[Trial]Aluneraa - Resto/Feral Druid

Hi guys, just a thank you in advance for taking the time to read my application I hope i've included all the information required, and i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i've enjoyed writing it

Here is the app;

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Personal
Name(optional): Luke Cantrill
Age: 21

In-game name: Aluneraa
Class and spec: Druid - Restoration - 18/0/53
Armory link: http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Anachronos&cn=Aluneraa

Are you the original owner of the account/character you're applying with? Of course

What framerate do you generally play at in 25 man raids? Is your PC and internet connection reliable? What's your average latency to the game servers during evenings? My average framerate is 60 FPS in dalaran. It tends to stay above 40 in raids also, recent test during the LK icc10man fight, my FPS hovered around 26 during the transition phases. My computer never has any problems connection wise, and i play on a comfortable 8MB connection through AOL. Average latency is around 90ms.

Why are you applying to Bloodpack? Obviously, if you have seen my armory link, you will notice that i am currently alliance, and playing my druid as a night-elf. I feel that my time on Alliance is coming to an end, as the guild that i raided with, recently transfered away, and i did not feel that i wanted to transfer with them. I feel that with the guilds i have access to currently on alliance, i have cleared as much content as i can...and therefore i want to take my raiding to the next level, and meet and conquer new challenges. Bloodpack can offer this to myself, i believe Bloodpack has been making fantastic progress, and from what i have seen, is also full of nice players similar to myself.

Have you played with anyone in Bloodpack before, who might vouch for you? Well, my currently horde characters include a lvl 80 blood elf warlock. While playing my warlock (Sakeba) i was lucky enough to do a random heroic oculus run with a shaman called Miklemus, and a few other Bloodpack members, whose names have escaped me im afraid, i remember 1 of the party members was a kamikaze paladin tank that liked to pull at high speeds haha, was quite amusing.

What is your current guild and why are you planning to leave? My current alliance guild is called , they are clearing icc10 regularly, but are currently stuck on p3 of the LK 10man fight. They are aware of my feeling, and sadly they cannot offer me more than i have already achieved at the momemt.

What previous guilds have you been in? As stated above, i have also been in who transfered servers, and for some time i also raided with .

If this is a cross-realm application, should you be accepted for trial, how soon can you transfer here? This is not a cross realm application, but is a cross faction application. SHould i be accepted, i would be able to transfer on this coming Friday, the 28th May.

Do you currently have any pending application with any other guild? If yes, who with? Not at this time, no.

Do you have any high level alt characters? Have you raided with them before? Yes, i also have a level 80 human paladin called 'Momodin'. I raided alot of content with with him, and also did some icc10 with with him. He is MS holy, and OS prot. As you can tell..i love healing..hence why my 2 main 80 characters are healers

What interests and hobbies do you have outside of the game? I love going for long walks, and also enjoy travelling abraod. Inbetween sixth form and uni, i took a gap year and travelled round Africa and Australia, with a few weeks also in the states I also am an animal lover, and enjoy taking my 3 dogs for walks in the fields near my house.

Raiding

What is your past raiding experience in the game to date? Please only include content that you cleared at the appropriate level cap - we're not interested if you cleared AQ 40 last week.

Classic:
Molten Core - Cleared MC with a character i no longer have.
Onyxia - Same as above.
Blackwing Lair - never cleared BWL sadly.
Ahn'Qiraj - Cleared AQ20, and all but C'Thun in aq40 again with a character i no longer have.
Naxxramas - Never started Naxx original.

The Burning Crusade:
Karazhan, Zul'Aman, Gruul's Lair & Magtheridon - Cleared all 4 with this druid bk in TBC i was a raid leader in a guild called on the server 'Bronzebeard'
Serpentshrine Cavern & The Eye - Did neither sadly.
Mount Hyjal, Black Temple & Sunwell - Neither again.

Wrath of the Lich King (excluding commonly pugged content):

Naxxramas 25 -Cleared with inner faith.
Malygos 25 - Cleared with inner faith.
Ulduar 10 - Killed up the General.
Ulduar 25 - as above.
ToC 10 normal - Cleared.
ToGC 10 heroic - Cleared.
ToC 25 normal - Cleared.
ToGC 25 heroic - Never attempted.
ICC 10 normal - Killed up to LK.
ICC 10 heroic - Havnt attempted.
ICC 25 normal - Killed up to Sind [missed the LoA kill due to brothers birthday]
ICC 25 heroic - Havnt attempted.

