Tranquil, Undaunted and Still Alive!

Hi everyone!

Boy, it's been a while and a lot has happened since the last couple posts. When I wrote my Guardian gear guide, I had just found a job and started working in earnest. Now that my boyfriend and I have moved and settled in, I find I have a little extra time to write.

In game we've been fairly busy, I've been tanking as one of three main tanks for Apotheosis and we are now 7/16H! We snagged a heroic server first kill along the way, and are currently dancing with Qin-xi and Jan-xi until we beat them into the floor. (And we're recruiting, come check us out!)

I got my green dragon,

Other than raiding I've been mostly puttering around on alts, I leveled my priest to 90 and my new monk tank to 85. I still haven't done many dailies, or grinded up the rep for many factions. I'm sadly sitting around honoured or revered for most of them. I did make it a priority to finish up the Order of the Cloud Serpent, and got the rep for gear I would need to get into raids but I haven't pushed through for Golden Lotus, or the August Celestials.

I tried out Brawler's Guild and was horrifically embarrassed when I got pecked to death over and over by Dippy. I think I've been scarred for life. I don't want to go moonkin on my druid and many of the fights favour ranged over melee. I may need to get my priest some shadow gear and try that.

And I washed my yak.

The thing that's held my interest for some time has been Challenge Modes. I recently got my Challenge Conqueror: Silver on my druid and got to pick my pretty phoenix! The really awesome thing about Challenge Modes is that as a guild, we've been rotating groups and people through to try and get everyone at least Silvers so we can all get phoenixes. We had one group get Realm First Challenge Conqueror Gold, and that spurred a lot more people to get involved.

Pretty biiiird, pretty biiiird.

I've tanked every CM on my druid and healed some of them on my priest. It's my intent to heal all of them on Kaleri and I have a group interested in Golds so we're shooting for that. I've thought about tanking Gold CMs, but you really need a set group and swapping folks in and out (the way I got my silvers) isn't ideal.

I'd like to blog a little more about Challenge Modes in a future post, not guides but more what they were like and how I felt tanking as a druid and healing on my priest. Stay tuned!

Flying off into the sunset

Mists of Pandaria Pre-Raid Gear for Guardian Druids

As we're all getting ready for Mists, the question circles around "Who's making a gear list for <insert class>?" I decided to post my own pre-raid gear list by slot that I wrote up for personal use and maybe it'll help give some of you an idea of where you want to start!

Quick note: Most of the rep gear is listed first. This is because the ilevel of the available rep gear is 489, and therefore has more stats allocated to it. Heroic gear from dungeons comes in a close second. Don't stress out if you can't get all the rep gear right away; there are great heroic dungeon options!

Helm:
Red Smoke Bandana Hit and Mastery - meta and blue socket + 180 agility - Klaxxi
Windblast Helm Haste and Mastery - meta gem/red socket + 180 agility - Siege of Niuzao Temple
Soulburner Crown Hit and Crit - meta and yellow socket + 180 agility - Scholomance

Neck:
Delicate Necklace of the Golden Lotus Crit and Mastery (Quest Reward)
Choker of the Klaxxi'va Hit and Crit - Klaxxi
Engraved Amber Pendant Crit and Haste - Siege of Niuzao Temple
Scorched Scarlet Key Hit and Exp - Scarlet Halls

Shoulders:
Imperion Spaulders  Hit and Crit - yellow socket + 60 agility - Golden Lotus
Fizzy Spaulders Crit and Haste - red socket +60 haste - Stormstout Brewery
Doubtridden Shoulderguards Hit and Exp - red socket + 60 exp - Temple of the Jade Serpent

Chest:
Softfoot Silent Wrap Hit and Exp - Two sockets (Y/B) + 120 agility - Golden Lotus
Greyshadow Chestguard - Crit and Mastery - Two sockets (Y/Y) + 120 agility - Leatherworking
Korloff's Raiment Hit and Crit - yellow socket + 60 agility - Scarlet Monastery

