2.9k unbuffed is pretty normal for your low 50s. I don't have much more than that on my monk at 56, but if you want some gear reccommendations, take a look at the Magelo link for Ssratha.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? My gear's decent for my level, but nothing I own is exactly world-shattering, and I've picked up a few levels since my first post, so a lot of my gear doesn't apply anymore.

The gear upgrades available at level 55 are impressive, and the ones at 60 are really sweet in my opinion. I strongly encourage you to get to 55 as quickly as you reasonably can. Level 60 wasn't something I really thought about until I was almost there and had noticed a few very impressive upgrades, like the rings I've got on my monk, the earring (all three of which still drop in Splitpaw, in case you have another toon that can handle the mobs there), the 2 hand beating stick, and the hat. In the short term, a good, cheap hat for 56 is the Mineral Encrusted Hood.

If you've got a guild or group of friends that are willing to help you go through the quest to get the Cloak of the Spirit Tracker (which is arguably the best single-groupable back piece in the game, and has no required level), you may wind up getting a Fist of Force on the same trip, since one of the mobs you need for the quest drops it. The entire quest can be done in 2 to 3 hours with a strong group. I got my mage's with a 75 SK and his boxed 73 Shaman, my girlfriend's 71 Shaman, my 71 Mage, and a 70 Monk.

The last mob took ages to kill but was fairly smooth. Tank and boxed Shaman on the main mob, Monk pulled and tanked the extras one at a time while the other Shaman kept him up and I burned down the mobs. Each extra mob that gets dropped takes 20% off the mob's life, but it's risky. If you're not sure of your off-tank, just beat on the main mob for about 20-25 minutes, and he'll go down.

Edited, Jun 21st 2007 11:17am by nyteshayd