So my Rogue has gone on vacation to Azeroth and Mana Tombs. He’s pretty much retired.

My Paladin is going to be my main focus with the additional intent to level a Resto Shammy(2^nd One) and a Feral or Boomkin Druid. Druid mostly because they are an awesome gatherer and I’ve always had this chip on my shoulders about Boomkins, because they are either simply amazing or simply horrible. I’ve yet to see a mediocre Boomkin and that intrigues me.

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at Tanking, I’ve just been unable to do so. When you level a Warrior and all your friends are more interested in goofing off or slacking theres only so much pugging you can do before you get fed up with it. At least thats how I feel.

Now that I’ve been blessed with the awesomeness that is Ego crew, I never have to look for a PuG and we just go do the instance, the 4 of us currently. I’m fairly confident we can 4 man almost any instance save Magister’s Terrace and thats only because of the 3^rd boss, and the randomness and “PvP” factor of it. I’d still like to meet that Warrior who hits as hard as that NPC bastard does.

We’ve only just started running Ramparts and because we’re still looking for some drops out of there, have yet to move on to Blood Furnance. There are boots I could use, as they’d be a major Stam upgrade, since a lack of stamina on the tank has been the only hitch we have had so far.

And then its only on Nazan. That stupid Dragon with the fire that hurts! When the tank is short on life, I can imagine its not a lot of fun to heal for, considering there is pretty much 0 room for error. But we’re doing it just fine with our little 4 man crew. Currently not having to worry about any CC makes my job that much easier because I don’t have to do the dance for positioning yet. And while one day I’m sure I’ll have to learn it, nows not the time.

It’s all about how fast can we pull.

I have 10 more levels before I get all my toys and truly see how much threat I can put out. My goal is to be a threat monster, so much so I don’t have to give my DPS salv. I personally know how frustrating it can be for DPS to be threat capped and forced to hold back. I’ve been there and I’ve done that dance. Luckily a paladin tank cannot be rage starved, cannot suffer the same fates that plagued Aensu (when the random number generator would see fit to grant him a string of over-avoidance while simultaneously granting the dps strings of aggro gaining crits) And Aensu was always awesome in the fact less he was off on the day or the games random number generator rage starving him, I never had to hold back. Its an incredible feeling and I hope to be able to return it to him.

I’ve started plotting level 70 gear that I can get crafted and help us do heroics quicker. Because the normals, while fun, are nothing compared to the heroics in my eyes. I like the challenge. And I look forward to learning the instance completely, how pulls are managed, the pats, and how to position the bosses and what not. I’m sure you’ll see my frustrations or triumphs in the coming weeks and, possibly some posts on how I plan to gear in 5 mans. It’s like its a whole new game and I can’t get enough of it.

Whenever I write about the various healing classes, I find myself dismissing Shaman more often than not.

I don’t do it because I don’t think they’re good healers - that would be absurd. No, I dismiss them because I know so little about them that I don’t feel I can speak intelligently about their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.

Well, I think that’s a pretty shameful way to run a blog - I want to be able to speak with at least reasonable knowledge about all the healers, not just priests.

So I rolled a shaman.

He just hit Outland this weekend, which is the Ego-mandated border that must be crossed in order for me to consider a new class ripe for blogging.

I’ve got a lot to say about shaman healing - from spell reviews to a new outlook on downranking, and why I think it’s an incredibly valuable tool for shaman healers, and a few complaints and QQs about certain aspects.

Keep your eyes peeled for more shaman-related entries!