Right now Matt is running a series of posts concerning guild recruitment, and had collected a wide array of knowledge from various bloggers and guild leaders across the net. Since it's Friday, and we're currently recruiting a healer or two (Lodur, where are the resto shamans at?), I thought I'd cover how our application process works (and what I'm trying to get implemented).
The application
Our application is pretty straight forward. We have the standard questions you see everywhere: why us, why did you leave your last guild, explain your build, etc. I've recently added a section at the bottom specifically asking for a WWS report and UI Screenshot. I got a few questions regarding this (and as of yet none of our new applicants have provided this information), and here's my base justification.
WWS reports tell me a lot more than how much DPS or healing you're doing. I can see if you bother to decurse, if you're a hybrid who tosses a heal on themselves, and what kind of DPS cycles you're using. I can see stupid deaths "Joe died to Void Zone", and the combat log has all kinds of fun information.
Screenshots just let me see if you're running raid frames, some kind of boss mod, omen, etc. Plus I can get that heads up that on patch day (which we raid on) that your UI will probably be broken to all hell. One of our healers just uses the WoW raid frames to heal, and he's probably the best healer I've ever met - so I don't judge that you're not using grid.
First Impressions
An app has about 2 minutes to catch my eye, sometimes less. Poor grammar, cut and paste answers, or overall lack of conviction will set me off and I won't go beyond this point. Your app will die before I even do an Armory check.
I'm also looking for an ability to follow directions. Our first line says "Name, Class, Spec" - but someone who answers 'Suicidal Pyrotechnic' gets dismissed. Give me the meat, but don't use this time to express your inner comedian.
Sherlock Holmes
If the application holds my eye, or comes with some good guild recommendations, I put on my hat and grab my pipe...it's time to use the Internet.
First stop is the Armory - quick look at your talents and reputations. If you're not exalted with the Sons (or an inscriptionist), you're pretty much done at this stage. Also if you're in RP gear, offset, or something other than your raid gear.
Talents are another key look. We don't' require 'cookie cutter' builds, because there are times when someone can pull off a non-cookie cutter run. But if you're applying as a Holy Paladin and don't have Beacon of Light - you better be ready to defend it.
My last stop on the Armory is the statistics page. So many little details are available here, you just have to dig em out. I can see how often you're flasking or using mana potions (not in context to be sure, but it gives me an idea), and I can see how many kills you really have. Achievements do a good job of tracking some of these, and this is just one more tool in the arsenal.
Next I hit WoW-Heroes.com for a quick look at your gear. I like the layout better than the Armory, because at a glance I can see if you've got 'BIS' gems and enchants, and what your gear is. Basically it saves me from mousing over everything on the Armory.
Background Check
If you've made it this far, you're just one quick check away from getting a trial run or three. This is where I hit the realm and general forums looking for your name. I have a low tolerance for folks that troll the forums posting nothing but garbage. Sure, you can use an alt to do it, using your main just shows a special level of dumb in my book.
I'll try and gain access to your old guild forums, especially for server transfers, and look for any drama you might be involved in. I also hit WarcraftRealms.com to see if you're a guild hopper. It also let's me know if you've had a name change, because there will be a big gap in your data.
The Phone Interview
This is usually handled by one of our other officers, but we'll contact you to chat and make sure you aren't a blathering idiot on vent/chat. At this stage you've got one foot in the door, and your future is squarely on your shoulders.
Trial Period
This is where I'm trying to enact a change. Typically we've just invited new members and judged them on runs we happen to be on with them. We might slide them into a 10 man or something, but we don't have anything official.
I'm fairly certain that starting next week we're going to stick 3D or something similar on our raid calendar for tryouts. 3D might not be the super bowl of not standing in fire, but it's definitely the most chaotic thing outside of Ulduar. Besides, I want a blue dragon.
Conclusion
Everyone's application process is different, and where you are progression wise has a lot to do with it. Right now we're the big fish in the pond (yeah, it's a little pond, maybe a glass) so we have a bit more flex in which applications we take. If we fall off the front of the wave though, who knows what might happen.
What tools do you use that I don't?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Briefing in 3 minutes or less
We've all been there. First night in a new instance, or the first time you're facing a new boss. The raid is alive with energy. Everyone is excited, feasts are popping up, buffs are flying around like fireworks...and then the raid leader starts talking. And talking. And talking.
Ten minutes later and he's read you the entire strategy from wowwike and bosskillers, drawn four virtual maps using pings, and lost 95% of the raid's attention. Your paladins started surfing port two minutes ago, your tanks are still epeening it up, and your rogues are in the middle of a Peggle duel.
At the end, the raid leader asks if there are questions, and you can instantly tell that the only person listening was his cat (and that one raider who knows everything).