Please list any achievements from a raid environment that you have and feel we should know about. I have the 'Tribute to Mad Skill' for completing ToGC10 with 45 attemps remaining.

Are you available to make our raid times? If there is a night when you can attend some times a month, but not always, please state so.
Thursday = 19:30-22:30 [Y]/[N] Y
Friday = 19:30-23:30 [Y]/[N] Y
Sunday = 19:30-22:30 [Y]/[N] Y
Monday = 19:30-22:30 [Y]/[N] Y
Tuesday = 19:30-22:30 [Y]/[N] Y

Do you use these following addons?
Deadly Boss Mods / Bigwigs / DXE - I use DBM
Omen - I use Omen sometimes, its not as useful for a healer atm though.
DoTimer or some other sort of spelltimers - I use an addon called 'sexy cooldown' for some fights to monitor hots and cds.
Grid - Personally i am not keen on grid, for my healing i use an addon called Vuhdo, its like grid and clique combined....much nicer on the eye too
Any other addons which you feel should be mentioned? I have experience with EPGP addon.

If possible, please try to provide a screenshot of your UI in a raiding setting. If you aren't able to get one from inside a raid, a screenshot of it from a battleground will suffice.
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img532/5748/druidui.png This screenie was taken inside Warsong Gulch, and is a very recent pic.

With blizzard adding optional "hard-modes" to future encounters, we're intending to beat the more difficult version of each fight, not just the basic version. Are you prepared to spend the time re-learning encounters to beat them in their hardest incarnations? Of course, that why i am applying. I want to take my raiding to the next level, and to progress even further in end-game raiding content. If that means watching extra videos, reading more specific tactics, then so be it....thats what i wanna do!

Are you prepared to sit out if an encounter requires a certain raid composition for which you are not ideal? Yes, i dont have a problem with that. If a certain class is needed, and i am not, then i would happily sit out in order to let the guild progress...not everything is about me..but more about the guild as a whole.

How do you fill your playing time when not raiding? When not raiding i like to chill out, i make sure i eat 3 square meals a day which i prepare and cook myself. Im a firm believer in eating properly and keeping energy levels up. I also like to go to the gym, or even taking my 2 dogs for nice long walks. I also enjoy sitting on facebook talking to friends, and often going to the Cinema with my cousin, as we both share a passion for horror films

Raiding's not cheap. Flasks, potions, buff food, and of course repairs all cost money and time, and so does keeping your gear gemmed and chanted properly. Are you able to support your raiding expenses? What consumables do you typically use? Well, money for me is never a problem, i regularly farm the matts for the leatherworking armor kits which i sell on the AH to keep funds up, i also regularly do the random daily heroics for the gold, and sometimes my dailies. As you can see from my ui screenhot, i currently have just short of 3k gold, which i tend to have around that all the time. On a raiding day, i tend to have 30-40 Cuttlesteaks which i make myself. I feel that these are the best food for me, as they increase both my spirit and stamina by 40 for 1 hour. During raids i also keep a stock of Flask of the Frost Wyrm to add to my spell power. I favor these over pure mojo as my mana rgeen is perfect as it is, and therefore i favor spll power for fasks to increase the healing from my spells and HoTs. And ofc, i always keep plenty of Wild Spineleafs on me at all times, for my group druid buff

Why have you chosen your particular spec/class? How familiar are you with your class' other specs? Would you be willing to respec if the raid required it? Do you have dual-spec? My current spec is resto as i have stated. I chose this spec as i enjoy healing, and in particular...raid healing. I cannot explain why i love healing..i just always have, no matter what game ive played..ive always been a healer...im just drawn to the spec. I find the feeling of satisfaction upon killing a new boss, knowing ive healed very fulfilling, and it motivates me to do more! I have played around with a balance spec, but never really enjoyed it personally, and i do have dual spec. My offspec is currently set as a feral tank spec, which i have geared for also. My feral tank spec is currently a mix of item lvl 245 and 251 gear, with the odd 264 item. I would be happy to change any of my specs at any time to meat the needs of the guild.

