@Hokuto: Hahaha… definitely the best part of being Balance. If only I didn’t have to look like an overstuffed purple turkey!

@Myna: I would recommend trying out a deep Balance spec (deep enough to get Improved Moonkin Form) and seeing how you like it. Then spec back to Resto for healing. Maybe this would make a good future article!

@Ninjasuperspy: That’s a kickass name. I wanted to reserve Dahlia, but unfortunately, that was taken. I ended up settling on Azaelea. Cute idea with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. There’s actually a guild on beta called “Death Knights Who Say Ni” — I giggled.

@Yggdrasil: Another good name. I’m SHOCKED that wasn’t already taken by some Undead Rogue. I’m pretty sure my DK will be a Night Elf if only because they have the option to get their hair colored magenta when they go to the barber shop (it’s not a color available at creation, though).

@Kai: It was great to see you online again last night, and glad we could add you to the guild! I’m impressed you’ve had so little difficulty with higher level mobs. I got my feathered butt handed to me by a 75 in Grizzly Hills. I just couldn’t seem to land any spells on him (it probably helps that I have NO spell hit). I’ll stick with things closer to my level, I think. You’ll have to tell me more about this Ring of Blood 2.0 later!

@Shawn: It is true that they’ve mentioned the ability to have a second spec that you could switch between, but it’s not clear how that will work and whether it will be implemented before release. If it is, I’ll probably take Boomkin as my alternate spec for those nights when my raids have too many healers. Balance is looking quite fabulous as of the latest changes. Good point about Inscription materials, too, altho I was trying to keep that on the DL so I could hoard them all myself.

@Archmera: I wouldn’t enjoy healing as a Feral-specced Druid at all. There’s simply not enough synergy in terms of healing output. Have you considered using this time to farm up a respeccing fund to carry you through?

@Minmon: That is another option, and it sounds like you aren’t the only one planning to do that. However, I think they try to discourage this by making the quests in Northrend give significantly more exp than the quests in TBC do, so it may not be as effective as you are hoping. Still, every little bit helps!

@Ghostboci: I’m doing the same. I have a little Draenei Paladin I leveled to 15 specifically so she could wear a pair of blue overalls. She has wildflowers in her hand and holds all my herbs. ^^

@Natarumah: Thanks for the tip about First Aid. I’ve since updated the article to remove that suggestion since it turns out it won’t be effective. And you also make a great point about considering gear with different stats. I wrote this mainly from my own perspective, so I’m not aware of any new stats that I’ll want to emphasize (while spell crit will be more helpful than it was before, it’s still less attractive than +Healing).

@Copey: I think the increasing costs to respec is one of the main reasons people are hesitant to do it. Not only are they spending money on the talent change itself but they feel like they “shouldn’t” be doing so because Blizzard effectively penalizes you for doing so too quickly. Naturally, once you’ve hit the 50g mark, you probably don’t care, but I suspect it’s one of the psychological, contributing factors to people’s reluctance to frequently respec.

@Tiagantar: Yes, they are! It’s an awesome item, too. It comes with just about everything you could ever need, including cables!

@Halfalthaia: I’ve often thought that the new, awesome engineering goggles should blind you 15% of the time. Good luck leveling your ret paladin. I haven’t paid much attention to the red rewards (the ones I can’t equip), but I’m sure you’ll have some options.

One more comment: One can never be prepared enough to go through the horrible grind of leveling a paladin again, especially after the relative easy of leveling a hunter, warlock, and druid. I think I may cry when I see my experience bar again, even though everyone states that ret paladins will be dealing ridiculous amounts of damage, I just don’t have the gear to level as ret (*cry* hopefully early quests will give me what I need).

Well, if it stayed at 2x week I think most people would be happy. If you heal in raids, then tank in heroics and then go respecc for PvP (which a lot of people do) it is already three times a day. That costs quite a bundle.

But I think that’s not the main reason, but convenience. Being able to switch faster and easier is what attracts most people to this option, as is the fact you might not need to go to a capital city for it.

Druids and mages may have ways to get there quicker, but for others it still means blowing an hour’s cooldown.

Other than that, no respeccing is not the end of the world. But some people might feel more secure if they could have a second specc as a failsafe.

Natarumahu wills last blog post..Priests and the flock

I guess I just don’t get what all the fuss is about. I mean I would enjoy being able to switch specs without going to Moonglade and paying, but seriously, what else are you going to spend money on after you get your epic flyer? I don’t understand you guys with the “Oh noes I have to pay to respect for leveling”. Can somebody help me out? Am I missing something? No offense to anybody that is worried, I just don’t understand it.

From what I heard though, it seems that to level First Aid past 375, you’d need Frostweave (the new Wrath cloth of choice) immediately. Apparently, Heavy Netherweave Bandages are greyed out at 375 already.

It could be that they reverse the change to allow First Aid to have a few points of benefit from the ol’ netherweave, but it could be they want to have a solid “break point” at 375.

Another thing I will do (as a Shadowpriest) is evaluating all that old healer gear with Spirit on it. Once the content patch goes live, some of it may actually be better than the old DPS gear.

I know a lot of Paladins who are now stacking up on Warrior gear to get themselves a head start, so my tip would be to look through your old “gear up” wishlists, and evaluate again if some things could be replaced with something better that you previously ignored. Especially if your class has seen significant overhauls in playstyle and/or stat requirements.

Natarumahs last blog post..Northrend mapviewer

Other thing: Inscription. Lot of people will be inscribes. They will all need herbs for their profession (inscription will may be out before the expansion). So now my primary occupation is buying herbs and stockpiling them up. I have 3 alts full of herbs. When the inscription is up I’ll be selling them for blushing profits.

The day before expansion hits, I’m setting my hearthstone to Orgrimmar (or whichever town is closest to the zep to Northrend). I am then going to head on over to The Island of QD and complete without turning in every single daily quest on that island.

When the expansion hits I’ll just then go ahead and turn in the 10 or so quests at QD before heading for Northrend. ^_^

~Archmera