Irvíne
18th Apr 09, 01:00 AM
Character Name: Irvíne
Race & Class: Blood Elf Hunter
Current Server: Runetotem
I’m normally online 7 days a week at varying times. My only regularly work is Tuesday-Thursday, but I’m on most afternoons and evenings. As a result I’m usually available to raid any day of the week.
The only guild of significance I have been with (albeit temporarily) is Order of the Rose Croix. I applied to ORC just before the release of WOTLK and was on trial with them until shortly after its release when I stopped playing the game for some time. ORC is a great guild with some fantastic people, and the few days I had been guilded with them I blagged my way into as many raids as I possibly could. I even managed to join them for their first kill of Al’ar in Tempest Keep. Having begun playing the game again, I see that PoC is interested in recruiting hunters and this seems like an extraordinary opportunity which I can’t allow to pass me by.
Bruticus said to me in a chat I had with him whilst considering applying that I need to impress upon you how committed I would be to the guild, to make you want to take the gamble in recruiting a new player. I would like you to think of my dedication as unquestionable. I want to be in a raiding guild with mature like-minded people, serious about clearing the new end-game at, well, PoC pace. You are the number one horde guild on the server. You cleared TBC, got the first horde Sartharion +3 kill, and it would be fantastic to join you as you clear Ulduar and the many new hard mode challenges it presents.
My raid experience is admittedly limited due to the fact that I’ve been playing mere months rather than years. Really I crammed all TBC raiding I’ve done into the couple of weeks before Wrath (mainly because I had always been ambitious enough to want to be guilded with PoC, but needed some raid experience to speak of).
With a combination of mainly ORC raids and one or two PuGs I cleared Karazhan and Zul’Aman, had Lurker down in SSC, and ¾ in Tempest Keep.
The only vanilla end-game I have experienced were nostalgia-raids at 70, the bulk of which I did in one exhilarating afternoon and evening with a raid comprised mainly of PoC members. Memnus invited me (I think mainly because they needed a healbot and he wasn’t aware I’d re-specced my priest to shadow; when he found out he was probably too embarrassed to take back the invite!) to join him and some of PoC in a ZG run, which then led to an AQ20 run, and finally an AQ40 run. I’m very sorry to have missed this content (at the level), especially AQ40, the fight we had with the twin emperors was nothing short of epic. Sadly with only fifteen in our group (and slightly questionable tactical knowledge!) we were unable to down C’thun. We returned the next day of course with many more raid members, and downed him on the second attempt.
Since I rejoined the game, my first 80 was in fact the priest, with whom I’ve cleared Naxx and Sarth 10-mans, both with The Muppets (I’m not a member of the guild, but I joined once when they were pugging a healer, and seemed to become their first port of call thereafter when looking for one). I’ve attempted Malygos with them several times, but have yet to down him.
This hunter was not my first character, and in fact my main used to be the aforementioned priest. However, Irvíne has become my main (the priest dinged 80 first simply because the friends’ guild I’m in needed a healer) as I love playing the class more than any other I have played (and I’ve tried most up to the 20s). As a hunter, my proficiencies have grown from what is expected of a hunter who can play to separate themselves from the many who cannot. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I enjoy the class so much. I’m a fairly ambitious person, and the task of proving to everyone I play with that I’m not one of the many huntards is a challenge I like. I’m also abit of a theory-crafter, though I’m by no means an expert at the maths involved, often researching things on Elitist Jerks. I spend a lot of time considering gear choices and talent specs to try to improve performance. I’m eager to learn from the people who clearly know more than I could so I can better my own playing as required. Of course I’m happy to re-spec to whatever the guild thinks would be best to help raids as a whole, rather than my own selfish dps.
