Mend Pet

This week we had our first experience with the Plagueworks of Icecrown Citadel.  I have to say, it’s a bit of a challenge.  First, we have Frogger 2.0.  A few torpid people in our raid even died to it… I won’t name names, to protect my their integrity.

Then came the Valkyr mobs.  And after getting overpowered by our own selves, we managed to take these mobs out by focusing on the Valkyrs instead of the ghosts.  That seems to work most of the time.

Onto the puppies, Precious and Stinky!  It’s true that they’re almost mini-versions of Gluth from Naxxramas, even their abilities.  It just goes to show you how much more difficult this place will be if they are using old bosses as trash!  In the end, they weren’t very difficult.  Although I think Precious should have a chance to drop that pretty red ribbon… that could be a fun little trinket.

We first went in and had our way with Festergut.  After only one wipe, we managed to get him down.  It takes a bit of coordination but it certainly is manageable.  Loot was dropped, and it was of the hunter loot variety.  Yay!  Things were swell.

… And then came Rotface.  Buttface is more like it!  We’ve now spent several hours (about one and a half raid nights) fighting him, and still haven’t gotten him down.  It was a bit demoralizing to see wipe after wipe and very little in the way of improvement… we really couldn’t even see where to improve.  You see, the problem with that fight (at least using our initial strategy) is that it’s a difficult and interesting fight really only for the slime tank.  The rest of us get to side step around the boss every 30 seconds or so, and maybe even kite a slime to the slime tank.  That’s about it.  After many, many hours of this, it gets a bit boring.

Not to mention “Good news, everyone!” and “Great news, everyone!” being shouted into your ear repeatedly!  For once, I was actually tempted to turn my game sounds off completely just to keep some piece of sanity!

After a second night of wiping on Buttface, analyzing what was killing us and some good looks at videos and various slime-kiting strategies, we’ve managed to lock down on a new way to do it and we’re very confindent he’s going to be down for the count next week.  Stay tuned!

Last night, I finally took the leap and joined a Naxx 10 PUG on my paladin.  It was supposed to be a “badge run”, but it didn’t turn out that way… like most PUGs.

I did realize that I’ve actually never pugged a raid before!  (Other than OS10 +0 and VoA, of course.)  I actually had a lot of fun, and it wasn’t as frustrating as I expected it to be.

We breezed through Patchwerk, but unfortunately… Grobbulus didn’t go so smoothly, and we had to replace several people who follow the “Disconnect after 1 wipe” rule.  Once we brought in some stronger DPS though, we managed to get through.

I picked up 3 upgrades and 2 healing pieces (like I’m ever going to heal!) and made a new friend to PUG with on Dark Iron.  Yay!

But as far as badge run goes… It took us 5 and a half hours to make it through 3 wings, and by the time we started on Military, I was just too tired and antsy.  I don’t like to play for more than about 4 hours, and I’d been online for nearly 8 hours straight… yikes!  Didn’t help that Military is my least favourite wing, too.

It would have been nice to see KT, but there is no way the group we had would be able to 1-shot 4 Horsemen, Sapph or Kel’thuzad, so it’d still take several additional hours… so I called it a night.

Hoping to get more chances to raid on my paladin!

Maybe you read my Pre-raid Gear List for Anti-social Ret Paladins and thought to yourself, “But I’m not anti-social!  I hate rep grinds and wasting gold on gear.”

Then this is the list for you.  If you feel lucky enough to win the RNG game, or you just plan love to run dungeons and heroics, you can find a list of gear you’ll want to keep an eye out for.

I’ve also included Dungeon quest rewards in here, so you should pick up those quests for guaranteed ‘drops’.

Which dungeons should you be running the most, though?  Well, going through this list… the dungeons with the most possible upgrade are Violet Hold (7) and Halls of Lightning (9).  Chances are, something will drop that you’ll need.  What ones aren’t worth your time?  Azjol-Nerub (2) and Old Kingdom (2).  Yay!  No one likes those ones anyway, right?