What is the general gearing strategy you follow for your class? Please be as specific as possible. General stratergy? hmm..thats a good 1 Being a druid, and a resto druid at that...i gain alot from Spirit and therefore i aim to increase my spirit as much as i can. As i have improved tree of life form, my spell power in tree form is increased by 15% of my spirit. Spirit as we all know also increase my mana regen, which is a huge part of healing....keeping mana up! Also being a healer, i always go for spell power, as this not only increase my direct heals, but the amount which my HoTs tick for. Another major stat i find useful for my current spec is ofcourse the lovely Haste. Having the glyph of rapid rejuvenation, means that the more haste i have, the faster my rejuvenation ticks, which is where the majority of my healing comes from with the build i use. I find that with my current level of gear, and i balance i have between my stats...i can heal and HoT targets up continuously throughout a fight, and my mana never seems to drop below 80%, which without sounding cocky, is exactly what all healers should be able to achieve.

Please give a brief description of how you go about doing your job in a raid. What's your DPS cycle/priority system if you're a DPS? What spells do you use in what situations as a healer? How do you go about maximising threat whilst minimising incoming damage, as a tank? What more is there to tanking than those two aspects? Use a particular boss fight as an example if it will make it easier to talk about. As a resto druid, and with my current build.....the majority of my healing comes from my Rejuvenation, and my Wild Growth spells. During fights i will also keep HoTs on the tanks aswell as the rest of the raid. As an example of my healing, i shall use the Twin Val'kyr fight in ToGC10, as i feel that in this fight...resto druids really shine! During the fight, as there is ALOT of aoe going on..i will always keep rejuvenation on every player..including tanks, i also use WIld Growth at all times, as it is a smart heal, so it will affect the targets that most need the extra healing. With my current build, in a time of emergency [which rarely happens with my hots running] if a player suddenly needs a burst heal, i use Swiftmend, as i have the glyph for this. Using swiftmend allows me to give the player a quick burst heal, without removing the rejuvenation from the target. If anymore extra burst healing is ever needed, i have Nourish keybound, as this heal heals for an extra 20% if i have a HoT active on the target, which being a resto druid..i always do. There isnt much more i can say about my healing tactics, they are very simple...but very effective i find.

Do you use external resources (such as 3rd party forums, spreadsheets, simulations) to research your class and spec? Give examples, links, and commentary if so. I sometimes use a programme called 'RAWR' which im sure most of you should have heard of. It downloads my character bio from the wow armory, and then allows me to look at the best gear available, along with enchants and gems.

How do the professions you've chosen benefit you in raids? I currently have skinning and leatherworking on my druid. The main benefit i find from leatherworking is the bracer enchants. I know they are not much better than the enchanting bought buffs for bracers, but more is more, right? Also leatherworking gives extra crit rating, which as a HoT healing isnt particularly useful without certain set bonuses, but for the occasional burst heals...it helps.

Please provide a recent combat log parse (e.g. WWS, WMO, WoL) of your character in a raid environment if you have access to one. Sadly, i have not raided with my druid in over 3 weeks, as the current guild i am in has been asking me to do icc with my holy paladin. Therefore, i am extremely sorry to dissapoint, and miss off such a vital part of the application, but i cannot provide 1 of these resources for you to see my heals for yourselves.

Any additional things you'd like to add?

I cannot think of anything else i would like to add, but only to Thank you all for taking the time to read my application.
Its a long one i know..but its been great writing it, and telling you guys why i feel id be perfect for Bloodpack Which i honestly believe i would.
I read up-to-date tactics, i listen to raid leaders....and i do my job..no questions asked!

So thanks again all, and should i not be successful, i wish you all the best in your progress!

Thank you
Aluneraa
aka Luke

P.S...hope you dont mind me adding some 'boldness' to the app..trhought it would make it easier to read

Nice application

And the bold helps!

Will discuss this and get back to you shortly.

Goblette wrote:Nice application

And the bold helps!

Will discuss this and get back to you shortly.

Thanks Goblette nice fast reply hehe

BTW..this is Sakeba, we've spoken a few times
Thanks again for the web address guys!

And no hurry..take your time!