I am currently Survival specced (1/18/52). SV seems to be putting out the best dps for hunters in Wrath, and with hunting party talented, also supplies some nice raid utility. My single point in IAotH is combined with the Glyph of the Hawk to bring my Steady shots down to the GCD whilst under the Quick Shots proc. I currently have Focused Aim talented to reach hit cap (I only have 5% from gear), so as my gear improves I can switch these points out to more raw dps talents - perhaps more points in IAotH (even if just to improve white damage) or Improved Hunter's Mark to help out any other hunters in the raid, and also ensure I can apply the mark to every single target without having to worry about mana issues. I have (well very close to) a 25% crit chance unbufffed, allowing for the single point in GftT, and with current estimations of uptime 2/3 Expose Weakness and 2/3 Hunting Party. I also have the Glyph of Explosive shot which reassures these choices - putting my Explosive Shot crit chance up to ~33% with Suvival Insincts (unbuffed and before Master Tactician procs). My final major glyph is the Glyph of Serpent Sting which increases dps by reducing the number of GCDs I have to waste on reapplying the sting. I have not yet confirmed whether or not the Glyph of Kill Shot would be a better choice.
As for my shot rotation, it is based more on a priority list than a fixed rotation though I begin most fights the same way: I start with Black Arrow (to get that lovely 6% damage increase right from the off), followed by Serpent Sting (ensuring I get the most out of these DoTs), then Explosive Shot, Aimed Shot (or Multi-Shot depending on the number of targets) and then Steady Shot until one of my priority shots is off CD / available to use. The priority is as follows:
Kill Shot (a hunter’s best shot, especially with 15% extra crit chance from Sniper Training)
Explosive Shot (second best shot after Kill Shot)
Aimed / Multi-Shot
I reapply Black Arrow whenever the CD is up. The re-application of Serpent Sting is dependant on the target’s time to live as to whether or not it is worth ‘wasting’ a GCD on reapplying it (I usually judge this by what else I have available to use, and whether or not there’s anything else to kill after this target dies – if there are other targets to kill I won’t waste the mana, if there aren’t and I have nothing but Steady Shot available to cast, I’ll reapply it). Being an engineer I also have a couple of ‘toys’ I can weave into my rotation. The nice thing about these is they don’t use a GCD, so they can literally be woven in between my other shots. I use them whenever they’re on CD. If I get a Lock and Load proc from Black Arrow I’m careful not to cut off the ticks of each Explosive Shot’s DoT effect by applying a new one. Normally I’ll use something else in between each Explosive Shot to make sure, e.g. Explosive Shot – Aimed Shot – Explsive Shot – Steady Shot – Explosive Shot. I have Kill Command macro’d to my Explosive Shot to make sure it’s used every time the CD is up. I'm currently using a wolf pet - reckoned to be the best for combined hunter/pet dps thanks to the new Furious Howl mechanics (it now only affects the hunter and his pet, but stacks with other AP buffs). All my pet abilities are on auto-cast except Call of the Wild (which I save and manually use during Boss fights). I’ve taken to using Rapid Fire whenever mana issues have reduced me to using AotV to (a) increase dps to balance out AotV usage and (b) lessen the time required to be spent in AotV (I just spam Steady Shot while in AotV, and Rapid Fire means faster shots = quicker mana returns = less time needed in AotV).
Misdirect pulls are not something I’ve seen to be required in Wrath. In fact the only time I think I’ve used it usefully is during that annoying portal in Violet Hold when the group splits two ways – a simple Misdirect up on the tank and Multi-Shot into the group he isn’t heading towards sends them scurrying towards him. Perhaps it will be used more in Ulduar? If so it’s something I’m perfectly comfortable with, and won’t faze me in the slightest. Naturally I often use Misdirect merely to help out a tank with aggro on a target group. Hunter crowd control has of course been given ‘easy-mode’ at 80 with frozen arrow, though again there seem to be very few moments in Wrath where CC is helpful, especially with most tank classes having been given great buffs to their aoe tanking capabilities (I say most because I know very little about druid tanks). Perhaps the skirmishers during the first boss event in Azjol-Nerub would be better CC’d, but most groups prefer to nuke them down as fast as possible instead.
The only mods I use that are relevant to raiding are Omen, DBM and Track-o-Matique (which simply guarantees I get the most out of Improved Tracking). My hunter’s UI is completely standard – I’ve heard good things about X-Perl, but in my opinion it just makes things look really shiny. The only UI mod I’ve ever used on any character is HealBot for my priest (and having used it, I don’t think I’d want to raid-heal without it), but other than that I like to keep it simple.
As far as personal information goes: I live in Kent in sunny England, and I work as a session guitarist/ guitar teacher, spending far too much of my spare time playing WoW.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I wish you all the best in the coming months of raiding, regardless of the outcome of this application.
