My sole purpose in posting today is to brag.

I got my Kalu'ak reputation up to Exalted today, and finally got the most awesome fishing pole in the game, the Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole. Sure, there's one pole that'll give you a higher Fishing bonus, but it doesn't look nearly as cool (nor is it as easy to get). While I was there, I also picked up the baby penguin pet, and a new mace.

But all of that isn't nearly as cool as what else I got today: a Green Proto-Drake mount. You get it from the Mysterious Egg sold by the Oracles at Revered. The egg takes a week to hatch, and WoWhead says it only has a 4% chance of dropping this mount. I got it on my first try. And man, it looks REALLY cool! The texture is beautiful, and the animation is amazing. It may be the best-looking mount in the game, with the X-51 Nether-Rocket X-TREME (which I would kill for) being the one possible exception.

Just gotta get me a Traveler's Tundra Mammoth and a Mechano-Hog and I officially win WoW.

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NOTICE: I was completely wrong in this post. See Edit 2 at the bottom for details.

I'm a casual PvPer, and I've been doing Battlegrounds from time to time to upgrade my crappier gear to sweet, sweet Season 1, Vindicator's, and other assorted Honor-buyable gear.

However, once Season 4 starts, Blizz is making some changes that will require Arena ratings for some of that gear.

According to MMO-Champion, Blizzard will be giving the Boots, Rings, and Bracers an Arena Rating requirement. So, go get those now before it's too late, if you don't do Arenas like me.

The Belts, Necklaces, and Trinkets won't have an arena rating, so if you're thinking about buying one of those, it's a good idea to hold off and spend your honor points on the items listed in the previous paragraph.

I've been saving up to replace my green-quality belt for a while now (I've been busy, and broke) but I've decided to replace my boots (the second item on my list due for replacement) instead.

Just thought I'd throw that warning out there. I have no idea when Season 4 will start, but I doubt it'll be this Tuesday, so I think we have at least a week to get what we need.

EDIT: There's some confusion about whether or not the current Vindicator's gear is being replaced on the vendors with the new Guardian's gear. If it's not, you can pretty much ignore this post. I was under the impression that it was.

EDIT 2: Bah, I was totally wrong. They're not removing the Season 3 honor-bought gear (aka Vindicator's) after all. So, my new advice: don't buy a Belt, Neck, or Trinket until Season 4. Unless you want to. I'm writing this as someone who doesn't get a lot of time to PvP anyway (and quickly tires of it when I do), so I will definitely be waiting to replace my gear.

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A lot of people have a hard time deciding what pieces of equipment they should work on upgrading, especially when getting into PvP, where you basically just shoot for the best you can get.


My solution was to make a chart (using Google Docs) of all the gear I had my eye on (in this case, I limited it to PvP gear) and entered the Item Level next to it. Note that Item Level is not the same as Required Level. You can find an item's Item Level easily in WoWhead or Thottbot or whatever you prefer.

Next, I entered the corresponding Item Levels of the gear I currently have. Then, in the next column, I have it auto-calculate the difference between what I have and what I want.

Once that's done, you can easily see how different the items you WANT and the items you HAVE are, and can basically just go down the list, from most-different to least. For me (in the chart above) you can see that I'll be replacing my Bracers next. Which is actually pretty obvious if you've ever seen my bracers.

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I may not have mentioned it here before, but I'm a Jewelcrafter/Miner. I picked it up right after I bought Burning Crusade (which was a couple months after everyone else) and for the most part, I've been happy with it. But there are some things about it that need to be fixed.

Necklaces

One of the coolest things about Jewelcrafting is that we can make Neck-slot items that buff your whole group. However, these items are expensive to make, and only have 10 charges for the group buff. The expense is understandable, but once you've used all the charges you're left with a necklace that just isn't that great anymore. The few necklaces I've equipped have gone unused, because I never want to waste a charge. And really, how often do YOU see a JC buff when you're grouped? I think I've seen it once. People just aren't using them.