Something has to change - and here's a hint - it's not the raiders.
Holding the focus
Studies have shown that the average attention span in humans is approxamately 3-5 minutes per year of age, up to about 20 minutes in adults. This number obviously fluctuates depending on the interest in the task, and the ammount of interaction going on.
I'm sorry to tell you, but unless you're the tactical equivalent of Patton, you were tuned out at the 3-5 minute mark.
How to fix it
Unless you're in the top .1% of the WoW gaming world, rocking the content with Ensidia and Vodka, my guess is you're going to have to explain things a few times. The problem is, not everyone learns the same way. Some learn by reading, watching, listening, or just by doing.
Instead of going over every nuance of a fight, just pick five key elements, and brief them in two or three scentences. Obviously fights like Sara will be more complicated, but (and be honest) are you really planning on getting to phase three on the first shot?
Hold thier hands
Yes, some raiders will resent it, but the others will love you for it. Here's a way to brief a fight like Hodir, which is simple in effect, yet has a lot going on.
1) His big killer is the Deep Freeze. When this is called out, melee stand on the X, ranged stand on the moon. Move with them, don't anticipate. Watch for falling snow.
2) Stay in motion or jump, think the last boss in Nexus. (don't even worry about breifing the Cozy Fires at the start).
3) After the Deep Freeze, pick up your assist targets from the Moon and X. Switch to Hodir when they do. (don't worry about briefing the individual buffs the NPCs give).
4) If you have lightning shooting from your body, this is the one fight where it's ok to run into a group of people. If you have a choice, stand in the light.
5) Lots of raid healing after Frozen Blows. Healers, stand in the light if you can as well.
That's it. That's all that needs to be said - the first time around. Pull the boss and let everyone see the falling snow, the big snow mounds, the light (maybe point out a fire if one is nearby), and feel the raid healing after a Frozen Blow.
If you wipe, hit some clean-up points, but don't spend more than 2 or 3 minutes going over it. Theorycraft all you want on the run back, make the small adjustments, but don't spend 15 minutes talking about NPC buffs.
Conclusion
Keep it short and sweet, and don't sweat the small stuff. Even the players you think are bricks will pick it up, and you'll certainly help keep thier minds on the task at hand.
Ten minutes later and he's read you the entire strategy from wowwike and bosskillers, drawn four virtual maps using pings, and lost 95% of the raid's attention. Your paladins started surfing port two minutes ago, your tanks are still epeening it up, and your rogues are in the middle of a Peggle duel.
At the end, the raid leader asks if there are questions, and you can instantly tell that the only person listening was his cat (and that one raider who knows everything).
Something has to change - and here's a hint - it's not the raiders.
Holding the focus
Studies have shown that the average attention span in humans is approxamately 3-5 minutes per year of age, up to about 20 minutes in adults. This number obviously fluctuates depending on the interest in the task, and the ammount of interaction going on.
I'm sorry to tell you, but unless you're the tactical equivalent of Patton, you were tuned out at the 3-5 minute mark.
How to fix it
Unless you're in the top .1% of the WoW gaming world, rocking the content with Ensidia and Vodka, my guess is you're going to have to explain things a few times. The problem is, not everyone learns the same way. Some learn by reading, watching, listening, or just by doing.
Instead of going over every nuance of a fight, just pick five key elements, and brief them in two or three scentences. Obviously fights like Sara will be more complicated, but (and be honest) are you really planning on getting to phase three on the first shot?
Hold thier hands
Yes, some raiders will resent it, but the others will love you for it. Here's a way to brief a fight like Hodir, which is simple in effect, yet has a lot going on.
1) His big killer is the Deep Freeze. When this is called out, melee stand on the X, ranged stand on the moon. Move with them, don't anticipate. Watch for falling snow.
2) Stay in motion or jump, think the last boss in Nexus. (don't even worry about breifing the Cozy Fires at the start).
3) After the Deep Freeze, pick up your assist targets from the Moon and X. Switch to Hodir when they do. (don't worry about briefing the individual buffs the NPCs give).
4) If you have lightning shooting from your body, this is the one fight where it's ok to run into a group of people. If you have a choice, stand in the light.
5) Lots of raid healing after Frozen Blows. Healers, stand in the light if you can as well.
That's it. That's all that needs to be said - the first time around. Pull the boss and let everyone see the falling snow, the big snow mounds, the light (maybe point out a fire if one is nearby), and feel the raid healing after a Frozen Blow.
If you wipe, hit some clean-up points, but don't spend more than 2 or 3 minutes going over it. Theorycraft all you want on the run back, make the small adjustments, but don't spend 15 minutes talking about NPC buffs.
