This feral kitty dinged 68 yesterday and 69 today. (Okay there's no "ding" in WoW but the EQ habits are hard to break.) I'm back to work on Monday so I'll push hard for 70 over the weekend. I have questions for the more ferocious cats:

- After the usual feral selections, I chose 2 levels of Nuturing Instinct to bolster my healing. I'm not sure what to take for the last 2. I'm leaning towards a level of Intensity and a level of Natural Shapeshifter. Suggestions? Profile is Grimjonn (http://www.wowarmory.com/character-talents.xml?r=Lothar&n=Grimjonn)

- simple question: would you take Core of Ar'kelos (http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=29776) for the kitty gear or Cloak of the Valiant Defender (http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=29777) for the bear kit?

- at 70, what should I focus on first? On my list is:

run Steamvault until Exalted with CE
save 5000 gold for riding 300
start the quest for Epic Flight Form

- at 70, what should I focus on first? On my list is:

run Steamvault until Exalted with CE
save 5000 gold for riding 300
start the quest for Epic Flight Form
The 3rd bullet helps with the 1st. You get quite a bit of CE rep from the flight form quest.

Also, don't forget you can run hSP and hUB for rep as well. There is no reason why with a bit of planning you won't be gear to handle those the moment you ding 70.

Check out BBB's write-up for gearing a noob lvl 70 bear. (http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/04/15/shifting-perspectives-gearing-your-bear-tank-from-70-to-karazha/) By completing a few quest, some grinding (for PvE rep to get 2 pieces of the starter PvP set) and a bit of gold you could have 80% of the items on the first list in his article. That's all you need to tank hSP and hUB.

That was some fast leveling!

Do you think you'll be tanking a lot at 70 while running SV? I'd imagine so - it'll make finding groups a lot easier. If thats the case, I'd put a couple points into Primal Tenacity, as you wont be shifting all that much as a bear, and your mana regens while in forms anyway. If you plan on pvp'ing some, I'd put them in NG in the balance tree. And stun / fear resist helps.

Re the trinket vs cloak, I'd take the Core. Thats a really strong trinket that will last you for a while at 70 until you get your Bloodlust Brooch.

Sounds like you have a good list going so far. If you do indeed plan on tanking, maybe spend some time grinding up in Ogri'la for a depleted badge: http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=32672;source=live. That thing turns into the best bear tank trinket in the game. Or look for it on the AH.

BTW, nice guild name :)

Yeah, that tanking cloak will be easily replaced. You can do regular Mechanar for the Thorium Weave Cloak or regular MgT when you get a bit more geared for the Cloak of Blade Turning. So go for the trinket for DPS. The guide that tlb linked is really freaking awesome if you're going to be tanking.

Ugh, the CE rep grind is really a pain in the arse. I was sooo sick of Steamvaults by the time I finished that. Hell I was sick of every instance in Coilfang. It's worth it though. But yes, getting epic flight form quest will give you quite a lot of CE rep. I was pretty excited. Though I still ended up buying my way to exalted out of frustration in the end.

You might want to hit up the PvP for a bit to get the merciless shoulders. They're pretty nice and it'll only take a few hours to grind the honor for them.