Restoration Shaman | Playthrough | 70 - 80

Hello ladies and gents, I have had such a busy week as usual with the competition I have set up and some other promoting things going on I have really been tight for time, But I thought I would cover the next bracket on my playthrough series. Documenting and sharing information as I go has really made an impact on how I see things now and I think its made me a better player because of it. So enough waffle from me, lets dive in to the frozen depths of Northrend!  

As our adventure continues, we now have caught up to one of the most Iconic expansions so far, Wrath Of The Lich king. After the burning crusade, alot of players were unsure of this expansion, It seemed to be more user friendly and easier than the previous expansion, this was the year in which Blizzard saw its largest increase in new subscribers. I think it was due to the fact of making more things accessible for others not just the hardcore, which rejuvenated the older players to re sub, and give it a shot. Instances were easier no doubt but what I enjoyed about this expansion was the lore. 

At first, I was not that interested in it, I wanted to level fast, get raiding and see some progress, and that's what I did for the entire expansion. I played as a Enhancement Shaman back when this was in its golden days and lore was the least of my concern, It was only recently I bought the Rise of the Lich King book written by Christie Golden that made me really appreciated the work put in to this expansion. Anyway enough of that, lets have a look at the instances I healed through to reach 80. 

Utgarde Keep - This will be one of the first dungeons you will be faced against upon reaching level 70. The keep is guarded King Ymiron who leads the new race introduced to this expansion called Vrykul. Their mission is to prove to the lich king their power and be worthy of working alongside the lich. The Keep has a number of open hallways and then a upper tier that forces you out on to the very top of the structure to fend of proto drakes and face the evil king.

The Nexus - Is an ice structure unlike most you would have seen, the underground networks were forced by magical energies that Malygos harnessed during his time of madness to all focus on this region. Coldarra itself has been buckled by these recent events which make this dungeon a formidable and interesting experience. The frozen halls, shattered rifts and plant like creatures, this place has a huge variety of things going on within this zone. One of my favorites.

Azjol'nerub - This dungeon is extremely short and can be cleared within a very small amount of time, that being said it is still an extremely important instance, lore wise. Azjol is a series of tunnels that was used for the Nerubian to transport Arthas underground to the icecrown citadel were he would ultimately fight Illidan Stormrage. I liked this instance, the structure of the place is awesome and the fact you have to go deeper inside this zone to face the last boss gave it a different feel too the typical instance layout.

Drak'Tharon Keep -  This old stronghold has some deep and dark secrets. Home to the Trolls surrounding grizzly hills that were forced too look for new ways to help the Lich, a number of creatures now house this place also. Dinosaurs and undead are but a few that roam these halls and stairwells.  Drakuru, the troll leader of this hold is being tested for his loyalty to the Lich king and as you venture towards the end of the instance, you will see what the Lich has in store for poor old Drakuru. This is a great instance, but in terms of healing, there is not much to do.  The last boss for example forces you to transform into Skeletons and use the new abilities given to you, something I find annoying when I want to pump out some heals. Nonetheless an awesome zone. 

Gundrak - My favorite of this bracket by far! Home to the Ice trolls that hunt within Zul'Drak are constantly in battle between the scourge, so its unclear if we're cleansing this place from a curse or what not, However this instance is the one I enjoy most. Its corrupted bosses which include Elementals, trolls that transform to naga or a mammoth are so different to what we're used too.  The Trolls here have contacted their Loa to grant them strength against the hordes of Scourge but with a terrible backlash. You will fight your way through twisted halls, Infested waters, submerged chambers and in turn you will revitalize the Ice troll that dwell here. 

Caverns Of Time/Culling Of Strathholme - The final 5 man instance within this bracket that I experienced before getting level 80, what a way to end the bracket. Here we learn of how Arthas, The lich king became so torn and twisted. It all started with the Culling. He was lead by a evil force that was pushing him beyond his limits and made him believe the best way to cleanse a city, was to eradicate it. Disobeying the orders from Uther to investigate more, he destroyed every living being that stood in his way. During your time here you will be guiding him through the city streets, inns and secret passage ways to kill the demon Mal'Ganis who he believed to be the one behind the tampered grain that was turning people to scourge.  His hatred for this demon was what forced him to hunt for Frostmourne and eventually turn Arthas, A once noble paladin, too the lich king.

Although there are other instances you can jump in to, I only mentioned the ones I had experienced on this shaman. So for more information on the other instances head over to wowhead. Now for the Shaman/healing stuff! In this section I will go over important spells that will be useful to my healing output and which talent I took as well as the final set of glyphs. 

Grace of Air (Passive) - This gives all surrounding raid/party members a 3000 mastery buff, SO LONG BLESSING OF MIGHT, WE GOT THIS!

Mastery: Deep healing - This increases the potency of our healing spells by 24% based on the current health level of your target, the lower their health, the better the heal. Now I'm not to sure about this one, For progression, this stat seems to be great, for hard hitting bosses.. like a good way to stress test the damage your raid takes. BUT it only works when players are low, so the rest of the time it seems to me that its over shadowed by other class healing mastery's. Some testing and research will have to be done, as on paper it looks good, but I'm still unsure.

Rushing Streams (Talent) - I LOVE THIS! Your healing stream totem now heals two players for 15% additional healing, Beautiful! Short and simple. As I have this on CD Its an all and all healing increase.

Glyph of Totem Recall - This causes our totem recall ability to refund all the mana cost of the totem that was placed. I love this, I have got in to the habit early of using this spell and its great for mana.  I would recommend getting for your level 75 Glyph.

So that's it for this playthrough, as I have said before, I loved this bracket. Its an incredible moment in warcraft history.. well to me anyway, maybe because I love the book so much, BUT WHO KNOWS! Until next time guys and girls, Take care. Vay.