My Cata Transmogrification Time Capsule - Paladin

Before my pretty transmog sets get ruined by all those MoP quest greens I decided to take a few pics to remember what my guys were rocking in the fashion department. For the most part I just used what I've held onto or could quickly acquire.

Valori - Blood Elf Paladin
*These caps kinda suck. I was going for a more cinematic shot vs. zooming in and showing off the good.
Starting off as a pretty straight forward "Blood Knight" set I swapped in a couple of non-tier warrior pieces during Dragon Soul to accent and update the look while staying in the black/red color scheme for a strong and bold look. Though the pixel resolution differences in mixing old and new armor models is very apparent I thought they complemented each other well enough and I was happy with the end result.
The best part about this set is it can be almost entirely put together through vendors! Everything on this paladin except for the iconic shield (quest) and boots (raid drop) can be bought with Justice Points. With MoP in full swing you're probably saving all your JP for lvl 90 gear, but soon enough after you've bought everything you'll be trying to figure out creative uses for that JP again and that's where our friendly old tier vendors come in.

• Shield: Bloodforged Guard (quest reward in Shadowmoon Valley) *don't bother farming Heroic Rampants, this is much quicker.
• Helm: Jaw of Repudiation (valor vendor)
• Boots: Stillheart Warboots (Dragon Soul - Ultraxion)

The "Blood Knight" pieces: Inferno Tempered (chest, legs, hands, boots) along with the matching belt Girdle of the Protector can all be bought with JP from G'eras in Shattrath City.

1-handed Weapon choices: Find something you like, you'll be happier. This one pictured is actually a random Wrath green boe drop that I got off the AH for pennies. It has a red ribbon tied around the hilt that I liked. I originally used a couple of the Dark Iron Blacksmith weapons: Ebon Hand and Blackguard. They're small, subtle and I like the classic vanilla models. Once I got an actual Souldrinker I left it as is for awhile.

 Make sure to match your transmog with your mount!

My Cata Transmogrification Time Capsule - Warlock

Before my pretty transmog sets get ruined by all those MoP quest greens I decided to take a few pics to remember what my guys were rocking in the fashion department. For the most part I just used what I've held onto or could quickly acquire.

Evilest - Forsaken Warlock
Interestingly my lock left Cata looking pretty much the same as he did starting out. What I refer to as the "Lord Godfrey" set, but Space Cowboy is another way it's been described. Pretty much every clothie early in Cataclysm wore a least a few of these pieces in either red, purple or white and typically all three colors at the same time which kind of ruined the simple elegance to this set. The various pieces were pretty ubiquitous through the launch content found in quest rewards, rep vendors, 5-mans, and even crafted through tailoring.The problem in coordinating these sets in terms of fashion was that it lead to horrible itemization. If you wanted a full red or white or purple set of this armor you were wearing pieces with +spirit +hit +resilience. Not exactly the kind of stats you want when tackling WoW's revisit to difficult heroic 5-man dungeons. My following transmog set will clearly illustrate how bad of an armor set you have to put together, just to look so good. Links and stuff below the photo.

• helm: Helm of Temperance (Earthen Ring rep) or Vicious Fireweave Cowl (tailoring)
• shoulder: Vicious Fireweave Shoulders (tailoring - *this is the only purple colored shoulder)
• chest: Robes of Orsis (Ramkahen rep) or Vicious Embersilk Robe (tailoring)
• gloves: Bone Fever Gloves (Dragonmaw rep)or Vicious Fireweave Gloves (tailoring)
• belt: Vicious Fireweave Belt (tailoring - *this is the only purple colored shoulder)
• cloak: Shadow-Cloak of Dalaran (drops off Moroes, 2nd boss in Karazan, easy farm)
• weapon: Lightning Rod (Heroic - no transmog needed!)

* yes, I swapped out my Dragonwrath for this xmog set, I just think the heroic Lightnight Rod works so perfectly having such a complimentary hue and when that Power Torrent flame turns purple, it's like BAM!

I've never been 100% on this cloak TBH, I've held on to it for years and it seemed to match well, but I'm sure if I put some time in I'd find a cloak that I feel better about. Pepe's Shroud of Pacification (trash drop in Battle for Mt. Hyjal) is a more flashy option, but a little too "peacock-ish" for my tastes.

 Make sure to match your transmog with your mount!

