PvE.

[Krius]

Hi. This may come off as a long winded rant... try not to take offense at anything I may say in it as no offense is intended.
It may not be my place to say any of this, and if that is the feeling of our respected leaders then please delete this post or take any steps you feel necessary.


You have been warned.


Over the course of this weekend I had the pleasure of tanking for one of our Kara groups. I've done this several times before, and I expected at least a full clear minus Nightbane and Netherspite. I didn't think this group would be any different than any other.

Unfortunately, as everyone in this group soon found out, we couldn't make it pass Moroes. In doing so, we first managed to re-convince a very good priest healer to quit raiding on his priest. Again. The following set of attempts we managed to alienate several PuGers, not to mention impressive repair bills all around. I do not think this is something to be very proud of.

Now, I'm not entirely sure about the cause of our failure to destroy Moroes as we have so many times before. Perhaps it was my fault some how? I thought I was tanking him as I have so many times before.... Maybe I was missing something. If this is the case I would like to apologize to everyone that ran into this brick wall called Moroes with me.

However, while I am in no way perfect, far from to be sure, I'd like to think that this wasn't entirely my fault. I really do not want to name names, but I would like to encourage several members of our guild to take PvE a little more seriously. I do not want to become the next Nihilum or anything, but I would like to be able to down Moroes in one shot.

Now perhaps you're saying, "But how do I take PvE a little more seriously, Krius?" To that I would have to answer, "Just do what I do." Here are a couple things I do before every raid (or at least try to do):

• First, I spec appropriately. Every time. To be quite honest, I do not run around all the time as Protection. Quite often I run around as Arms because I really like to smash faces. I can't tank at all as Arms so I spend the money and respec even though it costs me 50g. Every time.
  
• Second, I try and make sure I have the proper consumables. For me, this includes but is not limited to: Stam food, normal food, battle elixirs, defensive elixirs, sharpening stones, runes of warding, wards of shielding, health potions, and ammo.
  
• If we are going to be encountering new content I take the time either before hand or while we are summoning/buffing to review the content. For example, the first time I tanked Prince I read up on how to manage Phase 2 as a warrior tank. The secret: I stop attacking as long as I have enough threat and enough rage to keep shield block, demo shout, and TC up. This keeps me from being parry-gibed.
  
• Last, but not least, I make sure I am fully repaired. Nothing is more fail than a tank who shows up at 46% durability.
  

Again, I will not call anyone out regarding anything that may have occurred, but I would really like to express my appreciation for those that are already taking steps similar to the ones I listed that I take.


For those of you who are not... what would it take to convince you to start? Think about it, would you?

[Hukaah]

Well put, Mike. Consider those sentiments echoed from me.

Look, guys, I want to us succeed. We succeed - and fail - together; as one team, one family, one GUILD. I've said it before in another thread, but I think it needs to be repeated: we're only as strong as our weakest link. Please don't be that one weak link. If you are and you don't do anything about it, then you're doing nothing but letting your guildmates or your fellow raid members down.

Like Mike said, specs, consumables, gear, and knowledge make a huge difference. If you like to PvP, that's great. I love PvP myself, but you won't catch me dead stepping into a PvE situation with a PvP spec or without consumables, whether it be an instance (normal or heroic), or a raid.

As for gear, I am well aware that some of us are undergeared. For those who are, I have no problems taking one or two through Karazhan to get some upgrades. Hell, I LOVE giving gear away. It makes me extremely happy to see my guildmates sporting some nice purples. However, we can only do Karazhan together once a week, and it generally takes more than one run through to replace all your gear that needs upgrading. That's why I have the homework assignment laid out in another thread here. Do some research into what gear works for your class and spec. Find out what craftable epics are available for you. Find out where your dungeon 3 set drops. Find out what Karazhan bosses drop upgrades for things that are generally slots that set pieces don't cover. The resources are out there, you just have to utilize them.

I am really wanting to get into Zul'Aman very soon (and 25-mans if we can get everyone online at the same time) because a lot of us are getting to the point where our gear is in good shape and the next upgrades come from there. However, if we don't invest the time to improve ourselves beforehand, then we're doomed to fail. Karazhan is an extremely forgiving raid instance. Everything past it is not so much.