WoW Classic Early 60 Gearing Guide - Casters!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here. And today, I've got another gearing guide for you.

After seeing the great reception to my priest gearing guide, and getting feedback from several people, I decided to keep making these types of simplified gearing guides to help those of you who want to raid, but don't want to spend weeks and weeks tracking down each pre-raid best in slot item. I also want to make sure this guide is as accurate as possible with what items will be available at launch, so for this reason I've decided to continue with a general caster gearing guide since that's the information I have most readily available.

Before getting into it, I would just like to say that this guide is by no means a best-in-slot walkthrough, and each caster class has its own niche items that players should consider trying to get beyond what's written here. Hell, if you manage to get tons of gold early on, you can probably just buy enough decent gear from the auction house. However, as a general "get geared quick" guide for those of you who want to do some dungeons, I think it does the job well.

So without further ado, let's gear some casters!

Step 1: Run BRD as soon as possible (essentially level 50 and up)

Just like in the priest gearing guide, you should run BRD as soon as possible. A lot of great items are available for casters, just like for healers. The difference, however, is that you can start doing Detention Block and Arena runs much earlier, since there's only a few items deep in the dungeon that are good for caster DPS - robes from Emperor Dagran Thaurissan, boots from Golem Lord Arglemach, and the trinket from Ambassador Flamelash. I'd recommend setting your own groups up for Detention Block and Arena farming as early as level 50 so that mobs still award decent exp, but it's really up to you.

Here's a list of all appropriate items from BRD that casters can make use of:

Head
Chief Architect's Monocle from Fineous Darkvire.

Shoulders
Kentic Amice from High Interrogator Gerstahn.

Back
Spritecaster Cape from Houndmaster Grebmar.

Chest
Robes of the Royal Crown from Emperor Dagran Thaurissan.

Hands
Silkweb Gloves from Hedrum the Creeper (Arena Event). This is better for healers though.

Waist
Ban'thok Sash from Ok'thor the Breaker (Arena Event) (HAS HIT ON IT!!!).

Feet
Omnicast Boots from Golem Lord Arglemach.

Finger
Cyclopean Band from Ok'thor the Breaker (Arena Event).

Trinket
Burst of Knowledge from Ambassador Flamelash.

Main Hand
Kindling Stave from Pyromancer Loregrain (has crit chance on it, but no spell power).

Offhand
Enthralled Sphere from High Interrogator Gerstahn.

Ranged

Pyric Caduceus from Pyromancer Loregrain (Good for fire mages, but really just a wand for anyone else. Not useful in MC, however!).

Step 2: Do these quests (before 60)

When you're not running BRD and as you get closer to level 60, try to complete the quest chains ending with "In Dreams," "It's Dangerous to Go Alone," "The Battle of Darrowshire," and "Order Must Be Restored" (Alliance) or "The Scarlet Oracle, Demetria" (Horde) for the quest rewards. All four items you get as a reward are solid items and considering the lack of any caster neck drops in BRD, it's a good idea to fill it this way. If you managed to get the cloak from Houndmaster Grebmar, you can skip "In Dreams," or choose a different reward (shadow priests can snag the ring reward for healing instead, for example).

Getting the wand, Stormrager, might be particularly difficult around the beginning of WoW Classic, but considering the general lack of good wands pre-raid, it's a worthy goal to pursue.

Useful Quest Rewards:

Neck
Archlight Talisman

Back
Shroud of the Exile (again, you don't need this if you got the Spritecaster Cape from BRD)

Offhand
Spirit of Aquementas

Ranged
Stormrager

Step 3: Do LBRS (and work on your Seal of Ascension)

Ok, so you've gone through BRD and done some quests. You're probably around level 60 and ready to hit up the end-game dungeons like Strat and Scholo, right?

Well...not exactly. After looking through loot tables and comparing items in Strat and Scholo, I found that there's really a better option for casters - Lower Blackrock Spire.

Now, LBRS doesn't have all that much going for it in terms of items for casters, but it DOES give you a shot at two different wrists (which are always a pain to find), and some absolutely OP gloves and legs - neither of which are found in BRD. If you consider the lack of overlap on loot between bosses - meaning you COULD get lucky and win like 5 items in a run - you can probably see why it's such a good idea to run LBRS.

While in here, make sure to have the quest to get your Seal of Ascension too, as it will help immensely in Step 4! Also, if you're Horde, make sure to have the quest "Warlord's Command" as well, so that you can work toward a nice trinket later on.

Items you should aim for in LBRS:

Shoulders
Sunderseer Mantle from Crystal Fang (Rare spawn near Mother Smolderweb).

Wrist
Magister's Bindings from trash mobs.
Funeral Cuffs from Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin.

Hands
Hands of Power from Quartermaster Zigris.

Legs
Skyshroud Leggings from Highlord Omokk.

Main Hand
Trindlehaven Staff from Overlord Wyrmthalak. Not great, but something to aim for while trying to get the Seal of Ascension.

It's also worth noting that mage tailors can also snag the pattern for Robe of the Archmage off trash here, which could cover their chest slot if it's still bare after the next step...

Oh, and one last thing before you go onto the next step. If you're Alliance, after killing Overlord Wyrmthalak, you'll receive an item that starts a very short quest chain. Make sure you do this chain before going on to step 4! You'll thank me if you're still missing a trinket...

