However he had one more Vanilla/TBC relic that I was itching to build a set for - Dragonstrike, and I recently returned to have a go at it. As some of you may recall, this was one of the BOP weapons available to blacksmiths with one of the weapons specializations that were since removed.
After some work I located shoulders and boots that had the same general "warm red/gold" look. For the core pieces (chest, gloves, belt & leggings) I went with the dark red/brown "northrend heavy plate" model (my term), and added the torn-heart cloak for some extra accent.
I got lucky on the shield - having already grinded my way to exalted with The Shattered Sun when I was working on Worthy's last 'mog set, I was able to use the Dawnforged Defender, which I thought worked well with the mace.
Most of this set went fairly smoothly - I got the gloves, chest and legs just from leveling, the boots and belt both took about a half dozen runs to drop, but since they were from normal mode that wasn't a big deal.
The shoulders however were a complete b!tch - initially I leveled to 80 and XP locked just shy of 81 so I could get on the LFD for heroic Forge of Souls. But as it was taking anywhere up to an hour and a half to find a group (as a tank!), after a half dozen runs of no shoulders I decided to just bite the bullet and resume leveling so I could solo it.
By 83 I was *close* to being able to manage it (well to beating Bronjahm anyway), but it wasn't until I made 84 that I finally was able to solo the whole thing. From there I used the dungeon CD time to keep XP grinding and upgrading my gear between runs, made 85, and finally a few runs later (after a total of 15 runs) my shoulders dropped. Whew! I have to confess though, that it was fun having a solo challenge like that to gear up and level for.
As for the RP backdrop (warning - lore hackery ahead), the Ordo Draconis are an unsanctioned splinter sect of the Brotherhood of the Silver Hand who consider Alexstrasza to be an exemplar of The Light - despite said dragon queen's firm disavowals of any such role, the Ordo Draconis nonetheless adore her as a kind of saint and constantly go about looking for evil to vanquish in her name. Faced with the choice of either eating them or putting up with it, Alexstrasza has chosen to sigh and tolerate their starstruck antics for the time being.
Here it is (gear list below the pics):
Gear list:
Justicebringer 2000 Specs
Pauldrons of the Souleater
Torn-Heart Cloak
Links of the Terrified Deity
Gauntlets of the Disturbed Giant
Bent Gold Belt
Iron Colossus Legplates
Master Cannoneer Boots
Dragonstrike
Dawnforged Defender