Aluneraa
aka Luke

niice to see you apply finally luke and yes that Occu run was kinda mental with the pallie running off like a tard

I am sure the other treekissers will comment on your build/gear etc but I would suggest maybe dropping skinning as your second prof and take something more useful like alcopop making.... ( I use my lock to herb n skin when I need things )

MiK wrote:niice to see you apply finally luke and yes that Occu run was kinda mental with the pallie running off like a tard

I am sure the other treekissers will comment on your build/gear etc but I would suggest maybe dropping skinning as your second prof and take something more useful like alcopop making.... ( I use my lock to herb n skin when I need things )

haha wasnt it just..did rather enjoy the speedy occu run thought

have been considering dropping skinning for quite some time now..i have others chars that have skinning, but my druid was the 1st to have it..i have quite alot of gold to spare at the moment too..so may look at power levelling it abit

thanks for your nice comments Mik..i do hope some other resto druids give me some feedback.

Aluneraa
aka Luke

Like mik says skinning ain't a great second proff for a raiding char so if accepted would you be willing to take one that is more suitable?

Just a couple of other questions regarding your gearing and ui from me tho,

Your current spec of 18/0/53 mainly requires you to be as close to or at 736 haste for your gcd to be at 1 sec cap (with ret/boomkin aura and a wrath of air totem in raids). and i notice that it's a little under, i know your only about 140 off the cap for that so im just wondering if you have been unlucky on gearing and have taken whats available?

Looking at your current glyph's on armory i see that your using rapid rejuv glyph, do you switch glyphs depending on fights? if so can you give me a few examples of which and why switching glyphs benefits your healing. In a part of your healing strategy on your app you state that you try to rejuv everybody and keep the tanks hotted. in a 25 man that is impossible anyway especially with rapid rejuv.

About vuhdo, i tried it once and found that with 2 resto druids in a raid i couldn't track my hots very well because of the other druid, has something changed and can you track your own hots and also poisons/curses and raid debuffs clearly enough? Imo grid has a lot more plug ins and versatility than vuhdo but thats my personal choice.


So specs ok, gearings a little off tbh and ofc you have no experience in heroic mode icc which can be ok if your a quick learner.

Thats it for now i guess.

Beerform

Hi Beerform, thank you for the comment, im happy to reply to your questions, so heres some more info;

Regarding my gear, and the haste cap.....unfortunately i have been unlucky gear wise, and therefore yes, i have had to take the upgrades which have been available to me at this time. I am aware that i am slightly under the haste cap, and therefore considering swapping out a few gems to upgrade to pure haste gems..what would your opinion on this be?
When gearing, i 1st saved for my 2 pieces of t10 for the set bonus, and then i went for the 264 emblem gear, such as the trinket, the cloak and the robe, especially the robe as it is the BiS before any hc mode drops as far as i am aware.

Regarding skinning, i have no problem whatsoever changing to a more raid enhancing profession, such as alchemy, jewelcrafting or even enchanting perhaps.

As you pointed out, yes in a 25man situation keeping hots on everyone and the tanks is difficult, nigh, impossible. My glyphs are relateively simple, and yes for selected fights i do, and always have swapped 1 of my glyphs around. On occasions, i will swap out [Glyph of Rapid Rejuvenation] for the much loved [Glyph of Nourish], as on certain fights, the aoe raid damage may be less, and the single target damage may be more, therefore people require more burst healing and i am not required to do as much raid healing. An example of this, is when i have healed the Valithria Dreamwalker rescue fight in both icc10 and 25. As my job has been for me to go into the portals to stack the buff, i change my healing style to hotting up Dreamwalker, and then when not in a portal, i heal using Nourish, and due to the glyph, for each HoT present on Dreamwalker, she receives an extra 6% healing, that is ontop of the standard 20% that nourish gives for 1 HoT. This makes my healing much more effective for this fight, where i am not required to give out as many raid heals, but focus more on healing the boss.

With regards to Vuhdo, i have not yet had a problem with it during a raid. Just last night i healed the weekly, which as you know was Razorscale in Ulduar. During the 10man run, there were 2 resto druids in the raid, including me. I did not see a problem with tracking my HoTs, and therefore at the moment i am enjoying using Vuhdo. However, i am still tempted to return to using Healbot, i find it much nicer on the eye in a raid situation, and i have many more years experience with Healbot, than Vuhdo which is still relatively new to myself. Also for myself at the moment, it works fine for tracking poison/curse debuffs as well. I myself have never really been keen on grid itself, i used it for a month or two, and played around with it alot, but never really liked it itself. I dont feel that this has made me any less of a healer though, i still manage to do just fine, if not better than some resto druids i know (wow that sounds big headed lol)

With regards to my experience, you are correct in stating that i have no heroic experience. I feel that this wont be a problem, as i am definately a fast learner. I am aware of all tactics for both 10 and 25man normal modes, and am aware of some of the hc ellaborated tactics, i.e during the gunship battle, i believe that the rockets that have the aoe effect on the floor of our ship not only do damage to a player, but also knock you back, and off of the ship if i am correct in thinking that. I have no problem, and am more than willing to continue reading more on the hc tactics, and will love putting them into action during a raid situation.