Conclusion
Keep it short and sweet, and don't sweat the small stuff. Even the players you think are bricks will pick it up, and you'll certainly help keep thier minds on the task at hand.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Once more into the breech - PvP build
So I know I was going to talk about a 28/43/0 build today, but I haven't had a chance to try it out on my own yet. On paper it looks doable, but I need to do some more theory-crafting before I can really write on it.
Getting the gear
In addition to needing some theory-crafting, I'm missing some (ok, all) of the PvP gear required to make that build work. So to help with the research, I've been sticking my head into BGs this last week.
I started out with my standard 51/0/20 build, putting Beacon on me, and SS on my pocket DPS (or myself if I didn't have one). This worked fairly well for a few BGs, but eventually they are going to recognize that the guy wearing a skirt (It's a kilt!) and sporting glowy hands needs to go.
Surviving the burst
Without any resilience, yeah - I'm that PvE guy in your BG, I can get burst down pretty fast. Even putting SS on my own head doesn't do much for my longevity. One on One it works alright, and I think I made a rogue cry at one point, but it's not going to hold up against multiple opponents.
I did a little digging for specs, but I quickly realized that there are a lot of opinions out there. I decided early on that I was going for survivability and throughput, with cleansing options taking a back seat. With the ammount of damage being tossed out, and the speed in which poisons can be applied, trying to cleanse between healing GCDs was enough to make anyone cry.
How it looks
I finally settled on a variation of the 51/20 build, but swapped out a few talents.
Holy talents
Spiritual Focus - 5/5 - stopping pushback is pretty mandatory.
Seals of the Pure - 0/5 - does any build really use this?
Healing Light - 3/3 - more healing is always good.
Divine Intellect - 5/5 - more mana never hurts.
Unyielding Faith - 2/2 - nerf fear.
Aura Mastery - 1/1 - Immune to interrupts is great, but I have to play with the changes to auras more.
Illumination - 5/5 - mmm, mana.
Imp. Lay on Hands - 0/2 - it's not that I don't like LoH, but I don't have the points to spare.
Imp. Concentration Aura - 3/3 - more silence and interrupt resist
Imp. Blessing of Wisdom - 0/2 - most PvP I've been in lately I don't have time to regen mana, I just use Kings for the HP and Int buff.
Blessed Hands - 0/2 - more absorbed damage is nice, but I didn't have the points to spare.
Pure of Heart - 0/2 - with poisons getting stacked on so quickly, they'll either fall off, or I'll have a moment to cleanse them. Usually after someone is dead.
Divine Favor - 1/1 - guaranteed HS crit, which gives me an instant FoL right after. Plus it gives access to HS.
Sanctified Light - 3/3 - mmm, crit. The crit for HL is fairly wasted since HS/FoL are the order of the day in PvP, but you can't turn down the free crit.
Purifying Power - 0/2 - if I have time to cleanse, the mana shouldn't be an issue either. If Exorcism could still be used on players this might have some viability for that extra punch to finish someone off, but again - if I have time for real DPS, the fight is probably going well enough already.
Holy Power - 5/5 - mmm, crit (really - 11% combined with Sanctified Light for Holy Shock).
Light's Grace - 0/3 - this would be worth picking up if Infustion of Light still gave a haste bonus to HL. With the change in 3.1 though, I'm still sitting at a fairly long HL, and winding up the first one really hurts.
Holy Shock - 1/1 - cant say anything about an instant that crits for over 7k and gives your an instant FoL. It's also an effective offensive spell. Killing someone while I'm holy always makes me giggle.
Blessed Life - 3/3 - we need points to get deeper to Beacon, and a 10% chance to take 50% damage isn't a bad way to spend them.
Sacred Cleansing - 0/3 - getting resistance never hurts, but I'm running out of points and as I've mentioned a few times, there's not a lot of time to cleasnse anyway. Maybe I'm doing it wrong though. If this made someone immune it'd be worth it, but a 30% increase to resistance when they probably don't have much to begin with doesn't seem worth it (another one I may be doing wrong).
Holy Guidance - 5/5 - more spell power never hurts.
Divine Illumination - 0/1 - if I had unlimited points I'd take it, but I'm getting miserly with them now.
Judgements of the Pure - 4/5 - i'm torn on this one. 3% more haste and a little more damage might be worth putting that 5th point in, but I like the range I get from the next tier, and pulling a point out for that is something I have to play with more.
Infusion of Light - 2/2 - instant FoL. Nuff said.
Enlightened Judgements - 2/2 - personally I like the range on this, but I'm looking at dropping a point out to max out JotP.
Beacon of Light - 1/1 - 2 for 1 healing. I can't say no to this.
Prot talents
Divinity - 5/5 - 5% more healing done and recieved. Tasty.
Divine Strength - 0/5 - leave this for the Retadins.
