It’s not a bad thing though.
The idea of using previous expansion gear is really not a good one.
Imagine you come back to WoD and you realize you need to run MoP for some legendary that takes months to acquire.
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Level 78 is 2 levels below the WoTLK level cap.
If you’re 78, you won’t have Shadowmourne.
Yeah, there is a big increase in ilvl. So what?
IMHO, it’s silly to expect Wrath gear to last.
It literally only happened once - TBC to Wrath. Even most of vanilla gear was replaced by 63 outside of few very specific odd ball items.
The reason why TBC to Wrath items lasted longer was sockets, as wrath early dungeon gear didn’t have sockets.
You’re saying it all as if such ilvl raise is somehing out of the ordinary and has never happened before.
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And another thing, I’d say quest with your group in each new zone that you unlock until you hit friendly and can buy the tabard and then dungeon with that on until the next zone/tabard.
Once you get to Deepholm at 82, hard break from dungeons since unlocking the Therazane rep takes a bit. Hit friendly and continue on swapping between questing and spamming.
When you get all the rep tabards make sure you prioritize Therazane since all the shoulder enchants belong to that rep. (I think. It might be all helm enchants, but either way.)
Then just farm justice and valor cap. Do bgs whenever to farm honor set since season won’t start right away
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80-78…2. The math checks out!!!
What’s your point? Expansion gear has quickly been replacing the previous gear since TBC.
Dungeons are always quicker, at least in Classic, TBC and WotLK. I’m sure the it’s the same for Cataclysm (not sure how it is for retail).
In TBC I had a leveling group and I got to 70 in ~1/2 and a half days
I’m not 100% sure but I hear that the stat jump from 80 to ~83 is so large that the greens replace some/all of your gear. I’m not sure if that’s just hyperbole but I keep hearing it.
There’s a site I found that’s either from OG Cata or is from a Pserver that has a detailed list of specs and their rotations along with other misc things (it’s not really finished and seems abandoned but the class portion of it works).
https://www.tauri-veins.com/class_new.php
I made a thread on how to obtain toys and where to obtain pets.
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/vanity-items-more-toys-for-your-toy-box
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/cataclysm-pets-and-where-to-find-them
For dungeons I’d assume you’d want high density dungeons but honestly when I do it I’ll probably just be questing while searching for dungeons in RDF, getting exp from two sources.
For professions you can filter by expansion in WoW Head.
https://www.wowhead.com/items/trade-goods?filter=166;4;0
This ^, is a link to what Cataclysm tradegoods there are, which I believe would be the most useful thing to search for. You can also go off by profession.
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Thank you for the informative post. I will probably also level the way you mentioned half/half, especially if the raids are not released right away.
Sounds good, a week to level 80-85 and another week to farm some pre-BiS makes sense for your standard purple-parse raider.
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Cataclysm is the first expansion that does it this violently though.
Wrath had it going from tier to tier, sort of which was already bad enough, but having a blue axe requiring 2 levels below what you’re entering with beat the legendary is all sorts of jarring.
This is just completely untrue.
Yes, Cataclysm did have pretty big jump in power level. No one is really denying that.
However, just for the reference
Apolyon - 2h from KJ SWP - 148 dps.
Utgarde Keep - 70 2H axe - 129 dps.
~15% difference eye balling it. Very first Normal dungeon is nearly on par with BIS from SWP.
Royal Scepter N - 217 ilvl - 792 SP
Royal Scepter H - 284 ivl - 893 SP
Torturer’s Mercy - 279 ilvl - 741 SP (Cataclysm 78 Req)
- Between Heroic and Cataclysm one, about 20% difference.
- Between Normal and Cataclysm one, it’s about 6% difference.
Couldn’t find any 2H weapons from 78-81 Cataclysm dungeons. So I can’t compare those.
But looking at TBC vs Wrath and Wrath vs early Cataclysm, the difference is not really that big. yes, Cataclysm one is bigger. So what?
Gem sockets matter too
The same way early Wrath gear didn’t have sockets, thus making SWP gear better, Cataclysm won’t have sockets making Wrath gear better for a bit. Despite occasional raw ilvl being lower.
Just saying…the difference is really not that big. Kinda adds that to list of "reason to be mad for little to no reason.
" Just to scapegoat Cataclysm...
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Cata raised max level by 5 instead of 10. They had to speed up the power creep. 
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I would agree that getting new fresh gear 3-5 levels in is pretty standard and replacing all but a few odds and ends for most specs had/is the standard to this point.
I would also agree having an endgame legendary be replaced IMMEDIATELY would feel pretty awful. So both sides have some validity.
Overall though I am all about seeing new builds and new gear setups. To me working on that stuff is part of the fun of new expansions. However for strictly endgame players I would imagine it is just gear treadmill feeling for them.
Maybe it’s unfortunate to replace Smourne at 83, but old gear really shouldn’t be viable by 85.
Would it really make a difference if SM was replaced at 84 instead of 83?
Final tier legendary being replaced by an item 2 levels below WoTLK level cap is not even remotely the same.
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fastest is abusing a hyperspawn. but it’s bannable.
Replaced is replaced. New expansions invalidate previous content. That was true as of TBC.
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Thori’dal was replaced at level 80.
Shadowmourne is replaced at level 78.
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Better flex while you still can then! 
Flex what? It’s one of the most common weapons now. I’m just saying the power creep was not the same as previous expansions even when taking into consideration the halved increase to level cap.
