» Draeorn - Paladin - Holy/Ret, Application Options

[Ðraorn]

- First Name: Darren
- Your Country / Time zone: Canada - EST
- Age: 26

- Do you have Ventrilo and working microphone?
Yes

- Are you able to handle mature (or immature) content on Ventrilo and in guild chat? Yes
- Do you have the capacity to clearly communicate, yet have a knowledge of when it's appropriate to keep comments to yourself?
Yes

- Are you presently employed or a student. Will it interfere with your ability to raid? Will you be able to attend 99% of our raids? Do you have any other Real Life obligations which might prevent you from attending 99% of our raids? Will you, in the near future, have any obligations that will make you unable to raid?
I am employed, but do not work hours that would interfere with raids.

- Do you have any PC or disconnect issues we should know about?
No

- Are you able to handle harsh criticism? You can, and will, be subjected to harsh criticism and you will be called out when you do not perform.
Yes

- Class / Character Name: Draeorn
- Race: Blood Elf
- Professions: 535 - Enchanting 525 - Alchemy

- Do your professions increase your performance in raids? Explain your choices
Enchanting provides me with Enchanter only perks in the form of ring enchants for an added 80 Intellect combined. Alchemy offers Mixology which not only increases Flask/Elixer duration but also increases the effect of flasks to something like 99 of a given stat above normal flask stats (of flasks you can make).

- Total time played (/played) and Time played at 85
89 Days Total - 80 At Level 85

-Is this your first main character? If not what did you used to play? When did you start playing WoW? Please provide detailed information about time spent on all your previous characters. Tell us as much as you can, the more the better.
My original character was a Prot Warrior, it wasn't long before I figured out tanking wasn't my strongest suit. This Paladin was my second character and has been the only one I focus on for some time.

-Main Spec: (x/x/x) (include a link from http://www.wowhead.com if it differs from the spec you presently have on armory). If you have a relevant offspec for raiding, tell us about that as well.
33/5/3 Holy
7/2/32 Ret (albeit not likely relevant for raiding in comparison to your raiders).

-Armory Link: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/chog...raeorn/advanced (Be sure to log out with your raiding gear on)

-What is your current guild?
None

-What were the last 3 guilds you were in? What are the reasons for leaving your last and current guild? Tell us about your time in each and how active you were in each.
From most recent;
Church of RNG US-Cho'gall - I was an active raider after leaving Mag for most of T13. My reason for leaving is essentially their 25m raid group is falling apart.
No Reprieve - Tatsumasa is an idiot and I can't play for an idiot. Guild was just terrible, not much else to say.
Axis - I had a desire to raid 25m. Beyond that, this guild was not the progression oriented atmosphere I desired.

- What end game raiding experience do you have? (This includes in vanilla WoW, TBC and WOTLK as well as Cata. be specific.) Be thorough. The more detail the better.
I only began playing about a month prior to Cataclysm's release so my relevant raiding experience is limited to this expansion.
T11 - 9/13HM Completed during T12/13 (At this point I was beginning raiding with pugs mostly normal)
T12 - 6/7HM Again not relevant as I took a break over the summer and caught up with this content late.
T13 - 6/8HM Pre-nerf 8/8HM post 15%

- Any special Achievements / Titles / Mounts you have earned in PvE you would like us to know about?
Savior of Azeroth was a big achievement for me, it was my first end game content title achieved in a relevant time frame.

- Link to WWS / WMO logs of recent raid(s) you have attended.
http://worldoflogs.com/guilds/61650/ - I was there for practically every raid in the last several months.

- Provide a Quick Summary of your "Valuable" Stats (Healing, Attack Power, etc.) as you understand them for your class.
Intellect - Our most powerful stat provides spell power, mana and mana regeneration.
Spirit - Increases mana and rate of mana regeneration.
Haste - Reduces GCD and cast times.
Mastery - Illuminated healing which provides 'shielding' to targets to absorb damage.
Crit - Increases chance to critically heal a target.

There's a lot of debate about the proper holy paladin build. It is still general practice for haste to be the stat the trumps all other secondary stats. Unless specifically spamming holy radiance on a fight like spine for shields, I find mastery to be less effective overall. I also find crit builds to be unreliable, however that is my personal experience. Nevertheless, the general consensus now is that it is a preference, if that is the case my preference is haste. I'm a firm believer in the ideology that the more casts you can get out the more healing you can do.

- Which major and prime glyphs do you currently use? Explain your choices
Prime
Seal of Insight and Divine Favor are mandatory.
WoG - Holy Shock is the only other choice, and it's the wrong one.
Major
DProt - No brainer in this content on fights like Zon'Ozz and Yor'Sahj
DPlea & Divinity are also mandatory in my opinion.
There has been the odd time where I've had to cover dispells and/or HW on bloods for Spine, in which case a glyph change is obvious.

