Project Lore

So, have you found a guild to join yet? If that's the case, then you might be wondering how to make yourself a bit more attractive to the guild leader and/or recruitment officers. Of course, there are several ways to do this. I mentioned yesterday that applying for a guild is a lot like applying for a job. Well, gearing up would be the equivalent of building your resume. Before I give you some suggestions, though, let me point something out: in theory, player skill is infinitely more valuable than gear. You'd be hard-pressed to find a top-level guild that doesn't agree with that statement, so learning to play your class is the number one, most important thing you need to improve. There are plenty of sites you can go to in order to find out how to perform like the best, but two of the most popular are TankSpot (as the name implies, chiefly for tanking classes) and Elitist Jerks (for just about everybody else). Elitist Jerks, in particular, has even been praised by World of Warcraft's Lead Systems Designer Ghostcrawler for their approach to theorycrafting (hint: they create their ideal builds from what exists in the game, instead of whining about what they think their classes deserve). So click on over to their site, scroll down to the class forums, and find the one that applies to you. They also have a handy Guild Recruitment forum for you to browse if you haven't found a suitable one to apply to yet, and considering the types that usually hang around Elitist Jerks, I'm willing to bet that many of them are top-tier choices. Of course, all the theorycrafting in the world means jack if you don't have the experience. This may seem like a bit of a Catch-22 -- "how do I learn about raiding if I can't find a guild to raid with?" -- but the game has different tiers of content for a reason. Whether you're a tank, healer, or DPS, run as many 5-man dungeons as you can. Is someone asking for help with the Amphiteater of Anguish in Zul'Drak? Go lend a hand. Sure, most groups, even PuGs, steamroll through these parts of the game these days, but that doesn't mean you can't test yourself. Take the things you've learned online and apply them as best as you possibly can to these encounters. Something else you might consider engaging in, oddly enough, is PvP. I wouldn't rely too heavily on this option, since specific strategies and class specs are going to be different in a raid environment, but its a good way to prepare yourself for the more chaotic encounters in the game. Being able to keep on your toes and respond well in a crisis is key to defeating many bosses later in the game. In fact, Faction Champions in Trial of the Crusade is basically a mock PvP battle. Those of you out there who play DPS classes may also want to check their level of damage against target dummies that can be found in every major city, but for any class looking to place a value on their play skill, I'd recommend downloading the Recount add-on. I can't emphasize enough how important knowing your class is. If you think you're already good enough, I guarantee you that you're not. There's always room for improvement, and people are rarely aware of their own shortcomings. I've encountered far too many people who acted like they knew what they were doing, but couldn't raid their way out of a wet paper bag. They'd stand in the fires or void zones, their dps barely broke 2000, and they often weren't where they were supposed to be in any given battle. Repeated wipes will quickly show which players aren't pulling their weight. By "gearing up," we didn't mean to level Engineering! So keep that in mind. Good guilds won't recruit you based on your word. They're going to look for bonafide proof that you know what you're doing. How about that gear then? As much as I've rambled on about experience in the past few paragraphs, the suit you wear is still important. An insightful recruiter might still pick up someone who shows potential (and they should if they want to increase their potential pool of applicants), but don't think you're going to be a first-, or even second-, stringer if you haven't got the right equipment. There are certain bosses in the game that some of us like to call "gear checks." These often exhibit relatively simple, predictable mechanics that taxes players to their limit. Think "target dummies that actually hit back." Of course, the most notable of these is Patchwerk in Naxxramas. He's kind of old news now, but the massive amount of damage to tanks pushed both them and the healers to do their absolute best, while a strict enrage time required damage-dealers to take him out before he wiped the entire raid. "Gear checks" and other tough encounters ensure that you need a minimum level of gear to compete. And unless they've opened their hearts and plan on giving you a little charity, any guild you plan on applying to is not going to feel very good about carrying your under-geared ass through a dungeon. At that point, you're reaping all the rewards while they're stuck with the dead weight. As for obtaining the gear that you need, following is a list of viable options:

