Soloist Guide to Patch 5.0.4

  Today is the big day-the release of Patch 5.0.4, the pre-release patch to Mists of Pandaria. As a soloist, this patch is looking pretty good for me. I am going to go over the most relevant changes first and then take a look at other changes.

•   ACCOUNT WIDE ACHIEVEMENTS, MOUNTS and PETS- this one is HUGE! As a soloist, that also makes me an altoholic. Having at times 20 chances to run holiday bosses or solo old dungeons or get lucky with rare drops while leveling means I have quite a few rare items spread across quite a few characters. My Blood Elf Rogue has the Hyacinth Macaw and Disgusting Oozeling, a Death Knight I rarely play has the Headless Horseman's Mount. Not to mention that buying one Horde and one Alliance Traveler's Tundra Mount means all of my many, many characters now have access to a vendor whenever and wherever they are at. And I am that much closer to the honorable kill achievement(thanks to my kid who loves to PvP on an associated account!).
• AOE LOOTING- As a soloist, I love to spend time going back and seeing which older dungeons and raids I can solo. I also spend quite a bit of time using characters on second account running lower level characters through old dungeons. This is going to cut down A) looting time as I attempt to pull as many of the mobs as possible at a time and B) make deciding what to pick up and when easier (ie, run through Wailing Caverns, pull all of raptors in front area, kill, loot one bag with 'auto loot' turned off and then only loot the greens and hopefully the Deviate Hatchling. Score!).
• CLASS & TALENT POINT CHANGES- For the most part, things are simplified. While some might look at this as the 'dumbing down' of the game, I just look at is as getting a microwave to cook your food instead of the old slow oven. Making life easier isn't necessarily 'dumbing' anything down. And as an altoholic, with so many characters, this will make choosing talents a much quicker deal. Not to mention getting all of your skills for FREE while you are out leveling up! No more visiting the trainer! My current baby Paladin hasn't learned anything for about 10 levels because I just didn't want to pay them knowing this was coming!
• DAILY QUEST LIMIT REMOVED- Okay, now I will admit, with so many characters, I don't usually do that many dailies on any one at a time. But there have been times when my main, my Druid, hit that 25 quest cap in Molten Front without even realizing I was close. And with all of the dailies coming at level 90, it is going to be non-stop questing for me for the next 2 years, heh, and I love it!
• RELICS, RANGED, WANDS, OTHER WEAPON CHANGES- Not that it makes a really big difference, it is really just one item slot less to worry about on every character. Time saver. Not to mention head enchants being removed-another item not to worry about building reputation to obtain.
• MICRO-DUNGEON MAPS- This isn't in the patch notes, but it should be in the patch. And while I am not spatially-challenged(you can't get me lost in the real world-hence the nickname Scout/Skaut!), for some reason at times those caves you come across in Azeroth can be really challenging to negotiate! They have added maps to even the smallest spaces, such as the Caverns of Time area, mines in Elwynn Forest and even more detailed maps for each 1-5 starter zone!

 Those are the changes I am most looking forward to today. And now for the changes I am NOT looking forward to:

• CROSS-REALM ZONES- After my first and main realm was chosen by the friend who got us into the game, I began choosing my new realms by searching for the realms with the least population. I just prefer to not have to compete with other players for mobs and resources. I prefer to play alone and in peace. That's why I shop very early in the morning, I can't stand crowds. Too many idiots out there. That's why I solo! Not looking forward to this.
• SOME CLASS CHANGES- While not necessarily a solo thing, some of the changes are not really welcome. Such as taking away Stampede from my Druids! No more free Ravage after charging. I will miss you Stampede. /sadface
• I WANT MY CHEETAH! Okay, this isn't really solo related either, and it will be resolved over time, but I HATE HATE HATE the new Druid travel form. I have four Druids at max level plus one at 62 and one at 55. I love Druid. But I do not want to be a big ugly deer! Yes, I have scribes that will eventually be making Glyph of Cheetah so I can have my precious little cheetah back, but from what I can tell it will not be available until learned from the new Mists of Pandaria level Inscription-and then not until it is discovered by each of my scribes. That could be a long way away. And with Druid as my main, it's not going to be an easy month for me. 

 Well, that is about it really. Most of the other changes don't affect me as a soloist at all. Those include Valor/Conquest point changes, BattleTag support(I don't have any friends), and PvE queue frames changed.

Overall this looks to be a very fun patch for a soloist and altoholic like me!