Personal Information

Name:
Mitchell
Gender:
Male
Age:
20
Country:
Australia (Brisbane)
Residence country:
Australia (Brisbane)

Character Information

Main Character Name:
Skycow
Class/Race:
Shaman/Tauren
Server:
Maiev-US
Armory Link:
Skycow
Current Guild:
Power Word Awesome.
Previous Guilds:
Descendants@Saurfang-US (Only notable guild)
Played Time (/played):
~55days. I will get the exact time when the servers come back up.
What is the reason for you wanting to leave your current guild?
Power Word Awesome: I transferred to in order to get a core raiding 25m HM content spot. However, not long after transferring, I found that I could no longer make the off peak raiding (US) times due to a change in RL situation (University going back)

Part A

Raiding Information

Communication is important, we use English for raiding. Do you speak English? Do you have vent? Do you have a mic and do you speak on vent when required?
I have studied English Literature as a first year at University (/gloat). But yeah, I do
Im a massive advocate of vent, even in old content or pvp, to the point where i will almost refuse to raid without it. The
value that vent adds to a raiding situation in terms of communication and organisation is invaluable.

Do you have a stable connection, and do you suffer from regular disconnection issues?
I have a stable ADSL2+ connection and do not suffer from disconnection issues.

What is your average FPS and Latency in Dalaran and Ulduar/ToTC/ToGC Raids?
I usually rest at about 230ms and 40FPS dependant upon addons and graphics setting.
During raids I believe I sit at 270ms and ~30FPS.


Our raiding time is ST11pm to 3am (with day light saving, in GMT term, it's 8pm to 12am GMT+8) Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday and Monday. Can you meet all these raiding days and times? If not please specify the day/time that you cannot meet and reason, do not apply if you cannot at least make 3 full days.
I can make all of these times. I do not have commitments during these periods. However, it may be a bit of an effort due to me being an Australian and having to stay up till 3am. I will weigh up the options, but I will say yes for the moment. Basically, there is nothing stopping me from making these times, it may just be difficult.

- Raiding experience in TBC (pre-nerf 3.0 raids).
I had a 4/8 T7 and SWP geared rogue progressing through SWP and farming BT on a private server prior to making the move to retail.
- Raiding experience in WotLK prior to Ulduar.
I Only became an 80 capable of raiding high-end content towards the end of Ulduar progression.
- Ulduar hard mode done in 10m and 25m version.
I have done 8/13 10H and no 25m HM. I have not had the chance to revisit this old content.
- ToGC(this refers to hard mode) 10m and 25m.
I have done 4/5 10H and no 25m HM. I have not been in a guild that works on this content.

Based on your experience in Ulduar/ToGC, explain what you perceive your character's role in the raids.
I will cover this in a new post.

In your opinion, what is the most difficult boss encounter in WotLK you have ever defeated and why? What was your role in that encounter, please elaborate in details.
The most difficult encounter I have found in WotLK has been Professor Putricide, or possibly Firefighter a long time ago. I believe that these fights were at a greater level of diffuiculty than their apparent equal encounters because of the highened amount of situational awareness required. During the time when I was working on Ulduar HM (Firefighter) I was not as experienced or skilled as I feel I needed to be to accomplish that feat. Professor Putricide, again, requires alot of practice and conecentration. Unfortunately I was not able to continue with these encounters due to guild issues (Descendants)

Pls post a screen shot of your raid UI. (Screenshot has to be in combat and not in town)


I( didnt have a good combat Screencap; I will get one when the servers come back up. Anyway, I have changed quite a bit in the way my keys are bound now; through the use of Barset profiles I have gotten rid of unnecessary buttons such as professions, offspec abilities etc. I will Fraps an explanation of my UI, going through my various specs.

Pls provide a recent WOL/WMO/Recount report of a raid that you attended.
Just parsed a godawful pug of ICC first quarter. Run by a corrupt guild that took all 6 of the 264 boe's that dropped and didnt coordinate a single
god damn thing. In Saurfang I was acting as a utility and CC for Beasts, thus only ~5kdps. I was healing in Marrow. In LDW I was healing, dispelling Torpor and CC'ing MC; the only reason I didnt smash the heals.

http://www.worldoflogs.com/guilds/58955/

What do you do to prepare for an unfamiliar or new boss encounter?
Previously being part of a core 10m ICC progression team, I understand this well. Usually if I am anticipating new content or an encounter in the near future, I will take steps to prepare myself. Firstly, I will read up on the strategies posted on the forums, including the comments looking to spot input from people who may have previously cleared that content. I will also watch the tankspot videos repeatedly; this way I know how the encounter should play out before even seeing the boss. I like to think of myself as a strategist. I am always thinking about what could be improved or changed in order to make the encounter go smoother. I usually have at least one thing to input during each encounter as to what can be done better, even if the fight is successful.

What is more important to you: loot or progression? Tell us why.
To me, loot is just a means to an end. Of course it is great to see your gearscore in bright red and show off that
new piece on Dal. North steps, but having the achievement or server first is a much, much greater accomplishment.