Step 4: Do UBRS

Alright, you've braved two dungeons and done a bunch of quests. Hopefully you managed to get your Seal of Ascension, which will be a great boon for you going forward. Time to hit up the big one...UBRS!

Upper Blackrock Spire has a TON of items for casters. The only issue, however is that some of them are locked behind events (like Solakar Flamewreath) or the rare spawn Jed Runewatcher. Still, if you're the lucky owner of a Seal of Ascension, you can set up the group and make the rules of the run, so...yeah.

Here's a list of all useful caster items in UBRS to shoot for. Fill in the blanks in your armor as best as you can, or pick up some upgrades if you're lucky:

Head
Starfire Tiara from Jed Runewatcher (rare). Fun fact, I used this on my priest way back in the day!

Neck
Tooth of Gnarr from General Drakkisath.

Shoulders
Devout Mantle from Solakar Flamewreath (the Rookery Event). Good luck fighting the priests (and paladins) for this...

Chest
Tier 0 Chests (Devout, Dreadmist, and Magister's) from General Drakkisath.

Waist
Dustfeather Sash from Solakar Flamewreath.

Legs
Spiritshroud Leggings from The Beast.

Feet
Dragonrider Boots from Warchief Rend Blackhand. (Edit: drops in PHASE 2)

Finger
Flaming Band from Pyroguard Emberseer (for Fire Mages).

Trinket 
Briarwood Reed from Jed Runewatcher (rare).

Ranged
Serpentine Skuller from Jed Runewatcher (rare).

Note that you can check to see if Jed Runewatcher is in the dungeon by running up the first stairs and spamming a /target Jed macro. If he doesn't get targeted, he isn't there! And it's worth doing this too, as his loot table consists of only of these 3 caster items!


If you made it through all of BRD, LBRS, and UBRS several times, congratulations! You should be at least somewhat geared up! However, if some loot still eludes you, here's one last thing you could try...

Step 5: Filling in the blanks - Stratholme and/or Auction House

If you're sick of lava, orcs and dragons, it's probably a good idea to shake things up a bit. And what better way to do this than to head over to everyone's favorite plague-ridden, still-on-fire dungeon? That's right, the last stop for this gear guide - assuming you STILL don't have have a main hand weapon or just REALLY want a neck with spell hit - is Stratholme! Well...Strat Live at least.

Strat Live is great because the last boss, Balnazzar, drops a great neck, a dagger (which is a bit underwhelming to be honest), and, in Phase 2, some shoulders! It's also super-easy to find a priest to heal for this dungeon, as many of them will be farming it for the Truefaith Vestments pattern.

Combine that with the fact that you can possibly pick up some good BoEs and crafting materials for gold, and it's a nice way to finish off a couple of possibly-empty slots:

Neck
Star of Mystaria from Balnazzar (HAS HIT!!!).

Shoulders
Shroud of the Nathrezim from Balnazzar (Phase 2).

Waist
Grimgore Noose from Timmy the Cruel (note that he only spawns in the courtyard outside the Scarlet Bastion after killing all of the Scarlets outside).

Feet
Magister's Boots from Hearthsinger Forresten.

Main Hand
Gift of the Elven Magi from Balnazzar.

While you're in here, you could also try for the Postmaster's Set (Head, Finger, Feet, Legs, Chest) - Tedious event, but there are 5 possible items and all are quite good for casters - especially the helm! However, since this guide is about gearing fast, you're probably not going to want to run around messing in the mailboxes...

Once you're all dungeoned out, hit up the auction house for any high level greens or appropriate blues that could be used to finish off any remaining gaps! But even with any gaps at this point, you should pretty much be good to go in MC and Ony! So bring on the whelps!

Final Thoughts

I hope you found this caster gearing guide useful. It was a lot of fun to sift through and analyze all the dungeons' loot to create this for you all. Here at the end, I feel that I should also mention that there's still a ton of items in different dungeons that are really great for individual caster types - like all the shadow damage gear in Scholomance for spriests and warlocks - but as this guide is a general overview, it didn't feel right to focus on them specifically. If you'd like a BiS guide for your class, there are like a million out there to choose from. But if you followed what I laid out here, you should be good to go!

Anyway, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this guide or found it useful, follow my blog by adding yourself to my email list! And check out my videos over on YouTube for more content! Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates, but until next time - and WoW Classic...

Take it easy! ^_^



Special thanks to vanillawowdb.com and Tig's Vanilla Priest Heal BiS List for providing me with items, patch data, and general reference for this guide! Also a special thanks to my patrons over on Patreon!

Memories of Vanilla #25 - Frightening Felwood

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I've got another Memories story for you.

Felwood Map

Last time, I told about the one event that single-handedly ended my account-sharing escapades with Leika - my (terrible) decision to run Maraudon one afternoon in early spring. Well today, we're going to move north a bit on my freshly obtained, only-me account to a spooky forest zone swarming with demons - Felwood.

If you enjoy this story, remember to add yourself to my mailing list below so you don't miss later stories as well! There's a lot more coming as we approach Classic, but for now, join me as I tell the tale of my bear-slaying adventures in Felwood!

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It was sometime around the end of my 2nd year of high school when I headed to northern Kalimdor. I don't remember exactly what brought me to this zone, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Leika telling me that there was a zone "even creepier than Duskwood." I had actually visited this area once before, only to have my priest get eaten by a diseased wolf or something. But now, I was ready - right around level 48 or 49. And it was time to face this terrifying place.