- Do you have dualspec, and is your offspec something you could viably play in raids?
I can play my offspec well (which is Retribution). Viable? Yes, but whether it can compete with current raiders is another story altogether.

- What spec do you prefer? Are you willing to respec if an emergency arises? Are you willing to respec to the optimal spec for a progression boss?
Holy. I will play either spec if the raid leader requests it.

- How do you feel about sitting out for any given encounter if we do not need you? It will happen.
Fine, I'm aware of how this guild functions and also aware of how raid compositions aren't always what Blizzard implies they are.

- Are you willing to spend 400+ gold a night in repairs and consumables, stay focused and wipe for 4 hours straight, come back the next day and do it all over again until a new boss dies (even on "farm" content)?
Love it

- What is your reason for applying? What makes us more appealing that any one of the thousands of other raiding guilds out there?
I want to play on Mag, its the original server I began playing on, and I have no desire to play elsewhere. WWA's reputation speaks for itself, there is no other choice when it comes to raiding on Magtheridon.

- Who, if anyone, will vouch for your abilities in WWA?
None

- Post a screenshot of your UI.(If you are having trouble, use the free image hosting resources of http://imgur.com)
http://i.imgur.com/tqhes.jpg

- Last words: Show us what sets you apart from the rest of the candidates; what makes you better? What can you bring to WWA? What do you want us to know that wasn’t covered? Let us know why WE want YOU. This is your last chance to impress us, be thorough. Do not answer this question with one sentence. Once again, the more complete the answer, the better.
I can offer your guild a dedicated and skilled player that researches their class constantly in an effort to be the best he possibly can be. I'm still a relatively new player to the game in the grand scheme of things and I feel that works in my favor as the game hasn't lost its flavor for me. I'm also a relatively new raider in comparison to many end game content raiders at this point, so everything is new to me in a sense much like some of you might have had in the days of Vanilla or BC. I have a desire to continue to strive to be better and achieve more in the game. I'm aware some of you may have preconceived notions of me and that's fine, I'm here to prove myself. Thank you for your time and consideration, I appreciate any criticism/advice your raiders/officers can provide.

[Lamdeeze]

chyeabrah i'll look at this laters

[clearlylol]

There actually might be times where you are asked to play ret, two of our formerly three holy paladins did so at some point for progression, are you at all comfortable with it. Have you been keeping up with beta as far as our class goes in all specs.

Your attempting to take a very big jump when progression rolls around, everyone will always say they are committed until the time actually comes, why should we take a leap of faith on you with our time. I understand your track record with your current guild, but trust me it pales in comparasion to what we push for.

I'm sure brooks and/or lambert will get to your logs but if not I'll take a look when I'm at home later today. Good luck with your app.

[Lamdeeze]

Your judgements of the pure uptime is a little low. Is it possible to get a screenshot of your UI while you're in raid combat?

[Hozz]

I get the feeling this is all a part of a massive plan for Draeorn to try to borrow 200g again.

[Ðraorn]

I get the feeling this is all a part of a massive plan for Draeorn to try to borrow 200g again.

Hahaha, yesss
I can admit, I was clearly ignorant to what in-game etiquette was then, only being part of the game for a few months. I deserved it lol

And Lam, yeah after looking at those logs myself my JotP uptime the last couple weeks of raid (I didn't go back further, saw no point) hasn't been up to standard in my opinion. As I said to you in-game I'll likely be home around 10PM tonight and post an in combat SS from my desktop at that point. Thanks guys.

[clearlylol]

Better answer my questions!

[Ðraorn]

Better answer my questions!

Haha, sorry buddy I had something all typed out to reply to that, but seeing as I was at work it got away from me.

In any case, the comments in my app don't mean I'm not comfortable playing Ret for raids. I was actually planning on switching my main spec for raiding to ret for T13 but changed my mind as I enjoy healing most. With the lack of a 4 piece set bonus my ret gear is subpar, making it less viable at the moment in the hypothetical situation of progression. I am an annual pass holder and have been utilizing the beta to test out the changes they are making to our class in respect to the holy and retribution specs. Although I have been keeping up to date with the changes to all three specs, I have not put prot into practice as I haven't anticipated the possibility of being asked to fill that role. In the event of that possibility I would do whatever necessary to achieve the level of play you would expect.

I definitely understand the concern with massive change I'm attempting to make. We're talking about going from a 3 day schedule to a 5+ day schedule with possible overtime during progression, in addition to the overall play style of a hardcore guild. I know I will be expected to play at a highly competitive level night in and night out, with no excuses and I'm confident it's something I'm ready to do. It's a significant leap for me personally and not one I'm taking lightly. As far as from the guilds perspective of taking that leap of faith on me, the only thing I can do is reiterate what I said in my closing statement of the application. I have a strong desire to continue playing this game, continue to better myself as a player, and achieve the best possible. When I was a random casual in the guild on this paladin over a year ago, pugging normal T11 content, I wouldn't dare be stupid enough to fill out an application to a guild of this caliber. Although my overall raid experience likely pales in comparison to most if not all your current raiders, I still feel I can compete at this level. The time comes when you have to make that leap as a player and put yourself out there to step up, that's what I'm here to prove. I respect the guild, its leadership and its members far too much to be here to waste your time.