Solution? Recharge kit. We should be able to make an item that will give a necklace a full charge. Simple as that.

But that's boring. I've got a more interesting idea. Create a new type of Socket and call it something like Charge Socket. Each of these Jewelcrafted necklaces should have 10 of these Charge Sockets instead of the current 10 charges. You would be able to socket a base gem (ie: Citrine, Flame Spessarite, whatever) into the Charge Socket to provide the item with another charge. When you use the Necklace to provide your group with a buff, you consume a charge, and with it, the socketed gem.

The gem required to provide the charge should correspond to the level of the item being charged. To charge a lvl. 25 necklace, you would need a Moss Agate or Iridescent Pearl. To charge a lvl. 70 necklace, you would need a Golden Draenite or Azure Moonstone.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got about a million of those lvl. 70 Uncommon-quality gems.

Fist Weapons

When I picked up Jewelcrafting, I was under the impression that crafting Fist Weapons would be one of the cool things you could do. But there's only ONE, the Heavy Iron Knuckles. A lvl. 27 item. Ahem.

Now, I know there are plenty of Blacksmiths out there thinking that Fist Weapon crafting should belong to them, to which I disagree. You've got Swords, Maces, Axes, and Armor (and I think Blizz intends on adding Shields). Blacksmithing fits Warriors, Paladins, and to a lesser extent Shamans and Hunters the best, so it doesn't make sense to make Fist Weapons a Blacksmith item when they're usable by Shamans, Hunters, Druids, and Rogues (and yes, also Warriors). Plus, there's already a precedent set, so Jewelcrafters get to keep them. So there.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Jewelcrafters need to be able to make more Fist weapons, and a greater variety of them too. There are some great fist drops in the game right now for melee-oriented specs, and we definitely need more of those, but there should also be Caster- and Healer-specific fist weapons for Shamans and Druids to use. Especially shamans. Especially elemental shamans. Especially ME. If there was one unit in Warcraft 3 that was defined by fist weapons, it was the shaman.

I'd even like to see some Jewelcrafter-only fist weapons. In fact, I've got a crazy idea about a BOP barebones dagger with around 12 gem slots, which would basically allow you to build your own customized weapon. THAT would be really cool.

Statues

If you're not a Jewelcrafter, you may not even realize that we can create stone statues that will give us a steady stream of healing for 2 minutes. They're basically single-target Healing Stream Totems, except they look like a little (attackable) Stone Golems with a very visible green healing ray.

Unfortunately, there isn't one for the 60-70 game. You can make them with each kind of stone, from Rough, Coarse, Heavy, Solid, up to Dense. Primal Earth is supposed to be the new type of stone in BC, but you can't make a Primal Stone Statue.

Or can you? I was just looking up these statues on WoWhead, and a Primal Stone Statue does indeed show up when you do a search for statues. One of the commenters says that they're craftable on the Test Realms right now. So maybe they're coming in 2.3.2. Sure hope so.

UPDATE: No, Primal Stone Statues are still not in the game.

Figurines

UPDATE: This issue has been resolved to my satisfaction in Patch 2.4. There are now 5 very nice purple-quality figurines, which are basically upgrades of the blue ones. Still no spell crit figurine, unfortunately.

Another item that non-Jewelcrafters may not know about. We can create JC-only (BOP) trinkets that boost stats, and also have an on-use ability that also summons a little gem animal (I'm pretty sure that killing the gem animal also removes the on-use buff, but I could be wrong).

There are a lot of pretty cool and varied Figurines in the game, but unfortunately the best ones are only Rare (blue) items. It would be nice if we could create more powerful Epic figurines (aka MORE PURPZ!!!1), naturally using some of the rarer materials in the game.

I would also like a nice Spell Crit-enhancing figurine, but the Living Ruby Serpent and Talasite Owl work pretty well too.

PS: The Golden Hare figurine comes in pretty handy in WSG.