Felwood

So, I headed over to Felwood, unsure of what the zone truly had in store. As I entered the zone, I was faced with green fel energy and spooky demonic-looking trees all around. I headed up the path, got a few quests from the camp in the southern end of the zone, and began my adventures.

It didn't take long for me to find a goal in this zone, however. As I slayed some random furbolgs to the west of the camp site, I noticed I was getting reputation with a faction called the "Timbermaw Hold". I had no idea what this faction was, but I had a similar feeling to the water pouches back in Tanaris. Something told me that I needed to work on this rep...

Deadwood Village

So, I spent the next few days of my time in WoW running around the furbolg camp, killing everything in my path. It was long and grindy, but eventually, I was neutral with the faction. I still had no idea what, or where, they were, so at around 100/3000 rep into neutral, I gave up and began heading north.

Now, there was a lot to do and see in Felwood, but unfortunately I don't actually remember much of what I did there other than the furbolg grind to be honest. One thing I do remember clearly though is that around level 50 or so, I hit a wall while leveling - no quests that I could do and no idea where else to go. My skinning was also stagnant, somewhere around 230-250. So, instead of using Thottbot like a pro, I did exactly what anyone would do...

I found a nice spot in the forest with a crap-ton of bears in a line and ran back and forth killing and skinning them! What, isn't that what everyone does?

Angerclaw  Bears for Days

Yeah so instead of finding some mobs with low health and high exp yield, or farming something that could have yielded valuable items, I sat in Felwood for about 4 days farming bears and skinning them. To be fair, I did make quite a bit from their bones and jaws - both grey items that sold for quite a bit of gold to vendors - but like...I could've farmed demons for Felcloth to craft the Felcloth set... Ahh well. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Anyway, I eventually reached level 52 or so while grinding the hell out of bears, and so ended the clearest of my Felwood memories. I did the Jaedenar quests while here, of course - including the long escort of the night elf in the cave, but at this point, my mind was all about getting to 60, so I really don't remember much about that event. Sorry for that...

Timbermaw Hold - Where the Ganking Happened...

There is one more event, however, that I do remember extremely clearly from this zone - and it again involves furbolgs. Eventually, Silvite had reached level 55 and was on the northern edge of the zone - right up by Timbermaw Hold. I'd finally gotten the flight path and things were getting much easier finally. As I ran over to the furbolg camp to farm some bear-people for reputation, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye: a flagged level 60 tauren shaman who was nearly dead from running through the tunnel!

Now, being on a PVE server, I wasn't one for PVP at all. Hell, I hated when I got ganked whenever I was flagged (usually after a battleground). But this was basically a free HK! So, naturally, I spammed the hell out of my Mind Blast button! Boom! Direct hit! Down went the shaman, and I relished my honorable kill!

Basically What the Shaman Looked Like

...for about 5 seconds, anyway...

See, shamans have the ability to reincarnate with a decent chunk of health - something that I, as an Alliance priest, never really knew about. As I turned to head down the mountain to get my furbolg-killing on, I was struck from behind by a Frost Shock. Confused, I turned to see that the shaman was alive, and coming for me.

Well...needless to say, I was not prepared. Within 5 seconds of being hit with the frost shock, I was dead on the ground, having been served my just desserts.

I laughed, ran back to my body, and watched as he t-bagged my corpse repeatedly for the next 5 minutes. Once my PVP flag had worn off, I rezzed, targetted him and /bowed. I had found a new respect for the shaman class and never again would I try to gank one.

Well...not in Vanilla at least...


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I hope you enjoyed this story of my adventures in Felwood. It's a zone that I have immense love and nostalgia for because of these two events - the bear farming and the shaman incident. Every time I slay bear-people, I'm sent back to the spring of 2006 and the adventures that transpired in this creepy fel forest.

But anyway, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this story, make sure to sign up for updates by adding your email below. Also, feel free to check out my video content over on YouTube, as I turn all these blog posts into videos when I have time (and I think they're pretty good, at least). Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for additional updates, or just to chat about WoW Classic in your free time. I know that I enjoy talking and nostalgia tripping as much as the next guy, so it could be a lot of fun.

Thank you for reading, and as always - Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #24 - Moving on in Maraudon!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I've got another installment of Memories of Vanilla for your reading pleasure!

Maraudon Entrance

Last time, we dove into the dungeon known as Zul'Farrak for the first time. And while the adventures there were numerous, we eventually finished it up and headed out. Well today, we're going to fast forward a bit to another dungeon. After all, it's been like 13 years, and my memory of time is a bit sketchy anyway, so we might as well jump around a little bit, right?

Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I recount the tale of my first adventure in Maraudon. And, more specifically, the aftermath of my decision to tackle this massive cavernous labyrinth.


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It was spring break 2006 - a few days of rest between the third and fourth semester of my sophomore year of high school - and I distinctly remember that I didn't have work at the local pizzeria that day. Waking up at 10AM or so, as you do when you're 16 and don't have school, I immediately fired up my computer and logged into World of Warcraft. After all, Leika was at work and I had the account all to myself for the next 6 hours or so.

And so, I began my adventures - running around in some high-40s zone. I don't remember exactly where I was in the wide World of Warcraft, but I do remember that at some point about an hour after logging in, I got a whisper from someone...