Lam here's a screenshot, I didn't have a recent one so I just popped into an LFR

[Big]

There's a lot of debate about the proper holy paladin build. It is still general practice for haste to be the stat the trumps all other secondary stats. Unless specifically spamming holy radiance on a fight like spine for shields, I find mastery to be less effective overall. I also find crit builds to be unreliable, however that is my personal experience. Nevertheless, the general consensus now is that it is a preference, if that is the case my preference is haste. I'm a firm believer in the ideology that the more casts you can get out the more healing you can do.

Mastery is better than haste after obtaining 777 haste. Most paladins refuse to adjust because slower casts are difficult for them and they have the reaction time of a goldfish. It's also easy to point out that mastery gets even better as the instance gets nerfed due to increased overhealing.

[Ðraorn]

Mastery is better than haste after obtaining 777 haste. Most paladins refuse to adjust because slower casts are difficult for them and they have the reaction time of a goldfish. It's also easy to point out that mastery gets even better as the instance gets nerfed due to increased overhealing.

Heh, yeah, I think we had this conversation a few months ago and I was using your build for a while and it was very effective. As a matter of fact, I kept that build for the better part of half the tier. When I joined my most recent guild they refused the logic and literally threatened benching me had I not switched back to haste for progression regardless of what my healing assignment was, their logic was "all the top holy paladins are haste builds".

I guess the 'debate' comes in at what you prefer as well as what your specific healing assignment is. If you're tank healing I'd say you'd want a higher HPS to compensate for spikes in damage as well as lower the GCD between instant casts. For raid healing, with the 5th tick of HR too high without DF and without sacrificing other stats makes a haste build for this role far less efficient, and essentially a waste of a stat. Seeing as mastery rating directly affects the initial heal of HR, mastery becomes the more desirable stat when you're AoE healing and likely spamming the spell. Not to mention I found managing mana with a mastery build to be extremely forgiving compared to that of haste.

I still have to say that a Crit build is far too unstable to be considered viable, but I do believe both haste and mastery builds are equally viable this tier for specific situations.

[brooks]

Mastery is better than haste after obtaining 777 haste. Most paladins refuse to adjust because slower casts are difficult for them and they have the reaction time of a goldfish. It's also easy to point out that mastery gets even better as the instance gets nerfed due to increased overhealing.

When content was relevant, and not a complete rollover, even after 777 haste, haste was the better stat, when tank healing actually mattered.

[Sark]

I don't know what's going on in MoP yet, so i don't know what we need and how many. Obviously you know how to contact me, so i'll keep you updated as i figure out what's going on.

As requested, i can give you some feedback on the actual app:
My primary concern is the adjustment from a fairly casual raiding environment to ours. That's not to say i don't think you can handle it, but i'd be lying if i said every person who said they could actually could. This shift will come in multiple forms, including but not limited to:
-increased hours for progression
-harsher, less forgiving environment. If you wipe the raid your peers, myself, or both will very vocally make it known
-less tolerance for flakiness.
-Occasionally you may be asked to sit out.

Those are the primary differences, make sure that should we give you a shot, you understand those, and aren't just saying "yes, i'm okay with that" for the sake of saying it.

[Ðraorn]

I don't know what's going on in MoP yet, so i don't know what we need and how many. Obviously you know how to contact me, so i'll keep you updated as i figure out what's going on.

As requested, i can give you some feedback on the actual app:
My primary concern is the adjustment from a fairly casual raiding environment to ours. That's not to say i don't think you can handle it, but i'd be lying if i said every person who said they could actually could. This shift will come in multiple forms, including but not limited to:
-increased hours for progression
-harsher, less forgiving environment. If you wipe the raid your peers, myself, or both will very vocally make it known
-less tolerance for flakiness.
-Occasionally you may be asked to sit out.

Those are the primary differences, make sure that should we give you a shot, you understand those, and aren't just saying "yes, i'm okay with that" for the sake of saying it.

We've been friends in game for over a year, from a shitty casual assaulting you and Killmour with 'n00b' like questions, to a heroic raider asking for your advice on current content. I know you know how I feel personally and the strides I've made to be the player I am today. My time in this game, albeit short in comparison, has been dedicated to not only becoming a competitive end game raider, but being one in WWA. Nothing comes easy when you strive for perfection, and no one gets there half assidly. Everything you've mentioned comes with the territory of what you and every other guild of this caliber is trying to accomplish. So when I say 'yes, I'm okay with that', that not only means I'm ready to make the leap to this type of environment, it means I'm ready to make damn sure I don't have to listen to another borrowing 200g anecdote from Hozz because I wiped the raid. <3

Thanks again guys.
Drae