Wednesday 26 February 2014

Arrival on Azuremyst, not Draenor. - Nynaevê's Story, Chapter one.


Nynaevê stepped out of the portal into a lush green forest, similar to the one she had just left, or so she initially thought. Upon closer inspection the foliage was a much darker shade of green than the forest she'd come to know as home, there was also a strange purple hue in the sky. she walked along a small path and arrived at what looked like an encampment of sorts, small rounded buildings were dotted around, there were strange pink glowing crystals set into them, and lots of strange swirly patterns on the outside. 
I'm not on Draenor she thought to herself, and she felt a pang of unease creep into her chest. Where had she arrived? What was this place? Surely Leng-Sei hadn't made the portal incorrectly? With a heavy heart she approached the encampment, she felt a wave of relief when she saw that it appeared to be inhabited by Draenei. "That's something at least".
"Pardon?"
She spun round, unaware that she had spoken out loud to herself, she found herself facing a male Draenei, he was wearing brightly colored robes and had a document in his hand, he looked rather official.
"Are you lost?" he spoke with a deep clear voice, that reminded her of her fathers. 
"I'm sorry, forgive me, my name is Nynaevê, I have traveled here by way of a portal, from Pandaria...though...." She paused and bit her lip in embarrassment "I am sorry, I do not know where I am, I was hoping to return to Draenor, but I fear I am somewhere else."
The Draenei looked her up and down, he seemed unsure of the validity of her tale. 
"You...came through a portal?"
"I did."
"...and you have no idea where you are?"
"Sorry, no, I don't." She started to worry that the Draenei would think that she were a spy or something worse. Suddenly he seemed to have a change of heart, his face softened and he visibly relaxed his body. 
"Very well. My name is Aurren, though I am known here as Cryptographer Aurren. I can tell you that you are not on Draenor, but on Azuremyst Isle, you are just off the coast of Kalimdor in Azeroth."
Blast! Kalimdor? Home of the orcs who had terrorized her people? She recalled their capital of Orgrimmar being in northern Kalimdor, where the awful orc leader Hellscream was said to reside. This was the last place she wanted to be.
"You...look a little upset, are you alright?" Her face must have told quite the tale while she had that thought, she flushed and tried to gather her composure.
"My apologies, I had sincerely hoped to be on Draenor, I haven't had very favorable experience with Kalimdor in the past."
"Because of the Orcs?" Aurren almost grimaced when speaking the word.
"Well, yes, now that you mention it."
"Do not worry, you are quite safe here, no Orc has been to this part of Kalimdor for a very long time, and they are not likely to visit anytime soon." She allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief, and instantly tensed again at the arrival of a small white furry creature.

