return of the grabby hands

As of completing the Dalaran cooking quest this morning, Waradwen is more than 75% of the way to level 80! That probably won't happen tonight (unless I forsake sleep, which is possible), but will almost certainly happy by Friday night. So, what to do post-ding? Get grabby! Conveniently, Gray Matter is posting a multi-part series on pre-raid moonkin gear (part 1, 2, 3). Let's see what he suggests, and how it fits with what I have already and what I need to do to get from here to there. From head to toes:

Head: Currently, I'm wearing the [Overcast Headguard]. Not bad, but clearly PVP-oriented. Still, it's equivalent to or better than what I've seen from quests and drops so far, and it was free, as I was leveling my leatherworking. I'd like to get the [Battlemap Hide Helm] from heroic Utgarde Keep, but I might keep an eye on the AH and my tailoring buddies for the [Hat of Wintry Doom]

Neck: [Clutch of Undying Will]. Blue, but getting old at this point. I haven't seen the quest yet, but I've got my eyes open for [Emeline's Locket]. Alternately, I'll aim for the [Necklace of Taldaram] from heroic Old Kingdom if I can convince some suckers...er...friends to go into that spidery pit with me.

Shoulders: [Purehorn Spaulders]. Again, free from leatherworking and I like how they look. I feel fierce wearing them, hehe. I don't plan to replace these at the moment.

Back: [Shadow Vault Shawl]. Ack! A green! Get me to the Knights of the Ebon blade for the [Dark Soldier Cape] post-haste! (2248/6000 rep currently)

Chest: Still rocking the [Windhawk Hauberk]. It looks like I'm going to have to fall back to cloth to replace this, at least pre-raid, feh. I'd like the [Robes of Lightning] for the hit rating -- side note. I've killed Loken, I just didn't have the quest. Can't I have credit anyway? hehe -- but am drooling over the [Water-Drenched Robe] from heroic Violet Hold. Sexeh. Plus, that's a hella-fun dungeon, so I'm willing to run it a lot for the random boss.

Wrists: [Storming Vortex Bracers]. I got these on our awesome run through the Halls of Lightning the other night and quite like them a lot. Post-these, it really looks like a toss-up between the [Azure Cloth Bindings] from heroic Violet Hold or the [Plague-Infected Bracers] from heroic CoT: Stratholme. I suspect I'll end up with the former, if I have to farm Violet Hold a lot for those robes.

Hands: [Gloves of Malorne]. Dunno quite which to replace these with. It looks like there area bunch of tasty gloves in heroic Halls of Lightning, so I'll just aim to run that a lot. The [Traditionally Dyed Handguards] do look nice, especially with the socket.

Waist: [Windhawk Belt]. Ah, my first epic. And it still looks so lovely. I'd love the [Ghostflicker Waistband] from the Kirin Tor, but that'll be a long rep grind.

Legs: [Dark Iceborne Leggings]. I think I'll target the [Crenelation Leggings] at the moment, as I haven't any rep with the Sons of Hodir for their [Giant-Friend Kilt]. On the cloth side, there's always the [Woven Brocae Leggings] from heroic Halls of Lightning or [Cyanigosa's Leggings]. Can you guess where those last legs are from? Yeah. I thought you could.

Feet: [Bugsquashers]. The [Boots of Transformation] from heroic Gundrak look pretty nice. I haven't seen that dungeon yet, so I don't know how hard the heroic version will be. From what is becoming my favorite target, heroic Violet Hold, come the [Footwraps of Teleportation], which would be nice as well.

Weapon: [Chilly Slobberknocker], from the ring of blood-esque series in Zul'Drak. I'd like to grab the [Flameheart Spell Scalpel] from the Kirin Tor (5550/18000) to replace this, with the [Ward of the Violet Citadel] once I have the badges.

Oof. This has gotten far too long for a single post. I'll explore the constellation of possible rings and trinkets next time.