a guild that is the one I feel I can progress with for sure to where I wish to go. Yet I'm in a guild that's casual and very casual in how things are done.

I'm actually a hardcore playing Tank in a very casual guild. That is a odd couple! I'm not in my guild for my guildies! I'm not there because I like to chat or socialize. I'm not there because I'm bored and need friends to greet whenever I'm there. I was there before many of them arrived. I guess I respect my GM enough as a good friend and several of the officers as good players that I'm still there to help the guild in whatever way I can while I'm content in being there.

My guild does have some very good players but its casual in nature and attitude and how it does things. I have no notion that I can change much being there or do I really try to. I can influence things but Its always a uphill battle to change things one against many. I guess I would rather be in a Hardcore guild with like minded members. One from the ground up or one with very good players with a more focused attitude towards being skilled, raiding and progressing and being more serious about it as well as being efficient as much as possible. That kind of play is most appealing to me but such players are hard to find. Yet its most elusive to find, because in my opinion they are much more casual guilds that hardcore guilds. Thus many players that have a hardcore tendencies can be trapped in very casual guilds and remain quite unhappy where they are.

I remember starting my own guild as a project which I later turned back to a private guild in the end at this point and time. I remember how much effort I put into it learning how to run a guild, endlessly reading the WoW Guild Relations Forums, as well as GM related Blogs. It was quite difficult to recruit very solid players and when it happened it was very slow going. People don't tend to stick around when many people are not in a guild and when its growing slow. Even when I emphasise I was looking to only recruit quality players it was a headache dealing with recruitment. members would just quit if you did help them at their ever beck and call or run them through a Instance, which I have a personal issue with doing so. People just quit when you weren't around and gave the lame ass excuse they left to go join their friends guild. Whatever! Eventually I got tired of it and realize this wasn't the time to be growing a guild when I wanted to do other things and was too much a drag and headache. But quality players are hard to find and undedicated and unskilled players are everywhere wanting a free ride.

I've done almost everything I can do to personally progress withing the environment that I play the game. Currently at the endgame 11 months and pushing, I had expectations of seeing many the unique instances SSC, TK and possibly BT and facing the challenges with a great team of players that were dedicated and serious of getting the job done. But such is not the case. Finding team of players has being elusive and time consuming and sometime quite frankly a headache. Yes I could have hopped and hopped guilds to maybe find my way to such a guild. I know people in every top guild on my server by virtue of reputation on the Instance grind. But Its not fun joining guilds that end up being the wrong guild and having to leave or the time wasted. Its not fun spending money transferring servers to get no where better than where you really were before. Its not fun having to pretend to like people in a guild just so you can fit in.

Quite frankly I don't like much of it! So even the hardcore player that I am. Its like pushing against a wall at times. So yeah I'm casual by circumstance. Yes I can always more on to find another guild or other servers, but quite frankly all that is time consuming and not always certain of finding what your looking for with broken promises. I've personally watched friends I know I help gear Tanking Instances with them being in my 5 man and Heroic Instances gear from Blues to Epics join guilds. Later to see them in other guilds, then another and another all the way to a guild progressing in BT. One my Warlock friend from PuGing I remember when she got her first Badge of Justice not long ago, who today raid in BT switching guilds along the way but I guess such things are much easy for a DPSer vs a Tanking class. But yes I've seem many those members make it to the BT. Many that by mutual cooperation we help each other get geared up to various degree running countless PuGs. Every few weeks some those same members were in a different guild. I'm not about that! Never wanted to take that route, but sometimes its what is required to get where you want to go. But such is not the path I wished to take.

With the expansion looming, I've decide you know, it doesn't matter all this much at this point. Time is short. So though I'm not happy not going to see much the endgame, I'm content for now. But At least I know in the next expansion it will all be even and from now till them I can make my choices to where I wish to be or which way I desire to see that content.

I've never started the game with the attitude to be hardcore. When I started I knew nothing of the game. Along the way the gaps filled in learning the game. What became evident was that what I though was a normal way of playing the game with focus and dedication and a desire to excel wasn't normal. Attempting to become as good as I could be in the environment I played the game was in itself hardcore and others played it in a more casual nature or wanted the game to be much easier than it already is. At some point one does get frustrated with the process of everything with guildies, guild, unskilled players and non progression, with the game itself. Its frustrating at times.

When your not where you want to be its a good idea it seems to move on to somewhere else. The worst feeling is not being happy and just being content where you are. I guess I'm hardcore casual and at the moment being content, but casual by nature of my guild environment. Who knows maybe I'm just buying time! But I'll be honest. I would rather a hardcore guild of skilled and dedicated players who at least think and try to progress in the raid environment. Not raiding everyday but a few days a week where progression is possible among learning encounters. I would rather be in such a guild where people came prepared to raid. Showup with their gear full repaired, they came with full consumables and necessary reagents. Members that at least read up or studies to some degree the encounters that the group was about to face vs just showing up blindly and hoping the boss falls over and somehow they get the loot they desired. People that wanted to play for the challenge but the gear was the reward for the effort that they put into getting there. Is that too much to ask for to find a group of people like that in a guild? Yet its elusive to find guild members like that.