     Aurren smiled knowingly at the strange animal. It was almost as if he had found slight amusement in Nynaevê's reaction to it. 
The creature nodded to Aurren, and began to read a piece of parchment that he was carrying. 
"Fear not, this is Arugoo, he is no threat. He is a Furbolg, most of his kin live on different parts of the isle but he likes to spend his time here with me, he helps me study my my papers from time to time, and in return I am teaching him to speak our language...he's....getting there...slowly." Aurren grinned at the Furbolg who was now looking at Nynaevê with great interest.
"Heeloo  Laydee Draynee" He stammered, before bowing his head and then returning to his parchment. 
"He is quite shy, you will have to forgive him" 
Nynaevê bowed her head and replied "Hello Arugoo". If the little creature could have blushed he would have, he made some stifled giggly noises and walked away.
"Now then" Aurren's short curt statement made her jump, since when had she been a nervous wreck? That was the second or third time she had found herself almost startled that conversation alone!
"Tell me, what is your purpose here exactly?" He motioned for her to sit, tentatively, she sat, and stammering a little at first, she told the tale of how she had left her homeland, how they had found Pandaria and lived there, and how she had arrived in Kalimdor, all be it with the original intent of returning to Draenor. Aurren listened with great intent, it was hard to believe such a young looking Draenei had seen so much, he waited patiently for her to finish, and although his head was brimming with many questions, he decided it best to try and get her settled first as she was evidently nervous.
"Well, you do have a colorful background Nynaevê! I have many things to ask you, but for now, i think we should get you settled and find you something to eat. That is if you're planning on staying here for a while?" She paused, where else should she go?
"If there's room for me here, I should like to stay for a time, I'm happy to help with any chores that need tending to" She bowed her head graciously. If she was not on Draenor she may as well make friends with the people here at least.
"It's settled then! Come with me, I will introduce you to Jaeleil, she will see you right, she may even have a few jobs for you to do!!
    He led her over to a female Draenei, dressed in very fine robes she was sat lazily upon a bench, quite near to where they had been sat talking. 
"Nynaevê, this is Jaeleil, she will set you right with somewhere to sleep and something to eat. For now, I must be getting back to Arugoo, he can get into mischief if he's left alone too long! Come and see us when you're settled and I may even have a few jobs for you myself!"
Aurren bowed to both ladies, turned on his heel with a flourish and left.
Jaeleil smiled lazily at Nynaevê, her eyes twinkled beneath the purple headband that was holding her soft brown hair in place, her robes, upon closer inspection, were cream with pink trimmings, and they fitted her slim figure perfectly. For a second Nynaevê was lost, imagining herself looking so majestical and beautiful, Jaeleil's silky voice broke her daydream;
"So, you've had an interesting journey" Nynaevê's eyes widened. "Yes, i heard you telling Aurren your story, quite the adventure! Now then, I will find you somewhere to sleep and something to eat, tonight, you will rest and be safe, tomorrow, you will help us out with a few things to earn your keep, yes?"
"Thank you most graciously for your kindness" Nynaevê bowed, she may be nervous but she would not forget her manners! "I will be happy to help with anything I can while I am here, and hopefully learn more about this place." For the first time she really began to take in the beauty surrounding her. It will be worth staying here for a time, I can learn new things in preparation to move on. If getting to Draenor is not on the cards I must at least get back to pandaria....I promised I would.
    She chatted a while longer with Jaeleil, she instantly liked her, her beauty and sense of fun was the sort of thing that made you just want to be around her. After some time she was shown to the inn where she was greeted by another female Draenei called Chellan, a jolly soul with wizened eyes, she looked Nynaevê up and down, much the way Yalia used to and her eyes lit up. 
"We will get you a  nice big supper! Can't be having young girls running around with no meat on their bones!" Nynaevê wasn't sure whether to be offended or not, then a wink from Chellan told her that she should not, she was just being kind. She went to bed that night with a full tummy and a full head. Full of questions and wondering, she thought she would never sleep but she must have been tired because she didn't get much past thinking tomorrow I shall....  and she slept. 
      
~*~
        




Friday 21 February 2014

First week back in the Brew....PvP, a new monk guild and some other....stuff!!

It's almost like riding a bike....almost.

So this week I went back to tanking after a months break while I healed in place of our regular Druid, who replaced my Husband in our main progress group, while he was working overseas. Now that he has returned I have re-taken up my mantle as Group 2 bum kicker. My first night back as a tank was actually spent doing Challenge Modes, which I had never experienced before.....well....what the HECK is going on there? Crazy, hard hitting dungeons that I can solo on heroic mode...it was bonkers! So much fun though, i really enjoyed the challenge and it was a great way to reconnect with my baby Brewmaster. That first Keg Smash was just.....awesome!! Although I have really enjoyed healing, I LOVE being a tank!!

My first official raid night back as a Brewmaster was amazing fun, with all the gear I have picked up while healing I am now even more tanky than I was before, I even managed to solo tank the giant dino of doom, Thok!! Another thing I am REALLY happy about it my trinket collection. I currently have 6 at my disposal, which may sound like a bit overkill but I have pretty much found uses for all of them now, apart from the Curse of Hurbis, at a first glance i thought this trinket looked good but now I have the others it doesn't really have a place in my set up anymore.