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In a previous post, I mentioned that I had finally surrendered and respecced Resto, since I was so fed up with dealing with all the crap that came with being Elemental-specced. Now, I'm going to talk about how that's been so far.

First, I had to pull together a set of healing gear, and what I've come up with is pretty goddamn sad. I've only got 4 or 5 pieces of pure Healer gear (since I swore to never go Resto again, I didn't bother to save any from quests for quite a while), so I've had to find other sources.

I threw on a few pieces that I had with high MP5, and put some healing gems in them. A couple already had them, because as of 2.3 a Royal Nightseye is actually a very good Elem Regen gem (and helps me get the socket bonus on my Tarren Mill Defender's Cinch, whereas a Lustrous Star of Elune wouldn't).

Finally, I went and bought a Watcher's Cowl to boost my +heal, and to hide my shame. There are some slots where I just don't have anything to replace my Elem items with, so I just make do.

So I have about +818 healing and 119 MP5. Not bad. Certainly not good enough for Heroics though.

I haven't been in any dungeons yet, but I've been PvPing a bit. And I've gotta say, I'm shocked by my survivability now. Previously, a rogue would stunlock me to death in about 5 seconds. In my first AB match as Resto, I survived having a rogue beating on me for what seemed like a full minute, with me doing nothing but healing myself occasionally, until a teammate came and killed him.

My sustainable DPS may be laughable now, but honestly, it's still pretty good for grinding and occasional PvP offense.

I'm still planning on putting all my Marks and Honor points toward Elemental gear, and hopefully in a month or two I'll have improved my gear set enough to be a more serious contender.

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It's hard being an Elemental shaman. REALLY hard.

For starters, it's really hard to find a group. Everybody knows that your standard dungeon party has one tank, one healer, and 3 DPS, and there's always plenty of people available for DPS. And to make matters worse, now that most people are doing Heroic dungeons, nobody wants you if you don't have any crowd control. People would rather take a lousy hunter over an excellent Elemental (or Enhancement) shaman (not that I'm saying that I'm excellent).

Ever since 2.3 was released, I haven't been able to get into a group. I've been invited to Kara a few times, but I don't even have my key yet. Getting into Black Morass has been very hard, and now nobody is doing it in Normal mode (I'm just one full clear away from my CoT key) and nobody would take me even if I COULD do it in Heroic.

So instead, I've decided to try PvP a bit. I'm not normally a big PvP fan, but I need better gear, and this is the only way I can do it (and non-PvP Elemental itemization is lousy anyway). But PvP just makes me angry and frustrated, and I really hate it. Every Alliance character I see starts to look like they're mocking me, and I start taking it personally and thinking that every Alliance player is an asshole. And of course all my teammates are complete idiots, or so it seems.

And Elemental shamans just aren't any good in PvP (or at least in Battlegrounds). I can hide in the bushes launching lightning bolts and do some decent damage, but as soon as anyone sees me I basically have to run away or die. All I can do is shoot lightning bolts and a shock every 6 seconds. I don't have any pushback resistance or anti-stunlock. Against hunters, I'm worthless. Against warlocks, I'm just feared forever while they DoT me up. I don't even bother fighting back against rogues anymore. I don't have any CC, I barely have any anti-CC. How am I supposed to deal with this?


Well, today I finally had enough. I can't do what I want to do with Elemental. Just don't bother with it until Blizzard wises up.

I went Resto. God dammit.

I really don't want to be Resto. I was Resto back in my raiding days, back before BC was released. After going through Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn'Qiraj, and halfway through Naxx, I burned out on healing. I don't like being the one whom the success of the group hinges upon. But what choice do I have? I could continue with a spec that I like but doesn't work, or I could go back to doing something I don't really enjoy that is in high demand.

My healing gear is pretty crappy, but at least I'll get into groups. And if I let my groups know ahead of time, I should be able to continue building on my Elem set while I'm healing. I don't really know how long I'll stay Resto, but it may be until WLK comes out.