Make sure you also check out all the non-instanced gear, there are some amazing items there if you’re willing to work for them!  Certainly the best gear set will come from a combined effort of instances and solo stuff, but not everyone has both as an option.

Head

• [Chitin Shell Greathelm] Anub’arak, Azjol-Nerub (Heroic)
  The only drop with a meta slot, which makes this pretty valuable.
• [Planetary Helm] Loken, Halls of Lightning (Heroic)
• [Faceguard of Punishment] Quest, Utgarde Pinnacle
• [Brann's Lost Mining Helmet] Krystallus, Halls of Stone

Neck

• [Pendant of the Outcast Hero] 25 Emblems of Heroism
• [Necklace of Arcane Spheres] Xevoss, Violet Hold (Heroic)
• [Gold Amulet of Kings] Yimiron, Utgarde Pinnacle (Heroic)
• [Necklace of the Chrono-Lord] Chrono Lord Epoch, Culling of Stratholme

Shoulder

• [Snake Den Spaulders] Slad’ran, Gundrak (Heroic)
• [Pauldrons of the Lightning Revenant] Ionar, Halls of Lightning
• [Shoulderplates of the Beholder] Moragg, Violet Hold
• [Chiseled Stalagmite Pauldrons] Oronok, Nexus
• [Mantle of Volkhan] Quest, Halls of Lightning

Back

• [Shroud of Reverberation] Volkhan, Halls of Lightning (Heroic)
  Expertise is always useful (well, until you hit the cap).
• [Cloak of the Gushing Wound] Erekem, Violet Hold (Heroic)
• [Embrace of Sorrow] Maiden of Grief, Halls of Stone
• [Centrifuge Core Cloak] Varos, Occulus
  This is your answer if you’re already hit and expertise capped.

Chest

• [Breastplate of Undeath] Novos the Summoner,Drak’tharon Keep (Heroic)
  
• [Bonegrinder Breastplate] Prince Taldaram, Old Kingdom (Heroic)
  
• [Engraved Chestplate of Eck] Eck, Gundrak
• [Wing Commander's Breastplate] Varos Cloudstrider, Occulus
• [Breastplate of Jagged Stone] Quest, Halls of Lightning
• [Forlorn Breastplate of War] Moorabi, Gundrak

Bracers

• [Bands of the Stoneforge] Sjonnir, Halls of Stone (Heroic)
• [Golden Limb Bands] Krik’thir, Azjol-Nerub (Heroic)
• [Vambraces of the Vengeance Bringer] Quest, Utgarde Keep

Gloves

• [Gauntlets of Dragon Wrath] Eregos, Occulus (Heroic)
• [Gauntlets of Capture] Cyanigosa, Violet Hold (Heroic)
• [Fists of Loken] Loken, Halls of Lightning
• [Gauntlets of The Culling] Quest, Culling of Stratholme
• [Plate Claws of the Dragon] Cyanigosa, Violet Hold

Waist

• [Flame-Bathed Steel Girdle] Keristraza, Nexus (Heroic)
• [Verdungo's Barbarian Cord] 40 Emblems of Heroism
• [The General's Steel Girdle] General Bjarngrin, Halls of Lightning (Heroic)
• [Strategist's Belt] Prince Keleseth, Utgarde Keep (Heroic)
• [Spiked Metal Cilice] Salramm the Fleshcrafter, Culling of Stratholme

Legs

• [Staggering Legplates] Ingvar, Utgarde Keep (Heroic)
  80 hit rating?  Yowza!
• [Legplates of Steel Implants] Meathook, Culling of Stratholme (Heroic)
• [Legplates of the Oculus Guardian] Varos Cloudstrider, Occulus
• [Ancient Royal Legguards] King Ymiron, Utgarde Pinnacle

Boots

• [Rift Striders] Anomalus, Nexus (Heroic)
  Mmmm, red socket….
• [Echoing Stompers] Svala Sorrowgrave, Utgade Keep (Heroic)
• [The Obliterator Greaves] Zuramat, Violet Hold (Heroic)
• [Enticing Sabatons] Quest, Drak’tharon Keep

