Brewmaster Tanking (Updated April 17, 2012)

During beta, I did some minor experimenting while trying out the Brewmaster at early levels (10-15). I have officially come to the opinion that the Brewmaster will probably be the best AoE tank overall (think Blood and Thunder Warriors on steroids). Even at early levels, the Brewmaster will not be lacking in abilities to pull and hold threat.

I recommend becoming familiar with the Brewmaster's basic tanking methods while still in the beginning area of your race. The Pandaren's Pai-Wei Forest/Crash Site areas are the best for this (and even if you don't intend to keep the toon, try practicing with it), but other decent areas should be available for either faction. My recommendation is to locate places where there are groups of two to four aggressive (non-elite) mobs that are one or two levels below you -- this forces you to concentrate to keep yourself from being killed, but gives you enough leeway to learn where to place your keybinds, adjust your rotation, and learn situational awareness.

((Please note, this may change between now and the actual release of WoW: Mists of Pandaria.))


Moves
Stance of the Sturdy Ox
Learned by hitting level 10 and speccing into Brewmaster, Stance of the Sturdy Ox is the Monk's equivalent of the Warrior's Protection stance. As of the beta today, it reduces damage taken by 20%, reduces the chance to be critically hit by 6%, increases the Monk's HP by 30%, increases the chance to proc Stagger (covered below) by 25%. Funnily enough, when you activate the stance, you temporarily look like Jackie Chan did once he found his limit of balance in the Drunken Master movie.

Stagger
A passive learned by hitting level 10 and speccing into Brewmaster, Stagger is an interesting ability. When it procs, the Monk will only take half of the damage being inflicted, with the other half becoming a DoT for damage every 3 seconds for nine seconds. It sounds confusing, but it's actually an amazing ability.

Here's a scenario: You're a Brewmaster with 30K HP and, before it dies, an enemy hits you three times with a move that usually inflicts 10K damage per blow -- killing damage. But Stagger procs right before the first blow lands, which actually changes the amount of damage you take -- now you're only getting smacked for 5K per blow, leaving you with half your HP. The mob dies and the healer can easily get you up to full HP while the DoT dealing the other 15K damage pops up, later with damage averaged out over the course of the 9 seconds (so basically 5K damage each 3 seconds for 9 seconds).

Please note that not all scenarios will be this straightforward, but it does give you a good idea of how the ability works. It eases the stress on the healer and can also give the Brewmaster time to heal themselves enough to prevent a death. It will improve and drop the amount of damage inflicted based on Mastery, so those with high mastery may be able to negate damage altogether...this remains to be seen, though. The only thing about Stagger is how unpredictable the procs are; something that elicited a proc in one run might not draw the proc in another (or may proc for an entire battle), so please have a backup plan in case Stagger doesn't pop for you.

Drunken Haze
Learned by hitting level 10 and speccing into Brewmaster, Drunken Haze will be the staple of threat generation and maintenance well into your higher levels. With Drunken Haze, the Brewmaster throws a keg of beer at a location, generating high threat and inflicting a 15% speed debuff on all units in the targeted area. Additionally, all units affected by Drunken Haze have a 3% chance to misdirect their attack and hurt themselves with it. Please note five things about this ability:

1. The keg is thrown at an area designated by a targeting circle. This circle is placed just like the AoE abilities of the Death Knight, Mage and Warlock, so you don't have to be facing the area you want as long as it is within the 40-yard reach.
2. There's no limit to the number of units affected. You heard me. It could be a dungeon like Grim Batol (that little piece of in-game hell) and the tank can pull and debuff an entire pack of mobs with one Drunken Haze. As long as they are within the targeting circle, they're going to get nailed and debuffed.
3. The keg thrown by Drunken Haze has a fairly slow travel time. While the move is considered instant, there's a delay of about a half-second to a full second between the throw and the actual impact. Shorter distances don't have the delay issue as much as longer distances and places where elevation might be a factor, but it works well because there's additional splash (no pun intended) that will catch another yard or two just in case your original target shifts a little.
4. Drunken Haze stacks...up to three times. No, I'm not joking. There's a possibility to inflict up to 45% speed debuff and a 9% chance of misdirection on the mobs attacking you. As a tank, this is huge. The last thing you want, or need, is a low-health mob breaking loose and trying to pull another pack in the middle of an already dangerous, high-damage situation (*cough* heroic Stonecore *cough* <_< ).
5. This move has no cooldown, but refreshes based on your swing timer (weapon speed and haste interaction). So just in case you have that pally in your party that forgets to turn off Righteous Fury, or the hunter that pulls a little too much, you will still be able to control the mobs...or let them die, it's up to you. >3

