WoW, where did the time go? Part 2

So I returned to WoW after a 2 year break. I first got into WoW around this time 6 years ago, playing Raxiel my Human Paladin, through Vanilla, then the expansions: 'The Burning Crusade' and 'Wrath of the Litch King' and had a lot of fun in the process, I'd take the odd break for a month or three, but I always returned. By the time the third expansion 'Cataclysm' came out however I was feeling pretty burned out. I deactivated my account, and as this blog has shown, I was introduced to Second Life.

Time passed and I got to thinking about WoW again. Coinciding with the latest expansion, one of my workmates who still plays sent me a 'Scroll of Resurrection' that allowed me to re-activate my account for a 1 week trial. I had fun, and hearing all my old guildmates discussing the new content was enough to tempt me to buy the expansion and 3 months of gametime.

Transmogrification - the end of the clown suit.
I've always liked to create characters that look good. While some of the graphics in WoW are showing their age they certainly have some good artists. Unfortunately its WARcraft and if you want to survive ever increasing dangers you need your gear, and the new stuff doesn't always look as good or match as well as the old stuff (In fact it often doesn't). That means that, especially when levelling your character at the start of a new expansion, you often look like a bit of a patchwork, wearing random pieces of armour that you found or were rewarded from quests.
Although they've gotten better at providing a consistent style so you don't look like this:

Source: Penny Arcade



But while I’ve been away, they introduced a new feature - Transmogrification
Basically 'mogging as its known, allows you to replace the graphical model of an item, with that of an equivalent item. So with certain caveats (you can’t make plate armour look like cloth for example), you can look the way you want to. And I’ve been having a lot of fun going through my bank and/or gathering old items I liked the look of to make my 'Transmogrification Sets'.

Protection (Tanking) Set.
Tanking involves holding the attention of monsters and absorbing the damage they do so that squishy healers and damage dealers can do their jobs without getting killed. So when I put this set together, I wanted a look that says 'Indestructible'.



The outfit was still evolving as I took these shots. It’s mostly Lightbringer Plate - (Paladin Tier 6 set) and matching belt and boots to give an Alliance themed blue and gold look.



The T6 helmet consists of a shining gold halo, which looks nice but doesn't exactly look sturdy, Greathelm of the Bold matches the set colours and looks like a 'proper helmet' You can see his eyes too, which I like.
I’ve not got the set legs yet so I went with Turalion's Greaves (Tier 9) Originally I chose boots that match T6 (Pearl inlaid boots), but I later  decided to switch to a pair that match these legs (Sabatons of the lingering vortex)



Weapon started out as ‘The Unbreakable Will’, until I found a weapon I liked: ‘Honor's Call’, an epic reputation reward from Honor Hold. It even comes with its own glow! Given the choice I’d use my ‘Thunderfury’ but it’s a legendary weapon and, sadly, can’t be used for transmogrification.



The shield is Bulwark of Azzinoth, it’s something I got with a bit of luck while collecting the T6 pieces but is (as far as I know) the most substantial shield in the game.



Retributio​n (Damage dealing) Set.
This set is mostly Avengers Battlegear - (Paladin Tier 2.5 set). I chose this set for a couple of reasons.
First of all, to me it feels like it has a predatory vibe, the lines and spikes make it look aggressive and fast.
Secondly, it stands out. I've not seen anyone else wearing this set so far.

I've not been able to get the matching pieces yet, so I went With the Vengefull Gladiator'​s gloves (Arena season 3) and Judgement (Tier 2) belt.

Weapon is Ashkandi - Greatsword of the Brotherhoo​d. The great thing about transmogri​fication is that sword looks epic, even though it is in reality a crappy vendor bought uncommon item.