Battleground

I opted to stay Holy over the weekend. I ran around to many of the fires around Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and payed a visit to Lorderon to steal their flame. For the most part the Horde left me alone and I was able to make a little cash.

I also spent some time doing a little PVP.

I've decided to start working a bit on my Retribution gear. I'd like to have the option to level to 80 as either Ret or Prot depending on how the zones are and how AoE friendly they might be. I leveled from 60 to 70 as Prot, and I've been Prot for my entire Burning Crusade career. The thought of a change is appealing to me. I don't know what it is, but I seem to be drawn to 'unpopular' specs. I don't really need to convince the entire WoW community that Prot or Ret Paladins can work. I just have to find 9 or 24 other people and convince them.

In addition, there isn't much I can do to improve my Tank gear outside of raiding. However there are goals I can work towards with my Ret gear. That is exciting for me.

I was amazed as I started to do some research just how good my current Ret gear was and how easy it would be to upgrade it. A little farming, a little PVP, some Badges and I'd have a decent set. Then I just need to get into a Kara or two with either Dominion, Heroes or Mal Katai and learn how to actually play the spec.

One of the areas that really could use an upgrade is my weapon, and one of the most direct ways to upgrade it is to farm up the honor for the Season 2 Mace.

I was fortunate to find a Dominion premade being formed up Sunday night. We ran Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Eye of the Storm. I think the whole night we might have lost two total battlegrounds. It was infinitely easier healing as Holy in PVP than it is healing as Prot. Not only do I not run out of mana nearly as fast but my heals have a bit more Ooomph to them. I find PVP Healing far more enjoyable than PVE Healing. I'm not sure if it's the pace or the chaos or what the difference is. I feel like a part of the battle as a Healer in PVP much moreso than I do in PVE.

Maybe that's because I'm a target in PVP. Something about a little dwarf winding up a big heal seems to draw the attention of every Horde in the Battleground. I relish the thought of the team's players thinking "We've got to shut down that Paladin!" I won't land a single killing blow, but they know I'm a huge threat.

It was a good time and I think I wound up with like 2000 honor or so. I only need about 11,000 more honor to get the mace then I can start doing some Battlegrounds as Ret. Even as little as I PVP, I would think I can get it within a couple of weeks.

While I was doing the battlegrounds, my good friend, Aoesrus came online and asked if I had time to do Arenas. Our team is me (Paladin), Aoes (Mage) and our mutal friend Nate aka Trayne (Warrior). I'm the best geared of the 3, and Trayne the worst as he's a relatively new 70.

Most of our matches do not end well. Aoes and Trayne simply can't burn down a well geared opponent before the other team can burn me down. Alternatively, they go after Aoes and I can't heal him fast enough through all the damage he's taking. I love the guy, but he's kind of squishy.

Of course, Season 4 just hit so everyone is back at the 1500s. They might have been 2200 rating last week, but you wouldn't know it. I wish I was better at identifying gear. Some guys can just look at you and know "He's Season 1" or "Wow full Season 3 and the Season 3 Sword."

We played our required 10 games for the week. By some strange confluence of luck of the draw, our own increasing skill and building teamwork, we actually managed to win 2 games out of the 10. That was about 2 more games than I thought we would win. We managed to stay above 1400 rating. I don't have any delusions that we will be an 1800+ team anytime soon, but as we keep working on our gear and get more comfortable running with each other we can continue to improve. Each week the teams will get more settled in their ratings.

I went ahead and bought the Season 4 Brutal Gladiator Scaled Gauntlets (Ret Gloves). They have no rating requirement and are the best Ret gloves for both PVP and PVE.

I also put a bit of time in on the Warrior. He's made it to level 50. I don't think I'll have any problem having him close to or at 70 by the Expansion. Worse case would have been for him to be around 55 when all the new Death Knights hit but that shouldn't be an issue now. I plan to have 3 70s when Wrath hits. My Hunter, my Warrior and my Paladin.

Check the blog tomorrow because tonight Dominion is throwing our might at Archimonde. I don't know if he will die, but I think we are close. I have no intention of using my DKP on Tempest of Chaos. While it is an incredible weapon for a Paladin tank, my Hammer of Judgement is sufficient to hold aggro and I know some of our Warlocks have been waiting for a chance at it. Maybe after a couple have dropped, I'll roll on one, but not at first.