Effective gearing usage per situation

I am beginning to realize that for most of the standard content and really most of the 10 man stuff, I don't need to use my tank gear at all. My dps set is more than adequate thanks to the fact a lot of the key stats like agility and armor are relatively the same. They key mitigation I gain comes from talents, not so much gear. It is only in some Naxx-25 situations (hatefuls on Patchwerk for example), that I really need to strap on my gear with more defense, dodge, stamina, and expertise. Even then I think I could squeak by without it most of the time if the healers keep up. It's a blessing and a curse to be able to switch around gear for any situation. It just takes a LOT longer to fill out two sets of upgrades. Flexibility is nice, but not without a price.

Pug raiding the Flame Leviathan

Flame Leviathan - Check
Pugs - Check
Raid Leader not on vent - Check
3 hours of wipes - Check

Turrets down - CH....oh wait we didnt do that
Flame Leviathan downed - DOH! FAIL.
Xarnen gold lost to repairs = 100g

I still fail to see why wearing your highest iLvl items and pre-buffing the raid has ANY effect on survivability or DPS. I'll have to confirm this for sure, otherwise I'm downing it nekkid and unbuffed. I didn't calculate dps, but vehicle health didn't change. I also wonder if pre-casting a few debuffs on the boss will work. I am thinking quick and easy things like Curse of Elements or Faerie Fire? Will have to test it out. :-D

Hope for this week

This week I hope I can garner some "meaningful" upgrades to Xarnen's tanking set of gear. Right now I see some serious deficiencies with my gear. Ideally I'd like to snag Hood of the Exodus, Defender's Code, and Boundless Ambition or Heritage. Hit rating is becoming a concern in full mitigation gear forcing me to stick with Icewalker enchant on my boots, and Gored-Hide Legguards. My dps set is pretty solid, although again I'd like to upgrade my helm and start dumping heroics gear with +hit in favor of some more crit/agi/ap (and still keep +hit up there). On the resto side of the fence I'm feeling pretty solid for Naxx-25, although I'd very much like a better mace and trinket that I can get in heroics.

Reelacks I think is going to fall on wayside a while. I think he's going to be a dumping ground for amassing enchanting mats for a while. Gear wise, he is solid enough for 25man content without setting foot in Naxx.

Nenrax will be a key focus when not raiding or doing other Xarnen-esque activities. I can taste maxing out jewelcrafting, and that will be key for long term gold making. You'll note(from my intro post) the other "project" toons. I am somewhat interested in playing at least the shaman, but otherwise they serve for one purpose - crafting. The goal here is to have most of the major professions well in tow. It's a very long term project as you can see. I am still debating on how best to handle Exxiss, but I think Blacksmithing will yield the longest term best bet for him. However I think he'll take a backseat as DKs start with no trade skill points. My best bet after Nenrax for any serious leveling will be Raxnen. Although I don't care for priest (originally was made to have a healer toon but with dual spec Xarnen is taking the cake there), Alchemy will be invaluable profession. It should cover all the basics needs between at least 4 of them, with Xar's LW, Ree's Enchanting/Tailoring, Nen's JC, and Rax's alchemy. Again, it's a long term goal for all of this. Realistically, I see having Nen get up there before this summer. Having 3 crafter toons all maxed out should be able to maintain Xar pretty well without much cost. Getting the alchemist will be key to self sustainence. Blacksmithing and inscription will be nice eventually, but much much longer term. There will be a point of too many toons to manage, and by the time I'd get them all there, it'll be expansion time again(maybe).

Weekend mumblings

I spent a good deal of time (as usual lately) playing this weekend.

Xarnen - most of the weekend was doing odds and ends as well as clearing Naxx-10. I didn't obtain any really useful gear updates (nothing great really dropped other than the tier helm and I lost the roll on that). However I did obtain the key to Eye of Eternity, and TWO shiny new mounts this weekend! We ran a timed run of Heroic Culling of Stratholme, and I rolled and won the bronze drake. Also while fishing up some tasty dragonfin angelfish outside of Naxx, I snagged the rare and coverted Sea Turtle mount.

Nenrax - I finally brought him out of hiding for a good run this weekend. Leveled up from 54-58 with nearly 50% rested XP still remaining. I also got jewelcrafting up from 218 to 262. I think I will play out this rested xp this week, finishing up quests in Winterspring and Felwood. Although he's 58 and can go to Outlands, I think I'll keep this guy in Kalimdor and farm up the rest of the needed gems and ore to max out Jewelcrafting. I'm also getting a lot closer to completing the 685 quests in Kalimdor. I still have all of Silithus to do, so after that we shall see if going for the achievement is worth it. At worst I get to 60-61 and finish off JC. I also have to level up my lockpicking(mutter) as it's sitting sadly at 172. Other than that, I need a solid hour of fishing to get to 300 and first aid and cooking are well into the 290s.

Here we go

Hi and welcome to Demoralizing Roar. This is "yet another World of Warcraft blog" spamming the internet. Seriously though, I am using this is as a personal forum to improve my writing skills, collect my thoughts about my experiences playing WoW, and anything else that comes to mind.

Who am I on this WoW thing? I have several "toons", and I will list the "regulars" and the "projects".

The Regulars
Xarnen - level 80
Tauren Druid - Feral(Tank)/Restoration - Skinner/Leatherworker
Reelacks - level 80
Undead Warlock - Affliction - Enchanter/Tailor
Nenrax - level 58
Troll Rogue - Combat - Mining/Jewelcrafting

The Projects
Raxnen - level 24
Blood Elf Priest - Shadow - Herbalist/Alchemist
Nenxar - level 14
Tauren Shaman - SPEC TBD - Herbalist/Inscriptionist
Exxis - level 62
Orc Death Knight - SPEC Unholy - TRADES TBD