Raiding in WoD

[Kodie 0]

Hey there guys im Kodie.

I've been resubbing to prepare myself to WoD, figure out which class i wanted to roll during WoD.

I have been wondering lately and watching some videos about it. I really want to get into "hardcore" PvE, i have been raiding casually since cata basically. Never really got myself deep into it.

I have this struggle about finding or creating a raid team for WoD, for instances: if i find a guild and right when WoD comes out and all that they bail me either kick me or the guild disbands. I want to make sure than i can raid in WoD right from the start.

Im currently leveling a Shadow Priest which im gonna main in WoD, i created a guild actually with that thought i was going to lead a guild. So far im still on to leading a guild, but i never really tried it before. 

Do you guys have any suggestions how i can make sure that i can raid hardcore in WoD, i want it so badly. But i dont have experience either in previous expansions.

So do you have any advice for me?

 

-Kodie

[Storm 426]

Well the first question is, are you sure you really want to get into "hardcore" pve. I've raided in a lot of good guilds going all the way back to Burning Crusade, but MoP was really my first experience with raiding "extremely hardcore". I lasted about 9 months of raiding 5 nights a week through all of MSV/HoF/Toes and ToT before it really hit me that I was sacrificing every aspect of my personal life to play WoW. I woke up in the morning, went to work, got home, had about 2 hours of free time before raid (which obviously I spent getting ready for raid, capping valor, etc.) raided for 4 hours, and then went to bed. Your friends want to do something on any night other than Friday or Saturday? "sorry guys I gotta raid". Somehow my girlfriend didn't leave me while she sat at the computer next to mine and I completely ignored her for 4 hours a night 5 days a week for 9 months. God forbid I miss a mechanic because I was distracted.

 

If you haven't raided hardcore before it may seem like a good idea now, but are you sure you're really ready to devote, 3, 4, 5 nights a week to raiding week in and week out? After doing 5 nights for a while I know I can never do that again, luckily I'm with a really awesome group now that's only raiding 3 nights a week. but if you haven't raided hardcore before, are you sure even 3 nights a week, every single week, for the next year +/- is something you want to get into?

 

Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, if I haven't discouraged you yet, then you've cleared the first hurdle. You at least have the resolve to be a dedicated raider, now we need to show recruiters that you can be a good raider. This really comes down to one of those typical cyclical life problems. You need the experience, and the strong logs to get the raid spot, so you can get the experience and the gear to post the strong logs.

 

Luckily, new expansions are a reset across the board for everyone. My advice to you would be to find any raiding guild now that will give you a shot. Focus on finding a fun group of people that will at least clear normal/heroic in WoD, and maybe has some aspirations for a mythic team. Maybe you'll find you like these guys and like their pace and then your search is finished. but when it comes to WoD if their progress isn't meeting your new "hardcore" goals. you have the first 3-4 weeks of the expansion to work your butt off. get fully flex heroic geared as quickly as possible. and then start looking for mythic guilds. Logs speak louder than words when you're apping for guilds, so start logging everything you do in WoD and if you start putting up strong numbers, even in flex normal/heroic, you can use the logs to prove you know what you're doing to get a spot on a mythic team.

 

I wouldn't advise trying to make your own guild from scratch. hardcore guilds don't form out of thin air. If you don't have a group of friends that will form the core of your guild with you, then you're going to put in way more work forming a hardcore guild than you will proving your value to an already established guild. put all your effort into researching your class, getting the right gear, and playing optimally, and you'll find a spot somewhere.

[Kodie 0]

Well the first question is, are you sure you really want to get into "hardcore" pve. I've raided in a lot of good guilds going all the way back to Burning Crusade, but MoP was really my first experience with raiding "extremely hardcore". I lasted about 9 months of raiding 5 nights a week through all of MSV/HoF/Toes and ToT before it really hit me that I was sacrificing every aspect of my personal life to play WoW. I woke up in the morning, went to work, got home, had about 2 hours of free time before raid (which obviously I spent getting ready for raid, capping valor, etc.) raided for 4 hours, and then went to bed. Your friends want to do something on any night other than Friday or Saturday? "sorry guys I gotta raid". Somehow my girlfriend didn't leave me while she sat at the computer next to mine and I completely ignored her for 4 hours a night 5 days a week for 9 months. God forbid I miss a mechanic because I was distracted.

 

If you haven't raided hardcore before it may seem like a good idea now, but are you sure you're really ready to devote, 3, 4, 5 nights a week to raiding week in and week out? After doing 5 nights for a while I know I can never do that again, luckily I'm with a really awesome group now that's only raiding 3 nights a week. but if you haven't raided hardcore before, are you sure even 3 nights a week, every single week, for the next year +/- is something you want to get into?

