Ding 56, and a new challenge...

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The group is level 56 and they are halfway to 57. I did a full Scholomance clear and that got them about half of a level, part of that being rested exp. It may be time to head to Stratholme finally, or make another attempt at Dire Maul North, perhaps a tribute run this time. 57 is a bit of a highlight for the group, as they have quite a few level 57 drops from Scholomance. There will be some upgrading done! And it will be necessary, for a change.

My guildmates asked me to join one of their arena teams as an elemental spec. I agreed to join, though my elemental gear isn't very good and my PvP skills are even less so. But if we are able to reach or maintain a 1600-1700 rating or better I will be able to get most of the season 4 gear. Otherwise I can still upgrade with mostly season 3 gear and a few season 2 items. In any event, to avoid lots of respec'ing, I figured I will try running the alts as elemental spec. This means using the shaman as more of a 'pure' tank and less as a DPS machine.

That may very well work out. The shaman has almost 11,000 hit points and around 10,400 armor in his elemental PvP setup, along with 222 resilience. Against the level 55-60 elites, this should provide a significant amount of damage reduction, and the DPS from my shocks will still be enough to hold aggro. Meanwhile, I can continue to use the group to DPS down the mobs I am tanking. When the shaman is enhance spec I didn't really push the rest of the group's DPS, so the shaman was responsible for about 89-90% of total damage. This will be an opportunity to see just how much I can push the group's DPS. It'll also be a good test for later, since my plan at 60 is to move to Outland instances and have the paladin tank them. Becoming more efficient at pushing out DPS will be important.

I will probably get a chance to try this out this weekend, but I will be busy with arenas, battlegrounds, and possibly raids. The alt group will always come in second to those activities, but I still may get them to 57 this weekend, and then I guess it'll be time to try out Stratholme...