Totem Talk: Gearing Up Elemental 66 - 69

Totem Talk is the column for Shamans. Matthew Rossi just got his internet connection fixed and after a week of forced hiatus, managed to beat Mass Effect last night. It's a fun game, but it would be better if it had shamans in it.

Last week, we discussed gear for the Elemental spec attainable from quests in Hellfire, Zangarmarsh and Terokkar. This week, we'll be completing our look by seeing the quests available in Nagrand, Blade's Edge and Netherstorm. As before, we'll be looking at mail armor rewards: while a shaman can wear cloth and leather, that's beyond the scope of this guide. I'm probably going to leave the instance rewards for a final column on elemental gear covering level 70, focusing on Shadowmoon Valley and the instances.

Nagrand

Nagrand is a zone where the elements are disordered by rebellious elementals, water streams off into the Twisting Nether and yet doesn't seem to diminish the available water at all, the only predators are birds and crazed, bloodthirsty dwarves (seriously, Hemet Nesingwary creeps me the heck out, he's killed more animals than Ted Nugent and a superhighway put together - there really should be some optional quest to release the spirits of all the animals he's had killed into his camp for some payback of something) and of course, such a land needs a hero. Or at least a shaman to come take some quests for the XP, gold and items.

A crazy goblin will offer you a questline that will net you a nice cape for your caster needs. You'll need some friends to help with that one, but it is a nice cape. If you do the quests for Lantresor of the Blade, you can pick up this handsome ring for your trouble. And if you complete the lucrative Ring of Blood quests up in the Laughing Skull Ruins, you'll be able to collect the Battle-Mage's Baton if you're a staff user. If you didn't like the cape the goblin gave you (or if you took some other cape, the curse of being a hybrid) you can get a nice cape by killing Cho'war the Pillager. Luckily, both the Horde and Alliance want him dead. Well, I suppose it's not lucky for him. If you're up there killing Cho'war anyway (or Gurok, who we'll talk about next) you might want to stop by the nearby Murkbloods and do a quest (if you're Alliance) for the Dark Shaman's Cover. Don't worry, Horde, you can get a quest for an item with identical stats. And both Horde and Alliance will send you after the Murkbloods anyway so you can pick up the Warcaster's Scaled Leggings while you're up there.

There are various quests available to both factions at the Throne of the Elements in northern Nagrand. If you take a series of quests from Gordawg the Earth Elemental there, you will eventually be sent to kill Gurok the Usurper. Your reward will be a nice necklace. You can also pick up a decent belt and chestplate from the Throne quests. Finally, if you're okay with killing for a maniacal dwarf, you can pick up the Clefthoof Wristguards. Since there's no instance in this zone, we'll move on to Blade's Edge.


Blade's Edge Mountains

Both the horde and alliance have sometimes competing settlements in Blade's Edge, meaning that you'll be pitted against ogres, gronn, and even stranger things. The important thing, however, is that you'll be getting some decent loot for your continued mastery of the elements. The first quest I want to mention is the finale of a long chain that starts in Evergrove. I mention it because it has not one but two nice necklaces for the elemental shamans among us: this stamina heavy one, and this spell crit beauty. It's pretty much down to your playstyle there, but they're both very nice. Both horde and alliance will give you the opportunity to crush some ogres for this belt, and if for some reason you didn't get the staff from the Ring of Blood you can pick up a nice stick as well. Alliance get a nice hat from the gnomes, while Horde get the same stats from their friends in the Mok'Nathal. A friendly tree will help you get this ring if you ask nicely and do him a small favor.

There's a nice set of bracers available Alliance side (if the Horde have a similar set I haven't found it yet) and a set of gloves available to either faction. These spaulders served me for a few levels and since you'll be doing this quest anyway to get to the Hound-Master, you might as well pick up a ring. At this point, you should be ready to head north, since it's closer.


Netherstorm

Some of this zone's quests are much easier to do with a flying mount, but for the most part you can get around Netherstorm just fine at level 68/69. There are a lot of quests here, and so you should be able to find a few upgrades for the caster outlook. The complication here is often less Horde vs. Alliance, and more Aldor vs. Scryer. I'll try to mention if a quest is Aldor or Scyer.

I should first point out this quest - make sure to look at the series to the side of the page. The pants you get from the last quest are very nice, indeed. While working on that one, you can do other quests, getting these spaulders from killing an elite. A quest that starts right in Area 52 can net you a nice caster helm, for example. Further along in that quest chain you can pick up this necklace. And if you're doing the various Aldor/Scryer quests in the Manaforges you'll eventually be in a position to pick up these boots. A nice cape can be achieved by doing a few quests at the Stormspire, as well. Aldor players can pick up a decent caster chest, as well. There's an easy to obtain set of bracers and pauldrons. Scryers can pick a nice ring if they can get a couple of friends to help. The goblins will also help you get a set of gloves.

If you're looking for trinkets, there's Starkiller's Bauble if you're doing Protectorate quests anyway. While you're there, pick up a belt.

By this point you're probably level 70. Since you'll be going to Shadowmoon Valley to pick up a flying mount, we'll talk about the quests you can do for gear (and money) there next time, then we'll cover the higher-level instance loot you'll be looking at.