 

Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, if I haven't discouraged you yet, then you've cleared the first hurdle. You at least have the resolve to be a dedicated raider, now we need to show recruiters that you can be a good raider. This really comes down to one of those typical cyclical life problems. You need the experience, and the strong logs to get the raid spot, so you can get the experience and the gear to post the strong logs.

 

Luckily, new expansions are a reset across the board for everyone. My advice to you would be to find any raiding guild now that will give you a shot. Focus on finding a fun group of people that will at least clear normal/heroic in WoD, and maybe has some aspirations for a mythic team. Maybe you'll find you like these guys and like their pace and then your search is finished. but when it comes to WoD if their progress isn't meeting your new "hardcore" goals. you have the first 3-4 weeks of the expansion to work your butt off. get fully flex heroic geared as quickly as possible. and then start looking for mythic guilds. Logs speak louder than words when you're apping for guilds, so start logging everything you do in WoD and if you start putting up strong numbers, even in flex normal/heroic, you can use the logs to prove you know what you're doing to get a spot on a mythic team.

 

I wouldn't advise trying to make your own guild from scratch. hardcore guilds don't form out of thin air. If you don't have a group of friends that will form the core of your guild with you, then you're going to put in way more work forming a hardcore guild than you will proving your value to an already established guild. put all your effort into researching your class, getting the right gear, and playing optimally, and you'll find a spot somewhere.

Wow man i really appreciate such answer!

Well my plan was to raid like 3-4 times a week basically, but im also a really sensitive person. I know that i should be able to handle such things when i raid (i lack abit on confidence). As i said i havent really raided seriously, i cleared Normal in SoO thats what i did, never had a guild. I was always finding PuGs.

Ye i should probably research my class than spending time forming i guess, since im gonna play shadow priest in WoD. I never played that before, i just always liked it. 

But thanks for the answer i highly appreciate your time!

Edited September 17, 2014 by Kodie

[Lourie 4]

It really depends on what you understand by "hardcore raiding". The options across the board these days are:

 

1 - casual guilds who raid whatever whenever, don't have a set raiding team and pug to make the numbers when they decide to raid.

2 - raiding guilds who have a set team and set raiding days and they move through content at a steady pace.

3 - hardcore raiding guilds who require excellent class knowledge and skill, who rush content (usually guilds competing for server firsts etc)

 

From what you write, I think you'd be best off in a raiding guild (no. 2). Given that you have no experience in organised raiding, it will not be easy to get into such a guild; however at the beginning of an expansion it's always easier. I suggest you do some research and find out which guild on your server you would like to join (heard people in there are nice, you like the name of the guild, they have decent progress so far etc).

 

If I was you, I would be looking to apply to a guild that's at least 10-12/14hc SoO at this point. I would also wait until the first weeks of WoD before applying, for several reasons:

 

1. By then, they will be more or less aware of what exactly they need in terms of classes/roles for the coming raids (people always reroll, move on, quit WoW/come back to WoW at the beginning of an expansion, it can be quite hectic in terms of deciding on a roster).

 

2. Given that you have no raiding experience and nothing to recommand you on a potential application, you can use the first few weeks of the expansion to level quickly, to spam dungeons and get as close as you can to getting BiS pre-raid gear, together with any pre-quests/achievements you might need (silver proving grounds for hc dungeons for instance), and you can use that in your application to show commitment and determination and to prove you are fully prepared for what lies ahead.

 

3. The first few weeks of the expansion is usually when guilds will make all sorts of recruitment posts/trade announcements, so you can look around and assess who needs what and have a chat with several people to try and get a feeling of what kind of people that guild has.

 

4. Next patch plus the first few weeks of the expansion will come with a pletora of information about class changes, you can do indepth research of your class and try to get the most of it; test your dps, change your macros, look into raiding addons and everything you can think of that can improve your gameplay and bring it to "proper raiding" level (if you're not there already, of course)

 

Basically, shop around and do your best to sell yourself well Best of luck!

 

P.S. As an afterthought, keep in mind that the more hardcore a raiding guild is, the less your chances are of finding a nice social/friendly atmosphere within the guild. There are exceptions of course, but in my experience so far that's how it happens. People focus on progress and skills and tend to leave the giggles and chats behind (talking about guilds who got 14/14hc months and months ago).

Edited September 24, 2014 by Lourie

[Geoda 253]

This is a great topic and my place holder for some comments since I'm currently in a meeting at work and can't devote a response yet.

[Gwenymph 414]

I'm going to agree that the terminology "Hardcore" that you are looking for, along with limiting the stress, you need to be looking for a regular "Raiding" guild with a set schedule that does not consume the entirety of your week. 

 

From that point if you are a standout all-star then start looking for a higher rated/ranked "Raiding" guild. Getting into the higher rated guilds will be easier once you can show the logs that support your commitment, outstanding awareness, and previous content consumption.

 

Baby steps! GL with the guild search, no better time than now to get your foot in the door!