So you're saying there's a chance!

My primal egg finally hatched, and much to my delight I got the color I wanted!

Of course, now that I have the green one, I kind of really want the red one. Oh what a lovely skinner box, Blizzard!

Meanwhile, the hunt for a triceratops has been looking pretty bleak. Wednesday I only managed to stumble across one of the spawns, and Thursday not a single one. Well, that's not entirely accurate - I just parked myself next to one of the spawn points and checked it every few minutes while getting ready. After about 20 minutes, I actually saw that one had spawned! Success!! And as I went to attack it, some Alliance hunter tagged it right as I hit my opener. Sigh. This morning? No spawns up. Honestly at that point I started to wonder if I should just give up on the rare spawns and focus on the one from rep.

But I figured what the heck, I'd try the sitting around and waiting for a spawn trick again and, lo and behold ... it worked! This time there was no hunter around to steal my spawn, and upon looting him I found this:

The Amber Primordial Direhorn

I hadn't been auto-looting those rare spawns, mostly because it seems rather anti-climatic to not even realize what you got until it's in your backpack. As soon as the loot bag came up, I held my breath; usually there are just 3 things that it drops and nothing scrolls off the screen - this time, there was a scroll bar! Thank goodness it was actually the mount and not just an extra grey item.

While there are two other colors that drop from those same rare spawns, I think I will be taking a break from farming them. There are a lot of other really cool mounts that are much easier (and less frustrating) to get! Up next? The flying saucer!

An alternative way to get a triceratops

Looking back at the picture of the four triceratops from Monday, I was a little puzzled where the red one came from. The other three are the rare drops from the Zandalari, but the Red is not included in their loot table. After some quick googling, I discovered that there is another way to get a triceratops mount - reach exalted with the Sunreaver Onslaught. There are a number of daily quests that can be done on the Isle of Thunder and once you reach exalted you are able to purchase the red triceratops for a paltry sum of gold (~2100). The alliance's version of this mount is actually more of a golden color and looks cooler, in my opinion. I also think the rare drops are better looking, but this one is a guaranteed mount as long as you grind the rep.

Something else I discovered while looking up the Sunreaver Onslaught is a faction called the Lorewalkers. When you reach exalted with them, you can purchase a mount called the Red Flying Cloud:

This is a really unique looking mount. For some reason, I feel like it has a very Dragonball Z feel to it. At any rate, apparently this reputation is really easy to get to exalted. Here is the guide that I watched:

Also I kind of hijacked the fitness post for today. I've been really good about going to the gym and following my diet, so it feels like there's not much to say on the subject. Especially with this new program, my progress is a little slower so it's not like I'm making one rep max gains every week.

So you like dinosaur mounts?

Friday night I participated in some Rated Battlegrounds, and one of the people I was grouped with had a raptor mount I had never seen before - a Primal Green Raptor.

A short time on google/wowhead later, I discovered that there are in fact three Primal Raptors (Red, Black, and Green) and that they drop on the Isle of Giants, the same island where you can get the Bone-White Primal Raptor (collect 9,999 bones from the elites on the island to get this).

The Primal Raptors are gotten from a Primal egg, which has a small chance to drop from any of the elites on the island (and the color you get is random). This island is still pretty busy with people farming, but in just an hour and a half I got 1/5 of the way to the Bone-White raptor and got a Primal Egg.

My time on Wowhead also led me to discover that there is a Triceratops mount! There are several different colors, but these are much harder to get than the raptors:

If memory serves me correctly, they are a 5% drop from the mob Zandalari Warbringer. This mob only spawns in 5 locations, each in a different zone. According to wowhead, the respawn timer is around 30-50 minutes. This map roughly shows their spawn locations in Pandaria:

I say roughly because the Dread Wastes one is a little farther North and the Karasong Wilds one is a little more to the West. Exact coordinates can be gotten from Wowhead. Most of these locations are usually camped, but while waiting for RBG queues yesterday, I was able to fly in between these locations and kill a couple of the spawns. No luck with the drop though. It should be noted that sometimes a Zandalari Warscout will spawn, but that these will not drop the mount (you can kill them anyway, they give rep tokens).

