Into the Outland

I finally got my Pally to 59 and decided to have a go at Tanking Ramparts.

Having not Tanked anything since Sunken Temple I spent 100g on several AH items, including a new Shield (I'm astounded that there's no decent Shields in the level 60 5-man Instances). Yeah, I could have run the first dozen or so Outland quests and upgraded for free, but for some crazy reason I want to run Ramparts first for the Rep & Gear, then do the Hellfire Pen quests. I actually got a couple of Drops from my HP Runs, but I can't use them until I hit 60.

My AH gear meant that self-buffed I had a shade over 5K HP, which wasn't a lot when my fellow party members all had around the same. Despite my low health the first Run went rather smoothly, although the DK and Warrior both wanted to pull & Tank (even though they'd signed on as DPS) while the Shaman kept scattering the Mobs just as I was getting them bunched up together. I only discovered it was the Shaman when the same thing happened on my second HP Run, and I asked what was going on.

My second run. Let's talk about that one. When the Shaman left to buy some water & other Shaman goodies, the Priest decided to make the best of the down-time by berating the Warlock who was wielding what was clearly a Druid staff. It looked like a paw/claw on a stick, and it was being wielded by a Gnome 'Lock (which meant the humor value was way up there, and I can appreciate that.) Being a Druid staff meant it also had a huge amount of Stamina on it, and I seem to recall Warlocks like Stamina, so no problem there. The Warlock defended themselves with "I've got nothing better", then went on the offensive asking why the Priest had (IIRC) a Resilience enchant on his Devout Bracers. The Priest said it was on there when he bought it, which got him a derisive laugh from the 'Lock. "I'd never buy that," he said. That pretty much set the tone for the next few encounters, so I was prepared for another PUG from Hell.

As we got close to Gargolmar the Priest was standing in a precarious place, just a little too close to the Watchkeeper's path, but being busy trying to hold Aggro I wasn't able to say/type anything. Of course the 'Lock did and told the Priest to watch out where he was standing.

"You play your toon and I'll play mine!" said the Priest, before complaining that we were moving too slow and should have been "done by now".

The warning signs were all there and yet it was still a shock to me when, just as I pulled Gargolmar and he began beating on me...the Priest dropped Group.

But without missing a beat, almost as if he knew it was coming, the Shaman switched from DPS to Heals, the fight continued, and we 4-manned Gargolmar.

What does he drop? Only the Pauldrons of Arcane Rage. Oddly enough the Warlock didn't Need them (perhaps he already had them) so after winning the Greed Roll they wound up in my Pack.

The Shaman put us back into the queue, volunteered to Heal, and within seconds we'd filled our third DPS slot and were back in business. The Run went a little slower than some might like, but it was also problem free, and I'd much rather a slightly slower, Wipe-free Run, than a faster Run where we over-Pull and Wipe once or twice.

If only the rest of my Party would accept this...