Dilemma

Finally got a successful run through Shadow Labs last night, so I've now got my Auchenai Boots. A bit of a strange run - it was all good up to the warlock boss, where we wiped 3 or 4 times. But once we had him down we got Murmur first time.

That leaves me with just a sub-par trinklet and bracers to replace, although the bracers do give nice mp5, and OK int and +healing. I'm now up to our guild minimum stats for Karazhan (although I don't have the last key fragment yet) for health, mp5 and +healing, but well short in mana. With some top range enchants I can just squeeze up to the limit, but it's going to be close. It's also going to be expensive, which is a shame as I'm rather skint at the moment.

I'm also up to Honoured with Lower City and the Scryers, and 5999/6000 through Friendly with the Sha'tar.

And then comes the dilemma. Just as I'm about to log out for the night I get a whisper from our Kara team 2 leader - can I bring Tukkillen my shadowpriest to replace a rogue that's had to log out? The run's gone on pretty late, but they just have Netherspite and Illhoof to kill for a full clear.

Of course I go, and we down Netherspite on about the third attempt (a first kill for that team), and then finish off with Illhoof. And I had a great time. There are good things about being a healer - being able to help out when someone asks in the guild chat, and a good sense of achievement from keeping people alive, but DPS (when it's not become too routine) is a blast. Whether it's burning through trash we used to have to take slowly and carefully, or those last few seconds of a tight boss fight: he has 8k health left, one mage is a squishy mess on the floor, you're pretty much out of mana and then the tank dies! Will it be you or the boss?

There were also some nice comments in Ventrilo from my group about having a mana battery around, which was nice too.

So what now do I do?

Character or avatar?

Avatar
n: An image representing a user in a multi-user virtual reality

This blog is called Orc Shaman, however my titular shaman, Grulnak, hit level 68 2 nights ago whereas Tukkillen, my troll priest, is raiding Karazhan (just Nightbane to go for a full clear). So am I just confused, or what's going on?

When I started playing World of Warcraft I had various friends playing on the Horde side, so my choice of character race was easy - it had to be an orc. After being advised not to chose rogue or warrior (although I've since levelled an undead warrior to 60 and had some good times tanking with him) the choice of class was pretty easy too, and so I rolled a shaman as my first character.

There's loads of great things about shamans - the lore, the versatility, some of the unique spells (water walking anyone?), but at the time I hit 60 it was an overplayed class (due to the perceived power in PvP) and being a hybrid wasn't that much in demand for the end game. So while I'm in no way a hardcore raider I rolled a priest (a class that's both underplayed and in demand) to at least see the end game.

I chose a troll priest, partly because (at least when they stand up straight!) they're the tallest race in the game, and also because I liked the idea (and the exclusivity) of being a troll voodoo witchdoctor, instead of the ubiqutous undead priest. And he did very well for me, getting me into MC, Onyxia's Lair, BWL (very briefly), ZG and AQ20.

However, perhaps because he'd been created as a tool to do a job, perhaps because trolls look so damn stupid in their priestly robes, or perhaps because he wasn't my first character, I just don't have empathy for Tukkillen that I do for my shaman.

So, do I chose by character and get my shaman levelled up, attuned and geared, and then take my Chain Heal to Karazhan, or do I stick with my avatar and keep DPSing (and acting as a mana battery for my group) into the end game?

At the moment the choice is clear, so I'm levelling Grulnak up as fast as I can. But don't be surprised if I get an attack of altism, and this becomes a blog about a priest.