So, we're at almost-release-time for Wrath of the Lich King, and while things are doubtlessly going to change over the next month I think all of they "hey boy wow" bits have dropped by now. Numbers will be tweaked, but the core of what's coming is there. And so I sit back, think, and ask myself - where am I going? Where are my favorite characters going to be when this is all said and done?

Micharan is going to be in a pretty good place. She honestly went in the opposite of the direction I thought she would - rather than getting more DPS, she got more pure utility, but I'm hardly complaining. Her DPS will be solid and versatile, and her healing and replenishment abilities will be well-loved. Not to mention that she'll have honest-to-anything crowd control capacity, which just plain makes me happy. If anything, I'm unhappy about the fact that I think her build at the moment is getting just a bit more filler than I would like and not enough real hard-hitting awesomeness. Play will be required to tweak it, but it is an ultimately minor complaint amidst a sea of being happy with where she is. She will, undeniably, be viable for small and large groups, which is where I wanted her to be but never actually expected her.

Truce, on the flipside, is not quite in a place I like. Which is strange, ultimately, because I've been liking the direction they've been going with her talents and abilities overall. My main things that I don't like aren't about damage, really. She looks more than fine there, and being able to get some more spellcasting out of her is nice. It's just subtle stuff here and there:

• Feral Spirits doesn't feel like an Enhancement talent. It feels like something for Elemental. I got my new melee strike, I can't complain about that and I won't, but Feral Spirits just feels... strange. Important but not really meshing.
  
• There isn't a compelling reason to aim for melee stats over spell ones. Okay, there is, but with the push for Shocks and Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning to be a part of our rotation comes a question of how much is the shaman really relying on that spellcasting? I think we would sort of be in a better place if Lava Burst really didn't work so much as a damage spell as a trigger for Elemental Devestation.
  
• Static Shock just isn't good enough for its placement and cost. I had been thinking that when it first came out, but I figured that there would eventually be a chance bump or an "on crit" effect. Neither happened, and it doesn't feel quite like it justifies its place there. That might just be me.
  

Having said all that, I like the increased synergy of abilities and the actual purpose to having different weapon enchantments, not to mention that we get a form of crowd control. Sure, it's about at Sap levels of utility, but it's better than nothing. So I'm not quite as happy with Truce as I am with Micha.

Telsa is going to be fun. Not just because she's a character whose backstory is still a secret to me, but because tanking with her promises to be odd and different and engaging. I've got ideas in my head of what it will look like, but all in all it promises to be an experience unique to tanks. I can't quite explain why I'd rather do Frost with her rather than another option, except that I'm not much of a pet person and I have people who heavy physical DPS already. Frost seems a bit more unique, in context.

Kirlia has been getting pretty much an unabated string of love this whole time. When she is not being distracted by shiny things, she will be well served by her talents. I continue speccing Arcane because, well, it's the strangest tree and it's the one that I like the most. Fire would probably work better for what I use her for, sure, but why would I break the trend?

And... then there are a bunch of other characters that don't quite make top-billing for various reasons. Chiefly my warrior and "pet vendor" (okay, he's a hunter, but he's got a real Elim Garak routine going).