PvP.

As I had enjoyed healing so much I decided to keep Mistweaver as an off spec and use it for PvP. A group of us have started running BG's every weekend, to spend some tme together as a guild and have some fun. I really enjoy my Mistweaver in PvP, not only do I have CC for days, but I can heal my team by beating people up, which works for me! I'm also finding that it is making me a better player in general, I am getting quicker with my reactions and more preventive of damage. It's also finally become apparent that me having an alt of each class has helped as I know what to expect from them when fighting.

The Peak of Serenity.

As my previous post stated I have joined an All monk guild on Shadowsong EU. There are some familiar faces and some new ones!! As much as I love being a Hordey, I am really enjoying levelling as an Ally, the different perspectives on quests, and I really like being a Draenei!! The guild is slowly filling up, so if anyone has an EU account and want's to be part of something awesome, shoot me a message on here, or contact me via twitter: @Darklady_EU or add me in game with a message: Snoopkitten#2104.


Monk Meditation.

Tomorrow evening I shall be appearing on the monk Meditation show alongside the other Lady monks, I am really looking forward to it!! We will be covering a variety of topics and taking questions, so drop by the Dojo and say hello!! You can find all things Monk Meditation on this link !!

Now you can check out the video!!

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Meet Nynaevê!!

Some of you may or may not know that I have recently created a new monk on Shadowsong EU, to be part of the all monk guild Peak of Serenity (EU version yo!). Originally an idea from the lovely Jadedot who runs the Chi Burst forums, an EU version of the guild was born. The Guild master for our side is  Byakko, we have a few officers, myself included and the guild is already growing nicely, I even managed to convince my Druid loving Husband to make a monk and join!!

I am going to detail my levelling experience written from the point of my actual toon, as I like writing I thought it might be nice to make a diary of sorts of her encounters, the places she visits and the activities she takes part in. I am aiming to do this every Wednesday, or possibly every second Wednesday, in addition to my usual Friday blog, the Friday blogs may contain information about the guild in general/activities, achievements, that sort of thing, but the Wednesday posts from now on will be Nynaevê's posts. Hopefully they will be enjoyable, I'm not RP'ing her on the server as it's just a normal server but I will be making notes as I level and taking LOTS of screenshots!!

A little background info....

Ok, first things first, a little of her lore, now, please bear in mind that I have made this up myself, I have done some research into Draenei so that I could tailor my own story idea to not sound too crazy, as I personally knew nothing about Draenei lore before I started this! In any case, I apologize in advance to any lore fanatics that may find holes in my story, please feel free to let me know if there are any!


The name Nynaevê is one that I favoured from the Wheel of Time  book's characters. I suppose I have based her a little on that, though my Nynaevê will have a more uplifting outlook on life in general and more of a fun personality. I did not want her to be grumpy and bad tempered. She will when she reaches 90 become a healer, at the moment she is a tank/healer for levelling purposes, but I will integrate that into her story. It's no secret that I have a love for the Pandaren race, initially she was going to be a Panda but I thought it would be nicer to level as a different class, and Draenei had always been of some interest to me, however in keeping with my own interests there are Pandaren involved with her lore, even though it may seem a bit far fetched, this is a story after all ;)

Early life.

