Yes, it is almost here.  Many of you will have Wrath in your hands in a matter of mere hours.  Personally I will not be attending any midnight release party, as I have this thing called "work" the next day anyhow.    Given the state of the servers right now, though, I wouldn’t bank on getting a lot of playtime in anyway!  I am as excited as anyone, and I’m glad that it’s finally nearly here. 

Admittedly, I still have no real idea of who I will level in the expansion.  The problem is that I have more options than I did previously.  I have my 70 Druid (who I will spec to go BOOM) and 70 Hunter, and I also have a 65 Priest and Warrior to choose from.  In some ways, I lean towards leveling my latest, the Warrior.

So, about that Warrior.  He has been pleasantly rocking Outlands’ socks off.  I managed to hold back and wait until level 60 before I hit the Outlands with him, and I don’t regret it. 

I am taking full advantage of the new exp curve from 60-70 and, of course, using Jame’s Leveling Guide as well.  The change to the leveling curve is HUGE too, in case you were wondering.  A 30% reduction when you’re talking about those gaudy 400k+ numbers is big, real big. 

Here is a real world example of how it’s working.  I started my Warrior in the outlands about 10k exp into level 60.  By the time I did every quest in Hellfire short of the instance quests, I was well into level 63.  He is now in Zangarmarsh, and I dinged 65 there with roughly HALF the quests done.  At this rate, I could ding 70 in Nagrand or Terokkar, never setting foot in Blade’s Edge, Netherstorm, or Shadow Moon Valley.  I must say, I approve of this change. 

Now, about that Warrior, and the whole post title and everything.  This Arms spec Warrior may be the most fun I’ve ever had with a spec.  Sure, the Hunter could really wipe multiple mobs, and the Druid’s versatility allowed him to take on anything, including elites he shouldn’t have been able to solo, but nothing had the in-your-face power that the Warrior is showing me.  Of course much of this has to do with the new talents available in the Arms tree.  Let’s take a look at the three talents that are making things dead quick.

Until I hit 65, this was by far my favorite talent.  One of the allures about playing a Warrior, for me, is big, bad, devastating weapons.  After playing a Resto Druid for quite awhile, where my weapon hangs unused at my side, I wanted something that got a little blood on it.  With the Warrior’s up close and personal style, I get just that. 

I’ve always LOVED Overpower with the warrior, it just plain didn’t proc often enough for my liking.    This talent changes all of that, and with the Improved Overpower from earlier in the tree, Overpower has over a 50% chance to Crit!!  Add in one giant axe, and my eyes light up every time Overpower does.

Another, similar talent, with similarly devastating results.  If you like big hits, you’ll love execute.  The problem is the mob had to be below 15% for it to proc, and by that point much of your huge hits could be wasted.  On a side note, I’ve never raided as a Warrior (obviously) but I understand Execute can be a big part of a DPS Warrior’s power in raids.

Not only do I get to use Execute ALL THE TIME, but it also allows me to hang onto 10 rage after using it.  It seems small at first blush, but rage is everything to a warrior.  If Overpower happens to light up after I hit execute, I still have the rage to get that off as well.  What often happens is a little synergy develops between these two talents.  Quite often my Overpower crits which then lights up Execute.  There are times I’ve bounced back and forth between those two attacks, and it is quite the sight to see, trust me.  There have been times when I have 3 shot equal level mobs in the Outlands with Rend –> Overpower –> Execute.  Nasty.

You know how I said Taste for Blood USED to be my favorite talent?  That was until I got to 65, and picked up the top tier arms talent, Bladestorm.  In case you don’t quite understand what this does, it basically turns you into the boss from a 5-man.  Seriously.  Think the woman from the married couple in Arcatraz. 

Here are instructions on how to have fun with Bladestorm.  Run around a zone, and grab a whole crap load of mobs.  Don’t be picky, grab as many as you like, of as many different types.  Find yourself a nice, pleasant spot, with oodles of mobs in tow.  Next turn around and cackle and give the mobs a warning in your best boss voice, that you are about to Bladestorm them all into oblivion.  Hit Bladestorm and enjoy the bloodbath.  Repeat as needed. 

This talent is really, really sick.  While I’ve rarely been in fear of multiple mob fights with the Warrior, now I actively seek them out.  I feel like a Prot Pally AOE grinding.  When I hit 70 (or 80) I was planning on speccing to tank.  I don’t know if  I can do that now, because of Bladestorm.

So there you have it.  Those are the reasons that I am LOVING live as a Warrior.  My NaNoWriMo project is going well, but don’t believe my number count up there.  I really have to keep that updated!  I also have a good post idea or two that I’m letting simmer, so expect to see some "bigger" posts some time in the near future.

Lastly, enjoy Wrath, and if any of you have recommendations on who I should level, I’m open to them.  I’m not so worried about the NAME of the blog influencing my decision.  I’ve always thought my blog was more about the "Part Time" and less about the "Druid."  Thanks for reading!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under Warrior. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.