Maraudon Map (This Place is HUGE...)

"Wanna heal Maraudon?"

Well, I had time to kill, and since I'd never done this particular dungeon, I decided it could be a fun experience. So, I agreed. And what followed was among the most painful and intense experiences of my early WoW career...

I joined the group of 4 other adventurers who had clearly all been waiting for a healer for some time. Noticing that they were all around level 50 or so, I figured I might be too low at around level 48. However, they reassured me - saying that it would be fine as long as I stayed around the back of the group. With a sigh of relief, I headed over to everyone's favorite zone - Desolace - and began the first portion of the adventure...finding the entrance to the dungeon.

I had a general idea of where this dungeon was located, having accidentally run into the entrance back when I was questing in this zone a few months back, but nevertheless I ended up getting lost and needed the warlock in our group to summon me. Yeah, I was that guy...but eventually we were able to zone in and begin the dungeon itself.

Now this particular part of the story is quite fuzzy, as there were so many different sub-zones and monsters in this dungeon, but as we progressed (SLOWLY) through the caverns, I distinctly remember three events - the slow-moving slimes, the Satyr boss and loot drama, and the larvae spawning tube. I don't remember exactly what order they came in (even now, the full dungeon is too big and confusing for me to remember), but here's how it went...

Noxious Slime

First of all, the slimes. As we approached this large pack of slimes in one cavern, our tank warned us all not to get too close to them, as they would completely demolish anyone they touched. I, however, tried to keep everyone alive as they broke this rule, and subsequently got healing aggro and died from the slimes as a result. Luckily I was soulstoned, so I was able to rez and we narrowly avoided a wipe, but this was definitely a first. Who puts overpowered, but super-slow moving slimes in a dungeon anyway?

Anyway, after getting considerably lost in this massive labyrinth we came across another room - this time a large purple area with satyrs and treants spread througout. We fought our way through the demons, eventually coming across a room with a single named satyr stood in the center - Lord Vyletongue. Our tank, likely one of the least experienced ones I'd met until that point (which was saying a lot) charged right in, pulling the stealthed satyrs in the process. Oops...

Lord Vyletongue

As a result of the unexpected chaos, we wiped, then made our way back to the entrance. However, in the process of running back in, we all followed one person and ended up in a completely different entrance than the one we'd already cleared. Being noobs, however, none of us really knew why it was different and full of mobs, so we simply began pulling the trash and moving forward - again, as slowly as ever.

Eventually, we made it back to that room with the treants and satyrs. We carefully moved up the stairs to where Lord Vyletongue was located, this time ready to take him on. Using cc, line of sight, and careful kill targeting tactics, we defeated him and were rewarded with a dagger that had some bonus shadow damage as a chance-on-hit effect. Being a shadow priest, I instantly rolled need. After all, more shadow damage was always a plus, right?

Well...not exactly. See, we had a rogue in our group who was less than thrilled when I received a melee weapon. After all, the chance-on-hit was for MELEE attacks, not spells. And while I didn't really know the difference, he clearly did. Calling me a ninja (which, I mean, is fair), he dropped group and we had to head back out to find a replacement.

The Larvae-Spawning Tube

We'd been in here for a while now - getting lost and fighting slimes for something like 2 hours, but hey, I was enjoying it. I still had plenty of time until Leika would be getting home, so I could play to my heart's content! Eventually we got a replacement and headed back inside, making our way into a large orange room with a bunch of larvae creatures. We passed through with relative ease, but as we continued toward the water elemental boss, we kept getting attacked by randomly spawning larvae spawns that we thought we'd already killed. After about the 4th time this happened, we decided to backtrack and found that they were coming from a strange tube structure hanging from the ceiling. Definitely weird, but right-clicking on it destroyed it, and we were able to progress.

Time was flying by as we made our way down to the waterfall and into the final stretch of the zone. It was around 3PM by the time we started working our way up the rocky slopes and caverns that marked the near end of the dungeon, and I was super-eager to see the ending to this amazing place. However, as we made our way up a massive hill, a message popped up.

"Disconnected from server."

Weird. Naturally, I immediately logged back in and was greeted with my character on the screen. However, within a few minutes, it popped back up again...

"Disconnected from server"

Uh oh.

The Entrance to the Final Chamber...

Yes, Leika had gotten home from work. I had spent all afternoon running around Maraudon with this group and would not be able to finish it...or COULD I?

I called him up, explained the situation, and begged him to let me finish the dungeon. He wasn't in a great mood that day, but after a few minutes of begging, he agreed to let me have another hour or so, just to finish it up.

Delighted, I logged in, explained to my group that I had had some internet issues, but that I'd solved it (smooth lying, buddy. Don't wanna tell people you're breaking ToS!), and we moved on.

The final stretch of the dungeon was brutal though, with all mobs being significantly more challenging than they had been until then. Somehow, though, we persevered - albeit very slowly. Eventually, the last room was all that remained - with Princess Theradras waiting on her island in the middle.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Leika. Another hour had somehow passed as we slaughtered crocolisks and rock elementals... I answered, saying that we were literally at the princess despite having 2 more packs of stone giants standing between us and he very angrily told me that he didn't care. But, being the bro that he was (and through my pathetic begging), I convinced him to give me another 10 minutes.

Princess Theradras

It was do or die...