Keg Smash
Keg Smash has the Brewmaster slam a keg down on the targeted unit, inflicting X amount of damage to the unit with Y amount of damage as splash to 2 nearby enemy units and causing the next attack they use within 6 seconds to misfire and hurt themselves. Generates 2 Chi orbs. Eight second cooldown. Uses 40 Energy. If Drunken Haze wasn't a good reason for Brewmasters being effective as AoE tanks, then this move certainly is.

Please note, this move isn't available until level 11, but when it becomes available you will use it...a lot. It should be substituted for Jab and its variants (Cleave, Clobber, Slice, Club) whenever it is off cooldown, especially in a situation where there are multiple mobs to contain or you are in desperate need of orbs to use Tiger Palm or Blackout Kick.

Taunt
Despite being the tank's staple for pulling mobs, this isn't available to the Brewmaster until level 14. Most Brewmasters will settle for Drunken Haze, but in situations where a bit more finesse is required this will be the move to pull a mob.

Proposed Basic Tanking Rotation for Lower Levels

For Single Target Tanking

1. Drunken Haze (up to 3 stacks and keep it up)
2. Keg Smash (whenever cooldown is up)
3. Tiger Palm (up to two times, when there are two or more orbs)
4. Jab (x2 -- whenever Keg Smash is down and you need orbs)
5. Blackout Kick (add to rotation at < 35% or whenever you are in need of orbs)

For Multi-Target Tanking

1. Drunken Haze (up to 3 stacks and keep it up)
2. Keg Smash (whenever cooldown is up)
3. Tiger Palm/Jab (only once per mob) -- This is a special case where it is recommended you alternate the two moves while tabbing between mobs. The reason is to generate threat evenly while keeping enough energy in reserve to use Jab, but also supplying yourself with enough orbs to use Tiger Palm and Blackout Kick when needed. This is why Keg Smash is so important, it gives two orbs and sets up the Brewmaster for this pattern.
4. Blackout Kick (add to rotation at < 35% or whenever you are in need of orbs)

* Other moves to assist are: Taunt.

With FCAT coming up and various work-related assignments in my lap, I haven't had a lot of time to post here. It's okay, though.

I managed a few moments to check my other things and found out I got a beta for WoW: Mists of Pandaria. While I have played a little bit, I haven't played nearly enough to get down all the nuances, but I have noted a few things in between falling asleep in my chair. (Not the game's fault...I promise. It's probably going to be as good as Burning Crusade was. D:  )

Changes to Shadow Priests

• Devouring Plague is no more; Shadow Word: Pain is now the only DoT, with an insta-damage portion. Unfortunately, SW:P is no longer refreshed by Mind Flay and you must re-apply it every 18 seconds. There were no glyphs to change this.
• Tendrils have roughly 29K health (at level 85) and a better animation. (Think miniature versions of Yogg-Saron's tentacles.)
• Alternate resource is Shadow Orbs. They are gained through use of normal moves and can be used for Shadowy Apparitions (better known as Phantasm from the current Cata talent tree), which can be dispatched on command and cost no mana. (Similar to the Holy Power system in Cata.)
• Evangelism no longer restores mana, but it buffs attacks 5% per stack. I believe there's also a glyph which allows mana regeneration, but it might increase the cooldown. (I have to go back and look.)
• Glyph of Shadowfiend has remained the same.
• Dispersion and glyphed Shadowfiend (with Hymn of Hope for absolute emergencies) are your best bets of recouping mana. For the most part, a Shadow Priest probably shouldn't drop below 50-75% mana (using the rotation I have below) unless they're doing heavy AoE and Mass Dispelling.
• Vampiric Embrace is no longer a perma-buff on the Priest. It is now an instant-cast spell on a three-minute cooldown. Despite this limitation, it has increased effectiveness of healing everyone in a nearby area -- for 50% of the damage done by the Priest to a single target.
•  From what I've done on a training dummy and in the first dungeon (Temple of the Jade Serpent), the basic rotation is:

1. Vampiric Touch (refresh as needed)
2. Shadow Word: Pain (refresh as needed)
3. Mind Blast (when off cooldown)
4. Shadowy Apparitions (at three Shadow Orbs)
5. Mind Flay (to fill space when MB is on cooldown)
6. Shadow Word: Death (introduce usually at <25% health, or on a movement fight)

• Mind Sear is going to be your AoE move of choice, but be careful because it's got a whopping 6K mana cost. Don't use it unless you are being absolutely swamped by enemies.
• Discipline and Holy Priests are going to be the main specs for Dispelling negative effects. Mass Dispel is the Shadow spec's only way to counter magic...and it also has a 6K mana cost.