I'm really starting to consider just giving up on my shaman completely, for the first time in 3 years. The Elemental tree just doesn't work very well in the game as it is right now. There are still serious, deep flaws and overall design problems that keep it trapped in the pre-BC game (not that it was ever very good then, either).

My Hunter is 67, but I'm probably not going to bother trying to do dungeons with him; there are already too goddamn many hunters out there. Same with my 50 warlock, although I'll probably PvP with her at 70 out of revenge, and also because they're basically unstoppable. My next highest is a 44 Prot Paladin, which may become my new "Main" but I just don't know right now. I don't think I like the other classes enough to make any of them my new main. Switching to a Death Knight when WLK comes out sounds damn tempting at this point.

Here's hoping that Blizzard gives Elemental some REAL attention in WLK, and hopefully before then too. The changes in 2.3 were nice, but Elem just isn't viable in its current state.

EDIT: I should point out that I'm not talking about Raiding or Arenas. Just 5-man dungeoning and Battlegrounds.

EDIT 2: I also should point out that this post should be taken with a grain of salt. It's mostly just frustrated complaining (which is why it's in the "Bitching" category). Things are certainly better than I make them sound, though that's not to say that there aren't still problems.

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You've all seen a shaman do something cool and thought "gee, I wish I could be as cool as a shaman". Well, there are actually a lot of items in the game that can help you to replicate those abilities, though some are more reliable than others. Unfortunately, none can make you as cool as a shaman.


Water Breathing

• Hydrocane: Drops from a semi-rare boss near the beginning of Gnomeregan. Very easy to get solo if you're 50+. Constant.


• Deepdive Helmet: Requires Engineering. Constant effect.


• Waterbreathing Elixirs: Crafted by Alchemists, though there are also some you can receive as quests. 30-min and 60-min varieties.


• Band of Icy Depths: You're never getting this. Ever. Constant effect.


• Unending Breath spell: Warlock spell. Same spell, but requires no reagent. Thanks a lot, Blizz.

Water Walking

• Hallow's End Pumpkin Treat: One of its numerous effects is that it'll turn you into a ghost, which gives you Levitation. Only available during Hallow's End holiday.


• Priest Levitate spell: Same basic idea as Water Walking, except that it also gives them Slow Fall. Arrrgh...at least this time it requires a reagent.

Ancestral Spirit

• Goblin Jumper Cables: There are two varieties; the XL version works more often, and doesn't need to be equipped anymore. The XL version has to be made by a Goblin Engineer, but any Engineer can use them. Sometimes doesn't work.


• Priest Resurrection spell: Same spell, different designation.


• Paladin Redemption spell: SSDD.

Reincarnation

• Darkmoon Card: Twisting Nether: You get a 10% chance to self-rez on death. Not bad, but pretty hard to get.

Lightning Bolt

• Lightning Capacitor: A 13% drop off Illhoof in Karazhan. Not nearly as reliable as the real thing of course, and only works for casters.


• Gnomish Death Ray: Kinda similar, and can put out a decent amount of damage. Requires Engineering to make it (and it's BOP) but not to use it, so if you drop Engineering you can keep using it (like I do).

Bloodlust

• Haste Potion: Chug one of these and go crazy. Only lasts 1/3 as long, and I don't really know how the speed-up compares. Also apparently only works on melee and ranged, not spells.


• Drums of Battle: Gives your whole GROUP an 80 haste speed buff that lasts 30 seconds, with a 2 min cooldown. Requires Leatherworking to use. 50 charges. (Thanks Frogs!)

Lightning Shield

• Electromagnetic Gigaflux Reactivator: Sort of like Chain Lightning and Lightning Shield in one crazy-looking gizmo! When you activate it, you basically get a Thorns-style buff that does 5 nature damage to anyone that hits you, not just every 3 seconds like LS. And as long as I've mentioned it...


