Rolling along

An update of my goings-on in-game...

On rep - I got Ofn to Lower City exalted (#34) over the holidy break (solo Shadow Labs [normal] runs ftw). He’s at 13k revered on Keepers of Time rep and I intend to wrap up getting him to exalted with them this week (again, solo Black Morass [normal] runs ftw), which will give him “35 Exalted Reputations”.

On the AH - I’ve finally gotten back into doing some steady AH work, centered around enchanting mats, as usual. Fortunately, I have quite a stash of raw materials stocked up on my bank alt, so I don’t need to worry about expenses anytime soon. I was able to make a good 7k or so over the last two weeks without too much work.

On mounts - I picked up another PVP mount and another Argent Tournament mount over the holidays, bringing my mount count to 93. There’s one more AT mount for Ofn to earn, and two more PVP mounts. I should have all three by the middle of January, as long as I can stomach BG grinding. At that point, there are three other mounts I can purchase, which will leave me at 99. Hopefully, one of ZG, AQ40, Baron Rivendare, Brunnhildar daily or Mysterious Egg will be kind enough to drop a mount I can use, giving me the 100 mount achievement. Or, there may just be an opportunity for a mount I otherwise wouldn’t be able to get. More news as it comes in...

On dps - I’ve been running the last couple weeks with a locked-in combat spec [build] (for 5-man Heroics and some questing) and rotating Mutilate specs (PVE [build] for progression raid nights and PVP [build] the rest of the week).

There is no question that PVE Mutilate easily out-dpses Combat; one week on Saurfang, I pulled 6.9k as Mutilate. The next week on the same boss I only pulled 5.5k as Combat - even with 3 pieces of new ICC gear! So annoying...

I have tried, somewhat, to run Combat on trash and Mut on bosses, but it requires that I remember, and take the time, to switch specs, switch weapons, re-poison, etc. Plus, with as fast as our raid clears trash, Combat cooldowns are down more than they’re up, resulting in little advantage for Combat on trash. Meanwhile, it seems like our warrior gets to Bladestorm every other pull... /grumble

Having said that, I really don’t worry about dps nearly as much as I used to. At the moment, Ofn can compete with the best dps of our raid team (unlike the Naxx days of a year ago), and, though I may grumble at times, that’s really all I can ask for.

I do feel pretty fortunate at the gear Ofn has been able to pull together. Many, many heroics, he is the best geared toon in the group, occasionally eliciting positive comments from the other randoms. When I see and consider the gear on other players’ toons, I am reminded to be thankful for where Ofn is and what I am lucky enough to accomplish with him; it helps keep me grounded in my sense of, and approach to, this toon and this game.

On raiding - our team has cleared the first wing of ICC 10 three or four weeks now, one-shotting most bosses/encounters and generally finishing each night in little over an hour. A few weeks back, we came within something like 50k of downing Anub’arak in ToC 10 Heroic, and in Ulduar 10, we have three or four more bosses to down on Heroic mode to complete “Glory of the Ulduar Raider (10 player)”.

On alts - I haven’t been playing my pally, Zephaniah, that much lately, due to the push regarding rep and mounts I’ve been doing on Ofn, but I have logged him occasionally to tank some Heroics. I’m steadily becoming more confident in my tanking skills, even running one random by myself, without my usual safety-net healer, Neoqualitas (Neo’s druid). I’ve been enjoying it enough that I have had a few thoughts, here and there, about making him my main toon come Cataclysm. However, I’m pretty attached to Ofn, so we’ll see...

Miscellaneous...

Nine more Wintergrasp wins for “Wintergrasp Veteran”.

A few more kills in The Cauldron of Flames (WG) for “Wintergrasp Ranger”.

Nearly four years after first setting foot in Blackwing Lair, Ofn was finally able to clear it, obtaining “Blackwing Lair”. Only AQ40 is left of the classic raids for him to do.

Zephaniah was able to complete all Winter Veil achievements and become a “Merrymaker”, thanks to... my foresight (luck) at opening the 2008 present for the Crashin’ Thrashin’ Racer, a pally’s bubble (very helpful, especially in IF) for BB King and Blizzard’s easing of entry into Ogri’la daily questing (no longer have to do the 5-mans) for “Fa-la-la-la-Ogri’la”, among many other things.

The Baconstrip™ Maine Weather Report:
Currently 39° F and overcast, with 8 inches of snow on the ground