In the end for the moment I'm just content with being Hardcore Casual. I still enjoy the game for what it is, a game. I don't tank much except for guild raids, otherwise I'm just leveling my Hunter thats at 67 and so far its fun to some degree. In WotLK that may all change, at least I will get my 3rd 70 which will indeed be a Death Knight tank along with my Paladin for sure but for now its just calm waters before the storm. having three 70's is more than enough for my nature with ability to remain focus on one or two characters only. Such is the life and times of one hardcore casual tank but in the end Lassirra said it all best though!

Paladin Class: Big Changes Ahead in WotLK

Big changes will await the Paladin Class in WotLK and hopefully they are real good changes for the betterment of the class and each respected tree and play style. Seems out of all the classes Paladin will be the most changes class yet accordingly by Blizzard Devs. Lets hope its for the best.
Linked via Tankspot.

I doubt the class as a whole will get the real changes it need though!

What Do I do When Not Raiding

Gothyelk over at the Stoic Guardian who also plays a Tankadin and one my favorite blogs ask, what do you do when your not raiding? I think its a more light hearted topic as well that plays into what you do in your down time.

As you all know and fully aware I only have 1 lvl 70 for the vast amount of time I've been at lvl 70 which is 11 months now and ticking. You think in that time I be further along in progression, well raiding aren't a one man show. I was never fond of playing Alts or leveling alts when bored though I'm now leveling one or two...trying that is. That leaves me with things I enjoy doing for fun and just whatever I enjoy doing with Galo that's not Raiding or Instance related. Currently leveling one Alt so that takes up some my time at the moment.

By Trade Galo is a Alchemist and Herbalist and have max skill in everything since first stepping foot into Outland. Galo is pretty much business oriented in game. I'm never broke! I run my time somewhat like a business in my off time. Unless I'm doing something at the Bank in Shatt I'm hardly sitting idle there. Galo also doesn't ever sell anything on AH ever, all that is done by my 2 AH Bankers, yes I have 2 full time AH Bankers.

So often I'm Out making the rounds around Outland in various routes depending on what my needs are to acquire herbs for Alchemy to make Elixirs & Flasks. I crisscross zones herbing for herbs, some herbs more than others. While herbing I'm a opportunist to solo some Elite I see just for Fun and Kicks and test skills. I grind here and there but not ever full time really. But will if I feel like it for fun as I can make a art form out of grinding when I feel the need to for whatever reason. However whats fun for me may not be fun for you!

Allot of time I enjoy fishing in the Highland Pools or in whatever zone for me its relaxing when just not having the stress of tanking. I find most people hate fishing and that's the exact reason I enjoy it. Because less people do it so that makes it even more profitable for me on AH to do as and activity so I do that sometimes. I like to explore zones or do various quests just for fun, but not always. But overall I tend to spend my time farming mats for whatever I need to run my business machine, Alchemy and whatever else on AH. As a Tank I use quite a variety of potions so I need pots and elixirs to use myself. But great majority of what I gather I use to make Flasks or Elixirs since I'm Elixir Mastery. I very rarely do anything Transmutes and quite frankly I cant remember to do it anyway.

When I'm logged in as one of my 2 AH non leveling Bankers I spend quite a bit of time at AH selling anything that Galo collected around Outland or from Alchemy making. My Alts sell everything on AH. So needless to say I spend a bit of time on them selling and at times selling off stuff in both their guild banks. Between my 2 Alt Bankers with 2 different personal guilds I have 9 Guild Bank Tabs of my own that I bought with my own funds at over 10K all together. If you ask me that's a full time job selling stuff. When the AH market is good I sell. When its depressing I hold stuff. I never oversupply the AH market. I sell when the market is in my favor for profitability. So at times I'm playing AH. I spend some time looking for valuable stuff selling what I think may be below market price and I resell. Profit mean less questing, dailies or grinding for a good cushion of funds and its just fun to do. I don't always enjoy playing Alts, but profiting on AH is more fun to me playing that Alts. So I do that. I rarely do dailies except the one fishing quest for dailies. Whenever I'm doing anything I'm also gathering herbs always.

So those are various things I do in my down time and why I do them when not raiding or Instancing. I do whatever I enjoy doing in WoW for whatever the reasons. As a Tank i don't always feel the need to just be Tanking a Instance here there and everywhere like I'm robot. So I just spend time using my professions and doing things I enjoy to make money. Overall I enjoy being a Tankadin even when I'm not tanking. Just because I'm a Tank don't mean I spend All my valuable time Tanking for someone else at their every beck and call. A tank need his own time too when they are logged in to do whatever they enjoy doing. We play WoW for Fun, not to feel like being at Work!

Screenshots: ZA Bosses

I really need to revamp and reorganize my entire UI to clear it of space and make it more cleaner and space efficient to give me a clearer view. Anyway first time to Eagle Boss for our Guild so was fun learning the boss. 1st shot 31%, 2nd 14%, 3rd 11%, 4th Down Eagle Boss. We lost people on all previous attempts. On last attempt no one died, could not quite figure that out exactly. Thats a real fun boss fight, getting there was even more fun. He dropped 1 item that I can recall, really need to drop more loot!

We did the ZA on Saturday. We did Bear Boss first, took a few tries but we got him again. So made sure I got a screenshot this time :) These bosses need to drop more loot for the effort!
I guess when my Hunter gets to 70 I can take the time to finally clean up my hard drive, reload WoW and completely revamp my UI which will take some time to do.