More to come when I'm not so tired...  DX

First and foremost, Happy New Year! Really...a belated Happy New Year. ^^;

I actually had someone who wanted to see me continue with the whole Mists of Pandaria and BlizzCon 2011 review, so I'll try to go through all of the upcoming trees and give my opinion on each...starting with the Warlock.

This is what happens when you have a lot of time to read and think about situational hypotheses. To save everyone an outlandish wall of text, I've placed these in cuts based on tier and level. You're welcome. :P

( Tier 1 Talents )
( Tier 2 Talents )
( Tier 3 Talents )
( Tier 4 Talents )
( Tier 5 Talents )
( Tier 6 Talents )
( Warlock Overview )

And now, to lighten the mood for those people that hate Warlocks, some music and a video.

Enjoy. --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD8b-QpL0eo

...and boy do I have some awful jet lag. DX

I saw a few WoW notables there: Towelliee (from TGN - I was actually in line behind him), Kinaesthesia and Dave from Vodka guild (they did an awesome job on the raid, though I felt bad that they didn't win...maybe next year guys :] )

But I also have some news, commentary and theories about the content due out in WoW 4.3 or 5.0. Let's start with the huge stuff...

Mists of Pandaria

Lots of people are iffy about it, but I would like to see how the questline and pathing goes beyond level 5 before I label it a complete flop. Yes, the Padaren will become a playable race (yes, I did play one); yes, Monks will become available as a class to all races except for the Goblins and Worgen (most-likely because of balance issues); and yes, the Pandaren are the first race to start neutral and choose allegiance to Alliance/Horde at level 10 (and yes, you will still keep your Pandaren Monk pets even if you're a Pandaren Monk...just call him 'Junior' and move on).

Classes

The Pandaren are able to choose the following classes: Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Shaman and Warrior. No Pallys (because being for the Light means 'hating' all darkness and destroying balance in the process), no Death Knights (the magical mists of Pandaria hid the Pandaren from Arthas's/Kalimdor's sight for nigh-10,000 years), and no Warlocks (who needs demons when you're trying to suppress the embodied pieces of evil intentions you've tried to breed out of your people for over ten millenia?).

What do I think about the Pandaren?

After playing the Alpha at the con, I was actually impressed with the animation of the Pandaren (females were not available). I also enjoyed the racials: Gourmand (cooking skill increase), Epicurean (double stat benefit from food), Inner Peace (double rested time benefit), Bouncy (50% less falling damage) and Quaking Palm (3-second stun by putting an enemy to sleep).

I think one of those will be changed before the expansion goes live, most-likely Inner Peace...because it has a greater benefit for not playing for long periods of time in a game where more hours logged equates to more money earned. But that's my opinion.

Quaking Palm must stay where it is. It's an awesome racial, right up there with Escape Artist and Arcane Torrent. A three-second stun will be especially helpful when you need to get in a quick potion or a Disengage or Blink or set up your next move or need to make a Rogue calm down for a moment.

What do you think about the Monk class?

It's actually pretty cool. For the record, the Monk class does NOT have an auto-attack, or at least not yet (the feedback at Blizzcon will influence this). The only qualm I have about the lack of auto-attack is that the cooldown of the basic attacks (Jab and Roll) should be completely removed or dropped to a half-second, though they are instant cast (so far). As it stands, the Monk is open until the cooldown finishes (unless Quaking Palm is up) -- this may be less of an issue when more moves are available, post-level 5.

Related to energy usage, Monks will have to use the Force (no, I'm not joking) and Chi. Jab produces Light Force while Roll uses Chi (which works like Rogue energy); later moves will use and produce Force and Chi as required, so usage and conservation of resources must be balanced. I love this because it forces a player to find balance for moves -- you start with 100 Chi (enough for 2 Rolls) and 2 Light and Dark Force orbs when you start. Mana may not be an issue for the healers, but Blizzard is still toying with the idea of having Monks resort to mana for healing and heal a person based on proximity instead of targeting (the healing spec will still be able to inflict damage).

