Ding 80, my first heroic, and drama!

So I've got my first level 80 now, and it's the Death Knight. I know it doesn't fit the namesake of this blog, but you've got to play what's hot at the time, and DKs are hot. I'll definitely go back to pewpewing soon enough, but for now I'm having a blast slash-slashing instead.

OK! So I'm level 80... now what? Well it's been recounted many times but it's a whole new ball game. Figuring out where all the daily quests are, figuring out what reputations you want to start grinding. Figuring out where you can upgrade your gear. Going straight into heroics? Could it be?

I don't know what it is about this expansion but it seems like no one is doing regular instances these days, at least in the blog-o-sphere. So yesterday in guild someone asks for a tank and a few DPS for heroics. Now I considered myself overgeared for most of the instances I've run up until this point, mostly because I've read a lot of elitist jerks, tankspot, and other similar forums. But could I really step right into a heroic? I tell the guy in guild chat in a I'm-just-gonna-throw-this-out-there-and-if-it-doesnt-work-then-no-problem kind of way, that my stats are 21K health unbuffed and 525 defense. Now, I know that this is 10 under the cap for heroics, but it's not terrible. He invites me to group, we're going to heroic Gun'Drak.

So I read up on the fights on wowwiki. We clear trash surprisingly easy, then we get to the first boss, Snakejerk McGee.

We wipe about 5 times, and I'm wondering if it's me. See, the problem is this guy had a lot of adds that come. Well, what have I been saying this whole time? Unholy DK tanks are the kings of AoE. Should be no problem right? Well the problem is the adds have an ability called Snake Wrap that stuns you for 10 seconds unless the snakes around you are killed. Well with all the snakes on me it's no challenge to guess what happened. I got stunned so many times, and the boss would stay on me since I had a huge aggro lead, but new snakes would just roll on past. Sigh... so anyways we wipe about five times until the leader (a guildie) decides that we need new DPS. He gets rid of the warrior and pulls in a mage from guild. So now we're on a 4-guild/1-pug run. We wipe once, maybe twice more, and then finally kill him with only the mage left standing. Now mind you this is the first boss of the instance, only like 4 pulls in, so I'm not feeling great about my tanking ability, but looking back on it now I don't think it was as much my fault as I thought.

The trash pull all the way till the next boss go great, and we kill him with only 2 deaths to people standing in the purple stuff on the ground (sadly there was no Sunny D to drink instead). Then we start clearing trash to the most hilariously named boss in the game, Moorabi. On the way some epic tanking shoulders (Wapach's Spaulders of Solidarity) drop.

Now, a quick sidebar. A few days ago I was in storm peaks questing at level 79. If you've never been to Storm Peaks know that its a pretty spread out zone, and a lot of stuff takes a flying mount to get to. Since I'm new to this side of the server I started out with almost nothing, so I hadn't had the money to buy my epic flying skill. However, I am double gathering on this toon (skins/herbs) so I had a hefty chunk of change with me, namely 4200g. If you don't know it takes 5200g to buy epic flight + mount. So someone in guild, (who will NOT remain nameless, but not for the reason you're thinking) was asking if anyone had any Icethorn and wanted to make some money. Well I didn't have enough Icethorn to give him 1000g worth, so I proposed the following deal: he loans me 1000g, and between now and the time I pay him back I'd give him all the Icethorn I pick. He agreed (who wouldn't, they sell for around 3g EACH!) and loaned me the money. I promptly went and bought my epic flight and had a much easier time leveling and gathering in Storm Peaks.

So, by the time we're in this run I've given this guy about 3-4 stacks of Icethorn, free of charge (or you could call it interest on my loan, either way). He's the mage with us in the run, and the epic shoulders drop. They are a HUGE upgrade for me from my current tanking shoulders, even upgrading the expertise on mine! However, they sell for 3000g in the AH, and let me tell you, money makes a fool of us all. So I say "I'm rolling need, they are a huge upgrade for me"... haven't rolled yet... haven't rolled yet... "that OK?"... timer running out... no one saying anything... rolling need. Equipped them. Now the mage has the audacity to say "WTF, I thought we were all rolling greed". You've got to be kidding me. That's unreal. Dude, I'm in YOUR GUILD. I'll be tanking heroics and possibly raids for you. They were a huge upgrade for me, I equipped them right after. Not to mention I've given you 200-300g in herbs for nothing. Seriously?


Well that just pissed me right off. So last night I worked extra hard at daily quests and selling off junk in my bank and I come up with 600g. I ask Cait for the remainder and I paid that guy back as soon as I could (I've since paid Cait back too). I don't want to be associated with or owe that guy money. So it's over now. I'm debt free, and glad to be selling my Icethorn on the AH again.

The remainder of the heroic went pretty well, except for the last boss which we finally figured out once we put our backs to the wall (so we wouldn't get knocked out of range, it's so simple now!). The extra boss was a pretty interesting fight, and he hit me for 14K once (non-crit!), dayum. All in all, I can't say I was too disappointed in my first heroic. I got new shoulders and a new helm and also hit honored with Wyrmrest to pick up a new cloak.

So what's up next on my plate? My new goal is to pick up a Titansteel Destroyer, which I'm confident I can get made for under 1000g get for cheaper than the AH if I gather the mats. In the meantime I'm going to work on my reputation with certain factions for more tank gear, and keep running heroics. It's a whole new world at 80 for sure! I hope your heroics experience is just as exciting as mine!