So this weekend I spent sometime with MoP. Yes after a year and a half off I dug my heals into Azeroth again. And I have quite a lot to say about it.
I first tried my old Warrior, he was 77 at the time and still in Northrend. I played him almost exclusively in the Burning Crusade. Back then he was an Arms spec but I quickly switched him to Fury. After plowing through Northrend and then Hyjal and Deepholm in Cata, I found myself in Pandaria and set upon questing. Man is it hard to quest when you dont have gear! I died alot, pulling more than I should have.
Anyways, I hate the warrior! Sure they pull high DPS, but I do not like what they did with rage where some abilities build it and some dump it. I could never get into a good flow with it. So I ditched him.
Next I logged ino my Ret Pally. I played him exclusively in Wrath and he had the gear from there, and the mounts! Anyways once again I blew through Cata (Hyjal and Deepholm) and set foot upon Pandaria.
I like what has been done with the Ret Paladin. I like the holy power and the skills work well with each one. Not having to worry about Int for ret is way awesome! Strength > Hit > Exper > haste > mastery > crit, thats just awesome too! Combat is fluid with him and I had no fear of pulling groups. Although the Mass Exorcism glyph got me in trouble a few times. And where did consecration go? Sometimes I miss this mana hog. I was able to plow through the first zone to 100% completion. And had fun to boot.
So what do I really like about MoP?
- Achievements being account bound. Who ever thought this up deserves a high five. This stops me from feeding the beast with my alts!
- Mounts and pets being Account bound. Hallelujah! See above.
- The story lines in the zones. Why in the hell did it take Blizzard three expansions before doing this? I actually stopped and read the text and when it finally all came to a climax it was wonderful!
- Leveling. It just flows better. Again why did it take three expansions for Blizzard to figure this out!?
- Pandaria. This place is just full of awesome. Not only do I like the oriental atmosphere, the high polygon count of the models are top notch. Looking back on earlier screenshots and gear make me want to barf!
- 64bit WoW. This is also awesome. No longer do I have to set core affinity!
-Transmorg. My paladin is rocking a full set of Judgement, even though it costs me each time to 'morg it when I get a new piece of equipment. I even have a Ass-candy (Ashkandi) that I am rocking!
- Minor Glyphs - Ok they are way too awesome! There is a glyph that makes Paladins Bubble hearth faster!
There are still some things I have to experience like dungeons and raids. Pet battles. (I'm not too sure about this) And other stuff that I have yet to come across.
I did have to take an hour this weekend and Clean out my bags of old stuff. Gems and mats for various things I was hoarding I threw up on the AH for a great profit! Who wants to mine BC and Wrath for raw gems when they can just buy them on the AH. Or orbs too.
I also had to go through and bust up some rings, necklaces, and trinkets you can transmorg some of this stuff but why? You cant see them on your character. Pretty much I kept gear and weapons only.
Right now my Paladin has Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting as professions. Back in the day I was able to feed it raw mats from another toon but as of now its not feasible as probably don't have the time. So I am going to have to drop one. But which one? What is going to give me the best bang for the buck. The extra sockets were nice from BS. And being able to make my own gems from JC was awesome.
I am hoping to be 90 by this weekend but its a lofty goal when each level is 13 million plus and I have little to no rested each day.