     Nynaevê's family fled from Draenor when the Elves overtook Tempest Keep. As part of a group of refugees they took to the sea's in an effort to find a new home when theirs was overrun. Nynaevê spent her early years at sea. She watched her parents and the other adult Draenei begin to lose hope that they would ever find a safe place to live. After first attempting to dock in Silvermoon, they were greeted only by Blood Elves, a fight broke out as the ship was leaving, and some of the Draenei lost their lives, Nynaevê's own Father, Lucan, lost his right hand in the skirmish, and the mood was low as they struggled to carry on. With food and supplies running out, it seemed as though all hope had been lost. The group of refugees was substantially smaller than when they had first left Draenor, they lost members to ill health, fights with Elves and Orcs, it was even believed that one of the female members of the group had died of a broken heart when she lost her husband to a storm at sea.
      Despite the struggles and seeing the pain and suffering at such a young age, Nynaevê blossomed into a helpful and friendly young girl, who was always kind and ready to aid anyone else in any way she could. As her mother, Nerese, was often weary from the toll the events had taken on her, she helped care for her father, who was having problems with his missing hand. Day after day she re dressed the wound and cleaned it. She became more and more interested in helping others, and there were days where she would gaze out to sea, having daydreams of being a wise and powerful healer, returning to Draenor to help rebuild their broken homes. 


Into the mists. 


      After nearly 6 years at sea with few successful ladings to restock supplies and recuperate, and many losses of life, the ship ran into a vast patch of mist. The air was damp and they couldn't see much past the bow, they spent two days huddled together wondering what misfortune had befallen them now. On the third day one of the young male Draenei shouted that there was land in sight. Most of the others were too tired to even get up and look but Nynaevê jumped to her feet and ran to the bow, her keen eyes saw the silhouette of an island, appearing like a ghost from the swirling mists that surrounded the ship. She shouted back to confirm that there was indeed land, and some of the others rose to their feet and joined her. For the first time in what felt like forever there was excitement among the refugees aboard. 
      The ship ran aground before it reached the actual shore, the group had dwindled to around ten to fifteen of the original forty or so Draenei that had left many years before. Tired, cold, hungry and now soaking wet they made their way into a lush green forest, they marveled at the beautiful waterfalls, and picked tasty fruits from the trees. They set up a camp with what they could salvage from the ship, the place was so warm they slept under the canopy of trees. Nynaevê led on her back and looked up to see clear black sky with twinkling stars through the leaves and branches above, the forest smelled fresh and she felt safe, and before long she closed her eyes and slept. 
       She awoke to voices the next morning, some creatures had been sighted in the bushes and once again fear took hold of the Draenei. Her father calmly rose to his feet and stepped out in front of the frightened group, "Greetings" he said in his deep voice. "You need not hide, we are here in peace. We are Draenei from Draenor, we left our land several years ago when it was overrun by Blood Elves. We have spent all this time looking for somewhere new to live, and have suffered many a loss on the way. If you do not want us on your land we shall respect that, but please allow us a few days grace to repair our ship, and resupply before we move on." There was silence, apart from a few rugged breaths from the terrified Draenei, then a rustling sound, from the bushes near the camp came a black and white bear creature, he stood on two feet, like a person would rather than an animal. His face was covered in most part by a huge round hat, upon which was an imprint of a paw. His eyes twinkled from underneath, the rest of his face was covered with a red scarf of sorts.
