Here's some pictures of three new mage spells that they get at Level 80.

• Arcane Explosion (Rank 10)
• Fire Blast (Rank 11)
• Frostbolt (Rank 16)
  

This post will only apply to a few of you, but what the hell... If, for some reason, you want to go through all the trouble and bother of leveling up a holy spec Paladin, this is how to do it.

As Elizabeth mentioned last week, leveling builds for a paladin are... shall we say limited? You can spec Holy and struggle with solo-play or farming; you can spec Retribution and get laughed out of instances; or you can spec Protection and spend your time convincing your fellow players that yes, you do wear plate and you can take a few hits. So with such appealing options, which spec do you chose? We know that Elizabeth picked Protection, for all its AOE goodness. But for my part, I picked Holy.

Why, you ask, would anyone choose to level up as a Holy-spec Paladin? Doesn't it gimp you beyond belief for soloing? I've asked myself these questions more than once, but I'll try to explain just why I've stuck with it through the levels.
 

So, what instances can be solo'ed at level 70? It seems that no one really knows when Blizzard will address all the old level 60 instances (maybe they will leave them alone), but in the meantime, what can guild and PUG-less level 70's get through themselves?

I know for a fact that a guildie of mine has repeatedly soloed BRD all the way to Emperor for farming, and a hunter in the guild was farming Stratholme for Righteous Orbs a while back. So I'd guess that most of the 5mans can be soloed pretty easily. Has anyone tried to beat UBRS solo? That seems much harder, but a duo seems pretty easy, and I'm sure a trio of the right classes would probably take down Drakk before he even knew what hit him. Someone on the LJ thread says MC has been 5manned, and I've heard that Ony has been three manned. Anyone know about BWL? Or Naxx? It's really hard to believe that Naxx doesn't still require at least 15-20 well-geared 70s, but I guess anything's possible. ZG and AQ20 are probably easy with ten 70s, but I could definitely see those getting 5manned as well as more people head into the new endgame

Interesting blog post on why one guy isn't rushing to level 70, while apparently his son is...

What are you going to do at 70? Attunement quests?

When I called my son tonight to see how things are going back at home, he told me that he is almost level 70.  I was shocked.  Actually, I said "What the fuck?"  He laughed and said, "Yep I'm 3/4 into level 69 so by the time you get back I'll be 70."  And he proudly announced that he'd be buying the first tier flying mount tonight.  Needless to say, my jaw dropped.

When I commented that with only 2 other 70s in his guild he'd have time to level his Paladin, he replied that he still had a lot to do at 70, like all the reputation for attunements.  It seems that the instances will not produce much XP (so much for that lie), so you'll need to quest for maximum XP effeciency then head into the instances to grind your repuatation.  In addition, he wanted to max the professions this time, since he'd been handed a toon with completed professions - he opted to level the Warlock I'd given him before his own 60s.  Guess he's found that actually being able to supply yourself with something in the way of professions, is actually beneficial.  Go figure.

Wow insider is reporting the first United States level 70 - a dwarf priest, and he did it himself!

Metaphysic, a dwarf priest in the guild Afterlife on Cenarius, posts screenshots of himself at level 70, along with his /played. A long thread consisting of doubtful screenshot analysts and people who don't understand the irony in calling someone else a nerd on a video game forum ensues.

First person to hit level 70 - holy crap! Time played was 28 hours! Includes screenshot.

Player name: Gullerbone

Character name: Gawell

Class: Mage

Server: Archimonde (EU - PvP)

French Guild: Millenium