Cloak:
Blackguard Cape Hit and Mastery - Shado-Pan
Windsoaked Drape Crit and Mastery - Temple of the Jade Serpent
Aerial Bombardment Cloak  Hit and Crit - Siege of Niuzao Temple

Bracers:
Quillpaw Family Bracers Hit and Crit - The August Celestials
Lightblade Bracer - Crit and Mastery - Scarlet Halls

Hands:
Fingers of the Lonliest Monk Exp and Haste - The August Celestials
Greyshadow Gloves - Crit and Mastery - red socket + 60 crit - Leatherworking 
Hound Trainer's Gloves Exp and Mastery - Scarlet Halls

Belt:
Klaxxi Lash of the Burrower Crit and Mastery - blue socket + 60 crit - Klaxxi
Icewraith Belt Crit and Mastery - Scholomance

Legs:
Dreadsworn Slayer Legs Crit and Mastery - red socket + 60 agility - Klaxxi
Wall-Breaker Legguards Exp and Mastery - red socket + 60 mastery - Gate of the Setting Sun

Feet:
Tukka Tuk's Hairy Boots Hit and Haste - The August Celestials
Dashing Strike Treads Crit and Mastery - yellow socket + 60 agility - Scarlet Monastery

Rings:
Seal of Ghoulish Glee Hit and Crit - World Event (Hallow's End)
Pulled Grenade Pin Crit and Mastery - Gate of the Setting Sun
Signet of Dancing Jade Crit and Exp - Temple of the Jade Serpent

Trinkets:
Lao-Chin's Liquid Courage Static stam + mastery on use - Shado-Pan
Relic of Niuzao Static stam + dodge on use - Darkmoon Ox Deck
Relic of Xuen Static agi + agi proc - Darkmoon Tiger Deck
Brawler's Statue Static dodge + dodge on use - World Event (Brewfest)
Heart of Fire Static mastery + dodge on use- Shado-Pan Monastery
Iron Protector Talisman Static stam + dodge proc - Mogu'shan Palace

Many viable trinkets here, so it depends on your playstyle! (Or the encounters you will be coming up against.)

Weapons:
Inscribed Tiger Staff Crit and Mastery - Inscription
Snowdrift's Bladed Staff Exp and Mastery - Shado-Pan Monastery
Firestorm Greatstaff Crit and Haste - Scarlet Monastery
Amber Spear of Klaxxi'vess Hit and Haste - Klaxxi
Spear of Xuen Crit and Mastery - Archaeology
Ghostheart Crit and Haste - Mogu'Shan Vaults

Mists of Pandaria Leather Reputation and Dungeon Gear

Mists of Pandaria is only a few days away and there's plenty of information out there. In the interest of having something easy to read, I've compiled a list by location of various reputations and dungeon bosses that have the gear that Guardian or Feral Druids may be interested in.

Reputation Gear

Klaxxi
Honoured:
Bracers: (crit/mastery) Cruel Mercy Bracers

Revered:
Neck: (hit/crit) Choker of the Klaxxi'va 
Belt: (crit/mastery - blue socket + 60 crit) Klaxxi Lash of the Burrower 
Legs: (crit/mastery - red socket + 60 agility) Dreadsworn Slayer Legs

Exalted:
2H Polearm: (hit/haste) Amber Spear of Klaxxi'vess


August Celestials
Honoured:
Cloak: (crit/haste) Bladesong Cloak

Revered:
Hands: (exp/mastery) Fingers of the Loneliest Monk
Bracers: (hit/crit) Quillpaw Family Bracers
Feet: (hit/haste) Tukka-Tuk's Hairy Boots 

Shado-Pan
Honoured:
Legs: (hit/mastery) Tough Mushanhide Leggings
Ring: (crit/haste) Mark of the Dancing Crane

Revered:
Trinket: (static stam/mastery on use) Lao-Chin's Liquid Courage
Cloak: (hit/mastery) Blackguard Cape 
Helm: (hit/mastery - meta and blue socket + 180 agility) Red Smoke Bandana