Making the most of your professions

Every day you can transform raw materials into your profession's crafting materials. In your garrison profession building, you can submit similar raw materials as work orders, which are then converted into crafting materials as well.

The question is, what do you do with the crafting materials?

Most of the professions offer 3 choices:

1)  Use 100 to create an epic piece of gear (iLvl 645). These generally do not require too many other mats and sell for anywhere between 2500-5500 gold. When WoD first came out they were selling for much more, but the market is saturated and so the price is depressed.

2) Use 150 to create an upgrade for the epic gear. Most of the armor gets upgraded from 645 to 655, but trinkets get bumped up to 670, I believe. These patters require 15 Savage Blood and 30 Sorcerous [Element changes based on recipe], in addition to the Profession's crafting mats. Savage Bloods can be bought in your garrison for 50 Primal Spirits (gotten from gathering skills as well as the level 3 Barn) and generally sell for 700-800 gold on the Auction House. The Sorcerous materials are generated by work orders at your profession building and sell from anywhere between 10-70 gold each, depending on the element.

3) Use 200 to create the higher level upgrade for the epic gear. Not sure what it goes to, 665 or 670. These patterns also require 15 Savage Blood and 40 Sorcerous materials.

So what's the best choice? In #1, the crafting materials are worth ~25-55 gold each. In #2 and #3, you have to (potentially) spend gold on the Savage Blood (~11-12,000) and the Sorcerous matierals (1200-2800). So you're if you're spending somewhere around 14,000 gold to even produce the Upgrade, then how much do they sell for?

I have found that the upgrades from #2 and #3 generally go for between 20,000-30,000 gold in the Auction House, depending on what profession it is. I've sold a couple Inscription upgrades for the higher end of that, but there were a lot of Leatherworking upgrades in the AH over the weekend so that one only went for 20,000.

Even considering 14,000 gold to produce the upgrades, you're talking between 6-16,000 gold profit. If you only make 6,000 then you're looking at a value of 40 gold per Crafting Mat for the #2 upgrade and 30 for the #3 upgrade - this is still higher than the value of the lower end of gear. On the higher end though, you're getting 80-107 gold per crafting mat. That's anywhere from 2-4 times as much profit - a massive difference!

Obviously you should do a little research beforehand in case prices of the materials change drastically at some point, but I think the Upgrade materials are the way to go.

MOAR ALTS!

Gearing up for PvP was incredibly quick and easy. Between the Gladiator's building in my Garrison, Ashran, and winning a couple PvP matches here and there I have a full outfit of 620 PvP gear (highest you can get with honor points, as far as I can tell). Now I just need more conquest points ...

So, while I'm waiting for my Arena partner to hit 100, I've started leveling my Priest. Mostly because I want to be able to make my own bags and enchants, heh. I started off simply doing quests and then started queueing for dungeons. Finishing a dungeon takes ~10-15 minutes and you sometimes find a group that wants to continue doing dungeons, so you just requeue as a group. It is much faster than leveling via quests. My priest is just a smidge under 78 and I actually made a point to find a Priest trainer to get dual spec so I can get into queues faster as a healer.

The healing spec has changed a lot. I didn't have a chance to try it out yet, but there are now three 'powers' (for lack of a better word) you can activate. These powers have an affect on the other spells that you can cast and basically give extra damage, healing, etc. It should be an interesting experience healing for the first time with them.

I have no idea what to do with my talents

While PvPing the other day I realized I need to take a closer look at my talents. Some of them are pretty obvious, while some are tough to figure out! Without further ado, here are the ones I'm debating:

Level 15:

Feline Swiftness - Increases movement speed by 15%.
Thoughts: Move speed is always important while chasing pesky DPSers. Pretty straightforward benefit.

Wild Charge - In caster form, fly to an ally's location. In bear form, charge to an enemy, immobilizing them for 4 seconds. In cast form, leap behind an enemy, dazing them for 3 seconds. In travel form, leap forward 20 yards. 15 second cooldown.
Thoughts: This one seems like it has potentially way more uses than just a flat move speed bonus. The question is whether a 15 sec cooldown is low enough that it would allow for more maneuverability than 15% move speed all the time.