Stoacism - 3/3 - reduced stun time, and may keep your Divine Plea and SS from being dispelled.
Guardian's Favor - just in case you can get a 2nd HoP off during the battle. These points could go to dodge as well.
Anticipation - 0/5 - dodge is nice, but I need the points to get down two more tiers.
Divine Sacrifice - 1/1 - I just pop this when I pop my bubble for good measure. I'm really going for the next tier, but this is just bonus.
Improved Righteous Fury - 3/3 - 6% damage reduction is nothing to sneeze at, and it's not like I'm going to pull agro in PvP.
Toughness - 1/5 - this point can go anywhere, we're just heading deeper in the tree. The increased bonus to armor and slowing effects is just a bonus.
Divine Guardain - 2/2 - personally I love my SS, and making it tougher seems smart to me. These points might be better spent in Hammer or back down in Toughness, but for now, I'm putting them here.
Imp. Hammer of Justice - 0/2 - for arena play, the two points from Divine Guardian might be better spent here. I'm still playing with it.
Improved Devotion Aura - 3/3 - increased armor is a bonus, but odds are I'm going to be running Concentration arua to synergize with Aura Mastery. 6% bonus healing though, that's waht we're really after.
Feedback
This might not be the best PvP spec out there, and I'm open to other thoughts. It seems to give me some longevity, and I don't have to waste all the points in ret to get Divine Purpose. Losing all the crit from the Ret tree hurts some as well. We'll have to see.
Getting the gear
In addition to needing some theory-crafting, I'm missing some (ok, all) of the PvP gear required to make that build work. So to help with the research, I've been sticking my head into BGs this last week.
I started out with my standard 51/0/20 build, putting Beacon on me, and SS on my pocket DPS (or myself if I didn't have one). This worked fairly well for a few BGs, but eventually they are going to recognize that the guy wearing a skirt (It's a kilt!) and sporting glowy hands needs to go.
Surviving the burst
Without any resilience, yeah - I'm that PvE guy in your BG, I can get burst down pretty fast. Even putting SS on my own head doesn't do much for my longevity. One on One it works alright, and I think I made a rogue cry at one point, but it's not going to hold up against multiple opponents.
I did a little digging for specs, but I quickly realized that there are a lot of opinions out there. I decided early on that I was going for survivability and throughput, with cleansing options taking a back seat. With the ammount of damage being tossed out, and the speed in which poisons can be applied, trying to cleanse between healing GCDs was enough to make anyone cry.
How it looks
I finally settled on a variation of the 51/20 build, but swapped out a few talents.
Holy talents
Spiritual Focus - 5/5 - stopping pushback is pretty mandatory.
Seals of the Pure - 0/5 - does any build really use this?
Healing Light - 3/3 - more healing is always good.
Divine Intellect - 5/5 - more mana never hurts.
Unyielding Faith - 2/2 - nerf fear.
Aura Mastery - 1/1 - Immune to interrupts is great, but I have to play with the changes to auras more.
Illumination - 5/5 - mmm, mana.
Imp. Lay on Hands - 0/2 - it's not that I don't like LoH, but I don't have the points to spare.
Imp. Concentration Aura - 3/3 - more silence and interrupt resist
Imp. Blessing of Wisdom - 0/2 - most PvP I've been in lately I don't have time to regen mana, I just use Kings for the HP and Int buff.
Blessed Hands - 0/2 - more absorbed damage is nice, but I didn't have the points to spare.
Pure of Heart - 0/2 - with poisons getting stacked on so quickly, they'll either fall off, or I'll have a moment to cleanse them. Usually after someone is dead.
Divine Favor - 1/1 - guaranteed HS crit, which gives me an instant FoL right after. Plus it gives access to HS.
Sanctified Light - 3/3 - mmm, crit. The crit for HL is fairly wasted since HS/FoL are the order of the day in PvP, but you can't turn down the free crit.
Purifying Power - 0/2 - if I have time to cleanse, the mana shouldn't be an issue either. If Exorcism could still be used on players this might have some viability for that extra punch to finish someone off, but again - if I have time for real DPS, the fight is probably going well enough already.
Holy Power - 5/5 - mmm, crit (really - 11% combined with Sanctified Light for Holy Shock).
Light's Grace - 0/3 - this would be worth picking up if Infustion of Light still gave a haste bonus to HL. With the change in 3.1 though, I'm still sitting at a fairly long HL, and winding up the first one really hurts.
Holy Shock - 1/1 - cant say anything about an instant that crits for over 7k and gives your an instant FoL. It's also an effective offensive spell. Killing someone while I'm holy always makes me giggle.
Blessed Life - 3/3 - we need points to get deeper to Beacon, and a 10% chance to take 50% damage isn't a bad way to spend them.