      He eyed up the tall Draenei that had addressed him. Eventually he pulled down his scarf and spoke. "Greetings Draenei, I have heard tales of your people before. How have you reached our shores? And with so few of you? Surely more of your people left? The bear looked around as if he were expecting a sudden influx of homeless Draenei to appear.
 "We left our shores with forty or so in our company. Through battle, illness and the sea itself we have lost many of our kin. We are tired, and weary, I have no idea how we came across this land, and in truth I have no idea where we are. We have been to other lands and were turned away, sometimes violently, I suppose we are hoping that this is not just another dead end."
 The bear looked at Lucan curiously, his face set like a stone, showing no emotion at all. 
 "Very well, Draenei, as long as you bring no threat to my people and these shores you are welcome here, I am Taran Zhu, lord of the Shado-Pan, we are Pandaren and you have landed on our home, Pandaria."
 Lucan allowed himself a sigh of relief. "Thank you most graciously Lord Zhu, we shall not be a bother to your people, though I fear some of us may need medical aid."
  Taran motioned for them to follow him, "Come, I will take you to the Pawdon Village nearby, there, you may find food, rest and any aid you need."
        The pandaren led them through the forest until they came to a small path, leading up to an archway into a village with brightly colored rooftops, lit up with red and orange lanterns. Another Pandaren stood in the archway to the village.
 "Lord Zhu, you have returned!" He said with a kindly smile upon his face, "We were beginning to wonder what had happened to you."
 "All is well my old friend" Zhu replied, "These Draenei are to be aided in whatever way necessary, they are tired, and hungry, could you find Yalia for me and tell her we need her and her healers?"
 The Pandaren bowed his head, turned, displaying a wonderful yellow cloak and went into the village. 
 The group were soon being greeted by Pandaren, they were brought warm drinks and food, proper food!! Nynaevê had never tasted anything so good, and she was soon full. 
"Do you need any medicine child?"
She looked up into piercing blue eyes, slightly hidden by a black fringe, the female Pandaren smiled down at her, her face was warm and welcoming. Nynaevê managed to stammer "N, n, no, thank you, I am not injured, however my father..." 
 "Ah yes, do not worry child, I have taken care of his poor hand, he tells me that it was you who cared for his wound, is this true?"  Nynaevê was quite in awe of the Pandaren,
  "Well, no, I mean, yes, I tried, I wasn't sure how to do it, I..." eventually curiosity overcame her, "...did I do something wrong?" The Pandaren gave a chuckle, and her eyes sparkled.
 "My dear, if it hadn't been for you, your Father may have died from the injury, you cleaning it and dressing it has kept the wound healthy and it has already started to heal. Had you left it, it could have become infected." She grinned now, and showed off shiny white teeth, "Nynaevê, is that your name? My name is Yalia Sagewhisper, you seem to have an aptitude for caring for others, all of your company that I have conversed with so far have told me how kind and helpful you have been." Nynaevê was stunned, she had never even thought that it had been noticed, with all the horrors that they had witnessed, it struck her as strange that anyone would have noticed simple kindnesses. Yalia turned with a flourish of green mist and walked away, taking a small glance back to the dumbstruck Draenei. She smiled kindly at her and hurried off. 
    Nynaevê wandered through the village, peering at the little houses, and gazing at the beautiful pink blossom trees. They were in full bloom so she supposed it was spring, though she had not known any seasons for some time now.