I told my group that I had to go to work in 10 minutes and that we HAD to finish this up now. We pushed through with renewed speed and swiftly pulled to that final boss. Now, through sheer dumb luck or whatever it was, I managed to keep up our tank despite nearly being pushed off the island into the water below. 8 minutes after the phone call from Leika, the princess fell. Collecting our loot, I sighed and thanked the group for the fun just in time...

I hope you enjoyed my rather long story of my adventures in Maraudon. This story in particular, while a bit foggy in my memory, is one of my fondest memories of classic WoW. Back when I had the time and reason to adventure in a dungeon for hours on end, not knowing what to expect with each turn. Also, it is the single event that resulted in Leika giving me the second account, paying to transfer Silvite from the first account to it. I don't remember if that was a feature when the game first came out, or if it came later, but I do remember that it was possible then. After all, Silvite made it safely from Account 1 to Account 2 somehow. And it only took 72 hours! Blazing speed!

All joking aside though, I'm really glad that all this happened, as eventually it meant I could play with my friend and brother, but it also meant that I now had to pay for my own account. No biggie - I had my local pizza job to take care of that $15 every month! And take care of it it did!

But anyway, that's it for today! If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog for more in the future. Check me out over on Facebook and Twitter, and watch my videos over on YouTube if you're interested in video content too! Thanks for reading, and as always...

Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #23 - Zipping Around in Zul'Farrak, Part 2

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again with another episode of Memories of Vanilla for you all.

Zul'Farrak

Last time, I told the first half of my first ever experience in Zul'Farrak. And while some of the memories in that were fuzzy (like...I think I might've remembered the wrong boss for the Bad Mojo Mask...), today's continuation is still clear as day. So join me, as I finish off my first-ever Zul'Farrak adventure!

Before we get into it though, remember to follow my post by adding yourself to the email list below. You won't want to miss what's coming up, I promise! But with that out of the way, let's dive back into it, shall we?



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Stairs Event (We'd Just Completed)

So we'd just finished off the pyramid stairs event and slaughtered our former NPC allies in cold blood just to loot a quest item from them. Taking a short break for food and mana, I wondered what could be next. After all, we'd been in here a while, and yet I still hadn't finished two of my quests. I began to ask in party chat about Gahz'Rilla's Electrified Scale and the Tiara of the Deep, but halfway through my question, our warrior began running down the hallway to the right and I figured I might as well just follow and see.

The hallway was simple enough, with only a few trolls patrolling back and forth as we charged through. However, as we reached the end of the hallway, I failed to stop running as my allies had - a lesson I should have learned in Scarlet Monastery - and went right into the room beyond...

Now, I didn't pull EVERYTHING in that room, but I did pull more than we could handle with my noobish auto-running. Within 15 seconds, our group lay dead on the floor of what would eventually be our final room in the dungeon. Sighing, we all ran back and pushed forward through the cleared dungeon - hoping to God that nothing would respawn on us as we ran. Luckily, repops hadn't emerged yet (other than random patrols that we may or may not have missed), so we made it back in due time. Buffing up, I apologized and promised to stay back this time as our tank prepared for the pulls...

Carefully, as if he were now a pro or something, our warrior marked and pulled each pack back into the hallway for us to deal with. Our other caster dps (who might actually have been a warlock and not a mage, since I know he got the Bad Mojo Mask earlier) and our hunter cast some CC on the incoming trolls, and one by one, they fell. As one particular troll fell, I noticed a named mob walk in front of our party - Hydromancer Velratha - and I guessed that a boss fight was imminent.

Hydromancer Velratha

This was confirmed when eventually, after all the nearby packs were safely slain and piled in a heap in the hallway, the question was asked again: "Ready everyone?" Now I wasn't entirely ready, not knowing what was coming, but again, I sheepishly nodded in real life...and typed "Yep" in party chat. The Hydromancer was pulled - again, back into the hallway - and we went to town. She cast some nasty AOE spells which hurt quite a bit, if I remember correctly, and had a totem that I always tried to kill, but never really had success in hitting. But after about a minute of wailing on her, she fell. And with her demise, I looted the Tiara of the Deep!

One down, one to go!

Our warrior proceeded to pull the remaining trolls in the room - pack by pack just as we'd done with the first few before the Hydromancer. Eventually, we all moved into the room and got ourselves into position. The caster, hunter and I all stood to the right of the pool; the warrior, directly in front; and our druid healer, right next to the gong. One final time, the words lit up in chat...

"READY?"

We all nodded. This was it. The final boss! "Let's go!"

The gong rang out with a crash through the speakers, and immediately I was blown away - for out of the pool of water emerged a giant, 3 headed hydra: Gahz'rilla! I knew that he must be it - the way to get the quest item I needed for that sweet sweet 3% mount speed increase. Carefully, after waiting for at least 2 stacks of Sunder Armor, I began my spells.

Gahz'rilla

Honestly, the fight wasn't too spectacular, although we did almost wipe due to the tank getting knocked back out of range of our druid. Luckily, he managed to pull some crazy healer magic (probably Swiftmend now that I think of it) and our warrior survived, but not without some serious positioning issues. We all scattered to get into better places quickly and resumed our assault. Soon enough, the giant lizard fell. And with it, our adventure in Zul'Farrak came to a close.

