1) Get the idol in Grizzly Hills:
Quote:
Here I'd like to stress on the importance of obtaining the 150 ilvl relic from the Venture Coins vendor. That item can be the line between queuing and not queuing rdf hc. Since I didn't have it on my druid (see the first post), I had to buy more things from the ah, in order to compensate the low level of my idol.
Here's how you can obtain the 150 ilvl relic the quickest way possible:
- go to Venture Bay (i.e. the southwestern part of Grizzly Hills);
- you need to complete 3 daily quests, in order to acquire 30 Venture coins;
- once you do them, speak to "Grizzly" D. Adams (if you are an Alliance player) or Purkom (if you are a Horde one). Coordinates are [13.9, 86.4]. If you don't have Carbonite, you head south towards the small peninsula and /tar "Grizzly" or /tar Pur.
2) You can get a bit of rep for the Kirin Tor and buy new trousers.
3) Buy
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=37624.
4) If you can afford it, get
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50452. I haven't played with my
Icecrown druid since 2020, but you can still see me using the purple neck. I honestly like it because it gives me an extra socket and hit rating. I deem it worth the purchase.
If you can't get number 4, dw. Check your gs after getting the first three things. Afterwards, you can start farming toc, pos, fos, and hor and RDF HC. From RDF HC, you only want emblems, but every upgrade you get will be nice. The items you want to get right now are from the ICC dungeons, especially from their heroic variants. I will discuss trinkets and weapons a bit later, but for the rest of the things you will mostly spam the aforementioned instances. I won't go in detail for this - just download AtlasLoot, and it will show you the available options from each boss.
Trinkets:
As I've said, from toc you mostly want
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47214, but this trinket is going to remain useful to you for quite a while. I try to get
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50198 from fos hc as well, but at 900-1k arp, I replace it with something else (preferably with an ICC trinket by this moment). I don't recommend you buy
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50355 because the EoFs are better used on t10 and on other off-set pieces.
Weapons:
They are also going to be hard to come by. My goal is to get the weapon from the second boss in HoR HC, i.e.
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50296. My personal advice to you is NOT to buy
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50379. If by any chance you win it (I wish you good luck, btw), you should sell it on the ah. The gold will help you acquire gold for professions, for consumables, and if you want to buy epic BoEs -
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=49895,
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=49899 (FYI, you can also get your t10 legs from VoA 10/25), and
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50001 (once you start farming EoFs, you'll replace it relatively fast).
TL;DR: This is the EoT stage. You farm dungeons for 226 and 232 ilvl items and emblems, and you use the EoTs for t9 set and off-set pieces.
After you reach 4.8k gs, you can start looking for ToC 10 (if you still need something from there), ToC 25, and mby Onyxia 25. Most of the weekly EoF quests are super easy because they require killing low-tier raid bosses (like Patchwerk in Naxx or Flame Leviathan in Ulduar). If you see a pug raid with low gs requirements for a weekly raid, join it. Those are raids for 3.5k players, but ofc pugs will never invite lowbies. Anyway, ToC 25 is going to provide you with the next set of upgrades, so when you come close to 4.8k gs start reading tactics for that instance. You will most likely see
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47115 given to other classes - this shouldn't surprise you, as they benefit from it more than us (the same way rets don't have prio on DBW in icc). However, you can easily roll on all other pieces (prioritise weapons and off-set pieces).
TL;DR: This is the ToC stage. You farm ToC and try to get as many upgrades as possible, in order to reach 5k something.
After you reach 5.2k, all that it's left are ICC and RS where you acquire actual (pre-)BiS items. Once you reach this point, you can start looking at BiS lists to get an idea of the best options, but all other alternatives will be great upgrades for you at start. You should try to find groups for both 10-man and 25-man nm, in order to maximise your chances of getting loot and emblems. The EoFs are best used on t10 pieces for the tier bonuses (I usually leave the pants for last because there's a chance that I win them in VoA 10 and 25) and then for off-set. Since pugs will rarely search low-geared people for those instances, and they usually fail midway, your best bet is to be in a guild. If you find a nice home, really make sure to read tactics so that you become part of the roster and solidify your spot. Afterwards, you will only look at BiS lists, which are all over warmane.
TL;DR: This is the EoF stage. You farm EoF for t10 -> 264 ilvl off-set pieces, and you clear ICC and RS from here onwards.
Other tips:
1) If you get a raiding spot in ICC and RS, save your priority/dkp for trinkets and weapons (I always prioritise
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50362 and
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54569 over small upgrades).
2) In order to increase your chances of getting into a raid (even if you just get EoFs and nothing else), consider getting an OS. Boomies are always in demand, and you'll have an easier time joining icc 10 with a boomie than with a cat.
3) You don't need any gs to join icc rep runs, so if you're in the mood to farm rep for the Ashen Verdict, you can acquire
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50402. This will take a lot of runs, but you can stop at Revered if you find the grind too monotonous.
