It’s been a little quiet around here lately, sorry about that.  I’m a key player in a HUUUUGE project at work, and our launch is this weekend.  It’s been one of those weeks.  I’m sur a lot of you out there can sympathize.  Anyhow, here’s a little bit about the latest goings on with PTD.

The Shammy Ditches the Elekk

As a lot of you know, I’ve been working my Stormwind rep so I can dump the hated Elekk with my Shammy.  I’m so sick of getting STUCK everywhere, I can’t take it anymore.  Well, the deed is done.  I conveniently saved the last couple of turnins that would push me to exalted for the mini quest hub in Elwynn where horses are sold.  The first thing I did was destroy that stupid Elekk mount.  Poor guy, don’t tell PETA.

Do I want to delete? HELL YEAH! I hopped on the cheapest horse on the lot, a beat up Pinto.

Wow, I sure look big on that thing.  I actually feel kinda sorry for that horse.  I hope he has a warranty!

So there it is.  Exalted Stormwind rep with my Shammy.  As an added bonus, I know where I’ll be vendoring and repairing from here on out!

Hunter Gears Up in Karazhan

I also put together a Kara run last night.  It seemed like it might not go off, and I actually half-cancelled it, when suddenly two of our best tanks threw their hats in the ring.  We had 2 priests, a Warrior and Pally for tanks, and a mix of DPS that included my Hunter, 2 Mages, an Enhance Shammy, Kitty Druid and a Fury Warrior.  Interesting mix, to be sure.  Luckily we had the Shammy along who made the melee DPS very strong.

We blasted through pretty much everything.  We had one wipe after the ramp leading to opera, where we accidentally pulled the whole room.  Other than that, we one shot everything, skipping only Illhoof and Netherspite.  We would have gone back, but a couple people had to bail so we called it a night.

Loot-wise, it was both good and bad for me.  I actually got one of the best cloaks a Hunter can have in the Drape of the Dark Reavers.  Nice. I also happened to pick up TWO pairs of gaunts. I got the Gloves of Quickening from Maiden and my T4 gloves, the Demon Stalker Gauntlets from Curator. I already have the Crystalhide Handwraps, so I have some thinking to do there. Anyone have any thoughts on those three? None have enchants as of yet, the Crystalhide are gemmed but with easily replaceable stuff, no epics.

Anyhow, what I REALLY wanted though was a new ranged weapon.  No dice.  No Crossbow from Attumen, no Gun from the BBW (which I REALLY want…I am a dwarf!) and no bow from the Prince.  Bah, humbug.  Someday I will upgrade from my old, blue Valanos’.  I just don’t know when.

Well, that’s about all for now.  I do have some more in depth posts brewing, I just haven’t had the time.  Next week things should start to clear up, right about the time all the adulation and cash starts rolling in at work for the great job I did on the site.  We’ll see.  Thanks for reading!

AH Insanity is killing me.  Honestly.  I had fun leveling my warrior for awhile, got him to 40, and said “yay, time for plate!”  Then I saw the AH.

You have GOT to be kidding me.  10g for a pair of level 40 plate bracers of the Wolf?  25g and up for anything of the Bear or Tiger?  SERIOUSLY??

I mean, aren’t I going to be using this for, like, 5 levels or so?  Which at the present rate of progression amounts to about a week of playing?  /scoff  I guess I’ll be rocking the mail for awhile longer, until I can get some good quest rewards or something.

What I’ve found is that the insanity is all over the place.  Yes, I realize Blizz dumped a crap load of cash into the economy with the SSO dailies, but this is getting ridiculous.  My shammy, now level 45, is still wearing bracers and gloves from level 30.   I refuse to bow to ridiculous prices, and farm with my 70 to outfit an alt.

Now, in some ways I understand the ridiculous prices for, say, level 29 BOE blues.  I know the twinkers fall all over themselves for those.  But this craziness about other sub 70 stuff must end.  How long do we spend in those midlevels anyway?

Now, people -  the only way this will change is if YOU change it!  You must agree to not bow to ridiculously priced green stuff on the AH!  If we work together, we can move mountains, you and I.  We shall overcome!

I’m the Part Time Druid, and I approve this message.

Awhile back I wrote a post about whether it was worth it to level another druid. I started out feral, and there are times I miss that spec’s flexibility. At the time, I didn’t like the idea of spending 50g here and there to switch back and forth.

My how times have changed. Money isn’t nearly the issue it was, since I did manage to pick up my epic flyer. The real difference, though, is gear. In the course of my raiding in Kara and SSC, I’ve gotten most of the healy drops I want. (Well, admittedly there are a few things I’d still like to see, like the [Lightfathom Sceptre] from Lady Vashj, but I haven’t yet killed that blasted Naga.)

Anyhow, I find myself getting the opportunity to roll on a lot of off spec stuff, since if nobody wants something, it doesn’t cost me anything to roll off spec. I’ve ended up with a number of great drops for both tanking and DPS, including the best tanking staff in the game, the [Wildfury Greatstaff].

So, just for giggles, I put on all the bear gear I had collected as an “off spec,” along with gap fillers from my feral days, like some of the clefthoof stuff. What did I end up with? Keep in mind I’m still resto spec’d in this gear, but I was around 20k armor, 10.5k HPs and 401 def. A couple gem swaps and I’m uncrittable.

I wonder. Could a resto spec’d druid tank Shadow Lab?