 The village itself was quite breathtaking, the waterfalls ran clear and sparkling, there were birds singing everywhere and the smell of the flowers filled the air. She took rest under one of the giant pink trees and closed her eyes. She opened them with a snap as she heard a noise, it sounded like footsteps, too many to be one person, whatever this was had four feet! The footfalls came closer, slowing down as they approached her, she looked around, and could not see a soul. The footsteps stopped. A low growl made her turn swiftly, she gasped, a ginormous four legged creature with bright orange fur, black stripes and VERY sharp teeth was staring right at her!
 Should she run? She was pretty quick on her feet but she had no doubt that the four legged beast would be able to catch her easily. Was it going to eat her? It looked at her inquisitively, and eventually it yawned, showing even more sharp teeth. Just before panic set in she heard a voice from behind her.
"Now now Summer, you will scare our guests, put away those teeth and be nice!"

Nynaevê turned to see the Pandaren that had greeted them at the village entrance, he was a little larger than some of the others, and had a huge smile on his face. His beard was fuzzy around the edges and ran to a small point in the middle of his chin, he had a small tuft of hair pulled back with a band on top of his head. He wore a brightly colored tabard with strange symbols on it. 
 "Fear not, young Draenei, Summer may look fierce but she is gentle at heart, come, stroke her on top of her head, she will not harm you, I promise."
Nynaevê got up slowly and walked toward the creature, she gingerly reached out a hand and touched the soft orange fur on top of it's head. The animal nuzzled against her and made a rumbling sound, seemingly one of satisfaction. 
"Excuse me" She said softly, "But, what creature is this?" The Pandaren threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.
"You hear that Summer? The poor girl does not even know what you are! And here you are yawning at her and scaring her half to death!" The animal looked almost sheepish. "Summer here is a Tiger, she is a large cat, and like I said, despite her rather ferocious appearance, she will do you no harm. She has been my companion for many years now. Make no mistake though, other Tigers like her may not be so friendly, so always be on your guard if you should see one". Nynaevê looked around quickly, the Pandaren saw her and smiled once again. "Do not worry yourself young Draenei. There are no other Tigers here in the village, you are quite safe!" The Pandaren sat down heavily on the grass and motioned for her to join him. "Now then" he began, "let us be properly introduced, I am Lorewalker Cho, tell me, what name do you go by?" 
"I am Nynaevê" 
"Ah! What an interesting name you have!"
"Well, thank you" She wasn't sure what to say to this jolly fellow, she hadn't ever met anyone like him before. They talked for an hour or so, the old Pandaren seemed to have story upon story of Pandaren history and legends. Nynaevê listened with awe as he told her about monks and their fighting abilities, how they managed to rise up against the Mogu, an ancient race that made them captive many years ago, with little more than their courage and their fists. She went to sleep that night in a comfy bed, Yalia came by and spoke with her parents in low voices, but she was too tired to try and listen. She drifted off into a sleep full of dreams of monks and mogu and Tigers and waterfalls. 








The Way of the Monk.

     Over the years Nynaevê and the remains of her kin lived in harmony with the Pandaren. She grew particularly close to Yalia and she loved spending evenings with Cho, listening to his endless stream of tales, and learning more and more about monks. She learned to protect herself in the monk style, she meditated, and grew up into a brave and kind young woman, loved by the Pandaren and Draenei alike. She had much respect from both races, and dreamed of one day becoming a healer.  Eventually, sadly, her parents passed on, and a grief stricken Nynaevê was taken in by Yalia. She taught her the healing arts, and sent her to Brewmaster Boof for defense training. Gradually, she became more and more knowledgeable. Although she loved her life in Pandaria, she yearned to return to her homeland, and help her kin that still remained there. She became an Elder in the village, a high honor for a non-Pandaren female, yet she still wished to travel. 
When Nynaevê finally received Yalia's blessing to leave, she packed up a few things. Yalia took her to see Leng-Sei, a wise old Pandaren with magical powers. She would make a portal for her to use, but it would only stay for a short time, and once Nynaevê was through, there would be no coming back. If she ever wanted to return to Pandaria, she would have to find another way. 
"I have to help my kin, but I promise Yalia, I will return"
The Pandaren smiled at her, bestowed a kiss upon her forehead and whispered;
"You have many things yet to do, some of them will be great, and some will cause you more toil. You will return to Pandaria one day Nynaevê, and I will be here waiting for you."
She took one last look back at Yalia, and saw that Cho had appeared behind her, he bowed to her with one of his beaming smiles. She smiled back to both of them and stepped into the portal. 
     




Friday 14 February 2014

Love is in the air.....

Happy Valentines Day Darlings!!!!!


Straying away from a "normal" blog this week I would just like to send out my valentines instead, and I have a few!! So sit back, sip some pink champagne and hopefully I will have enough valentines for everyone!!



My first Valentines goes to my amazing wonderful Husband, who supports me in everything that I do, puts up with the tears, the tantrums, joins me for the laughs and celebrations, helps me through the frustrations, and congratulates me on my victories. The most perfect partner I could ever wish or hope for, my best friend and the love of my life.

I want to send a valentines to my fellow brewmasters, Sunnier, for being my inspiration and teaching me how to brew. KptnKrunch for being a legend and LeBlue, for letting me troll his stream for many an hour!

My fellow ladies, Zillions, Tigercrane, Kristin and Soezufit, paving the way for lady gamers!!

My EU brother and fellow wanderer Vaylen, I love the little adventures I have been privvy to, and pvp sessions should definitely become a regular thing!!

