Darklight Resolution had their weekly Guild Night last night and I had the pleasure of leading a raid on Zul'Gurub. We started small, worked our way up to 15 people, and ended with the Panther Boss at 10 men and women. We quickly blasted through five bosses and Ghaz'ranka (no, Polymorph: Turtle did not drop). We saw tons of coins and bijous and in the end, I ended up with 2,858 reputation with the Zandalar tribe, just 142 reputation short of friendly, or just 142 reputation short of Pattern: Bloodvine Boots, Formula: Brilliant Mana Oil, and Zandalar Illusionist's Wraps. The cuffs dropped twice, so after giving the first set to the level 60 mage, Nightsage that accompanied us, I grabbed the second set. Yet another item to fill up my bank, but that set would look pretty good.

Running the numbers again, my new War Staff I plan on picking up next week will grant me 1 additional hit, 42 additional crit, 40 additional damage, and 29 resilience at the cost of just 6 stamina and 9 intellect. A very simple tradeoff to make.

However, right now, I can purchase the Merciless Gladiator's Spellblade and combine it with either the Jewel of Infinite Possibilities (which I own) or the Fetish of the Primal Gods (which I have the badges to purchase). The other option is the Flametongue Seal (which gives the most pure damage).

What it basically comes down to is trading some stats for damage. In the end, the War Staff is the best option. However, if I were to spend 1,125 more arena points to put the Spellblade with the Vengeful Gladiator's Endgame, the net effects are: plus 3 stamina, 35 damage, and 16 resilience at the cost of 3 intellect, 9 hit, and 42 crit. An interesting tradeoff, but I think keeping the hit and crit for raiding is the best option.

Just one week to go...

Over the weekend, besides fishing, I also joined a 3v3 arena team. Lexten, Panoply and I tried our hand at some 3v3 with extreme DPS and it didn't work out too well. Boomkin+2 mages =/= success in 3v3 apparently. But we got our 10 games in (2-8) and also proceeded to get in the requisite number of matches for 2v2 and 5v5 play. This week I should be pulling in 700-800 arena points, adding to the 2,000 I had previously. The Merciless Gladiator's War Staff is just 3,261 arena points, so this time next Tuesday, I should be able to upgrade to it.

This Thursday, I'm trying to organize a run into Zul'Gurub. It's been quite a while since I've ventured inside, but it is one of my favorite places to go and I'm hoping to get a few guildmates inside and down some bosses. One can never complain about getting what is probably the coolest mount out there - the Swift Zulian Tiger.

Ahh! So angry I can't get a Green Winter Clothes Pattern! They're a horde only item. I get my Red Winter Clothes, but really want both.

Today was fishing day. I finally had enough of that measly fishing skill of 17 showing up whenever I looked through my list. I started out in Stormwind fishing the canals and then moved on to Southshore once I had skilled up enough. There I traveled up and down the river fishing for sagefish. I fished a bit in the Arathi Highlands and finally moved on to the Hinterlands where I came across some electric eels in addition to all the other fish I was exposed to. When I hit 210, I traveled to see Nat Pagle in Dustwallow Marsh. He refused to give me the quest to advance until I hit 225, so I fished off his dock for a while.

He then had me search across both continents to find a Feralas Ahi, a Misty Reed Mahi Mahi, a Sar'theris Striker, and a Savage Coast Blue Fin. They were relatively easy to fish up and I returned to Nat Pagle ready to continue my fishing learning. I am now at 225, gaining over 200 skill points today and on my way to 375. Then I shall try my best to acquire Mr. Pinchy.

Happy Winter Veil!

Today was the first day of Winter Veil, and after seeing all the festivities going on in Ironforge, I was ready to spread the Winter Veil cheer!

After Greatfather Winter requested I make him some Gingerbread Cookies, I headed out to Darkshore and gathered 40 eggs. I quickly ported back to Ironforge, bought some Holiday Spices, and made over 3 dozen cookies! I gave them to Greatfather Winter and was rewarded with a Smokywood Pastures Gift Pack - how kind of him!

I then checked my mail, and waiting inside was a new tailoring pattern and a new cooking recipe! Just for me! I quickly tore into the tailoring pattern and learned how to create Red Winter Clothes! I whipped up a set for myself and also made another set which I traded to Vexxious for a pair of Winter Boots. Now, to complete the set, I have to hunt down a Red Winter Hat. I could spend a good amount of time tomorrow trying to acquire one.

The cooking recipe I received taught me how to craft Hot Apple Cider. I haven't had time to make any yet, but I will quite soon.

After being surprised with free patterns and recipes, I took some time to see what else was going on. Lo and behold, the Southsea Buccaneers had kidnapped Metzen the Reindeer! I quickly hearthed to Gadgetzan, went down to Lost Rigger Cove and recued Metzen. I returned to Ironforge and was rewarded with 5 Preserved Holly for rescuing the poor, helpless reindeer.

I was also told that if I put a pinch of Deeprock Salt in a Holly Preserver Machine along with 5g, I could get 5 more Preserved Holly. I will stockpile these rare gems for use throughout the year on special occasions. I also have stocked up a few snowballs because I have heard rumors that on December 25th, at the end of the Winter Veil holiday, you receive a Jingling Bell in the mail. I will need plenty of snowballs to summon my own little Winter Reindeer.

With all the Winter Veil quests completed, I will be able to enjoy the rest of the holiday season in style. I will hunt down that red hat and spread cheer throughout the land. Of course, my Brewfest Pony Keg will help me in the cause!

Well, we did it.

It took us a few weeks of learning and practicing, but we have now cleared Karazhan completely without a wipe - in just over 4 hours.

We had quite a bit of fun all the way through - I got to nuke the Curator while the sparks were quickly dealt with by our shaman and a couple of kitties and I was also able to break out my King's Defender on a couple of Arcane Sentries and get my sword skill up. We also perfected our line for loot after the Chess Event. Because if you hand out the items inside before everyone gets their badges, the badges disappear.

Overall, I just barely did the most damage as Nefernetcher was close on my tail. However, I did have to hold back quite a bit since I didn't have salvation. It was quite nice having three druids though - three combat rezzes helped us on a tricky Prince fight.

In the end, we completed every boss, sharded only a few items, and I now have 99 badges of justice that I really don't know how to use. I could buy some haste items. I could buy some PVP items. I just don't know.

This weekend, I spent most of my time helping my young pupil Barleybux as he is working towards a lot of horde killing in his 39th season. However, I did get my daily quests done each day, including the battleground quest today in Eye of the Storm and also the PvP quest in Hellfire Peninsula. I was quite proud of myself as I had earned almost 90g on the day. However, while organizing my bags, another friendly mage noted that I had mis-socketed my helm. I had a gem in the blue slot that gave extra crit rating - for melee. I quickly went to Ironforge and bought a new gem with extra damage and double checked all my other sockets. They were all good.

Just as I was about to leave Ironforge, I quickly scanned the auction house for patterns and recipes I have not yet learned. Usually I see the same things up there - all out of my price range, but this time, something new. I had seen it once before in my life. It was the Pattern: Rich Purple Silk Shirt. Since I know how rare the pattern is and how hard it is to obtain, I quickly bought out the pattern for an obscene amount of gold, quickly erasing a chunk of gold I have earmarked for an epic mount. But it's worth it. My new Rich Purple Silk Shirt looks much better than my old, cheap, Lavender Mageweave Shirt.