Golden Lotus
Honoured:
Gloves: (crit/mastery) Surehand Grips

Revered:
Shoulders: (hit/crit - yellow socket + 60 agility) Imperion Spaulders 
Chest: (hit/exp - yellow and blue sockets + 120 agility) Softfoot Silent Wrap
Ring: (hit/haste) Anji's Keepsake

While you're leveling (or afterwards if you plan to farm some dungeon gear) here's where to look for leather drops:

New Mists Dungeons - Normal ilvl 410 Heroic ilvl 463

Stormstout Brewery

Ook Ook
Chest: (crit/haste - heroic: blue gem slot + 60 agility) Nimbletoe Chestguard (Normal) (Heroic) 

Yan-Zhu the Uncasked:
Shoulders: (crit/haste - heroic: red socket + 60 haste) Fizzy Spaulders (Normal) (Heroic)

Hoptallus
Belt: (hit/exp) Belt of Brazen Inebriation (Heroic)

Gate of the Setting Sun

Saboteur Kip'Tilak
Bracers: (haste/exp) Saboteur's Stabilizing Bracers (Normal) (Heroic)
Ring: (crit/mastery) Pulled Grenade Pin (Heroic)

Raigonn
Legs: (exp/mastery - heroic: red gem slot +60 mastery) Wall-Breaker Legguards (Normal) (Heroic)

Shadow-Pan Monastery

Master Snowdrift
2H Staff: (exp/mastery) Snowdrift's Bladed Staff (Normal) (Heroic)
Trinket: (static mastery - dodge on use) Heart of Fire (Heroic)

Taran-Zhu
Ring: (hit/haste) Seal of Hateful Meditation (Heroic)

Siege of Niuzao Temple

Vizier Jin'back
Neck: (crit/haste) Engraved Amber Pendant (Heroic)

General Pa'valek
Cloak: (hit/crit) Aerial Bombardment Cloak (Heroic)

Wing Leader Ner'onok
Helm: (haste/mastery meta gem/red socket + 180 agility) Windblast Helm (Heroic)

Temple of the Jade Serpent

Wise Mari
Cloak: (crit/mastery) Wind-Soaked Drape (Heroic)

Lorewalker Stonestep
Trinket: (static agility + haste proc) Windswept Pages (Heroic)

Liu Flameheart
Ring: (crit/exp) Signet of Dancing Jade (Heroic)

Sha of Doubt
Shoulders: (hit/exp - heroic red socket + 60 exp) Doubtridden Shoulderguards (Normal) (Heroic)

Mogu'shan Palace

Gekkan
Trinket: (static stamina + dodge proc) Iron Protector Talisman (Normal) (Heroic)

Xin the Weaponmaster
2H Polearm: (crit/haste) Ghostheart (Normal) (Heroic)
Feet: (haste/exp - heroic yellow socket + 60 agi) Boots of Plummeting Death (Normal) (Heroic)


Scarlet Halls

Houndmaster Braun
Hands: (exp/mastery) Hound Trainer's Gloves (Heroic) 

Armsmaster Harlan
Bracers: (crit/mastery) Lightblade Bracer (Heroic)

Flameweaver Koegler 
Neck: (hit/exp) Scorched Scarlet Key (Heroic)

Scarlet Monastery

Brother Korloff
2H Staff: (crit/haste) Firestorm Greatstaff (Heroic)
Chest: (hit/crit - yellow socket + 60 agi) Korloff's Raiment (Heroic) 

High Inquisitor Whitemane
Trinket: (static hit + agility on use) Flashing Steel Talisman (Heroic)
Feet: (crit/mastery - yellow socket + 60 agility) Dashing Strike Treads (Heroic)

Scholomance

Instructor Chillheart
Belt: (crit/mastery) Icewraith Belt (Heroic)

Jandace Barov
Legs: (crit/haste - yellow socket + 60 haste) Ghostwoven Legguards (Heroic)

Lillian Voss
Hands: (hit/haste) Tombstone Gauntlets (Heroic)
Trinket: (static crit/agility proc) Searing Words (Heroic)

Zone: Helm: (hit/crit - meta and yellow socket + 180 agility) Soulburner Crown (Heroic)

Grinding for Archaeology mounts?