The Monk meditation crew, Chaithi, Daikatsu, Naoyuki, you guys make my fortnightly monday worth it, I love the show and the help that you have all given me is invaluable.


My twitter buddies who have helped me with my blog and retweeted things for me, Arielle, Laeleiweyn, Brewswillis, you guys are amazing and thank you so much for helping me get my little blog out there!!

TaurenThinkTank, I love your podcast! Nuff said!!

The Azerothian for your wonderful Emag, which is a most pleasurable read!

Angryorc, your tweets are hilarious and make my day, please never stop tweeting.

Jadedot for making the Chiburst forums, you absolute legend and fabulous person, thank you!!

Finally, My guild and my raid team. Thank you for accepting me and letting me do what I love to do. Thank you for becoming my online family and making me laugh so hard I've cried!!

Hopefully I've had enough for everyone!! Sorry if I missed anyone out, but a massive Valentines goes out to the monk community in general for being the best community ever!!


A final Valentines goes to my little cat Panda, for climbing on me and making raiding even more challenging!

Lots of Love and MASSIVE Panda hugs!!  

Dark xx

Friday 7 February 2014

Builds for bosses pt 4 - last stand of the normal runs!

Hey guys, Dark here, with my final part for the builds I like to use for the last 3 bosses in Siege of Orgrimmar 10 man normal - with a twist......these three bosses will include tank, healing AND dps builds!! Please note though as I only have a full set of trinkets for my tank and next to no trinkets for any other spec I cannot comment on MW/WW trinket choices...because I dont have any myself :(  Also, I have not yet managed to heal Garrosh on my monk so I will include my priest build and hopefully soon I will be confident enough on my monk to give it a go before I go back to tanking!

So lets get started with the boss with the best one liners....

Siegecrafter Blackfuse. 

Brewmaster - This guy does pack a punch, and the dot the puts on tanks should not be underestimated. I really like to glyph the old guard for this fight, on the whole I find it just reduces the damage from the dot which is pretty much constantly on you, it's worth taking. To cope with the crazy frenzy thing he does (he gains a STUPID amount of attack speed) I like to take Dampen Harm and use a high mastery stat priority. Trinket choices for me would be the juggernauts focusing crystal to help out the healers and the vial of living corruption to reduce those all important cooldowns.

Windwalker - Now this fight brings fun to a whole new level as a melee dps, especially one with such good burst you can solo those belts like a pro. As an engineer I like to make sure I use synapse springs every time I go up on the belt, the cooldown of it fits nicely with the times you need to go up there. Of course I know not everyone's an engineer, so I also like to make sure I build up enough Tigereye Brew on the boss, so that when I jump up on that belt it's ready to go. Talents I like to take Dampen harm - this helps the healers out if you get a magnet, and Rushing Jade Wind. I take the RJW because it provides constant dps when soloing belts and I found it to be more useful to me than Xuen. 

Mistweaver - For me as a mistweaver this fight can be pretty simple as long as the rest of your raid know how to not stand in bad or put sawblades/fire in daft places. That being said there is some unavoidable raid damage when the magnets come out so although I am primarily attacking the boss I like to make sure I'm throwing those renewing mists out and have plenty of chi for an uplift or two when this happens. Of course I always have my "oh Sh*t button" (revival) handy in case things get too hairy and I cant reach raid members. Talents, I have toyed about with Xuen and the RJW, my personal preference is the RJW as it helps with chi generation and provides constant ticking heals for the tank thats on the boss. This being said, if our group was struggling to meet the dps req' I would take xuen for that extra burst. The only other thing I have noticed about RJW is that its spammable and mana hungry, so I try not to spam it too much!


Paragons of the Klaxxi. 

Being a huge fan of the Klaxxi quest line and lore I was saddened to find that we would have to kill them during the SoO. More upset that we actually have to kill Kovok before the fight!!