I looted the scale, said thanks to my group, and added several new people to my friends list. With a smile 10 feet wide, I hit my Hearthstone and said goodbye to the desert trolls...for now...



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I hope you enjoyed this two-part story of my first adventure in Zul'Farrak! Like I said, dungeon stories are always really fun and epic, and this is especially true the first time one runs through them. You might have noticed that we didn't actually kill the last bosses of this dungeon - Ruuzlu and Chief Ukorz Sandscalp. Well, when we were doing the NPC-killing after the stairs, we accidentally (or unknowingly) killed the goblin as he ran away, thus he never opened the door to the final bosses. This was back when he could be attacked, and so...we kinda screwed ourselves over on that one.

Anyway, that's it for today! If you enjoyed this, remember to follow my blog, as well as check out my content over on YouTube! Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates too!

Until next time guys, take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #19 - Traversing Tanaris

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again for the next installment of Memories of Vanilla.

Tanaris Map

Last time, I took a break from Silvite to talk a bit about my warrior, Aoyamamotoko. And while it was fun to reminisce about her for a bit, I'd like to continue with Silvite's journey a little bit for now. We've spent a long time in the jungle and the dungeons of Scarlet Monastery, so since I've finally caught up to getting my mount and whatnot, today we're going to head over to the desert wasteland of Tanaris.

Before that though, remember to follow this blog for more updates as they come out, as well as subscribe to my YouTube channel for more classic content. I really appreciate all the support so far, and look forward to making even more once classic is finally out.

But for now, let's get on with the story...

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Handsome Devil, Ain't He?

Silvite was around level 42 or 43 by this point, though honestly I don't remember exactly. I know that around this time, I was spending a lot of time on my warrior though, so it was probably a while after getting my mount. Leika had told me that once I had a mount, the best place to level was the neutral zone of Tanaris - again another zone with a goblin hub. I was starting to get sick of those little green dudes, but I couldn't tell him that - he loved the goblins.

Anyway, following his advice, I took the boat over to Theramore and made the long trek through Dustwallow Marsh, down through the Barrens, and all the way through the winding valley of Thousand Needles. Remember, this was well before the Cataclysm ruined the zone, so I was able to enjoy the journey rather well on my shiny new mount.

Gadgetzan

As I passed through the Shimmering Flats, Leika pointed out a small pass in the mountains - the entrance to the desert. Running up the path, I was greeted with the sight of the goblin town of Gadgetzan - as well as several flagged Horde players standing just outside the entrance. Luckily I was on a PVE server, so I was able to simply run into the town, ignoring their /chickens and other taunts as I did so.







By this point, I could tell that I was sold on this zone for one reason alone - there were so many quests! As I ran around the small town, I saw exclamation mark after exclamation mark - all quests I could pick up and immediately begin doing to continue my leveling journey! I set my hearthstone at the local inn, grabbed the flight point from the NPC outside the southern side of town, and began my next adventure.

Gadgetzan Water Survey (Destination)

If I'm not mistaken, the first quest I did was the one where you ran off to the west of town to check some water pool in the troll area near Zul'Farrak. Not really knowing what I was doing, I ran around the area like an idiot for a while before figuring out what to do. However, immediately upon completing the task, I was jumped by a couple of scarabs or something and killed. What a great way to start the zone...

Wastewander Assassin

Anyway though, the quests I remember most clearly from my adventures throughout Tanaris were the ones with the Wastewander Bandits, as well as the several named ones. For some reason, I really wanted to farm Gadgetzan reputation while I was here, so collecting the water pouches for the repeatable turn-in became kind of a side-quest in and of itself for me. So for a few days, at least, I headed out of town and began killing bandit after bandit to turn in water pouches - even though the reputation was really not all that necessary. Eventually Leika told me that it was basically a pointless endeavor and that I'd get more reputation if and when I leveled in Winterspring, so I stopped. But for a while there, I had a blast slaughtering dudes out in the desert. And...getting ganked by the stealthed rogue mobs...

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I hope you enjoyed this short story of my memories of original Tanaris. I know this particular installment is a bit less narrative than my other installments. I think that stems from a general trend around this time of my adventure of me playing more with the goal of leveling faster to 60 rather than grouping with others or trying to achieve a big goal that I was close to reaching. Yeah, I know that killing bandits for reputation in the desert is anything BUT fast, but hey - I was still as noobtastic as ever.

Either way though, that's it for this installment. If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog for updates in the future. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and check out my YouTube channel. We're over 100 subscribers there now, which I feel is an incredible feat and I really appreciate all of the support. Thank you to everyone who's helped to make that possible!

But anyway, that's all I've got for today. Check back again soon for more, but for now...

Take it easy!

A Simplified Healing Priest Gearing Guide - Get Raid-Ready in Phase 1-2 of WoW Classic!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here. And today, I've got a bit of a fun guide for anyone playing, and capping, a priest in WoW Classic.

Looking around the internet and the hundreds of resources out there, I've found tons of "Pre-raid Best In Slot" Lists, which are great resources for those people who want to really push their characters to the max before stepping into Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair in classic. However, I've also noticed two major problems with these lists...

1 - They are almost all exclusively based on patch 1.12 gear, and thus include gear that will not be available at launch. I'm looking at you, Dire Maul loot...