The Monk wears cloth and leather and has a triple designation: tank (Brewmaster), melee dps (Windwalker) and healer (Mistweaver). Weapons include fist weapons, staves, one-handed weapons (not daggers) and polearms. So Monks will be vying for gear against Rogues and Druids...although Blizz is still working on whether Agility or Strength will be the 'it' stat for Brewmasters.

Anything Else?

Uh, nine new dungeons are coming out in this expansion...NINE. I smiled muchly at the thought of new dungeons...at level 90. Yep. The level cap has been raised and I'm both excited and a little scared, you know the competition to be the realm-first 90 will be fierce. Additonally, Pandaria will be home to all of the new questing areas (85 - 90), literally five times larger than Twilight Highlands...and we all know what a pain in the butt that area was. The new dungeons (and raid) will be here and the scenery will be absolutely gorgeous.

Some extreme changes are coming to a lot of classes, too. Blizz is removing relics and thrown/shooting weapons slots, you may react briefly. *10-second wait* From now on, warriors and rogues will throw their main hand weapon to inflict long-range damage and can no longer use guns, bows and crossbows...hunters should appreciate that. However, hunters can no longer equip any weapons other than long-range weapons, so they must use a gun, bow or crossbow. Any legendaries that fit in the ranged slot on warriors/rogues or the main/off-hand slots for hunters (that aren't long-range) can no longer be equipped. Once again, you may react briefly. *10-second wait* As far as I know, the stats lost from no longer being able to equip what was in those slots will not be distributed to the rest of your gear, nor will you get back the lost gem slots.

However, you will get new moves at level 87 or so and the talent tree is getting a much-needed makeover. I've done the math (I'm a math teacher, so it's in my nature) and there are approximately 729 different combinations possible using the new trees. Add to that some classes being able to use particular moves for the entire class or a specific spec and things are bound to get extremely interesting, but these talent points are only available after every 15 levels. Higher-level players will see the benefits almost instantly, but lower level players will now be able to learn new moves while in the field instead of running back to town whenever they need a trainer (trainers will still be responsible for talent spec resets). And the level 90 Priest talent is making me sob with joy...crowd control in a 20-yard radius without using a fear? Yes, please. :D

Druids will have four specializations: Guardian (Bear), Feral (Cat), Balance and Restoration. There will also be new spells added (Mage, Warlock, Druid), new resources used (Warlocks), old spells and moves have been completely reworked (all old classes).

People will be happy and angry by turns, but at least things will be different.


The Other Stuff

Raid Finder

This will be available relatively soon, like within the next few months or so. This is exciting because it gives people who can't get into raids for one reason or another access. Granted, the rewards for this type of raid will not be as 'high' as those of normal and heroic raids, but it will introduce players who couldn't gain access otherwise to higher-level content. This is only available for 25-man groups, though; so be aware of that and have your VoIP service ready.

Guild Tools

An entire set of tools will become available to guild leaders in the next "two weeks", as stated at this year's Blizzcon on Saturday in the WoW Open Q&A panel. I heard it with my own ears. They also intend to let re-naming your guild without paying for it become an option, which I hope is included because my guild leader really wants another name change. I can't comment too much on this, because I'm not a guild leader, but it should prove very useful to GMs.

Challenger Dungeons

Basically, these are timed runs of heroic dungeons with the added restriction of normalizing everyone's gear to a pre-set iLevel. Blizzard didn't say what the iLevel would be, but I hope it's around the 345 range...mostly to knock those pricks that complain about someone else's performance down a peg and see if they're really as good as they claim. Yeah, I'm looking at you PvPers. What makes this really nice is they give you rewards based on your run time and list the leaders for the run. The faster you run, the better your rewards which are mostly Transmog gear, Valor points and bragging rights. This excites me to no end because I love dungeon running.

End of Deathwing

Yep, Deathwing's end will come rather quickly...by the end of this year or the beginning of the next with Patch 4.3. It features a questline that will take players through three dungeons and a multi-tiered raid in an attempt to set up and then defeat the insane villain of the Cataclysm.

The dungeons are the End Time, Well of Eternity and Hour of Twilight, with the raid being called The Dragon Soul. You will finally see Nozdormu's Infinite Flight form and put him out of his misery, see Azshara before she became a naga and watch the first recorded step of Deathwing's madness before you face the present-day psycho himself (with some minions, of course). From Blizzcon cut-scenes, you can tell they've already made some phenomenal headway into developing the final boss battle and the animations therein.

