4.2 patch...initial thoughts

Wow. And I mean that figuratively.

New content is nice...thrilling storyline with a tear-jerker ending, introduction of new raid content, a new boss in BH, new dailies, and the all-important NEW GEARZ!!!

That lasted for about 2 hours.

Then the reality of farming up more valor points...justice points...raiding trash in the new Firelands dungeon...dealing with outdated add-ons, etc....all kinda set in. So I went and played Rift.

Will wait for things to stabilize before I go back and begin farming ZG/ZA with groups that are better geared than currently.

Now, on a good note...some highlights:

While there is a purported 12% reduction in DoT damage and a 12% increase in all other spell damage, spriest stat weightings have not changed significantly. I still use INT = 1, SP = .78, HASTE = .47, SPI/HIT/CRIT = .425, and MASTERY = .41-ish...which should not change your choics significantly. I mention this here because Wowhead has yet to update their database such that you can use their item comparer, and I have not yet seen a BIS list from shadowpriest.com regarding gearing choices--yet. Good discussion about trinks, but darkmoon card: volcano still remains in the top 3 even with new content.

Three new quests start in Ogrimmar--one has you chase down five lost balloons to acquire a new pet: Horde Balloon! The 2nd comes from the warchief's board and sends you to Hyjal to eventually (after about 6-8 total quests) open up your dailies. You will begin accruing the new currency for daily completion, which you will turn in when you reach 20 marks (today), assuming this will open up additional dailies, etc, and eventually new phases in the march towards the firelands dungeon and the defeat of Ragnaros.

The third quest...is the epic quest, literally. You see what befalls Thrall as he tries to unite the Cenarion Circle and the Earthen Ring, and you become involved in saving him. I won't ruin the epic ending...or the epic (literally) reward at the end, which will become the foundation for your >ilevel 359 gear (unless you're already raiding heroics). This quest alone is worth reactivating your account or taking advantage of the free 7 day trial. Good story, well-done.

Now, the dailies. From what I understand, 2-3 new dailies, don't take that long to complete if they are identical to what I just did, all close together in Hyjal. Should take 10-15 min to complete all, tops. You can probably do it in under 7, so not onerous by any stretch of the imagination and certainly less time-consuming than jousting. Repeatedly.

So, 4.2....decent content boost, great gear boost, but expected.

Oh, and two additional pets were in my mailbox. I assume one was for some achievement (Nuts, a squirrel pet) and a Brilliant Kaliri--perhaps for the menagerie achievement?

Anyhoo, hope this helps!

J