2 - They don't take into account how easy or difficult the items are to obtain and ESPECIALLY in reference to each other. Some of the items are rare world drops (Cassandra's Grace, for example) and thus may not be viable options to pursue. Others drop in entirely different dungeons and thus don't allow for multiple chances to get drops within a single run.

So, in preparation for WoW Classic and my eventual capping of my own priest (hopefully still in Phase 1 of the content release), I thought it would be a good idea to sift through all of the data out there, comparing different items and how easy or difficult they are to obtain, and compile a "Good Enough" guide for all of my fellow priests who want to raid, but may not have enough time or desire to constantly farm dungeons over and over in preparation for it.

Without further ado, here we go.

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Step 0 - What You Can Do Before 60...

While leveling, try to snag bits of the Runecloth set, as they have decent intellect and spirit and will help significantly in the dungeons when you get to them. The items can start being collected as early as level 46, so it's definitely a worthwhile investment. 

If you're a tailor, this should be fairly easy assuming you actually worked on tailoring. You should also begin crafting Mooncloth (which has a four day cooldown) as soon as possible on the side to eventually craft Mooncloth gear upgrades for any missing slots once you reach step 5, or Truefaith Vestments if you really want the pre-raid BiS chest.

Step 1 - Do These Quests (before 60, if possible)

Make sure to complete the quests "In Dreams" in the Eastern Plaguelands and "It's Dangerous to Go Alone" in Un'Goro Crater. Both quests give powerful items (Fordring's Seal and Spirit of Aquementus, respectively) that will make the rest of the items that much easier to obtain.

"The Battle of Darrowshire" also offers a good neck for starting dungeons, but may be too difficult to complete (requiring a raid, if I'm not mistaken). Plus, its reward will hopefully be replaced by a much better neck soon after capping, but if you happen to get it while leveling, you'll be better prepared at 60.

Also, you should consider doing the Blasted Lands quest chain ending in "Heroes of Old" to get a decent green MP5 trinket, Shard of Afrasa. Ideally, it will be replaced soon enough, but it's good to have in case you have bad luck with drops.

Finally, you should consider completing the quest chains ending in "Order Must Be Restored" (Alliance) or "The Scarlet Oracle, Demetria" (Horde) as well, in order to obtain the powerful wand, Stormrager. While getting this ranged weapon might be particularly difficult around the beginning of WoW Classic, it's probably worth it considering the general lack of good wands pre-raid. All in all, it's a worthy goal to pursue in my opinion.

Step 2 - Blackrock Depths (As Soon As You Can)

Run BRD as soon as groups will take you. You should be pretty much fine to full clear it by level 55 - especially if you have another group member that can off-heal or if you run dungeons with an organized group. There are several AMAZING items in BRD that you'll need to obtain if you want to pull your weight in raids, but many of them come from bosses later in the dungeon. In particular, Hands of the Exalted Herald (dropped by Princess Moira Bronzebeard) and The Hammer of Grace (in the chest after the Trial of Seven event) are must-haves for any priest (and most healers, to be honest). The earlier you can grab these items, the better off you'll be.

If you are Horde, remember to grab the quest "The Rise of the Machines" from the Badlands before running it too, as you'll be able to get an awesome cloak, the Raincaster Drape, which won't be replaced for a long time. Alliance priests (or those wanting Fire Resist) can potentially pick up the Cape of the Fire Salamander from Ambassador Flamelash, which isn't perfect, but it's something along the way. Both Alliance and Horde priests can also grab Burst of Knowledge (Ambassador Flamelash) and Second Wind (Golem Lord Arglemach) in BRD as well, so really it's just a lot you can get while still leveling up.

To sum it up and keep it all in one place, here's a quick list of the items you should be aiming for in BRD:

Shoulders:
Kentic Amice from High Interrogator Gerstahn (increase damage AND healing, so expect competition).

Back: 
Raincaster Drape (Horde Only) from completing the quest "Rise of the Machines" which involves killing Golem Lord Arglemach.
Cape of the Fire Salamander (Alliance or Horde) from Ambassador Flamelash.
Spritecaster Cape from Houndmaster Grebmar

Hands:
Hands of the Exalted Herald from Princess Moira Bronzebeard. THIS IS A MUST-HAVE!!!

Legs:
Haunting Specter Leggings from the Trial of Seven (7 Dwarves Event).
Senior Designer's Pantaloons from Fineous Darkvire.

Feet:
Omnicast Boots from Golem Lord Arglemach.

Trinkets:
Burst of Knowledge from Ambassador Flamelash.
Second Wind from Golem Lord Arglemach. THIS IS A MUST-HAVE!!!

Weapon and Offhand:
The Hammer of Grace from the Trial of Seven (7 Dwarves Event). THIS IS A MUST-HAVE!!!
Thaurissan's Royal Scepter from Emperor Thaurissan.
OR
Guiding Stave of Wisdom from Emperor Thaurissan.


Ok, by now you SHOULD be at level 60. If you haven't done so already, consider doing the steps above. But in addition to those two things, you now have more work to do...

Step 3 - Stratholme

Run Undead Stratholme...a lot. In order to make this list as efficient as possible, I looked through all of the different loot in dungeons, but after doing so, I've found that there is an absolute crap-ton of suitable gear for holy priests in this dungeon. Before heading over there, make sure to pick up the quest "Houses of the Holy" from Light's Hope Chapel in order to get the Crown of the Penitent - a decent green helm with MP5.

