About meMy names Joe, Im 18 years old and currently go to college and study Games design and media. I have been playing WoW since the release of TBC. Before I started WoW I played Quake and other games, Im a very dedicated gamer and spend alot of time playing games when Im not busy doing other things. I play and have played other games such as counter strike source alongside of other valve games.
A bit more information about me and my gaming history.So now a bit more about the man behind the toon. My names Joe, Im 18 years old and currently go to college and study Games design and media.
I have been playing WoW since the release of TBC. Before I started WoW I played Quake and other games, Im a very very dedicated gamer and spend alot of time playing games when Im not out drinking or doing work. I play and have played other games such as counter strike source alongside of other valve games. I played counter strike source competitively In different leagues and cups, I played through different seasons of ESL and was about to attend a i-series this summer with my team, until I left them. Im giving you this information so you can see the player behind the toon, I want to give a good impression so I have the chance to play alongside you guys and really show you my personality.
So after starting WoW at the start of TBC i swiftly made my way to level 70 and undertook the in Heroic grinding, gearing myself up and grinding at elemental Plateau to get enough gold and materials for BoE epics. Once I was ready for Karazhan and other Raids I made a small guild, which was built with the friends I had met along the way. We vastly progressed through Karazhan even though we wearnt really aiming on contending for realm firsts as I didn't really understand the concept of being a top guild on the realm. After gearing myself in Karazhan I decided to leave the guild as I wanted a more professional
approach towards the game and Joined my First major guild APLK. We progressed through SSC + TK getting a few kills within the top 5 of the realm aswel as Maggy + Gruul and ZA. We sometimes struggled with the raid not getting the right setups or people slacking, and most of the time wipes were down to the raid leader's internet connection being shocking, as he was an american living in Lebanon. The guild went through rough times after peoples stress levels reaching the roof. The guild bank being ninja-ed b y 2 officers was a low blow to us all. The time we had spent farming Raids and trash and materials for it all to be taken by greedy officers. It was then time for us to all move on, the guild sadly folded and was remade in WOTLK as dawn who got some of the first Naxx kills on the realm. So yeah, after leaving APLK I joined lockdown, I progressed with lockdown through TBC, clearing SSC, TK, BT, MH and sunwell and placing between the number 1 guild on the server and number 2.
So after clearing TBC end-content and being in one of the top guilds on my realm we waited for WOTLK to come. During WOTLK I cleared Nax, I then quit afterwards as I really didn't enjoy the expansion. It was bleak and dull and I had other commitments at the time. I came back on some patches to have a look what changed but I still never really got into the expansion, therefore my experience in WOTLK lacked.
Reason for leaving my guilds.APLK - Disbanded during TBC, Guild had felt the wrath of a officer stealing the guild bank. Raid leaders internet connections made it harder to progress and Dc'ing was occuring every 35 minutes.
Lockdown - Left during Early WOTLK, didnt enjoy the expansion as it seemed rather bleak and dull.
Karma - Joined on the pretenses it had good experiance and a solid raiding core behind them, Frankly did i know the guild had used acvhiements from previous guilds to advertise, I didnt like this so i left on good terms after speaking to a officer.
Esoteric - Didnt feel like i was fitting in. I was missing out on progression as the guild having 2 tanks already and me subbed to my offspec, Retri. Chances of having a raid spot were slim when 10 mans came around. The Retri mastery In the first 2 weeks of cata was shocking compared to other classes and to me was really a upset.
Tho i dont mind being subbed around, I find it frustrating when I've had no word of warning if im not going to be needed. I am willing to sit out of boss kills and wait until the content is cleared as I know my gear lacks alot. I am willing to put alot of time into the game and hopefully my passion will show you that I could fit in well with your community.
About my Paladin.Gemming.For my gear I've decided to go with stamina and mastery gems in blue gem slots with pure mastery In yellow and parry / mastery gems in red. The reason behind this is I feel balancing out the way my gear is gemmed helps with boss fights. Stacking pure stamina may help when getting in a unlucky streak of being slammed by a boss, but will eventually make the healers oom. Most of the other tanks I have spoken to and inspected also seem to follow the way I am gemming, aswel as tanking websites and forums also agree that balancing out the way you gem in the long run gives a better effect then stacking pure stamina. Normally the socket bonuses for tank Items are pretty well suited to us, so stacking one type of gem in your gear doesn't give a big bonus.
EnchantsHead
Arcanum of the Earthen Ring - 90 stamina and 35 dodge rating
Shoulders
Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz - 75 stamina and 25 dodge rating. Back
Enchant Cloak - Protection - 250 armour
Chest
Enchant Chest Greater Stamina - 75 stamina
Wrists - Enchant Bracer - Dodge - 50 Dodge rating + socket bracer from Black Smithing
Gloves - Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery - 65 mastery rating.
Waist - Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
Legs - Drakehide Leg Armour - 145 stamina and 55 dodge rating
Feet - Enchant boots Mastery - 50 Mastery.
Weapon - Enchant weapon - Windwalk - 600 dodge rating and 15% run speed for 10 seconds chance on hit.