This will probably be fully available by the middle of November...which means the world's top guilds will have him down by early December at the latest.


So, that's a majority of what happened. If I think of anything else, I'll post as soon as I can. Now, I need to go to bed...I have work in the morning. :p

Sometimes funny ha-ha, but mostly funny weird.

On the Certification Front...
One of my certification classes will end early which means I get a full week tacked on to my 'stay-cation'. It's okay, though I don't much care for the class (...or the teacher, to be frank). Whomever said that teachers make bad students knew what they were talking about -- I just can't seem to get excited about the courses, or some of the changes coming down the line.

On the Art Front
I've started drawing again and had to re-purchase a license for Photoshop because of computer issues. At least I have it back, so I can start working on some shirt designs I made. A few are for BlizzCon this year, particularly since Blizz and SwagDog are no longer working together and the Blizzard store doesn't have a shirt that I want.

On the WoW Front
I just had to give a tank on World of Warcraft a lesson in specifics and courtesy. One of my alts is a brand new, level 85 Arcane mage that I finally have a rotation that works after three days, lucked out with gear and wound up in the Zandalari heroic queues. I decided to try one...and wound up in Zul'Aman (an accursed, hateful place...especially around Jan'alai's area).

For the record, my Shadow Priest and Ret Paladin have been there before (after a week of research), so I have experience with the dungeon. The tank told me to Spellsteal a target, so I did with the assumption that he could handle the rest of the mob. Such was not the case. Someone else got mad and said, "Why didn't you sheep it?" I said: "I assumed the tank had it. That's okay, let's do it again."

Continuing on, we did the Jan'alai boss. We killed it without much of a problem, though one guy did stand in the fire. He died (not my fault) but the tank comes in with "Why didn't you use Time Warp, are you too stupid to use it?" Now, I consider myself a woman with patience and decent anger management, but I draw the line there...

I told the tank, "I was raised in an environment where people would ask if they wanted something." His/her response was ":O". I didn't go anywhere, neither did anyone else. Though the tank did start asking for Time Warp like a person with some common sense. We finished the dungeon and parted ways without another word...

...and for a moment, I thought of deleting my mage.

Then I remembered all of the hard work I put into her and the people who where kind enough to teach me rotations and make suggestions for improvement. Deleting her would have been a slap in the face to those people who were so patient and understanding of me -- a mediocre gamer with aspirations of raiding, though I might still suck somewhat.

So, the mage isn't going anywhere. But I did learn/confirm three things during my dungeon run:

Lesson #1: Be specific. Tanks, if you want something Spellstealed, Mind Controlled, Hexed, etc. then please say if you want it, anything else you feel is for the benefit of the group, and then check to see if we're ready before cueing to go. Not everyone is a bad-ass player who's been around since the days of Vanilla and can sense your thought processes, goaded on by the butterfly-wing theory affecting the pixels of a monitor.

Lesson #2: This is for all tanks...please don't assume that you can do no wrong, either. Yes, we, the DPS and healer, cannot run dungeons or raids without you; but you, the tank, cannot survive the 5.4 million HP, level 87-heroic boss with fire breath and bombs unless someone is healing you and DPSing down mobs whittling into your health bar like rabid hamsters on a cracker.

If you haven't already, try dungeons as DPS or, better yet, the healer. Those are exercises in patience and frustration...and we always get blamed, even if we're responsible for 40% of the group's DPS or you've gone out of line of sight. For some reason, this is especially prominent in Cataclysm, to the point where tanks will just quit in mid-pull to wipe the group if they don't like the dynamic, or if a boss doesn't have a drop they want (and sometimes even if they do) they will just leave to run it again later.

Lesson #3: This is probably the most-important one...Calm down. Seriously. It's just a game and there's no need for you to have "shaved-monkey touchiness" (thank you, Terry Pratchett) for a mistake that could have happened to anyone. I admit, some days suck (a lot), but don't take it out on other players, old or new. If you can't handle it, just leave and find another group, or go look for rares...or even go for a walk to work off some of the 'computer-chair butt' we've accumulated from playing. Everyone involved in the incident will feel much better, trust me.