Sacred Cleansing - 0/3 - getting resistance never hurts, but I'm running out of points and as I've mentioned a few times, there's not a lot of time to cleasnse anyway. Maybe I'm doing it wrong though. If this made someone immune it'd be worth it, but a 30% increase to resistance when they probably don't have much to begin with doesn't seem worth it (another one I may be doing wrong).
Holy Guidance - 5/5 - more spell power never hurts.
Divine Illumination - 0/1 - if I had unlimited points I'd take it, but I'm getting miserly with them now.
Judgements of the Pure - 4/5 - i'm torn on this one. 3% more haste and a little more damage might be worth putting that 5th point in, but I like the range I get from the next tier, and pulling a point out for that is something I have to play with more.
Infusion of Light - 2/2 - instant FoL. Nuff said.
Enlightened Judgements - 2/2 - personally I like the range on this, but I'm looking at dropping a point out to max out JotP.
Beacon of Light - 1/1 - 2 for 1 healing. I can't say no to this.
Prot talents
Divinity - 5/5 - 5% more healing done and recieved. Tasty.
Divine Strength - 0/5 - leave this for the Retadins.
Stoacism - 3/3 - reduced stun time, and may keep your Divine Plea and SS from being dispelled.
Guardian's Favor - just in case you can get a 2nd HoP off during the battle. These points could go to dodge as well.
Anticipation - 0/5 - dodge is nice, but I need the points to get down two more tiers.
Divine Sacrifice - 1/1 - I just pop this when I pop my bubble for good measure. I'm really going for the next tier, but this is just bonus.
Improved Righteous Fury - 3/3 - 6% damage reduction is nothing to sneeze at, and it's not like I'm going to pull agro in PvP.
Toughness - 1/5 - this point can go anywhere, we're just heading deeper in the tree. The increased bonus to armor and slowing effects is just a bonus.
Divine Guardain - 2/2 - personally I love my SS, and making it tougher seems smart to me. These points might be better spent in Hammer or back down in Toughness, but for now, I'm putting them here.
Imp. Hammer of Justice - 0/2 - for arena play, the two points from Divine Guardian might be better spent here. I'm still playing with it.
Improved Devotion Aura - 3/3 - increased armor is a bonus, but odds are I'm going to be running Concentration arua to synergize with Aura Mastery. 6% bonus healing though, that's waht we're really after.
Feedback
This might not be the best PvP spec out there, and I'm open to other thoughts. It seems to give me some longevity, and I don't have to waste all the points in ret to get Divine Purpose. Losing all the crit from the Ret tree hurts some as well. We'll have to see.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Sheathadin
So last week I mentioned that I had tried going as a Sheathadin for a certain General in Ulduar. I'd used this spec for a while before 3.1 when dual specs weren't an option, since I could heal any heroic and could hold my own in Naxx.
What it's not
First, I didn't dream this baby up. Hell, it wasn't even my idea. I found it while stumbling around the Plus Heal forums and thought I'd give it a try.
It's not a "AMG RET DPS" spec, but at least you shouldn't embarass yourself. I may, or may not, have finished below the tank once. Don't judge me.
This is not an Ulduar main spec - at least not yet in our guild. It's fun and fresh, but your spot is in the rear with the gear buddy. Holy Light bombs are the order of the day.
This is not your daddy's holy spec.
What it is
It lets you farm easily, do respectable DPS in a dungeon/raid, and it's pretty funny when you Divine Storm someone in the face while you're packing a shield.
You can realistically heal heroics, or be a second/fourth Naxx healer.
It's also slow, and (even more so than normal paladin healing) dependant on crits.
How it works
Basically a Sheathadin spec is a Ret pally in healing gear. You lose pretty much every Holy talent, as your spec is 15/5/51. If you're using this spec for pure healing output you can go 28/0/43 or 23/5/43. There's lots of options, more depending on your playstle and gear.
What you are shooting for at a minimum is a high Crit chance for your heals and your judgements. Procing Sheath of Light for the HoT and Art of War for the instant FoL give you flexibility to heal the rest of a party/raid. Pre 3.1 having multiple Sacred Shields out helped as well, but that option is gone now.
For this build you also want a high AP, which is why you bless yourself with Might instead of Wisdom. If you can get Kings, so much the better. You'll be standing right in there with the melee, giving them your ret aura buff, and judging light every eight seconds. I've found it nearly impossible to run out of mana with this build, even if you rock Holy Light bombs every 2.5 seconds.
Conclusion
This build is kind of gimmicky, though it is fun to play with. With dual specs though, I can keep one full Holy and leave the other as ret, so I don't play with this too much any more. Tomorrow I'll look at the 28/43 build Apokteino mentioned in the comments last week.