I am probably leaning toward Wild Charge.


Level 30:
Ysera's Gift - Heals you for 4% of your maximum health every 5 seconds. If you are at full health, a random nearby injured ally will be healed instead.
Thoughts: I have roughly 340k health in PvP gear at the moment, which translates to 13,600 health every 5 seconds or 81,600 health over 30 seconds.

Cenarion Ward - Protects a friendly target for 30 seconds. Any damage taken will consume the ward and heal the target for ~880% of spell power over 6 seconds. Instant cast, 30 second cooldown.
Thoughts: In-game, this translates to a roughly 55k heal. Ysera's gift sounds better from a straight math point, though CW would be a bigger burst heal which I'm guessing might be better in Arenas. Then again, it has a 30 second cooldown and requires me to remember to cast it.

I am leaning toward Ysera's Gift for now because it will outheal CW over time and is "easier" to use.

Level 45:
Faerie Swarm - Grants an improved version of Faerie Fire that also reduces the target's speed by 50% for 15 seconds. This talent replaces Faerie Fire.
Thoughts: Free snare!

Mass Entanglement - Roots your target in place for 20 seconds and spreads to additional nearby enemies. Damage caused may interrupt the effect. Usable in all forms. Instant cast, 30 second cooldown.
Thoughts: I currently have this. It's basically just an instant cast Root that can spread to other players. Certainly useful in BGs that are objective oriented like WSG/AB.

Typhoon - Summons a violent Typhoon that strikes targets in front of the caster within 15 yards, knocking them back and dazing them for 6 seconds. Usable in all forms. Instant cast, 30 second cooldown.
Thoughts: Knockback sounds more useful for casters who want people away from them most of the time. As a melee who wants to stay in melee range to do damage, I imagine this would end up just being a "oh crap I need to heal" spell.

This is one that I'm not sure what to do with. A free snare would be incredibly useful in terms of single target fighting, but the Root might be more useful in WSG when trying to cap flags. I guess I might be leaning toward Faerie Swarm because it would be useful more often, but I'm not sure. And Typhoon as an emergency Cyclone/Heal could be useful, too.

Level 60:
Soul of the Forest - Your finishing moves grant 4 energy per combo point
Thoughts: I picked this to use while leveling up and it's fairly straightforward. 20 extra energy after using a finishing move. That is roughly half of what it takes to use a combo point generating ability.

Incarnation: King of the Jungle - An improved Cat Form that allows the use of Prowl while in combat and causes Shred and Rake to function as if stealth were active. Lasts 30 seconds. 3 minute cooldown.
Thoughts: Prowl (stealth) in combat sounds awesome as does allowing Shred/Rake to function as if stealth were active. Shred has a higher chance of crit and Rake stuns when used from stealth; they both active Savage Roar (increases damage by 50% I think?) when used from stealth. The latter part of that might be the biggest benefit from this - if I get knocked out of stealth without using an opener then I am significantly behind in terms of DPS, because my first 5 point combo needs to be Savage Roar instead of getting it for free. Not to mention the ability to stealth while in combat if need be!

I am definitely leaning toward KotJ. It just sounds so much more useful.

Level 75:
Incapacitating Roar - Invokes the spirit of Ursol to roar, incapacitating all enemies within 10 yards for 3 seconds. Any damage caused will remove the effect. Usable in all forms. 30 second cooldown.
Thoughts: An AoE stun is pretty sweet on a 30 second cd. Any dmg caused removing the effect kind of stinks though because any dot already on the target will remove it. This sounds really powerful but at the same time kind of very situational.

Ursol's Vortex - Conjures a vortex of wind for 10 seconds at the desired location that reduces movement speed of all enemies within 8 yards by 50%. The first time an enemy attempts to leave the vortex, winds will pull that enemy back to its center. Usable in all forms. 1 minute cooldown.
Thoughts: Sounds like it could be useful both when running away and trying to catch up, especially with the first person getting pulled back. Is this as useful as a stun though?