• Druid's Thorns spell: A simliar punish-your-attackers effect, but causes less damage. However, it activates EACH time you receive damage, without the 3-second cooldown. And it doesn't have any charges to use up. The downside is that you need to find (or be) a Druid to use it, and they're almost as rare as Shamans these days.

Healing Stream Totem

• Stone Statues: Feeds you a steady stream of healing when activated. Jewelcrafter-only. Unfortunately, Blizz didn't make any designed for lvl. 70 players.

Searing Totem

• Gnomish Flame Turret: A neat Engineer-only toy that burns up everyone in range. Materials seem ridiculous though.

Well, I could go on, but the remaining stuff is kinda nitpicky. I'm trying not to stick too many profession-based items in the list, since I want the list to be primarily items you can go out and get, no matter what.

Of course, the easiest way to be as cool as a shaman will always be: play a shaman!


EDIT (Nov 19 `07): This post was featured on WoW Insider today! I feel famous now. Maybe I should put some ads up...

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After diligently hoarding tickets for the past week or so, I've finally gotten enough to buy a Swift Brewfest Ram. It's really nice having a land mount that doesn't bob up and down so fast that it would normally snap the rider's neck.

The day before, after diligently working up my Netherwing reputation for a few weeks (I didn't do every quest every day) I got my Nether Dragon mount. I chose the green one, because the other ones all look alike (except the teal one, but I don't like teal).

So now I'm riding in style!

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This is a guy I had heard of long ago, back in our Molten Core days. It looks like he's been cryogenically frozen since then, and just stepped out on this day. He's wearing full Earthfury, a Red Dragonscale Protector (which NEVER dropped for my guild!) and assorted MC & BWL purpz. He didn't stick around long.

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It's come to this. I'm posting pictures here to win an argument on a message board.

In a discussion on WoW Insider (posted here) I mentioned that it was weird seeing Draenei wearing Ten Storms (and the BC recolored pieces, which are listed in the above post) since TS is covered in Horde logos. Admittedly, I was referring to the Horde logo from Warcraft 3 (seen here) and not the updated one for WoW (seen here), but it's clearly nearly the same logo.

However, the symbol may be a shamanism symbol that the Horde adopted for their use. Note the wolves on the WC3 crest.

Either way, it still says "Horde" to me.

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Coolest tabard ever.

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I had this thing as my one and only weapon for over a year. It really hurts to part with it.

Oh well. I'll get over it.

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Man, it's too bad that trolls can't be warlocks. I look AWESOME in this.

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This time, I'm a Belf. At least I'm wearing all my own gear this time.

Oh, so THAT'S what those boots look like. You gain a new appreciation for boots when you play a troll (or tauren or draenei), since they don't wear shoes.

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Well, there goes a whole ton of raiding gear (and my pimp hat).

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I don't think many people notice this scripted sequence from within the Old Hillsbrad instance. If you go to Southshore, there's all sorts of cool stuff going on, and if you go to the Inn, you see a very long sequence where several notable Paladins (most of them future Scarlet Crusade leaders or Death Knights) discuss a crystal that will be used to create the Ultimate Weapon against the undead: the legendary Ashbringer. If you thought Blizz forgot about it, you're mistaken.

Personally, I don't give a damn. It's just a freaking sword, and I can't use swords.

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4/5 Stormcaller. Now I just need the chestpiece for Uber Chain Heals!

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Oh god, no.

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Man...none of my gear matches!

Hat from AQ40, shoulders from BWL, shield and gloves from ZG, chest and weapon from MC...

Well, this is just my Soloing set. For regular raid healbotting, I wear 5 pieces of Earthfury and 3 of Ten Storms.

Oh, by the way. Just got the Stormcaller diadem (which apparently means "hat") today, and the Ten Storms shoulders and gloves Monday.

I'm not trying to brag...just about everyone else in the guild has this or better stuff already.

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That helm is ridiculous. And so is that bug he's riding.

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