Including the decent green helm, there are more than 10 great items you can potentially get here, making it by far the most lucrative dungeon you can run as a priest:

Head:
Crown of the Penitent from the quest mentioned above - "Houses of the Holy."
Crimson Felt Hat from Magistrate Barthilas (Absolutely wonderful helm for casters as well, so expect competition. However, this item will not be released until phase 2!).

Neck:
Animated Chain Necklace from Ramstein the Gorger. This item will not be released until phase 2!

Shoulders:
Soulstealer Mantle from Ramstein the Gorger.

Back:
Royal Tribunal Cloak from Magistrate Barthilas (if you somehow don't have better at this point).

Chest:
Robes of the Exalted from Baron Rivendare. THIS IS A MUST-HAVE!!!

Wrists:
Devout Bracers which are an BOE blue that may drop from the humanoid mobs in the dungeon, but can also be bought from the AH if desired.

Waist:
Thuzadin Sash from Nerub'enkan (You'll have to compete with caster DPS for this too! However, this item will not be released until phase 2!)

Legs:
Devout Skirt from Baron Rivendare (Magister's and Dreadmist legs drop as well).

Feet:
Devout Sandals from Maleki the Pallid.

Finger:
Seal of Rivendare from Baron Rivendare.

As you can see, there's a ton of loot to be had in Strat UD, so it's a REALLY good idea to get in as soon as possible. I should also mention that there are also several good items in Live Strat, though doing a full run of both sections will be VERY time-consuming. If you have the time and desire though, you could consider doing that as well.

Step 4 - Repeat Steps 2 and 3

Do BRD and Strat UD as much as possible until you've gotten Hands of the Exalted Herald, The Hammer of Grace, Robes of the Exalted, and Animated Chain Necklace. Really, these items are the ones with the most raw +healing and will thus be the greatest assets as a level 60 priest. Combined with Fordring's Seal from the quest "In Dreams," these items will give you a good amount of +healing.

Once you've gotten those items (and any other lucky drops along the way), you can start filling gaps... I highly advise holding off on filling gaps before getting those items, however, as there are so many good items you could obtain in those two dungeons alone!

Step 5 - Fill in the Blanks: Auction House, Scholomance, and Mooncloth

Fill in the blanks. If you've gotten the best items, you have two other fairly easy options for loot :

• Visit the AH for greens and/or Cassandra's Grace (Pre-raid BiS helm, but likely SUPER expensive). Some of the best items for priests are green quality +healing items, including Dragon Finger of Healing (Pre-raid BiS Wand) or Glowstar Rod of Healing (a close 2nd), +healing belts, or +healing offhands. Don't break the bank, though!

• If you're feeling cheap or there are no decent items in the Auction House, run Scholomance. There's a decent amount of good items you can get from running Scholo, including:
• Devout Crown (Head) from Darkmaster Gandling, which you might as well try for if you're running it anyway for set completion. Magister's and Dreadmist headpieces drop as well.
• Burial Shawl (Shoulder) from the various mini-bosses throughout Scholomance (you've got 6 chances for it to drop per run and it's got +20 spell damage and healing, but you have to compete with caster dps for it. This item will not be released until phase 2!)
• Penelope's Rose (Offhand) from the quest to kill Kirtonos the Herald. Pick up the quest from the ghosts outside to get this offhand with decent stats (though no +healing).
• Bonecreeper Stylus (Wand) from Darkmaster Gandling. A good wand, but again has +11 spell damage and healing, so you'll be competing with mages and warlocks.
• If you're a tailor, you can start crafting some Mooncloth pieces for any missing item slots. It'll probably have taken you a while to get through the other steps, so you should have enough saved up for at least a couple of pieces (unless you got super-lucky with drops in Strat and BRD). They've only got core stats, but hopefully you'll have enough +healing from other items to compensate. However, this will set you back if you are considering crafting the Truefaith Vestments, so keep that in mind...

What NOT to do to gear up...

Don't spam UBRS or LBRS for gear. There are a few really good items in there, but considering how few they are compared to other dungeons, it probably isn't worth the grind. That being said, if you happen to run these dungeons for other reasons (fun, quests, attunements, etc.), keep an eye out for the Dragonrider Boots (Feet) from Rend Blackhand, and Briarwood Reed (Trinket) from the rare spawn Jed Runewatcher in UBRS, and Skyshroud Leggings (Legs) from Highlord Omokk in LBRS. These are some of the best items at 60, but they're about the only ones of value in the dungeon. You can also possibly pick up a Devout Belt (Waist) in LBRS from trash, but you might be able to buy it cheap on the AH depending on the seller and save yourself a trip to the spire.

Final Thoughts

Congratulations on getting your priest to 60 and good luck with the gearing process. Obviously, there are tons of other items you could get - and even more once Dire Maul is released. But for any of you out there that wish to get the most bank for your buck in dungeon spamming early on in classic, this list should fit the bill just fine. Keep calm and run more Strat and BRD!

If I missed anything or if you thought this guide was useful, let me know by leaving a comment! I'd love to know if there's anything more I can add here, so make sure to tell me if there are better guides available for priest gearing at Classic launch. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter and check out my videos over on YouTube too!

But that's it for now. Good luck, again! And as always, take it easy!



A big thanks to Tigs's Vanilla Heal Priest BiS List and to vanillawowdb.com, without which this list wouldn't exist!