Reforging. From what you can see from my armory I reforge as much as I can into Mastery and reforge away from Hit and expertise where available. When I cant reforge anymore mastery the rest of my reforging goes into dodge and parry, I try to keep dodge and parry as closes together as possible so the chances of diminishing returns which allows me to get the most out of my gear. In my opinion as a tank we have no use for expertise or hit, Having a bit of it will never hurt us but mastery / dodge / parry are much more important then having a hit chance. As tanks we dont suffer any threat issues from what I've experienced in the current expansion due to the way vengeance works which allows us to gain a great amount of attack power quickly which helps generate alot of threat.
I've gone with the standard 0/31/10 spec which allows me to focus into single target threat. If Im needed to tank adds or for normal heroics I would replace the 1/2 Reckoning into hollowed ground as it would help. Its a pretty generic spec. Eternal Glory was good, however after the WoG nerf it's become one of the weakest talents in the Prot tree and is out weighed by Seals of the Pure in terms of straight up threat per second.
Glyphs.Glyphs are also pretty generic, standard tanking glyphs for 5 man Heroics. If I was to main tank a boss I would take the Glyph of crusader strike instead of HotR glyph as It generates alot more thread single target and change Glyph of Focused shield which increases the amount of damage avengers shield does by 30%. Im pretty happy with the way I've specced and glyph and from theory crafting websites suggest
Armoryhttp://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/d ... A9e/simple
ProgressionBC -
Kara - cleared
za - cleared
gruul - cleared
mag - cleared
ssc - cleared
tk - cleared
mh - cleared all but Archimond - I subbed out for the fight.
bt - cleared
sunwell - cleared upto mu'ru pre nerf, KJ was killed after on my attempt, the guild i was in had allready cleared the content. -
WOTLK - WOTLK experiance lacks due to not really enjoying the expansion. I found it to be boring and dull and put my time into other games / activities + other commitments came up later into the expansion.
Naxx - cleared
Os - cleared
Os3d - cleared
Ulduar - 8/13
ToC - 5/5
ToGc - 4/5
Icc - 9/12
Hallion - 0/1
CATA -
BH - 1/1 10+25 man
TFW - 2/2 10+25 man
BoT - 4/4 10+25 man
BD - 6/6 10+25 man
Firelands - 4/7
The kill counts are from both of my toons. My paladin and my death knight
I know I lack current and WOTLK content. But hopefully my passion and dedication alongside my TBC end game experience will make up for it.
My role at endgame As a tank my role in end game would be to take the deadly hits that in some cases might one shot a softer class. Keep a strong build up of threat on the target so DPS can really do there job and push everything they an to get the boss down faster. As a tank using cooldowns is pretty much a way of life, asking for cooldowns such as pain suppression when needed and using my own paladin cooldowns to help through a tough part of a boss fight. Being able to move the boss into position and keep quick on my finger tips in-case anything goes wrong. Being able to adapt quickly is a really important part of being a tank as a slow tank is pretty much worthless in a raiding environment.
As Retribution my role would be to dish out as much damage as possible. Being careful of my threat and using spells that reduce it. Staying out of nasty AoE's and watching my debuffs so I know when i have to run towards or away from the raid.
My UIhttp://i55.tinypic.com/2mfhe07.jpg - Latest Screenshot that I have.I use mouse over spells on bubbles and Heals on myself. I have all my rotation and important ability's on my main bar and binded to easy to reach keys which I remember well. I dont miss press my binds so It shouldn't be a problem for me, It's personal preference how people set there UI up. That UI is my retribution spec, In my protection spec Lay on Hands is binded to G whilst divine plea is binded to control 1.
Divine plea has no real use in a retribution spec other then supplying me with mana when I go low, which doesn't really happen due to replenishment and other mana regaining spells. Lay on hands Is another spell which is close enough for me to click if needed without me messing up rotation or doing anything stupid. I'll bind it in my retribution spec if needed but I dont see a need.
Strengths as a playerFocused, dedicated, quick adapting and social and willingness to change anything that goes wrong.
Weaknesses as a playerDue to the lack of time I've played this expansion I've missed out on alot of practical experience. Hopefully me reading up on the current content will fix this.
What I can bring to the guildI can bring a dedicated and easy to get along with guy. Im active and talkative and wont shy off the mic. I enjoy a good laugh and gaming to the fullest. I will turn up to raids 100% fully focused and ready for the content in-front of us. I will turn up to raids fully enchanted and gemmed with the right food and flasks. I will not cry if we wipe, I will only get on with playing my class and doing my job. I dont take cristism as a fatal blow, I learn from my mistakes and listen to what other players have to say about whats going wrong and never make the same mistake twice, and if i need to change anything I will. Im always open to ideas and views about how I can progress my class to help the raid. I will always keep up to date with current specs and the best way to reforge and gem. I know my gear lacks but I will put in a countless amount of hours to progress, I will attend any raids thrown my way with great enthusiasm. I have great ambition and really want to progress to become the best at my roll in the raid, and contribute towards the raids progression.
Additional infoAs always I know my gear and WOTLK / cata experience lacks. But my dedication and passion for the game is second to none. I have End game TBC experience so I no what its like to be raiding at the top of the game. I can put in a numerous amount of hours needed and will attend every raid. My attendance will always be 100% and if anything did ever come up, i would notify officers ASAP and give an excellent reason to why I cant attend, I will then make sure that everything is sorted so I can raid again. I dont mind benching out until progression is over and I have a chance to gear up, I dont mind attending alt raids. anything that will help me to progress getting back into the swing of high end raiding will really help.