So remember that pet and mount you never ever ever got from Tol'vir solves? And how you hated having to bust ass all around Kalimdor for a measly 1 Tol'vir dig site and 3284091238 Night Elf dig sites?

My rogue got lucky, but you may not have!

Well, my pals, those days are over - and honestly, if you're currently trying to get that mount, STOP NOW.

Here's the scoop (and this isn't a full archeology preview, I'm just here to let you know that the Tol'vir mount WILL BE YOURS):

All those extra white/grey items you used to get doing all your other solves are now (with Mogu and Pandaren solves) white items with an on-use that puts them in a crate. Once you have maxed out archeology (which takes very little time in Pandaria) you can trade those crates in for any pre-MOP fragments you like! I had about 25 boxes to turn in when I maxed out my archeology so I got 25 boxes of Tol'vir fragments - they each had 6-9 fragments each and I was able to do 7ish Tol'vir solves right then and there.

Of course, I didn't get the mount to pop but it's only a matter of time, right?!

If you're into achivements, there are some achivements that require you to solve 20 of each white item for the Mogu/Pandaren items so right there is 20 boxes of Tol'vir fragments per achivement!

Not only are you going to get all your Pandaria archeology items and achivements, you will simultaneously be working towards that elusive Tol'vir bug mount.

For a complete archaeology preview, check out the Wowhead Archaeology Preview by she of the best socks, Perculia

Lulls and Changes

Expansion transitions are interesting times. People start to review what they need to finish before they have to worry about leveling again; old achievements, battleground goals, profession material farming and more. So a few posts have been circling about that are listing what folks are trying to finish up before the Mists of Pandaria comes to Azeroth.

Profession Work

With my main swapping from priest to guardian, I had to look at what I needed to get Kalbeari raid ready (aside from leveling her to 90). Currently, I have Leatherworking and Skinning but have gathered all of the mats needed to level Jewelcrafting once Mists hits and I've leveled Leatherworking.

The problem with this set up is that I've recently found out that Alchemy will blow JC out of the water for my choice of second crafting profession. Currently, the Guardian druid mastery is scaling things like armour elixirs and potions, (GC confirmed that it is intended) and with the Alchemist perk Mixology, it's clear that I'll have to farm mats for yet another profession.

The plan is to level in Mists with LW and Skinning, then drop Skinning and powerlevel my second profession - Alchemy.

Filling Time

There are things that Kaleri has that I would like Kalbeari to have, so I've been leveling my cooking and fishing so that she'll be self-sufficient. I picked up a Dalaran ring, and a guild cloak for easy transportation back and forth.

I've been doing mount runs every Tuesday with Serrine and Serrath two guildmates of mine, and so far we have: an Ashes of A'lar (mine), a Blue Drake from Malygos (Serrinne) and an Azure Drake from Malygos (to Serrath). Not bad for about a month's work!

Caw! Caw!

Raising some gold is a priority, too. I've never been super rich in WoW and with the introduction of some big gold sinks (Grand Expedition Yak, new JC mounts, Black Market Auction House) I'd like to have some extra gold.

I've tanked an LFR on the Beta, watched a bunch of livestreams and videos, recorded my loot list and have generally been itching for new content. I want to make sure I'm as prepared as possible!

Blog News

With main-swapping comes the consideration of what this blog will be once Mists rolls out. I originally intended to write about priests and raiding but I feel that once I am no longer playing my priest I won't carry the same authority that I did in Cataclysm.

I've asked my friend Sara (@SerrinneWoW) if she would be interested in writing some posts come Mists of Pandaria for priest related info, so expect to see some posts written by her in the future. (Plus that means I can keep part of the blog name the same - bonus!)

I'll still be here, but you can expect some more tank-centric and druid related articles from me in the future.

The url of this blog may be changing, not sure to what yet - have to pick a good name! If you notice some funky things happening with the layout and background don't worry, it's just me futzing around with some changes for Mists.

What are you doing to prepare for Mists? Are you taking some time off between expansions? What are you up to in the meantime?