So I have all my triumph gear, Now what?

For my first post I would like to talk a bit about what to do once you finish your heroic badge grind. The jump from heroics into raids is a huge leap and without the right amount of knowledge you may not be as successful as you should be. I am hoping that people will be able to take this advice and prepare for instances such as Trial of the Crusader and Icecrown Citadel. As a raid leader, I have come across many people who may have the gear for the instance, but not the knowledge. 


Most people will spend the time to get a full 5/5 set of tier 9 gear from running the heroics, this is a great start. But while you are doing this I suggest you begin to become an expert at your class. You will need to know what your class is capable of inside and out. So your first order of business will to begin to learn about the best spec, gems, enchants, attribute caps, and ability rotation of your spec. When looking for these resources there are two places in which I tell people to go look. The first, the more detailed of the two but also the best, is Elitist Jerks. Under the forum section here you will be able to see posts from experts of each class / spec. These posts will lie out the most viable specs, gems, enchants, and ability rotation. The second place, which is a bit simpler, is under the World of Warcraft Community Site Class Forums. Each forum has a class section and under you class these is a sticked post that will read something like "The How To Shadow Priest Guide." These guides will lay out all the information you need and explain why you want to do certain things.


More past the break!

So after studying these you will begin to know what type of gear you will be searching for once you begin to get into raids. You can begin to work towards that + hit cap or maximizing your armor penetration. Your next order of business will be to begin to learn the raid encounters. The best place currently for learning raid encounters is at TankSpot. Here you can begin to view videos for each fight. Most people believe that the raid leader will explain it to them, this is wrong. Most raid leaders will expect you to know it and if they explain they may forget tiny details. The better you know the fight, the better player you will be and will be able to react perfectly when you need to.

Ok so now you are in a full tier 9 set of gear from heroics. You filled in the random slots (bracers, belt, neck, trinkets) with items from the new Icecrown heroics or bought off the auction house. You know what your +hit cap is, you know why you want haste or critical strike and began to gem / enchant for it. You also now know what your best damage / tanking / healing rotation is, as well as knowing each fight you will encounter by watching the video on it at least once...you are now ready to jump into a raid!

If you are a new 80 I suggest going into 10 and 25 Trial of the Crusader first. Here you will be able to pick up a decent weapon or any other item you are lacking. As well as you will begin to learn the basics of how a raid functions. After you feel comfortable and have the gear you can begin Icecrown Citadel.

The main thing I want people to do prior to joining my raid is to become an expert on their class. Most people will say, "I don't want to do that, I am not hardcore like them." There is a difference between "hardcore" and being just lazy. If you take the time to learn WHY you need a certain stat or learn a fight so well and know WHY you move away from the left side of the room, you will find yourself becoming quite a popular person. Once guilds see you pulling good dps, not dying, and always being prepared you can pretty much pick the guild you want to join. Most people in this game do not take the time to do this and these people are the ones stuck trying to find a raid each week.

Finch