What it's not
First, I didn't dream this baby up. Hell, it wasn't even my idea. I found it while stumbling around the Plus Heal forums and thought I'd give it a try.
It's not a "AMG RET DPS" spec, but at least you shouldn't embarass yourself. I may, or may not, have finished below the tank once. Don't judge me.
This is not an Ulduar main spec - at least not yet in our guild. It's fun and fresh, but your spot is in the rear with the gear buddy. Holy Light bombs are the order of the day.
This is not your daddy's holy spec.
What it is
It lets you farm easily, do respectable DPS in a dungeon/raid, and it's pretty funny when you Divine Storm someone in the face while you're packing a shield.
You can realistically heal heroics, or be a second/fourth Naxx healer.
It's also slow, and (even more so than normal paladin healing) dependant on crits.
How it works
Basically a Sheathadin spec is a Ret pally in healing gear. You lose pretty much every Holy talent, as your spec is 15/5/51. If you're using this spec for pure healing output you can go 28/0/43 or 23/5/43. There's lots of options, more depending on your playstle and gear.
What you are shooting for at a minimum is a high Crit chance for your heals and your judgements. Procing Sheath of Light for the HoT and Art of War for the instant FoL give you flexibility to heal the rest of a party/raid. Pre 3.1 having multiple Sacred Shields out helped as well, but that option is gone now.
For this build you also want a high AP, which is why you bless yourself with Might instead of Wisdom. If you can get Kings, so much the better. You'll be standing right in there with the melee, giving them your ret aura buff, and judging light every eight seconds. I've found it nearly impossible to run out of mana with this build, even if you rock Holy Light bombs every 2.5 seconds.
Conclusion
This build is kind of gimmicky, though it is fun to play with. With dual specs though, I can keep one full Holy and leave the other as ret, so I don't play with this too much any more. Tomorrow I'll look at the 28/43 build Apokteino mentioned in the comments last week.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Healing General Vezax
Finally got the General down this weekend, once we took our heads out of our collective backsides and got smart about it. I'm not going to cover the mechanics of the fight per-se, but I will cover what we tried a few times before we finally got the hang of it. I won't lie, I made the most pathetic sound when I realized Illumination didn't return mana on this fight. Imagine a puppy being kicked. It was like that, but more sad and pathetic (especially since I'm not a small man).
Raid composition
Tank - DK
Healers - Disc Priest, Paladin, Tree
DPS - 2xRogue (interrupts were huge), Retadin, 2xSpriest, Kitty Druid
Pull One
DK tank runs in and it's off we go. We'd already decided that we weren't going to kite/run during his Surge of Darkness buff - instead doubling up on DK/healer cool downs. Between Icebound Fortitude and Pain Suppression/Hand of Sacrifice, the damage was definately manageable.
Why this pull failed
1) Range checker either lied, or the Mark of the Faceless debuff has a range greater than 10yds. Since both the person with the debuff and the person who died swore they were out of range, we dialed up the range checker a notch. Problem solved.
2) Stacking in the Saronite Vapors led to increased Shadow Crashes on the casters/healers. We put the feral druid on killing the crystals, and rotated one healer and one dpser a time through the cloud. Problem pending.
Pull Two
Same thing but with less suckage.
Why this pull failed
1) Rogue missed a kick and the tank got insta-gibbed. Kick harder. Problem solved.
Pull Three
This time we decided to get creative, as if somehow Blizzard hadn't thought of these things. We figured that since the melee don't get the Shadow Crash or the Mark of the Faceless, we would just have everyone stand on the melee.
Why this pull failed
1) Blizzard > us. The whole melee group was Shadow Crashed within 5 seconds. Put the ranged back at range and try again. Problem solved.
Pull Four
On this pull I decided to whip out my Sheathadin spec (I'll post on this spec later). Basically this spec is deep ret and gives me access to Judgements of the Wise and Sheath of Light. The theory was I could stand in melee, get my mana back, and still heal.
Why this pull failed
1) The ret pally, while confirming that JoTW was giving him the full mana return, failed to actually read the tooltip of his debuff. Short version, you get your mana back, but your heals are cut to 20%. Imagine my horror when I saw my HL crit for 3k. I spent the next 15 minutes running around trying to see if the debuff was a range or event debuff (it's event based, or the range is over 9000). Spec back to Holy or get creative. Problem pending.
2) This probably would have worked anyway, except I failed to put my healing buttons back in the right spot. This was my ret spec setup, so HoS and HoF were flipped (really, how often do you HoS as ret?). So while the tank was free to move around the cabin, he got squished instead. Move buttons. Problem solved.
Final pull
I stayed sheathadin, the other casters went ranged, and our rogues kicked thier tails off.
