New 80 Healadin List(s)

This has been bopping around my head for a bit, so I thought I’d let it out into the wild.  It actually started because I wanted to think about what sort of gearing strategy I’d use if I were to take part in Gevlon‘s Blue Project.  I can’t actually join, since I’m a US-server account, but it was an interesting exercise.  It moved on from that to “what would I suggest a new 80’s pre-raiding list look like.”  Couldn’t hurt to share them?  If you disagree or have suggestions for either, do let me know!  I am -utterly- open to such.

– First there were blues –

The profile for this one can be found here.  I am pretty unhappy with the amount of haste I was able to scrape together using blue gear, but I had to keep an eye on having at least some MP5 and crit, as I can see mana being a huge issue at this gear level.  Not being able to use -any- purples really put the kibosh on my libram choices, too.  At first I was leery of including anything tradeskill-wise, but I just can’t see not being a jewelcrafter for this.  I would probably replace the Soul Preserver with the INT owl trinket.  And I would probably be a blacksmith, too, for the two extra gem slots.  But as it stands, here is my take on it without tradeskills.

Head: Battlemap Hide Helm
Neck: Choker of Betrayal
Shoulders: Dark Runic Mantle
Back: Ancient Dragon Spirit Cape
Chest: Drakewing Raiments
Wrist: Bands of Fading Light
Hands: Traditionally Dyed Handguards
Waist: Girdle of Ice
Legs: Frozen Forest Kilt
Feet: Sabatons of Erekem
Finger 1: Ring of the Traitor King
Finger 2: Solitaire of Reflecting Beams
Trinket 1: Soul Preserver
Trinket 2: Spark of Life
Libram: Savage Gladiator’s Libram
Shield: Facade Shield of Glyphs
Weapons: Gavel of the Fleshcrafter

– And then there were purples –

The profile for this set-up can be found here, but of course.  I was going for high INT with as much haste as I could get, but on the whole it is much heavier on the crit than I’d like.  You’ll note that I don’t have any of the expensive BoEs for this set, nor any Frost badge purchased items.  I wanted this to be easy for anyone just farming 5-man heroics to get, without having to set foot in a raid.  Likewise, putting items on here that cost thousands of gold just seemed cheesy, so I omitted them.  Yes, there is a single piece of PvP gear on there, but it is one purchased with Wintergrasp marks and very easy to get.  The best gems and enchants are listed in the profile (as well as what I’d consider a “new healadin” spec and glyphs set-up), since there is just no excuse for not having the best available in those.

Head:  Helm of Inner Warmth
Neck: Arcane Loops of Anger
Shoulders: Pauldrons of the Cavalier
Back: Titan-Forged Cloak of Ascendancy
Chest: Chestpiece of High Treason
Wrist: Bracer of Worn Molars
Hands: Rusty Frozen Fingerguards
Waist: Strip of Remorse
Legs: Legguards of Frosty Depths
Feet: Mudslide Boots
Finger 1: Oath of Empress Zoe
Finger 2: Heartmender Circle
Trinket 1: Talisman of Resurgence
Trinket 2: Tears of the Vanquished
Libram: Libram of Renewal
Shield: Protective Barricade of the Light
Weapon: Bone Golem Scapula

This isn’t a BiS list, obviously, seeing as there are at least 9 items up there that can be upgraded nicely by laying down hefty amounts of gold.  (If you can find someone selling, of course.)  But this is a decent list.  This sort of gear in the hands of a skilled healadin will get you into ICC-10, a good place to start grinding out Frost badges.

– What I learned –

You can almost think of this as “old pre-raid gear” vs “new pre-raid gear.”  I remember gearing up in ilevel 200 blues to get ready to raid Naxx back when the expansion first hit.  I liked knowing that I would be replacing those blues with shiny purples.  There just isn’t as much of an “ooo, aah” element when you’re going from epics to better epics, frankly.  5-man heroics are now just something to farm for badges with a bunch of way over-geared people.  It makes me want to shake my cane and tell stories about how things were in -my day.-  Darned kids!

And of course it makes me remember that New Year’s Eve when I accidently sold my boots (ilevel 200 blues, but they were still my raiding boots at the time) to the vendor, which proceeded to not let me buy them back.  I still get crap for that, even from people who weren’t even there!  Don’t log on after parties while smashed, I guess.

I still have the BWL boots that I used for a month after that in my bank…