Transmogrify All The Things!

The World of Warcraft community has been agog over the new functionality Blizzard unveiled for patch 4.3, known as "transmogrifying" (and by "agog," I mean many people are excited, many people hate it and some people don't care. You know...agog!).


Via the magic of transmogrification, you can make one thing look like another:

 Pictured: Science!

If you haven't read all the details on this magical scientific progress, please do click the link I provided above and read all about it. It's fiendishly interesting if you enjoy designing things, customization, style or dress-up. The basics are that, with a few restrictions, you can make one thing you own look like another thing you own, provided they are the same armor/weapon type and the same equipped slot.

This, of course, got me to thinking. I like designing things*. I like customization*. I like style*. I like dress up (apparently...I farmed a lot of fancy gear that is outdated and not useful for end-game). How would I use this new system on my main character, a female blood elf priest?

*None of these likes of mine may be evident in design of this site. That speaks to another liking of mine: laziness.

Well, that got me thinking further: what would be the ideal priest outfit? An outfit to fight and heal in, one that evokes priestliness and shows off fine, sophisticated style. It should be elegant, regal but not garish.

So here are the essential pieces that I've decided on for the Definitive Priest Look (all images courtesy of wowhead). Your DPL may vary, but I think this is a fun exercise that you should perform with your own main (of any class, of course). After all, how your character looks is one of the most important forms of self-expression in the game. Present your personality! 

Incidentally, I'm probably way too excited about this feature. To me, patch 4.3 is Transmogrification and oh yeah, the Deathwing raid plus new heroic dungeons and a total revamp of the threat system. Ah, c'est la vie. 


Head


This one is tricky. Remember I mentioned that there were "some limitations" on the gear you could use to source the look for a transmogrification? Well, one of those limitations, at least for now, is that the source material must have stats. That's a little ambiguous. If it means stats in the form of "+X" to a primary or secondary statistic, that essentially limits this to uncommon (green) quality items and better. 

However, some common (white) items have armor. Armor is certainly a stat, a rather important one to tanks. And there are equippable items with no armor, generally holiday gear. So it might be that white items with armor can be used and white items without armor cannot be.

If white items with armor qualify, then the Crown of the Fire Festival is pretty brilliant. It's a soft, subtle halo. Might seem a bit "on the nose," but I think it really does add a certain aura! 

Now, if such white items won't qualify, we have a couple of alternatives. I'm sticking with the halo/tiara of light concept. We have the T7 head, from the token that Kel'Thuzad in Naxxramas drops.

Finally, we have the Circle of Flame from Ambassador Flamelash, in Blackrock Depths.

In terms of the relative merits of the two back-up options, the tier 7 piece has the softer look that I think makes a better accent to an "always on" outfit. The Circle is more spectacular and the colors of the flame will go better with the rest of the outfit, but the "tower" of flame in the front can somewhat obscure your lovely face. The Circle is easier to get, solo.


Shoulders


A little gold is going to go a long way here. Red and gold is ideal but other accent colors to the gold will also work. That said, then, the perfect shoulders as far as I'm concerned also come from tier 7: the Heroes' Shoulderpads of Faith. The red and gold motif will nicely complement the golden halo or the orange-red fire tiara mentioned above. In addition, there's a pretty "shadow of light" emanation from the back.

If you can't use the Crown of the Fire Festival and don't have the Circle of Flame, or you don't want to farm Naxxramas for the tier token to get the Heroes' Shoulderpads of Faith, fear not. There's a good option that just costs a few justice points: the Valorous Mantle of Faith. It's also a tier 7 token set of shoulders, but this token you can buy with regular old justice points that you have kicking around. No need to farm Kel'Thuzad. These look the same as the above shoulderpads, except the accent color is blue-green instead of red. 

Addendum: The tier 1 priest shoulders, the Mantle of Prophecy, is both spectacular and a perfect fit in this set. It drops off the Sulfurion Harbinger, a boss in the Molten Core. I just love the regal look of the vestments hanging from either side of the neck.

Chest 


To me, there's a clear winner here, and it's actually not a particularly hallowed robe in terms of stats, level or notoriety. It's the Runecloth Robe. The white robe with the embroidered vestments down each side. It's both priestly and very stylish, in my opinion.

This used to be a limited supply pattern from a vendor in Moonglade, but now it's a baseline pattern that you can learn from any tailoring trainer. If you are not a tailor, essentially any tailor can make it for you. No need for alternatives here! 


Wrists


If you have the first option shoulderpads that I mentioned above, the wrists that go best with them are hugely easy to get. The First Sergeant's Silk Cuffs are vanilla PvP bracers and cost only 55 honor points from a legacy PvP quartermaster in Orgrimmar. 

Unfortunately, the Alliance version of these bracers (the Sergeant Major's Silk Cuffs) look completely different. Therefore, I would recommend the Flameheart Bracers if you are/can become friendly with the Aldor in Shattrath or the Bracers of Havok if not. Both of them look the same.

They are arguably better looking than the First Sergeant's Silk Cuffs...on one side, the red and gold side. However, the purple patch is a bit distracting as it doesn't fit much else in this ensemble. That drops it to "sub-optimal alternative" in my view. But still rather good.