I realize it’s been some time since I had a big, beefy gear post. Since I’ve been playing my hunter more, and trying to get him geared for 25 man raiding, I thought this might be appropriate. I also found that though there are vast numbers of sites with good lists for Druid gear, the same can’t be said of Hunters. Perhaps its due to the fact that it is much easier to find gear that works for a hunter. They do have both leather and mail available to them, after all, and what they shoot for (Agility, AP, Hit Rating) is pretty easy to find. Anyhow, here goes, slot by slot. I’m going to ignore rings, trinkets, melee weapons and cloaks, as there are just too many choices to pick through. Chances are you’ll happen across good items for these slots as you hunt down the others. All of these items come from normal mode instances (save one that comes from a quest), so if you can get a strong group to pull you through some heroics or Kara, obviously you can do better. It should make for a good starting point, however.

Ranged Weapon

There are three ranged weapons that all hover around the same quality level, one for each type. The Crossbow to get is the [Emberhawk Crossbow]. No agility or hit rating, but it does buff your crit and AP. This crossbow drops in the Arcatraz. The Gun to get, if you are dwarvenly inclined, is the [Telescopic Sharprifle], which drops off the final boss in the Mechanar. This gun has the same DPS rating as the crossbow, with the added benefit of both agility and AP. A solid choice.

Now then, if you’re completely lazy and just want a good starter bow NOW, you can’t do better than a [Valanos' Longbow], which can be had for around 20g on the AH, maybe less. My hunter is STILL using this bow, as I have been unlucky thus far with epic level ranged weapon drops. Some day that Big Bad Wolf will drop his [Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle]!

Head

Now, if you happen to be an engineer, you should have [Surestrike Goggles v2.0], which is one of the best head pieces in the game. If not, go for the [Beast Lord Helm], which also drops off of the last boss in the Mechanar. If you’re hoping for the gun, the Mechanar makes for a perfect instance to farm for multiple drops. This is also a good option because you might want to go for the 2 piece set bonus from Beast Lord, which reduces the cooldown on traps. This is VERY handy in heroics and beyond.

Shoulders

For the shoulder slot, the [Mantle of Perenolde] from the final boss in Old Hillsbrad is a solid choice. It has hit, crit, AP AND two red slots, perfect for +agi or +ap gems.

Belt

The [Rune-Engraved Belt] is a nice choice here. It has agility, AP and Hit rating, and it’s from a quest, so no hoping for it to drop. It comes from the Fel Embers quest in Shattered Halls.

Gloves

While you’re completing the above mentioned quest, you can also find a good pair of gloves. If you have the Beast Lord Helm already, you can get the [Beast Lord Handguards] from the final boss in Shattered Halls. These gloves will serve you VERY well. Sockets, Agility, AP, Stam and Int for a bonus, and a little hit rating if you socket for it. Nice gloves. If Kargath refuses to drop those, he also has the [Wastewalker Gloves] which are VERY nice in their own right. Once you’re into heroics, you can look for other Wastewalker pieces for the nice +hit set bonus. Sure, they’re maybe more for rogues, but they suit a hunter just fine as well.

Chest, Legs, Wrist, and Boots: Magisters’ Terrace

Now, I didn’t realize this when I began my research, but with the release of 2.4, a veritable cornucopia of good hunter gear was brought together in one instance. Magisters’ Terrace. Holy shnikies, Batman, there is some NICE gear in there. There are even epic drops from regular mode.

[Bracers of the Forest Stalker]

These drop off the first boss, just about everything we want in a pair of bracers, Agility, a socket, some AP, and some armor penetration to boot.

[Leggings of the Betrayed]

These legs also drop off Selin Fireheart, the first boss in MagT. Who knows, maybe you get lucky and these and the bracers BOTH drop. Very nice legs here - agility, 3 sockets, AP, and a little haste as an added bonus.

[Hauberk of the War Bringer]

Epic chest. Regular instance. You can’t beat that, eh? Now MagT is a tougher than most other regular instances (I’d call it half heroic), but is doable. You just need to be a little more careful with your group. This is an excellent chest that will serve you well for a good while, probably until you start collecting badges. There is no hit rating to be had on it, but there are those yellow sockets to take advantage of and gem for it a bit. (I haven’t mentioned it before, but for a BM hunter, you want to get to 142 HR to hit the cap.) This chest drops off of Kael’thas himself.

[Sunrage Treads]

Another nice epic drop from Kael’thas. Agility, stamina, a socket, AP and a little more armor ignore. These will last you at least until you get your [Edgewalker Longboots] off of Moroes.

A Note on Crafting Before I Go

You can circumvent a lot of the pain of gear hunting by taking up a tradeskill to make your armor and/or weapons. Like Druids, Hunters can benefit GREATLY from Leatherworking. There are actually three different sets they can make that are useful. Fel Skin, Felstalker, and Netherscale Armor. With all those choices, and the very raid useful [Drums of Battle], Leatherworking may be a VERY good investment for a hunter.

Well, there you have it. Obviously, this is not intended to be the ultimate gear list, but simply a cheat sheet to get you started. That should get you well on your way to heroics and Karazhan, and before long maybe you’ll be putting an arrow in Lady Vashj’s eye. Thanks for reading!

Ya see, even casuals can save up 5k gold! Thank you Shattered Sun! Oh, and just so you know, I am NOT a female Draenei. That’s my Dwarf Hunter who had recently had a mishap with the Toshley’s Station transport!