WoW Brilliant Idea #461 - Invisible Xmog Gear

They can call it "Emperor's New Armor Set" or something like that in reference to the classic tale of The Emperor's New Clothes. The concept is simple, a Replica set similar to the old tier sets made available at the Darkmoon Faire but instead of adding a new model it just removes the model altogether. Bam! Still got your gear and all your stats, just no graphics. I've heard many complaints about shoulders specifically spoiling the overall transmog look people have been going for. Mostly from those whorish Belves, but with this new set of "invisible treads" players will have a whole new level of customization to perfectly tweak their toons.

The Forsaken in the Age of Transmog

I touched on this awhile back in a post, but apparently it's still on my mind.

I love my Undead, I have 4 of them including my main. I find the Forsaken lore and quest lines to be underlined with a tragic sadness. Former humans, raised up and enslaved through unholy and demonic powers to fight against their will for the very forces that killed and ripped their humanity from them in the first place. Finally after breaking free and trying to notch their own place in this world they are ultimately despised and hated by everyone, even their own Horde, not that they care about them too much either. Sylvannas has her own agenda, but I believe most of the Forsaken are rather just kinda "eh, whatever" about their afterlife. They're resilient, they press on and just keep "living".

But, in the age of transmog I feel penalized for playing this race. Their lack of elbows and knees really destroys the otherwise great looking armor sets available all throughout each expansion of WoW. I don't care for Human males either though. Their hips being so big and their overall straight and shapeless forms just leave a lot of gear looking unimpressive on them.

That being said, there's some sets that just look utterly badass on an Undead. I'm thinking specifically my locks T8 Deathbringer Garb and T10 Dark Coven's Regalia. Both seem tailor made for an Undead. Nobody wears those sets better than a Forsaken. Even our first sighting of the Deathbringer Garb a year before it was available in game for players was Grand Apothecary Putress at the Battle for Wrathgate.

But ya, with all the talk about updated character models I'd be easily placated if they'd simply add some knees and elbows to my Forsaken. They can leave the spine that pokes out, I don't mind that nearly as much.

The Trip Falls of Race in the Age of Transmogrification

Let it be said here and now, that NOT all races are created equal in the World of Warcraft, especially in regard to how well that epic armor set will look on them.

I have 1 toon of every class for both Horde and Alliance. Draenei shaman/Orc shaman, Undead warrior, Human warrior, Belf pally, Dwarf pally, etc... and so on. I love playing both sides, muhahaha.... I started out Horde and after reaching 8 85s I loaded up my heirlooms and realm/faction transferred one of them to start up my new stable of alts on the other side. Now that Transmogrification is here I'm being reminded about how some physical aspects of some races have always bothered me and that is not all races work well for dress up.

The undead faction are missing elbows and kneecaps and their spines split right though there armor and tabards on the back. Trolls, Taurens and Draenei go bare-foot (bear-foot lolz) leaving basically just a shinguard type piece visible from their foot armor. Goblins just like Gnomes are so small and squat that many armor sets look squished and diminished in their otherwise epicness. Orcs are blessed with godly like shoulders and practically look like bosses in some armor whereas Taurens and Worgens have long extending heads/necks that can really warp and skew the way a helm looks on them. Humans are often cited as the most balanced physique (and for the women I say hell ya!), but in my opinion the males hips are way too thick and straight and have always bothered me regardless of was class or armor they were. They're somewhat reality based, but perhaps human males in WoW would look cooler if they were modeled more after He-Man action figure versus G.I. Joes. Anyhow... things to consider while you while away the hours piecing together that perfect armor set for Transmogrification. Ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so if you're stoked that's all that matters, this is just my opinion.

Case in point The Deathbringer Garb warlock tier 8. First seen by players on Apothecary Putress in the cinematic for the Battle of Wrathgate. This set imo is one of the more awesome and iconic sets from all expansions and classes. Go figure it's looks perfect on an undead, with their rotting appendages only complementing the bird's skull helm and image of ritualized death. On my worgen though, it loses it's epicness due to their weird bodies, that tuff of fur sticking out of the back of it's stretched out helm. On a human or blood elf it looks more like a halloween costume than the demonic spine-chilling gothic garb as we first saw it on Putress. On a goblin or gnome all you can see is the big giant beak overpowering all the other aspect of the set. This specific set of warlock tier belongs to the Forsaken and nobody will be able to convince me otherwise.

Coming soon... My epic tale for putting together the perfect Blood Knight xmog set. Stay tuned!