Brewmaster - If you're geared enough, this fight, in my opinion is a bit of a joke. I like a nice big crit build on this fight, as in normal mode there really isn't much tank damage coming out as long as you don't pick up  one of the paired paragons after tanking the other. I like to take dampen harm here, in case I get caught by an unlucky whirling, Xuen as he provides a huge dps boost and chi wave to help out with the healing. Trinket wise it's the curse of hurbis for the crit boost and the ticking ebon detonator for the agi procs. Basically I like to spec for damage>survival here, because as long as you dont stand in bad, or tank the wrong boss, and you tank swap on the shield bash from Korven, living out this fight for a tank is not hard (in my humble opinion anyway).

Windwalker - I learned two very important and harsh lessons here as a dps. You can NOT stand in the goo on the floor, and you can DEFINITELY NOT stand in front of Korven when he does his assault because it cleaves. (I didn't know this prior to trying the fight as a WW and got a rather nasty surprise.) Other than that for this fight I like to take Xuen and use him when Korven drops and Tigers lust to help me get to kuchongs when they target team mates, Leg sweep is also nice here I have found for the blobs of blood that skeer spawns, and Dampen harm if I need to help soak an aim.

Mistweaver - Another fight I like to fistweave, but one I have learned to be VERY mindful of my surroundings on. Dampen harm was a must for me as I kept getting caught in whirling due to lack of attention to them and worrying too much about the raids health. Tigers lust is nice again because it can help me get to people that have been separated from the group by amber/rabid kuchongs. I also like to take chi torpedo for this fight, the extra movement and healing it does is really great for me to get around the room quickly to help out my team mates. Again the leg sweep is preferable for me to help stun the blood adds.

And finally, the big bad himself.....

Garrosh Hellscream. 

Brewmaster - Mastery, mastery aaaaaand MOAR mastery!! This guy hits like a truck and the adds get quite tasty after a warsong too!! Tigers lust and leg sweep is brilliant here, you can stun all the adds in the path of the iron star, use the lust to remove the hamstring they put on you and then watch them all die from a safe place :) the focusing crystal trinket and the ebon detonator are a lovely combo for this fight, I struggled with the sigil of rampage when I had nothing else to use as it tends to make the adds from empowered whirling gravitate towards me from the aoe procs, which just led to wipes because having all of the adds and the boss on the tanks is not a great idea! I like diffuse magic on this fight for the whirling corruptions as it reduces the damage significantly but I find I can only use it every other whirling, so I make sure I have a nice big fat guard ready for the ones where I cannot use it. Glyphing clash I find a great help to get me through the intermissions quickly, after finishing one pack of adds I can pretty much get to the next one instantly. I like to take Xuen here for the dps boost and his cleave is fantastic for the adds in phase one.

Windwalker - Talents for me are all the same as I would take on my brewmaster, I do have a raid finder version of the assurance of consequence which is really nice for this fight, the agility procs and cooldown recovery are very handy! Chi brew is something I really learned to use properly on this fight, popping it twice right at the start to get tigereye brew up quickly results in some insane damage. I'll let the skada speak for itself....


Bear in mind on that pull the hunter below me has 572 Ilvl and I have 550. Do not underestimate the power of the brew!! I like to glyph the zen med as although it doesn't seem to help the rest of the raid in this fight that much it is a great personal cd when the going gets tough. Spinning crane kick is also glyphed for aoeing down the adds a the start. 

Priest - I play a disc priest, normally I run with about 9k spirit but I upped it to 10k (unbuffed) for this fight just to make sure I wasn't going to run into any mana problems. Cascade is a nice talent to take, I use it in the intermission phases, when the iron star hits the wall and for whirling corruption. I take the body and soul talent to help my team with a speed boost if they need it, power word solace for extra damage and mana regen and glyph of penance to that I can heal on the move as much as possible. 


And that's it folks! Sorry if the healer and windwalker bits aren't as comprehensive as the tanking ones, I'm getting better at both but still plenty to work on before WoD arrives!! Have a great weekend and try not to over do it on those brews ;)