Irvíne.
Race & Class: Blood Elf Hunter
Current Server: Runetotem
I’m normally online 7 days a week at varying times. My only regularly work is Tuesday-Thursday, but I’m on most afternoons and evenings. As a result I’m usually available to raid any day of the week.
The only guild of significance I have been with (albeit temporarily) is Order of the Rose Croix. I applied to ORC just before the release of WOTLK and was on trial with them until shortly after its release when I stopped playing the game for some time. ORC is a great guild with some fantastic people, and the few days I had been guilded with them I blagged my way into as many raids as I possibly could. I even managed to join them for their first kill of Al’ar in Tempest Keep. Having begun playing the game again, I see that PoC is interested in recruiting hunters and this seems like an extraordinary opportunity which I can’t allow to pass me by.
Bruticus said to me in a chat I had with him whilst considering applying that I need to impress upon you how committed I would be to the guild, to make you want to take the gamble in recruiting a new player. I would like you to think of my dedication as unquestionable. I want to be in a raiding guild with mature like-minded people, serious about clearing the new end-game at, well, PoC pace. You are the number one horde guild on the server. You cleared TBC, got the first horde Sartharion +3 kill, and it would be fantastic to join you as you clear Ulduar and the many new hard mode challenges it presents.
My raid experience is admittedly limited due to the fact that I’ve been playing mere months rather than years. Really I crammed all TBC raiding I’ve done into the couple of weeks before Wrath (mainly because I had always been ambitious enough to want to be guilded with PoC, but needed some raid experience to speak of).
With a combination of mainly ORC raids and one or two PuGs I cleared Karazhan and Zul’Aman, had Lurker down in SSC, and ¾ in Tempest Keep.
The only vanilla end-game I have experienced were nostalgia-raids at 70, the bulk of which I did in one exhilarating afternoon and evening with a raid comprised mainly of PoC members. Memnus invited me (I think mainly because they needed a healbot and he wasn’t aware I’d re-specced my priest to shadow; when he found out he was probably too embarrassed to take back the invite!) to join him and some of PoC in a ZG run, which then led to an AQ20 run, and finally an AQ40 run. I’m very sorry to have missed this content (at the level), especially AQ40, the fight we had with the twin emperors was nothing short of epic. Sadly with only fifteen in our group (and slightly questionable tactical knowledge!) we were unable to down C’thun. We returned the next day of course with many more raid members, and downed him on the second attempt.
Since I rejoined the game, my first 80 was in fact the priest, with whom I’ve cleared Naxx and Sarth 10-mans, both with The Muppets (I’m not a member of the guild, but I joined once when they were pugging a healer, and seemed to become their first port of call thereafter when looking for one). I’ve attempted Malygos with them several times, but have yet to down him.
This hunter was not my first character, and in fact my main used to be the aforementioned priest. However, Irvíne has become my main (the priest dinged 80 first simply because the friends’ guild I’m in needed a healer) as I love playing the class more than any other I have played (and I’ve tried most up to the 20s). As a hunter, my proficiencies have grown from what is expected of a hunter who can play to separate themselves from the many who cannot. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I enjoy the class so much. I’m a fairly ambitious person, and the task of proving to everyone I play with that I’m not one of the many huntards is a challenge I like. I’m also abit of a theory-crafter, though I’m by no means an expert at the maths involved, often researching things on Elitist Jerks. I spend a lot of time considering gear choices and talent specs to try to improve performance. I’m eager to learn from the people who clearly know more than I could so I can better my own playing as required. Of course I’m happy to re-spec to whatever the guild thinks would be best to help raids as a whole, rather than my own selfish dps.
I am currently Survival specced (1/18/52). SV seems to be putting out the best dps for hunters in Wrath, and with hunting party talented, also supplies some nice raid utility. My single point in IAotH is combined with the Glyph of the Hawk to bring my Steady shots down to the GCD whilst under the Quick Shots proc. I currently have Focused Aim talented to reach hit cap (I only have 5% from gear), so as my gear improves I can switch these points out to more raw dps talents - perhaps more points in IAotH (even if just to improve white damage) or Improved Hunter's Mark to help out any other hunters in the raid, and also ensure I can apply the mark to every single target without having to worry about mana issues. I have (well very close to) a 25% crit chance unbufffed, allowing for the single point in GftT, and with current estimations of uptime 2/3 Expose Weakness and 2/3 Hunting Party. I also have the Glyph of Explosive shot which reassures these choices - putting my Explosive Shot crit chance up to ~33% with Suvival Insincts (unbuffed and before Master Tactician procs). My final major glyph is the Glyph of Serpent Sting which increases dps by reducing the number of GCDs I have to waste on reapplying the sting. I have not yet confirmed whether or not the Glyph of Kill Shot would be a better choice.
