Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Level 80: Planning

Ok, well once I figure out what is going on with my digital camera, I am going to do a post on my control setup. Inspiration for that is courtesy Ferraro. For now though, I am going to put out some thoughts on pre-raid planning for my ret pally, Tyrol. Yeah my boy needs some attention. I haven't logged on to him to actually play for weeks! Solerian has been getting a lot of my time. In any case, I will level Solerian some more, but I would like to make a little progress on my OG pally. I mean hell he is already 80!

Time for me is starting to come at a bit of a premium. I have a lot to do, and not nearly enough time to do it. From my baby girl, to school, to work, to friends, to WoW, there is just too much to do. To make matters worse, it would seem that there are about as many things to do in WoW. Rep, professions, gear, and earning some money would be enough. And then there are achievements to boot! And to me, it can get overwhelming, especially since I have a habit of flying by the seat of my pants. So, I need a plan. And that is something I can do outside the game. So first things first. I need to prioritize:

-Gear up for Heroics
-Gear up for PVP
-Level up my Enchanting to at least 410
-Drop engineering, decide on a new secondary profession, level accordingly to a minimum of 410

So from there, I know the first thing I am going to look at is my PvE gear. My PvE gear is pretty sad right now. I sport low crit, high hit, and no expertise. So what are we aiming for?

-As much Strength as possible
-Hit rating needs to be at 230 approx (woot for Heroic Presence!)
-Expertise rating needs to be at 214 approx
-Crit should be in the mid 20% range at least. Obviously the more crit the better, but it has to be balanced
-Armor Penetration and Haste are going to be ignored for now, avoided even. Per Elitist Jerks, they don't do much for us anyway, and I feel that it would be wasted item budget at this stage of the game

So with that in mind, lets find some easy upgrades for my current equipment. Keep in mind, this gear is going to try to avoid any heroic Dungeon or Raid.

Head: None at the Moment
Neck: The Severed Noose of Westwind - Icecrown Quest Chain
Shoulder: Spaulders of the Giant Lords - Sons of Hodir Revered
Back: Cloak of Bloodied Waters - BoE Drop (hopefully I can spot it in the AH)
Chest: Whalebone Carapace - The Kalu'ak
Wrist: Vengeance Bindings - BS Crafted
Hand: Astrid's Riding Gloves - Storm Peaks Quest Chain
Waist: None at the moment
Legs: Cold-Blood Legplates - Storm Peaks Quest Chain
Feet: Death-Inured Sabatons - Knights of the Ebon Blade Exalted
Ring: Ring of Scarlet Shadows - JC Crafted
Ring: None at the Moment
Trinket: Crusader's Locket - In the bank I think
Trinket: Not Sure
Weapon: Runeblade of Demonstrable Power - Knights of the Ebon Blade Revered
Libram: None at the Moment

Next post, we will look at enchants, gems, and armor kits for this gear.

6 comments:

K said...

Have you considered Spiked Titansteel Helm? It's a crafted epic item, meta socket.

113 str, 60 agi, hit rating 60.

For a weapon, consider Titansteel Destroyer. 186.5 dps (3.4 speed), 124 str, hit rating 54.

It's also a craftable item. Kinda pricey, but so nice.

My big issue with my raiding ret is expertise. I have a big walloping 0 in it.

I'm going to be looking through wowhead for any easy upgrades I can get for it. *lesigh*

K said...

Though, if you're going for planning and getting a crafted weapon, Titansteel Bonecrusher is more mat-heavy, but has expertise instead of hit rating.

Dradis said...

Both are fine choices. I need an in game sugar mama though for those :P Although, I think I will check out the mats and maybe start hording them.

And yeah, I feel ya on the expertise. I have like none as well. If only the T7 would swap some of that crappy haste for expertise rating......

K said...

I just did a post on expertise (prompted by you in part), which have a few options if you're interested or having problems finding something.

Mister K said...

First of all, SPOOONNN!!! Saw it by your pic! I used that as the title of my second ever blog post.
Next you should check out the post at

http://www.tankingtips.com/2009/01/07/expertise-is-always-better-than-hit/

Expertise is more important than any of us ever realised

Dradis said...

Thanks guys! Both were really good reads! DPS gear with expertise is in real short supply, as your post points out K.