Finally, if you weren't able to get ahold of the 10 man version of the tier 7 shoulderpads, the red and gold ones, but instead got the blue and gold 25 man version, then I have a pair of bracers to match the shoulders. Behold, the Runed Spell-Cuffs. They have an identical blue-green and gold motif and should complement the shoulders nicely.

You can purchase these from a vendor named G'eras in Shattrath City for the low, low price of 182 justice points.


Cloak


We'll need to visit G'eras anyway, because the first option for cloaks comes from him. He has the Cloak of Swift Reprieve. This a snowy white cloak with a red and gold trim. Considering the color themes of this outfit, this cloak is a natural fit.

Another 312 justice points from our fine Shattrath vendor, but style is important!


Feet


Back to the Midsummer Fire Festival. If those items are allowed (again, it has armor), then the Sandals of Summer round this set out nicely. They're just golden shoes, and the feet (as opposed to the ankles) are all that can be seen with a robe.

However, if they're not allowed, then we can go with the Omnicast Boots instead. They drop from Golem Lord Argelmach in Blackrock Depths. Ah, BRD...thank you for your contributions to style. These are simply golden hued boots, which work just as well peeking out from under your robe.

Hands


So, I suddenly realized that gloves are important to cover, as they can still be seen with the other gear. Then I realized that the gloves I'm going to use with this ensemble cover up the bracers. All of this I discovered after writing up the bracers section. Which makes that section a complete waste, but I'm leaving the bracers section in because deleting it all just feels wrong.

So, which gloves are these, the ones that make the bracers irrelevant? The Red Mageweave Gloves. They're red with gold filigree. They fit in nicely with the largely red, gold and white theme we have going here. They look really wonderful, as far as I'm concerned.

The only downside is that the pattern for these is a random world drop. So unless you feel like farming random mobs for a while, your best bet is to find either the gloves or the pattern on the auction house.


Waist


That just leaves the belt, in terms of armor. I've been looking through a lot of belts and there really isn't a stand-out that I've found. The belt that I decided on wasn't amazing, but it was nice enough and I included it because it at least ensures that an un-transmogged belt won't clash with the rest of the outfit.

I settled on the Mage-Fury Girdle. It has a red-and-almost-gold look that fits in decently with the rest of the ensemble. The metallic accent is really more of a brass look, but the belt has nice art and the red is strong enough to allow it to fit in, as far as I'm concerned.

Addendum: So, similarly to the shoulders, I realized after publishing this that there is a really nice belt option. The Girdle of Prophecy. Can you tell I just "discovered" the priest tier 1 set? I've seen it before, but the head (which I hate) soured me on it and I didn't pay close enough attention to the other pieces on an individual basis. However, like the shoulders, the belt is really lovely.

This is now the top option for this ensemble, as far as I'm concerned. Better yet, I happen to have it in my bank, so no need to farm the other belt anymore.


Weapon (Which Is To Say, Staff)


We have some options, when it comes to a weapon. We could use a staff, or else a dagger and off-hand or a mace and off-hand. However, I'm focused on staff-wielders, because of one weapon: Benediction.

Benediction is arguably the single most iconic class weapon in the game (though, of course, there are choices one could argue for, like Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers). Not only is it hugely recognizable as symbolic of the priesthood in Azeroth, it's also a beautiful model with a spectacular "enchantment effect" (which is always present...it's part of the skin and overrides any enchantment placed upon it).

With the ability to transmogrify, and therefore the ability to effectively wield Benediction at any level, I may never wield anything but a staff for the rest of my priest's career!


Pulling It All Together


I didn't mention leggings to use because the leggings can't be seen with the robe. Therefore, there's no need to spend money on transmogrifying whichever leggings you use...your image will be unaffected.

If you would like to model the entire outfit, you can do so at wowhead here. Click on the small arrow in the upper left of the box containing the icons of all the items. Select "View in 3D" and then use the drop-down menus in the pop-up viewer to select the race and sex of the model you want to use. My priest, as I mentioned, is a female blood elf, so I aimed the outfit to suit her best (in my taste).

For those not inclined to go to those lengths, I'll post two images of the completed outfit from the viewer (as I still need to go farm the belt in the game!), front and back, to see the cloak and the shoulder special effect.

Of course, ultimately, the idea of this post was not really to imply that you use the same pieces of clothing for your priest's transmogrifying, even if you have a priest. It was to express my own exuberance at this new feature and urge you to do something similar, in terms of process: put together, in your mind, an ideal "look" for your main and then start finding the pieces you need to make it happen. That process is an enjoyable way to kill time and then you also have the mission to go out and acquire those pieces.

Also, remember...you're not restricted to just tier sets. If your favorite look in the game was a full tier set, great! But also consider mixing and matching a bit to build exactly the look that suits you.

If you're experiencing the summer doldrums, either because you're not raiding or between raid nights, this provides a whole new objective. Prepare yourself to outfit your main character exactly as you've always thought he or she should look! The choices you make for your main character's look is a major form of self-expression and you should take advantage of it.