• Run 5-Man Heroic Dungeons: If you've been building your experience through 5-man dungeon runs, then you've probably already picked up a few pieces of epic equipment just from defeating their end-bosses.
• PuG A Raid: This isn't my favorite option of all, but if you act smartly, it can be a viable resource. I'd warn against joining PuGs for the current tier of content (Ulduar or Trial of the Crusader), but Naxxramas should be fair game now. Both Sartharion and Malygos are fundamentally easy to kill, but the mechanics of their respective encounters are still too complex for some people to follow.
• Spend Your Emblems of Conquest: Well, thanks to the new badge system, gearing up is easier than ever. Each boss in a Heroic level dungeon or regular difficulty raid will cough up Emblems of Conquest. While they won't get you net you the latest tier of gear, you can still pick up a few pieces that are equivalent to what drops in Ulduar. So hop on over to your faction's badge vendor (they're both located in Dalaran).
• Craft Your Gear: Gather materials and make your own or have someone else make them for you. Some crafted purples are actually far better than the average dungeon drop and they're handy for filling in those empty spots when a potential recruiter looks up your Armory profile (speaking of which, always log out with your best PvE gear on when attempting to apply for a progression raiding guild).
• Pay For A Run: This may seem like cheating, but many top-tier guilds out there will allow you to pay for a spot in their raids. You're probably not going to get to run ToC this way, but you might be able to score a trip to Naxx or Ulduar. This might seem to conflict with my advice of PuGing above (since that's free, unless you put a price on time, and I do), but there are some advantages to paying -- you'll be running with an experienced group, which more or less guarantees success. The people running with you may already have better gear, reducing competition on drops. And, if you prove yourself to be a good, consistent performer, who knows? They might just invite you to join them permanently. Of course the limiter here is your own, personal gold reserve. If you're an industrious player who works the Auction House and spends a great deal of their game time doing dailies, it might not be a big deal, but for the rest, it can get quite expensive. The top Horde guild on my server (Anvilmar) lists a raid spot at 1k, which only buys you the run itself (and whatever else is given out to all players, like badges). If you want a piece of equipment or a tier token, you're going to have to shell out even more. But, hey, if you can afford it, they're happy to have you along. It funds their guild bank, while you get a quality service in return.
• Shop On The Auction House: Another option for the wealthy player. Just buy gear. Some bosses drop Bind-on-Equip items that guilds will then sell on the Auction House in order to help fund their own banks. Some of them are quite good and there's nothing shameful in purchasing them if you've got the money.
• Get Creative: If you've got a crazy idea for obtaining loot, make use of it. Propose an offer to a guild recruiter and see if they'll take you up on it. Maybe they're willing to help gear you up if you can, in turn, help them in one way or another. You scratch their back and they scratch yours. If they get kickbacks for bringing in quality new members, then it would be in their interest to make you improve. Don't be afraid to get a little dirty, as long as you aren't stealing gear from other people (progression guilds tend to frown or  black list known "ninjas").

If you need a guide to gear, LootRank is a good general resource. There are also some class- or spec-specific pages out there like ShadowPanther (Rogues) and ShadowPriest (speaks for itself). The class forums at Elitist Jerks often provide Best-In-Slot gear lists if you can sort through the rest of the information. The last piece of advice I have for you today is this: once you've got your gear, gem and enchant it. And do it is much as you can possibly afford. If you can buy epic, purple gems, do it. If you can buy the best enchants, get them. It will show a recruiter that you mean business and that you're willing to be one of the best if they allow you to join. If you don't have the money, earn some. At least load up on blue-level gems, and make it known that you're poor right now. Having under-gemmed and under-enchanted gear is one of the top reasons why people get turned away, so don't fall into that trap. All of these options can and do work for people who do not yet have access to the latest tier of content. If you want to get there, then yes, you're going to have to work your way up the gear ladder. It can take a few days or it can take a few months, but I hope I've proven to you that it's not impossible. And, as always, experience and knowing your class are key. On the next edition, I plan on addressing issues of guild etiquette and why no matter how hard you try to get into them, certain guilds might just not be for you.

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Yes, I dinged while working on Sons of Hodir

Wrath of the Lich King's PvE content may be easy compared to The Burning Crusade, but there remains a line of progression.  For instance, hitting level 80 does not mean you should immediately jump into one of the many heroic dungeons.  With my long weekend, I figured I could get a bunch of heroics under my belt seeing as I have finally hit level 80 (DING!).  My old warrior buddy set me straight in only the way he can, through ridicule and yelling. I still have a lot of gear from Season 2, Karazhan and high level crafted items equipped and haven't seen many alternatives.  This is why I was thinking about banging out a dozen or so heroics with my free day.  After the text-lashing, I checked in with WoWHead to see just how much my gear could be upgraded through non-heroics.  Turns out to be a crapload.  Nearly every dungeon from Gundrak on has some sort of an upgrade, incremental and not so incremental.  The only thing that they lack is a pair of quick daggers for my Mutilate build.  Guess I will be sticking with old trusty for awhile longer. Rather than diving into the ranks of heroic runners, I have taken the advice of my friend (although I will never admit it to him) and segued to the non-heroic instances for the moment.  By the end of the day I will have run over a dozen non-heroic dungeons, and hopefully, bumped by gear into the next level.  But damn if I don't want a new off-hand dagger. Doing non-heroics before jumping to heroics may seem like an obvious notion to many of you, but I have run across countless people in the non-heroics who are barely geared for them, let alone the more difficult flavor of the dungeon.  Even many of my guild mates tried to make the leap from level 79 to heroics.  The better geared members were able to roll with the punches, but just as many had to be replaced during the instance.  From our anecdotal evidence, anyone decked out in SSC gear or better, with some Wrath gear mixed in there, was more than ready for heroics. Nice, just found a group for Halls of Lightning, off to shiv some baddies from Nordic lore.  This will be my first run at Loken, hopefully he is kind enough to drop his hood.  For those still leveling, do all the heroic runners a favor, check out which dungeons have gear you need and hit them up first.  My tank is sick of out DPSing other party members in heroics... How many of you had the patience to gear up before attempting your first heroics?  For those that just dove right in, what was your gear like and how did you do?

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