Thank you again for your reply and questions Beerform, i hope i have answered everything

Aluneraa
aka Luke

You've answered what i wanted to know thanks, as for using pure haste gems- since your so far under the cap right now it's not really worth it, 2 or 3 bits of icc10/25 normal gear would probably soon sort the haste situation out. So it's not the end of the world that your a little short i guess.

Anyway GL with the app, Beerform!

beerform wrote:You've answered what i wanted to know thanks, as for using pure haste gems- since your so far under the cap right now it's not really worth it, 2 or 3 bits of icc10/25 normal gear would probably soon sort the haste situation out. So it's not the end of the world that your a little short i guess.

Anyway GL with the app, Beerform!

Thanks!

With regards to the professions, what would you recommend? i have since dropped skinning, and so tempted to either pick alchemy, or enchanting..which would you rate?

ALuneraa
aka Luke

The gain from most proff's is the same for a resto druid tbh, alchemy isn't bad cos of never ending mana pots i guess plus the 2hr flasks and extra sp from them. Enchanting is also pretty decent, keeps your bank clear of old gear !!! But 23sp x 2 on rings plus the ability to enchant your offspec gear with the relative chants too.

All proffs are pretty good, it comes down to a personal choice i guess, as long as they benefit you in some way thats the main thing.

Beerform

beerform wrote:The gain from most proff's is the same for a resto druid tbh, alchemy isn't bad cos of never ending mana pots i guess plus the 2hr flasks and extra sp from them. Enchanting is also pretty decent, keeps your bank clear of old gear !!! But 23sp x 2 on rings plus the ability to enchant your offspec gear with the relative chants too.

All proffs are pretty good, it comes down to a personal choice i guess, as long as they benefit you in some way thats the main thing.

Beerform

Ok Beerform, thanks for the input!

Luke

Depends what other profs you have on other chars, if you have Herbing on a decently speeded alt then I would would personally go for alco-pop making but if you dont then enchanting would be the best as u can run all the old skool low end instances to pick up easy greens and blues to skill up chanting.
JC and Inscription are also down to what other profs u have else were or these can be a massive money pit to get them to 450 and like anything bar enchanting will cost you dear in cata unless you can side-farm the mats.
I would go Alco-pop > Chanting > JC/Inscript tbh if I was doing a RR on profs.

Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting are the optimal professions for any raiding character. This is a fact.

MiK wrote:Depends what other profs you have on other chars, if you have Herbing on a decently speeded alt then I would would personally go for alco-pop making but if you dont then enchanting would be the best as u can run all the old skool low end instances to pick up easy greens and blues to skill up chanting.
JC and Inscription are also down to what other profs u have else were or these can be a massive money pit to get them to 450 and like anything bar enchanting will cost you dear in cata unless you can side-farm the mats.
I would go Alco-pop > Chanting > JC/Inscript tbh if I was doing a RR on profs.

Ok cheers for the tips Mik

Ive decided to lvl up enchanting, as like Beer said, not only will i be able to enchant my own rings etc..but itll be useful for my offspec gear, and also for selling enchants etc for money, as i have a scribe, so i can make the vellums

Cheers again guys
Luke

Auroia wrote: Seems like a nice person, wouldn't mind having you in the guild. You seem like fun

Good Luck!

Thanks for the kind words

Luke

We would like to offer you a trial with us.

See you soon!

Goblette wrote:We would like to offer you a trial with us.

See you soon!

OMG>>Fantastic..ill arrange the faction change asap..ill let you know shortly when i will complete

Luke

Hi all..heres an update:

Faction Change is still pending, and being slow for some reason.

Its after 3am here..so gonna go to bed and check on it in the morning/mid afternoon

Hope to see you guys very soon!

Luke