Anything I need to be doing as I near Cata?

[galrash]

So I haven't played WoW since vanilla and a lot of the 'new' content is unknown to me. I have been blindly following Zygor and am now 72 and I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing outside of the step by step Zygor quests to prepare for end game raiding and such?

I just dont want to risk reaching 85 and then being unprepared by skipping anything I should have done previously to get prepared with gear/rep/whatev

thanks

[cabby]

Most of the gear that you'll need at end game will come from dungeons and raids. I guess the best advice I could give that would help is for you to do some random dungeon groups just for the practice. You might also want to check out elitistjerks.com and gather info from there for the best rotations for your class and stat priority on your gear.

[Cartman]

You can get decent level 85 gear off the AH. The prices may be pretty low and so you don't need to grind reputation.
You can get ready for heroics with crafted stuff.
And if you have a melee consider doing the eventboss or buying the "Tremendous Tankard O' Terror" that you can get during Brewfest.

[Kamchak]

All the advise is good, but I'd say get into a good guild with a decent number of players, say around 200 or so. And try to have a large number of 85's in the guild as well. They will no doubt be running heroics, and can also be asked to run you through regular dungeons as well to get the gear you need to enter a heroic. But if the guild is REALLY nice, they will summon you to a Cata heroic and carry you through to skip the reg dungeon grind.
Having helpful people in a guild is a huge blessing. Just dont forget to return the favor(s) yourself, if you choose this route.

[dulak]

You may also want to check out the site Elitist Jerks. Loads of great info there including specs, suggested professions, rotations and best in slot gear.

[cabby]

I already said that dulak.