Mighty Bash - Invokes the spirit of Ursol to stun the target for 5 seconds. Usable in all forms. 50 second cooldown.
Thoughts: Single target stun in all forms. Cooldown is pretty close to the Vortex.

This is a tough one. I'm not sure!

Level 90:
Heart of the Wild - When activated, dramatically improves the Druid's ability to tank, cast spells, and heal for 45 seconds. 3 minute cooldown.
Thoughts: This is what I have right now. I don't actually know what it does, outside of the description.

Dream of Cenarius - Passive; Increases healing from Healing Touch and Rejuvenation by 20%. Your Healing Touch and Rejuvenation also heal you when used to heal someone else.
Thoughts: This actually sounds really good, but I wonder if the "heal you when healing someone else" part is 100% of the heal or not. If so, that might make it a no-brainer. It would more than double the healing I'm about to put out in situations when multiple people are taking damage and increase healing done to myself by 20% in all situations. It would remove the "oh crap, both of us are taking dmg, who do I heal?!" decision. It's also passive so there's no CD and is always active.

Nature's Vigil - While active, all single-target healing and damage spells and abilities also heal a nearby friendly target based on the amount done, 20% for heals, 40% for damage spells. 1.5 minute cooldown.
Thoughts: this sounds similar to Dream of Cenarius except that the heal amount is less but you also gain healing from DPSing.

Since Nature's Vigil is an activatable skill that is on a 1.5 minute cooldown, it sounds to me like DoC would be the better choice. If I take DoC and am healing someone else, they and I will both get 100% of those heals at all times; compare this to NV, where they are only getting 20% of the healing done to another target. In that regard, DoC seems way better than NV. So then you'd have to factor in how much damage you do.

Thoughts on which talents to choose?

The Barn is amazing and Horde PvP is not

I finally got around to dumping my Lumber Mill for a Barn and let me tell you ... wow. The amount of leather it produces makes me feel like it's not even worth having Skinning anymore. Basically the way it works is you go out and fight a specific type of mob, get them low enough health and then drop a trap. They disappear after they are trapped, which means you cannot both trap and skin the same mob. You turn the "trapped mob box" into the Barn as a work order and 3 hours later you get more leather than you would have gotten simply from skinning it. I have been averaging just 1 piece of leather from a single mob, though sometimes on level 100 creatures I'll get a second.

With a level 100 follower working in the Barn, I got 168 leather from 14 work orders. That's twelve leathers from each mob!! Needless to say, I am seriously considering dropping Skinning.

Something else you might have picked up on from the previous paragraph is that I specifically mentioned the follower's level in the Barn. I just learned this last week, but apparently the chance that they actually affect the output of a work order is based on their level. 50% at 90, gaining 5% every level, up to 100% at level 100.

Lastly, I have an absolutely dismal record in Battlegrounds so far. Part of this might just be me. My gear isn't exactly the bee's knees yet, I don't have any enchants on my gear, I'm playing a DPS off-spec rather than a potentially more useful healing spec, I'm out of practice, and I don't quite know all of the BGs that well yet (some of them are brand new to me).

And yet, having said all that, I cannot be the only one in that situation. It is highly unlikely that only the Horde is getting stuck with the noobs like me; surely Alliance must be getting their share of new players, too, right? So what's going on here? Is it simply a matter of the Battlegroup I'm on (battlegroups refer to what servers are linked together to play in Battlegrounds and the 'quality' of the various servers CAN cause a difference)? Does Alliance have some sort of map advantage in most of the Battlegrounds (similar to AV?)? I have read that they have an advantage in terms of racial skills and this shows up in the Arena teams (the vast majority of top teams are Alliance); does that carry over to BGs, too? Are different types of players drawn to Alliance and Horde and the Allies have an advantage from that?

I honestly have no idea. I did manage to win my first couple of BGs in WoD the other night, which was awesome. Two Isle of Conquest in a row AND the 15 minute WSG (I should really learn the name of this one). In the WSG, I managed to get the only flag cap and returned two other flags. It was a lot of fun.