/profit
Conclusion
I still think I will need to either go back to either 51/0/20 or 51/20/0 (or some variation) for this fight. 3k HL crits aren't going to get it done in 25 man. The other option would be to go full Ret. More DPS = faster kill = less mana needed by the healers.
On to Sara now. I hate her screams.
Raid composition
Tank - DK
Healers - Disc Priest, Paladin, Tree
DPS - 2xRogue (interrupts were huge), Retadin, 2xSpriest, Kitty Druid
Pull One
DK tank runs in and it's off we go. We'd already decided that we weren't going to kite/run during his Surge of Darkness buff - instead doubling up on DK/healer cool downs. Between Icebound Fortitude and Pain Suppression/Hand of Sacrifice, the damage was definately manageable.
Why this pull failed
1) Range checker either lied, or the Mark of the Faceless debuff has a range greater than 10yds. Since both the person with the debuff and the person who died swore they were out of range, we dialed up the range checker a notch. Problem solved.
2) Stacking in the Saronite Vapors led to increased Shadow Crashes on the casters/healers. We put the feral druid on killing the crystals, and rotated one healer and one dpser a time through the cloud. Problem pending.
Pull Two
Same thing but with less suckage.
Why this pull failed
1) Rogue missed a kick and the tank got insta-gibbed. Kick harder. Problem solved.
Pull Three
This time we decided to get creative, as if somehow Blizzard hadn't thought of these things. We figured that since the melee don't get the Shadow Crash or the Mark of the Faceless, we would just have everyone stand on the melee.
Why this pull failed
1) Blizzard > us. The whole melee group was Shadow Crashed within 5 seconds. Put the ranged back at range and try again. Problem solved.
Pull Four
On this pull I decided to whip out my Sheathadin spec (I'll post on this spec later). Basically this spec is deep ret and gives me access to Judgements of the Wise and Sheath of Light. The theory was I could stand in melee, get my mana back, and still heal.
Why this pull failed
1) The ret pally, while confirming that JoTW was giving him the full mana return, failed to actually read the tooltip of his debuff. Short version, you get your mana back, but your heals are cut to 20%. Imagine my horror when I saw my HL crit for 3k. I spent the next 15 minutes running around trying to see if the debuff was a range or event debuff (it's event based, or the range is over 9000). Spec back to Holy or get creative. Problem pending.
2) This probably would have worked anyway, except I failed to put my healing buttons back in the right spot. This was my ret spec setup, so HoS and HoF were flipped (really, how often do you HoS as ret?). So while the tank was free to move around the cabin, he got squished instead. Move buttons. Problem solved.
Final pull
I stayed sheathadin, the other casters went ranged, and our rogues kicked thier tails off.
/profit
Conclusion
I still think I will need to either go back to either 51/0/20 or 51/20/0 (or some variation) for this fight. 3k HL crits aren't going to get it done in 25 man. The other option would be to go full Ret. More DPS = faster kill = less mana needed by the healers.
On to Sara now. I hate her screams.
Nicked by the razor
So last week I wrote a post talking about the fine line my guild walks with it's raiding core. Saturday we slipped a bit, and nicked ourselves right in the butt.
To be fair, it wasn't the system that failed, it was the people. Of our 35 invited we had 28 accept/confirm the invite (we use the in game guild calendar), 6 decline, and one who never changed his status. 28 accepted is an acceptable number, and it gives us enough room to flex and bend through the raid.
At invite time there were 21 people online.
Fifteen minutes after the raid was supposed to start, and we're staring at Thorim with 24 folks - four of which are tanks, and only six healers. Our doom-chicken logs on, and when he gets harassed for being late his response was "when did the raid change to 30 minutes early?". The mind boggling thing is that our raids have started at the same time for over a month.
The real kick
I don't mind that folks decline raid invites. Real life happens, and sometimes you just have to miss a raid. We only raid one weekend night (Saturday), so Friday and Sunday folks are free to do whatever they want.
What gets me is the no-call/no-show people. Those that accept, but don't show up at all. In today's electronic world, how tough can it really be to let someone know you won't be around? Half our officers have their cell phone numbers listed on their guild info, the calendar is available through the armory, and we're a small enough guild that everyone knows at least one other person in real life.
The Knee Jerk
The inital reaction of course is for officers to freak out, loot rules to be changed, and yelling to commence. I've been that guy before (it was a dark time), and I think I present a more even keeled approach now.
Expectations have to be clarified, and people need to know there's a stick behind the carrot - but there's a limit. In the end, this is a game. And while 24 other people are counting on you to show up, we can always replace you if it comes to that. I think it's a fear of change that keeps us from doing it more often.
Once we make a decision I'll share it - and hopefully get some opinions on how we've adjusted.