What do you think about staying beyond the required raid times to down new content?
Count me in. I love to raid. I love to clear new content and push the limits of where I have been before.
Progression is one of my main goals in the game, and if there is an opportunity to step up into new content,
I would have no reservations about it.

What does guild mean to you?
Guild is family. Progressing through difficult encounters every week, you put great amounts of effort and energy into your play; the people in your guild share this bond with you, sharing your achievements and failures. In a guild you are there for the support of your guildmates, and you have the comfort of knowing that they are there for you.

Do you have any well-geared alts? If so, please provide an Armory Link.
I do not. Currently levelling a Herbi/Inscr Rogue for Insane.

What makes you different from other applicants? Why should Shidavere choose you?

Part B

Is there any Shidavere member who can vouch for you?
Coming from another server, unfortunately I do not know anyone in Shidavere.

Is there anything else you think we should know about you?
Please, please, please drill me about my spec, UI, playstyle, knowledge of shaman mechanics.. anything. Allow me to prove to you that I know enough about my character to outweigh that disgustingly heavy chains of my poor gear and progression.
Also, I would be keen to jump on vent with any of the guildies/officers to chat and interview.
Thankyou for your consideration.
Skycow

How can we contact you outside of the game?
I will check up on your forums regularly. However, outside the game I can be contacted either via email
or added to msn messenger. Both are at fps_riot@hotmail.com

This is the bit where I start to attempt to impress you with my knowledge of shaman mechanics etc to "outweigh that disgustingly heavy chains of my poor gear and progression"

Restoration Shaman:
Restoration Shamans are one of the most versatile healers in the game. Where we really shine, however, is raid healing. Our most powerful spell in this area is the almighty chain heal. Glyphed, this spell hits 4 people, automatically targetting the lowest health target and bouncing to the next, making it an extremely effective healing ability. Each chain hit does not decay crit chance, and upon crit, Ancestral Fort. talent procs, giving a +10% physical damage mit. buff. The problem with CH though, is the ridiculously high base cast time, and thus, the shaman must sacrifice other stats such as crit and SP for bulk haste. A very, very brief rundown on why shaman's stack haste.

Playstyle:
Playstyle for me is entirely dependant upon the fight. As stated previously I carry around a couple different glyphs to match the situation. Assuming a 25m situation most likely I will ES the MT, Rip him as he runs in for a quick hot and to proc AF, giving him +10% damage mit. straight off the bat. Then once in position or whatever, snipe heal with <1sec LHW on targetted/random raid damage and assist tank healing unless there is cause for raidwide healing, in which case I will implement a bit of CH spam to top everyone up. Now with 2pc t10 resto, shamans are capable of heavy sniping and tank healing due to the ~1sec HW cast. Recently I have had to pug alot of my raids, and thus am used to carrying the healing, and so I am fairly comfortable with switching between tank healing, raid sniping and raid healing.

Mechanics:
For my resto spec, I understand that the soft cap is 1269, and that I am currently sitting at 1327, however, that soft cap pertains to the use of LHW, making it a 1sec cast. Due to the 2pc t10 resto sham set bonus, HW is now a more viable option for general healing than LHW. With a 100% proc rate on tidal waves (+30% faster HW) I sit on 1.25sec HW, and with the rapid currents proc (riptide every 6 sec) it sits at 1sec. I intend to increase my haste slightly still with gear improvements, however once I have the opportunity to equip "sword and board" rather than this crappy staff, I will lose some of my haste and gain SP instead, putting me back at the socially accepted level. I do eventually plan to sit at around 1300 haste.

Professions:
Enchanting450: 2 x 23SP ring chants = +46SP
Useful for chanting new gear efficiently, making gold etc.
Jewelcrafting450: 3 x 14(extra)Haste gems = +42 Haste
Haste stacking is a necessity for restoration shamans, and any bit helps.
Also allows alot more versatility in speccing than any other profession.

Glyphs:
Glyph of Earth Shield (+20% healing from ES): ES is such a powerful, often underutilised tool in the shaman healing arsenal, allowing us to pick up spot heals instantly upon a tank getting hit, making it essentially a form of damage mitigation, and thus allowing us to focus on raid healing, which is where we tend to shine.
Glyph of Healing Wave (20% of HW is applied to caster): This glyph is primarily a survival mechanism; it is the shaman's lesser Beacon. Using this glyph means I am usually always topped up, thus meaning I can focus on tanks or raid.
Glyph of Chain Heal (+1 CH jump): Chain heal is essentially the most powerful spell in the shaman's healing arsenal, and granted that this glyph is much more suited to 25m raiding, it is invaluable.

Please question me about anything here.

N.B. I honestly think that gear will come extremely quickly once I am able to progress through higher content, both in loot and badges accumulation. Please dont misinterpret that as 'carry me'. I can hold my own in the gear that I am in, however I do realise it will very much need to be upgraded to work at your levels of progression.

Also, my armory shows some of my PvP gear because I was in a BG when the servers shutdown I will rectify this when they come back up.

Application Withdrawn.