So that concludes this journal entry. I suppose I should call this practice for NaNoWriMo, but...I don't know if I'll participate this year. Got a lot of stuff happening. DX

...and I apologize. But right now, I hate the direction my life is going. D:

Yes, this will be a rant post...mostly. I've done a LiveJournal cut for people who aren't interested, so you folks can just skip to the end. And the good stuff...

( Here's the rant... )

Now to the positive stuff...yeah, I'm trying to emphasize it.

I have updated my website. Really? Yes, really. And I'm actually in the process of adding another piece of art, done within in the past six months but commissioned for an event. Since the event is now over I can add it to the website, so it should be up within twenty-four hours or so.

Other artwork has also appeared (mostly Portal-related) and I'm reactivating the link to the Elemental Arena in a little while; I finally got a new microphone, so there might be more Dragon Bytes featuring my oh-so-sexy (pfft, yeah, right) voice; and I'm trying to design a few shirts and other things...especially now that SwagDog no longer caters to World of Warcraft and I've found iron-on sheets.

Not all bad news, but my life really could use a little redirection. :P

Perhaps I'll manage to get it back on track by August, or at least meandering in a pseudo-correct direction, yes?

Anyway...happy summer all. And I hope to have some totally non-boring, awesome news the next time I post. Promise. D:

Wow, this is still here...

And LJ actually blocked the spammers...way to go guys! :3

The new year is starting off with quite a slog and I've already put my foot down with regards to several tasks that are (for lack of better wording) complete and utter B.S. Apparently, I've found a backbone...and I've been flogging some people (who deserve it, I assure you) with it. February will be better, I know it because I'm actually doing research for this year's NaNoWriMo...

This early? Yep. I'm determined to hit that 50,000 word limit this year and I want a good start with background material. Hopefully, things will pick up as the school year approaches a close. I've already started drawing again, for both work and personal practice. I should post something new on the dA account within the next week or so...I need to finish grading papers first.

I'll post with some (hopefully) more interesting stuff later.

And (very belated) happy new year!

Because I am a dork of massive proportions, I wanted to post this on my website...but I misplaced the folder with my passwords under...stuff. Mrr... ._.

Still, I have been making last-moment preparations for the activation of the servers for WoW: Cataclysm. I even did a voice recording, but I'll have to put this on YouTube when I get a chance to add a visual so it doesn't look like a mere ugly black box when you listen to it (I assure you, my voice will be annoying enough). :p

So, to make up for this, I will post the following leveling guide to about level 60 or so...yes, I actually made a new alt just to do this and took notes during the beta. This is for a quick run to 60, so levels are grouped according to what was most-effective. For the record, this is mostly tailored for Alliance, but Horde can follow word for word after level 41.

For the record, this is really long...sorry. DX

----------------------------

Levels 1 - 20
* Stick to the friendly zones (not contested).

* Grab Herbalism and Mining as soon as possible, and Archaeology as soon as you have a Flight Master's License -- with the new patch, every time you gather nodes, you receive XP based on the level of the node and if you're rested there's a 10% XP hike (sorry miners, but smelting doesn't count towards XP...neither do any of the other professions for some reason).

* In most areas that were around prior to Cata, you can just grind if you care nothing for lore and just want to level; for the Goblins and Worgen, however, you must do the quests to leave the starting zone...unless you race change (which won't be allowed for a few weeks).

* The moment you hit level 15, start running in dungeons (press "I"). While it's early, you can start figuring out whether you want to be a tank, healer or the DPS (damage per second) in future runs and whether or not the class suits the race you've chosen. Practice makes perfect...and please try to ignore the idiots that make you feel bad, they started out being awful, too. Believe me, I've seen it...and been it.


Levels 20 - 26
* Start Wetlands/Duskwood quests. There are now two flight points (Raven Hill and Duskwood), so the Horde shouldn't be able to kill everybody at once. Also, there are stealthed (evil) Worgen here, so you may be attacked by them, too.

* Grinding of crocolisks, raptors and their skeletons, and oozes in the Wetlands outside of Dun Modr. This area is the beginning of contested zones, so you may be attacked by members of the opposite faction looking to ruin your day and often at levels much higher than yours (probably won't happen too much in the first week due to the sheer amount of new content for high-level players). Suck it up and keep going, you will have revenge in the future....

* For both factions: Start running Shadowfang Keep in the Dungeon Finder (press I) -- the Worgen and Forsaken in particular should love this area for its lore-based relationship to their respective races. Especially the Worgen...it's payback time Godfrey.