Finger

• [Hemorrhaging Circle] Galdarah, Gundrak (Heroic)
  33 expertise will be a great boost while you work towards the cap.
• [Band of Frosted Thorns] Oronok, Nexus
• [Mobius Band] Chrono Lord Epoch, Culling of Stratholme
• [Bjarngrim Family Signet] General Bjarngrim, Halls of Lightning

Trinket

• [Mirror of Truth] 40 Emblems of Heroism
• [Sphere of Red Dragon's Blood] Keristraza, Nexus (Heroic)
  A great filler if you’re low on hit rating.
• [Incisor Fragment] King Dred, Drak’tharon Keep (Heroic)
• [Meteorite Whetstone] King Ymiron, Utgarde Pinnacle (Heroic)

Weapon

• [Colossal Skull-Clad Cleaver] Loken, Halls of Lightning (Heroic)
• [Saliva Corroded Pike] Moragg, Violet Hold (Heroic)
• [Sword of Justice] Tribunal of Ages, Halls of Stone (Heroic)
• [Mojo Masked Crusher] The Prophet Tharon’ja, Drak’tharon Keep (Heroic)
• [Hammer of Grief] Maiden of Grief, Halls of Stone (Heroic)
• [Edge of Oblivion] Jedoga Shadowseeker, Old Kingdom (Heroic)
• [Wyrmclaw Battleaxe] Eregos, Occulus
• [Dreadlord's Blade] Dark-runed Chest, Culling of Stratholme

Libram

• [Libram of Reciprocation] 15 Emblems of Heroism
  As of 3.1, this Libram is pretty useless.  This may change in 3.2 when they get rid of Seals of Blood and Martyr, but right now I can only see someone picking this up to finish off their Superior achievement.

Disclaimer: This post was accurate as of patch 3.1.3.

Quite a long time ago, I wrote a post for Hunters similar to this.  Well, I find myself in a similar situation once again:  Hoping to upgrade my gear, but not always able to run heroics, and certainly not a big fan of relying on random drops.

So here’s a list for fledgling Retribution Paladins who would like to upgrade their quested greenies without having to depend on groups or the dreaded RNG!

Note: This list doesn’t include any items that require a specific profession to be equipped, such as Engineering helms, Jewelcrafting trinkets or Blacksmith weapons.  If you have a crafting profession, be sure to check your profession trainer to see what you can make!

(See the list after the break!)
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Well, I’m almost recovered from my wisdom tooth extraction!  It’s been five days, but I learned this morning that it’s still not safe to eat mini-wheats.  So I continue on my pudding and mashed potatoes diet until further notice!

I spent the last 4 days at home sitting around… playing my paladin.  Almost exclusively.  Boy oh boy, do I love playing retribution! <3

Ghugh got to run half a dozen or so Heroics, and even managed to get in on a PUG OS10 run.  He started off Thursday morning with mostly quest blues and greens, and now he’s only 1 item away from his [Superior] achievement – his Libram, which probably won’t be replaced til Naxx.

"So... what're you in for?"

I’ve also decided to spoil this kid rotten with BoE epics when I get the chance.  He’s already sporting [Spiked Titansteel Helm], [Ice Striker's Cloak], [Titansteel Destroyer] and I even spent a solid 1.5k gold on [Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress].

Between PUGs, he’s been finishing up some questing… and I have learned how much I hate Icecrown quests.  HATE.  Some of them sound neat in concept, but they fail to mention if you don’t do it just right, YOU’RE GONNA DIE! Grrr.  And all those group quests?  Yeah, screw that.

I must admit I haven’t even logged onto Hydraxis since Tuesday’s raid… it’s been a nice break.  It’s also been interesting to see the differences in each class.  It’s great to be able to heal myself, and I feel more valuable to be able to cure diseases or whatever (you know, click the little decursive buttons when it yells at me!)  But I have yet to master the art of GTFO of Whirlwind.  Sigh.