Project PUG Tank begins.
Aegidius the blood elf warrior is level 82 now. He’s most of the way through Hyjal questing, has done enough of Vash’jir to get his seahorse, and has opened up Deepholm. My plan with him is to finish Hyjal, finish Deepholm, and do enough of Twilight Highlands to unlock the Horde dailies there. (Even though I disapprove of the Dragonmaw and am definitely on the side of the Wildhammer on the beer drinking vs beer destruction issue.)
I’m pondering getting him to 85, maxing out engineering, then dumping mining for jewelcrafting. Engineering has turned out to be a bust for tanks in Cataclysm, alas. I might not be feeling all that masochistic, however.
My other plan for him is to tank PUGs. Early, often, constantly, and until he’s geared to run troll heroics. Perhaps he will even pug-tank the trolls. I certainly know the instances. Getting a group of irritable strangers to cooperate will be the challenge. When he is geared, I will give Praetorian a rest. Paladin tanking in Cataclysm isn’t doing it for me. I’ll wait until I’m in the mood for it or until Blizzard has changed it up again.
I started this project off right this morning by mining until I had mats for full sets of crafted tank gear and dps gear. The Redsteel pieces are well-itemized enough to replace a few of the hardened obsidium pieces in his tank set. Mastery is just too useful for shield tanks.
Aegidius equipped all his new splendor, posed with it, then queued up. Let the pug tales begin!
First result: a BRC run in progress, midway between Rom’ogg and Corla. Didn’t get to do the Finkle questline. Well, maybe next time. The run was otherwise notable only for a hunter who refused to kite the adds for the final boss and a mage who pretended to be clueless about Corla’s beams. Oh, wait, the shaman healer was the one who kited the adds on the final boss, yes, the healer. And he/she did a fine job of keeping me up.
Second result: a Throne of Tides run in progress, with Uthok engaged and in the middle of eating the party. I couldn’t pull it out, so we wiped. The run was otherwise notable for a shaman who stood in front of Erunak (even though I’d turned the boss’s back to the party) and died from flame breath & not moving out of earth spikes. The shaman also face-pulled some trash. Just generally a doofus.
Gear upgrades: 0
Blood pressure spikes: 0
Good players: 1
Space cases: 1
Jackasses: 0
Healers: shaman, holy priest