Levels 26 - 32
* Arathi Highlands and the Hinterlands. Avoid the main road connecting Arathi to Southshore because there's a Horde flight point there, but there are also two other ways out of the area (so it shouldn't be a problem).

* Stranglethorn Vale to do gathering (mining/herbalism if you've kept both) and some digging for Archeology. Also, do some of the Nesingwary quests, which start turning green about level 32.

* Try out Scarlet Monastery (Graveyard) in Dungeon Finder runs regularly, starting at level 30.

* This is also about the time you want to start dueling and practicing rotations with friends if you're interested in PvP -- people from the opposite faction will literally start hunting you down by the time you hit 35 and it's nice to surprise them with the occasional reverse ganking.

* Ret pallies are holy terrors at level 35 with all cooldowns used correctly -- only experienced PvPers and groups of players (3 or more if they're a few levels below you) will go after one. Even some enemy players a couple levels above you will give you a wide berth. But don't get cocky...there will always be someone better than you.


Levels 33 - 35
* Young Murk Threshers and quests scattered about Theramore (almost as quick as some of the beginning grinding if there isn't a crowd). The only real things to worry about will be the quest for Thresher Oil decimating the Thresher population and Horde gathering to take on Jaina (who still needs a new model).

* Can continue to run Scarlet Monastery for grinding and other materials.

* Can start Western Plaguelands (it's weird for older players to see the area like that) and Dustwallow Marsh, but be cautious because both areas are contested and you will run into members of the opposite faction here.


Levels 36 - 40
* Shaggy black bears and quests in Western Plaguelands are the fastest way to level because they're all in fairly close proximity, or transport you to the next area (Dustwallow Marsh isn't that accommodating unless you're around Mudsprocket).

* Something to note is that in the forested areas of the Western Plaguelands, you will occasionally receive a buff (called Survival Instincts) that gives you a hike to all stats and a haste boost -- this is meant to introduce newer players to Heroism, but it lacks the nasty 10-minute debuff that comes with it. So don't freak out if you start sparking strangely from time to time, that's just the buff.


Levels 41 - 45
* Move into the Eastern Plaguelands proper and continue quests.

* Now is also a good time to pay the Shimmering Depths (formerly known as the Shimmering Flats) a visit too, if for no other reason than to see what happened to the raceway. Also, get used to this area (swimming, fighting, eating, etc.) you'll be using similar mechanics in Vash'jir when you hit level 80+.

* Mining and Herbalism in the Shimmering Depths. Seriously. This is, in my opinion, the reigning champion for places to mine Iron, Mithril (especially), and Truesilver and pick Stranglekelp without heading to the ocean. Leveling up using gathering professions is virtually guaranteed here (try to keep it under an hour to prevent being flagged as a farmer), but the area is huge, contested and there are some creatures swimming around that aren't friendly at all. Including the Whale Shark as narrated by TotalBiscuit.


Levels 45 - 50
* Tanaris quests and random life for grinding. This is contested and high-level players love ganking here. (Like a fat person loves ice cream...and I love ice cream.)

* Felwood is someplace to consider heading around level 46 if you want to see something other than desert and get a jump start on furbolg reputation grinding so you can access Moonglade (if you're not a druid) and Winterspring. Also, this is the second-best place to mine Mithril.

* Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes can be started around level 47 for a combination of grinding and mining, but be very cautious because a lot of the Fire Wargs, dragonkin and other denizens will still be in the high 40s and 50s and open up a can of whupass on you in a second.


Levels 50 - 55
* Un'goro crater (best started at 50) primarily for quests and grinding off the tar elementals and dinosaurs. Stick to the Diemetrodons and Pterrodaxes in the south, east and around the volcano until level 52 or so, then you can grind the tar and fire elementals and Un'Goro apes in the north and west with minimal problems (aside from other players, of course). Lots of Mining on the walls and Herbalism in the middle sections for additional XP.

* Please note, there are two flight points which are to the northwest and southeast of the volcano in the center of the zone. Skirt the lip of the river at the southeastern entrance to Un'Goro Crater to avoid raptors if you aren't a level 50, then rejoin and keep to the river on a mount. The flight points have innkeepers, so make use of them. Dodging the dinos should be easy on a mount as long as you don't aggro anything (good place to master mouse turning)...also, keep your name plates (the "V" key by default) up to see if a monster is hidden behind foliage and look around from time to time to avoid the Ironhide Tyrants (big-A Tyrannosaurus-looking bastards with an average level of 55 elite) unless you're a level 80+ hunter wanting a pet!

* Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes should be manageable for grinding and gathering, though watch for PvP because these are areas where gankers will haunt.


Levels 55 - 58
* Head to Winterspring and start grinding. This is one of the few places that hasn't changed level of creatures, but has drastically changed the types (there are treants here now). Lake Kel'Theril is still a great place to grind on undead and highbornes, but be careful because there are two new types (rangers which can use rogue tactics and zombie-like creatures which leech mana) that correspond with new quests in that area. Furbolg Runners also appear on the main road at random due to a quest and High Chief Bristlelimb has moved further south...closer to the entrance to the area (killing him is a future quest).

* This is also where quests will start popping up at random. For some actions and enemies that you kill, a pop-up will appear telling you there is a quest to go with it. This saves you time and, for some quests, you can complete them and get your reward without going back to the original quest giver. Awesome stuff.

* Head to the Swamp of Sorrows/Blasted Lands. The creatures have been altered so everything is level 55 and up and there are new quests and flight points here as well. Alliance points are to the northern half of the area, Horde points are at the western and southern half of the area. The Temple of the Hakkari still stands and is a dungeon you will probably have seen if you go to the Dungeon Finder regularly (which you should be doing).


Levels 58 - 60+
* The good news is: quests are put in telling you where to go for most of the leveling experience. Unfortunately, Outland is still the best place to start leveling for 58+...or at least, it is until the expansion is officially released (December 1 @ 12:01 AM North American PST = 3:01 AM EST). Until then, Blasted Lands is a good warm-up and Northrend may be altered in some areas to better suit levels 58 - 60. I guess we'll find out together...

* Some new areas have been inserted in the Blasted Lands, specifically around the new coastline (yes, I said coastline). There's also new areas and quests there for Alliance and Horde, so Blasted Lands is now a pretty feasible place to grind...at least until about 60 or so.

* Beginning quests in Outland are better suited for people just toeing the level 60 mark - the demons for some quests start at 57, so they shouldn't be a problem. The real problem will lie in the opposite faction...specifically the level 85s who come back to gank level 60s and hold the three Arenas for superiority in the area. You will be ganked at least twice in Outland, regardless of faction...so suck it up and do your best.

* Outland questing paired with dungeon runs will definitely kick you over the level 60 mark. Also, if you're in a guild, try running dungeons with your guild mates for additional bonuses to leveling and more guild rewards...you'll be glad you did.

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So, that's it. Sorry for the wall of text.

Yes, I do intend to be up at 3 AM for my pre-purchased digital download and an hour of playing time minimum; yes, I will be loyal to the Alliance and play a Worgen...yes, I will be going to work this Tuesday. No, I will not torture my students, that job belongs to the school board.

Any updates will come as I find them...and hopefully, clean off my desk to find my password. DX

After approximately two months, I've finally posted back to the LJ.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks and, instead of boring you with some asinine stories, I will simply say that I survived in one piece physically. Mentally, well...hopefully, there's enough duct tape to hold things together until Winter Break. I can get some sleep then...yeah, sleep. You never know how precious it is until you stop getting it.

I'm sure everyone is ready for 2010 to be over, also. For some reason, this year was a major pain in the tuckus - it didn't go as expected for anybody I've asked. The only bright spot was the scientists finding life in outer space...though I'm sure most of us will probably say "Well, duh, idiot."

Still, it's nice to have physical confirmation for what we've suspected for as long as we could look up at the stars. I'm tempted to play my Farscape DVDs to commemorate the event, or try drawing something new. I'm just starting to draw again after a month and a half and I haven't written anything for over two months...maybe that's why I feel like I have a hole in my head.

Anyway, WoW: Cataclysm servers start up on Tuesday morning 0001 PST (0301 EST). I'm tempted to call in sick just so I can play all day, but it's the week before semester exams and I can't do that to my students, regardless of whether they don't want to learn. Besides, I'll have two weeks to make up for it...so there's a silver lining, right?

I GOT A WOW: CATACLYSM BETA INVITE!!!!! *cartwheels around like a maniac*

So, uh...yeah. I guess after my faculty meeting tomorrow, I'll start reporting on the Worgen updates.

And yes, I actually have a YouTUBE account...so I'll shock you all with my horrible, non-sexy voice in a few days.

Yep, just call me the werewolf girl. XD