To be fair, it wasn't the system that failed, it was the people. Of our 35 invited we had 28 accept/confirm the invite (we use the in game guild calendar), 6 decline, and one who never changed his status. 28 accepted is an acceptable number, and it gives us enough room to flex and bend through the raid.
At invite time there were 21 people online.
Fifteen minutes after the raid was supposed to start, and we're staring at Thorim with 24 folks - four of which are tanks, and only six healers. Our doom-chicken logs on, and when he gets harassed for being late his response was "when did the raid change to 30 minutes early?". The mind boggling thing is that our raids have started at the same time for over a month.
The real kick
I don't mind that folks decline raid invites. Real life happens, and sometimes you just have to miss a raid. We only raid one weekend night (Saturday), so Friday and Sunday folks are free to do whatever they want.
What gets me is the no-call/no-show people. Those that accept, but don't show up at all. In today's electronic world, how tough can it really be to let someone know you won't be around? Half our officers have their cell phone numbers listed on their guild info, the calendar is available through the armory, and we're a small enough guild that everyone knows at least one other person in real life.
The Knee Jerk
The inital reaction of course is for officers to freak out, loot rules to be changed, and yelling to commence. I've been that guy before (it was a dark time), and I think I present a more even keeled approach now.
Expectations have to be clarified, and people need to know there's a stick behind the carrot - but there's a limit. In the end, this is a game. And while 24 other people are counting on you to show up, we can always replace you if it comes to that. I think it's a fear of change that keeps us from doing it more often.
Once we make a decision I'll share it - and hopefully get some opinions on how we've adjusted.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Giddy about Innervate
I can hear the laments now, "A post about innervate on a blog called Divine Plea? What the deuce?". Four posts in and I'm already deviating from paladins and guild running, all to talk about this (soon to be better) wonderful druid spell.
Patch 3.1.2
When I first saw the patch notes, I approached with a careful eye towards any upcoming paladinesque changes. After my recent post about how paladin healing was fine, ret and prot are in good places as well - PvP may be a little different, I was afraid that an incoming change would screw with my place of zen.
Much to my delight however, I've seen nothing at all about paladins. Then I stumbled across this little gem.
What it used to be
Right now Innervate works off base spirit regen. Specifically you gain five times your normal regen from spirit, plus you regain mana as if you were outside the FSR. Using the formula from wowwiki, I can estimate my regen to be approxamately 2700 mana. The priest standing next to me however would gain close to 9000 mana. The same spell gives him half of his mana bar back, and barely makes a dent in mine.
How the worm has turned
Innervate now returns a flat 450% of the casting druid's BASE mana, which has hidden implications that I didn't realize until I was writing this. Base mana never changes. Every druid has a base mana of 3496, which means even if I catch an innervate from a feral druid, I'll still get 15,732 mana back over the duration. This. Is. Huge. You can read GC's response here.
No longer will the paladin be the very last choice to recieve an innervate. No longer will my druids cringe when they cast it upon me and fail to see my mana bar move.
Not that I'll get an innervate anyway.
With the paladin mana regen working like it is, I'm lucky enough that unless I need a battle rez, I shouldn't ever have to depend on an innervate. It's nice to know that the option is there though.
See. It really was about paladins after all.
Patch 3.1.2
When I first saw the patch notes, I approached with a careful eye towards any upcoming paladinesque changes. After my recent post about how paladin healing was fine, ret and prot are in good places as well - PvP may be a little different, I was afraid that an incoming change would screw with my place of zen.
Much to my delight however, I've seen nothing at all about paladins. Then I stumbled across this little gem.
Innervate: This ability has been redesigned to grant 450% of the casting Druid's base mana pool to the target over 20 seconds.Oh really...now this is interesting after all.
What it used to be
Right now Innervate works off base spirit regen. Specifically you gain five times your normal regen from spirit, plus you regain mana as if you were outside the FSR. Using the formula from wowwiki, I can estimate my regen to be approxamately 2700 mana. The priest standing next to me however would gain close to 9000 mana. The same spell gives him half of his mana bar back, and barely makes a dent in mine.
How the worm has turned
Innervate now returns a flat 450% of the casting druid's BASE mana, which has hidden implications that I didn't realize until I was writing this. Base mana never changes. Every druid has a base mana of 3496, which means even if I catch an innervate from a feral druid, I'll still get 15,732 mana back over the duration. This. Is. Huge. You can read GC's response here.
No longer will the paladin be the very last choice to recieve an innervate. No longer will my druids cringe when they cast it upon me and fail to see my mana bar move.
Not that I'll get an innervate anyway.
With the paladin mana regen working like it is, I'm lucky enough that unless I need a battle rez, I shouldn't ever have to depend on an innervate. It's nice to know that the option is there though.
See. It really was about paladins after all.
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