WoW Update

Heroic burnout is upon me. I've run so many heroics the past week that I literally cannot stand to be in heroics again for a while. This has lead me to trying to level my Priest ( lv 31 ) and my new baby lock ( lvl 10 ) so that I have something new to do.

Hooff - Retribution
The reason for all this heroic running was to get better gear for Hooff. Hooff now has 4pcT10 for his Retribution set. Unfortunately even with 4pcT10, Hit and Exp capped, he's still only pulling 5k DPS max on the target dummy. That hurts considering that Bob can pull almost 5k DPS in 4pcT9. Both Melee DPS and more specifically Retribution DPS has been crap lately.

I've started to get pretty comfortable with the new Ret rotation. Its more complicated than the previous priority system, but its not super complex. I do still sometimes TV at 2 instead of 3 stacks, or do CS when I have a full 3 stacks of holy power, but its not as common as it used to be.

Looking at Hooff's DPS gear, there are a few things I really need to work on. The non-tier gear is pretty low level, most are from Naxx or OS. This is of course because that was when Hooff was hardcore raiding. A big contributor to the low DPS is probably my weapon. As with most melee classes, the weapon makes a huge difference in DPS, mostly because a lot of the abilities are based on weapon damage. Some classes, such as kitties are based on AP, which weapons seem to have a lot of also. Currently Hooff has the Tyrannical Beheader from Pit of Saron, Scourgelord Tyrannus. Its a good weapon as weapons go, certainly better than any other 2-hander from 5-mans. I'm hoping that maybe there's a PVP option I can grab to raise my DPS.

Pre 4.0.1, ret solo DPS wasn't too great, but it was usually helped with having DS in our rotation. With DS, we had a built in AOE that helped with trash mobs and such. I know DPS on trash doesn't really count for anything, but its still nice to have something to help.

Hooff - Holy

So far I've decided NOT to upgrade Hooff's 4pcT9 set with the t10. I didn't put too much thought into this, it was more of a helper reason for upgrading the Retribution set first. The T10 bonuses are pretty lack luster, especially the 4pc bonus. Because of the way the names of spells have been mixed up, the t9 2pc bonus is actually pretty good. The 4pc T9 bonus is +10% more healing with Flash of Light. Pre-4.0.1 this was to help make flash of light not so weak. Because of the 4.0.1 changes, this effectively boosts our Big+Fast+Expensive heal even higher. With the almost infinite mana pre-cataclysim I use this spell more than almost any other ( Holy Shock + Word of Glory being the other two).

I'm sure that the stats differences between 4pc T9 and 4pc T10 more than make up for this +10% healing but I haven't done that math yet.

Solinari

Solinari just got Shadowform. That plus devouring plague has really stepped up the DPS. I'm able to kill mobs quite a bit faster. Unfortunately I also go OOM much much quicker now as well. This is especially true in dungeons. After a few pulls I'm completely tapped. Also, since a lot of Shadow priest damage is DOTs based, I do very crappy damage on recount. Overall, DPS on this priest has been lackluster. I'm hoping it picks up soon.

Healing on the other hand is pretty fun. There's elements of mitigation ( Power Word:Shield), HOTs ( Renew ) and direct healing ( Flash Heal). Even when I'm almost completely OOM, I can still keep the tank up, because of the synergy between PW:S and Renew. PW:S is really nice, especially when someone's health is dropping like a rock.

Nuiitari

I tried leveling another baby lock. I guess I just can't get away from having a Warlock. It was my first toon, and I just love having one. It took some getting used to having a "guardian" instead of a "minion". For the first few levels your demons are guardians, meaning you don't give them commands. They just attack anything that you attack, or attacks you. It was disconcerting, I kept thinking it was some addons that were malfunctioning.

Over all its harder than I thought to relevel another toon. There's none of the wonder of a new toon, just reminders of how you did this already but are doing it again. I'm planning to level demonology, just so its something different ( leveled Affliction then Destrution previous).

Lunitari

My mage is still the banking alt. I want to level her but the thought of going through the belf starting area AGAIN makes me want to shoot myself. I figure she can wait until after 4.0.3a, so that it'll be new quests and such.