As for my shot rotation, it is based more on a priority list than a fixed rotation though I begin most fights the same way: I start with Black Arrow (to get that lovely 6% damage increase right from the off), followed by Serpent Sting (ensuring I get the most out of these DoTs), then Explosive Shot, Aimed Shot (or Multi-Shot depending on the number of targets) and then Steady Shot until one of my priority shots is off CD / available to use. The priority is as follows:
Kill Shot (a hunter’s best shot, especially with 15% extra crit chance from Sniper Training)
Explosive Shot (second best shot after Kill Shot)
Aimed / Multi-Shot
I reapply Black Arrow whenever the CD is up. The re-application of Serpent Sting is dependant on the target’s time to live as to whether or not it is worth ‘wasting’ a GCD on reapplying it (I usually judge this by what else I have available to use, and whether or not there’s anything else to kill after this target dies – if there are other targets to kill I won’t waste the mana, if there aren’t and I have nothing but Steady Shot available to cast, I’ll reapply it). Being an engineer I also have a couple of ‘toys’ I can weave into my rotation. The nice thing about these is they don’t use a GCD, so they can literally be woven in between my other shots. I use them whenever they’re on CD. If I get a Lock and Load proc from Black Arrow I’m careful not to cut off the ticks of each Explosive Shot’s DoT effect by applying a new one. Normally I’ll use something else in between each Explosive Shot to make sure, e.g. Explosive Shot – Aimed Shot – Explsive Shot – Steady Shot – Explosive Shot. I have Kill Command macro’d to my Explosive Shot to make sure it’s used every time the CD is up. I'm currently using a wolf pet - reckoned to be the best for combined hunter/pet dps thanks to the new Furious Howl mechanics (it now only affects the hunter and his pet, but stacks with other AP buffs). All my pet abilities are on auto-cast except Call of the Wild (which I save and manually use during Boss fights). I’ve taken to using Rapid Fire whenever mana issues have reduced me to using AotV to (a) increase dps to balance out AotV usage and (b) lessen the time required to be spent in AotV (I just spam Steady Shot while in AotV, and Rapid Fire means faster shots = quicker mana returns = less time needed in AotV).
Misdirect pulls are not something I’ve seen to be required in Wrath. In fact the only time I think I’ve used it usefully is during that annoying portal in Violet Hold when the group splits two ways – a simple Misdirect up on the tank and Multi-Shot into the group he isn’t heading towards sends them scurrying towards him. Perhaps it will be used more in Ulduar? If so it’s something I’m perfectly comfortable with, and won’t faze me in the slightest. Naturally I often use Misdirect merely to help out a tank with aggro on a target group. Hunter crowd control has of course been given ‘easy-mode’ at 80 with frozen arrow, though again there seem to be very few moments in Wrath where CC is helpful, especially with most tank classes having been given great buffs to their aoe tanking capabilities (I say most because I know very little about druid tanks). Perhaps the skirmishers during the first boss event in Azjol-Nerub would be better CC’d, but most groups prefer to nuke them down as fast as possible instead.
The only mods I use that are relevant to raiding are Omen, DBM and Track-o-Matique (which simply guarantees I get the most out of Improved Tracking). My hunter’s UI is completely standard – I’ve heard good things about X-Perl, but in my opinion it just makes things look really shiny. The only UI mod I’ve ever used on any character is HealBot for my priest (and having used it, I don’t think I’d want to raid-heal without it), but other than that I like to keep it simple.
As far as personal information goes: I live in Kent in sunny England, and I work as a session guitarist/ guitar teacher, spending far too much of my spare time playing WoW.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I wish you all the best in the coming months of raiding, regardless of the outcome of this application.
Irvíne.