Ding! Proud to say I hit level 80. Levelling went a lot faster when I buckled down and really focussed on it. Total time was about 92 hours /played, but I%26#39;d say a third of that was spent levelling professions and playing the auction house. I got to 80 going Howling Fjord, Dragonblight, Zul%26#39;Drak, Icecrown, and a bit of Storm Peaks. My #1 advice to folks levelling up is go to Icecrown as soon as you hit level 77 and can fly. The quest writing is a lot of fun and there%26#39;s some good quest rewards. There%26#39;s also a lot of subzone phase unlocking quests so an early start will mean you%26#39;re more likely to be prepared to work with others on group quests.
I rushed to 80 in part to join in the fun in Naxx and heroics. Long term I expect to be more cat DPS focussed, but short term we need tanks and I need a proper tank spec. Here%26#39;s some specs I%26#39;m working with:
- 0/60/11 levelling spec. No tanking talents, lots of solo utlity. This is how I got to 80.
- 0/60/11 Kalon%26#39;s tank spec. From his Bear FAQ.
- 0/69/0 feral spec. This is what you get when you overlay Kalon%26#39;s tank spec on top of my levelling spec, removing the resto talents. I wouldn%26#39;t recommend anyone run without Furor, Nauralist, and Omen of Clarity, but you can work from here and subtract 9 points from feral to get a spec you like.
- 0/60/11 My planned spec. Based off of Kalon%26#39;s spec, but swapping out for some more DPS oriented talents.
Taking a look at the talent trees it looks like ferals have a core set of talents that take about 62 points, then points to spread around. From Kalon%26#39;s build I chose to do without Feral Instinct, although that will be essential if there%26#39;s a lot of AoE tanking. I%26#39;ve removed Infected Wounds: it%26#39;s annoying when solo and I%26#39;m counting on Thunderclap in my groups. Finally I did without 1 point in Improved Mangle. I also considered dumping Rend and Tear: 5 points is a lot and I%26#39;m just not sure I Shred or Ferocious Bite enough to care. (Maul doesn%26#39;t need help). I think a lot of ferals will opt to do without Nurturing Instinct, but 2 points to make your heals useful, improve heals to you, and improve your LotP self heal in cat form seems like a bargain.