Am I in a World-class guild?  No.  Have I ever been?  No.  Can I raid more than 2 nights a week?  No.  Do I have any experience or expertise in building a guild, let alone a world class guild?  No.  Should you keep reading?  Probably not.

This is a series on how to create a world-class raiding guild.  I am a project manager IRL.  This is what I do- plan, organize, test, execute.  I really, really enjoy doing that in an IT environment, gaming environment- whatever.  It’s also my blog, and I think I can do this, so just quit QQing and read.

STEP 1:
Re-roll horde.

I’m serious.  Horde quests, characters, racial traits, cities, and characters are just better.  If you have someone who has a character above level 40 for the horde and alliance - I’m pretty sure about 99.8% of them will tell you Horde is better.  Let’s take a gander at the horde racial traits:

Cow: War Stomp/Endurance/Cultivation/Nature Resistance
War Stomp: Activate to stun up to 5 opponents within 8 yards - lasts 2 sec - 2 min cooldown
Endurance:  Max Health increased by 5%
Cultivation: 15 skill bonus to Herbalism
Nature Resistance:  All Tauren get +10 Nature Resistance

Classes:  Druid, Hunter, Shaman, Warrior, Death Knight
Thoughts:  The immediate thought would be to roll warrior here, and that’s ok- but there are other classes to look at as well.  Druid would be a decent choice, the extra health, the stomp, etc.  Hunter could be an option - again for the stomp to get some distance from a mob/player to kite.  Plus cows get to ride dinosaurs.


Undead:  Will of the Forsaken/Cannibalize/Underwater Breathing/Shadow Resistance
Will of the Forsaken:  Activate to become immune to Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects. Can also be used while already afflicted by Fear or Sleep - lasts 5 sec - 2 min cooldown
Cannibalize:  Activate to regenerate 7% of total health every 2 sec. by consuming Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds - lasts 10 sec - 2 min cooldown
Underwater Breathing:  Underwater breath lasts 300% longer than normal
Shadow Resistance:  All Undead get +10 Shadow Resistance

Classes:  Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior, Death Knight
Thoughts:  Undead is a cool class, but wow I think they kinda got screwed with racials.  Will of the Forsaken is nice- but I would argue everything else is kinda trivial.  Shadow resistance is OK.  Maybe priests and tanks?  If they were so cool- I would say maybe skip them.

Orc:  Blood Fury/Hardiness/Command/Axe Specialization
Blood Fury: Increases your damage and healing/AP (whatever) , but reduces healing effects on you by 50%. Lasts 15 sec.
Hardiness:  15% resistance to stun and knockout effects.
Command:  Pet melee damage increased by 5%.
Axe Specialization:  Expertise with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5.

Classes:  Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior, Death Knight
Thoughts:  Hunter.  Warlock.  Warrior.  Maybe Shaman.  Hunter.  Hunter.  Orcs are probably the best race in the game?  This race SCREAMS hunter.  And Warlock.  Death knight too.

Troll:  Berserking/Regenerating/Beast Slaying/Throwing specialization/Bow Specialization
Berserking:  Increases your casting and attack speed by 10% to 30%. At full health the speed increase is 10% with a greater effect up to 30% if you are badly hurt when you activate Berserking. Lasts 10 sec.
Regenerating:  10% health regen bonus, 10% active in combat
Beast Slaying:  5% damage bonus to Beasts
Throwing specialization:  Your chance to critically hit with Throwing Weapons is increased by 1%
Bow Specialization:  Your chance to critically hit with Bows is increased by 1%.

Classes:   Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior, Death Knight
Thoughts:  Trolls are underrated.  Berserking would be nice for a tank, I would think a Rogue would die to quick to get the full benefit in a fight.  Regenerating would be really nice for a tank.  The Bow specialization would be nice for hunters.  So tank.  Maybe hunter.

Blood Elves:  Arcane Affinity/Arcane Torrent/Magic Resistance/Mana Tap
Arcane Affinity: Enchanting +10
Arcane Torrent: Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec. In addition, you gain 5 + 1/Level Mana restored per Mana Tap charge currently affecting you - Instant - 2 min cooldown.
Magic Resistance: All resistances increased by 5.
Mana Tap:  Reduces target’s mana by 51 and charges you with Arcane energy for 10 min. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Amount of mana reduced is 50 + 1/Level - 30 yd range - Instant - 30 sec cooldown.

Classes:  Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Death Knight
Thoughts:  The arcane torrent/mana tap thing is nice, it’s a very quick stun - but the mana restore is another nice tool to get some mana back.  Any of the classes listed would be a decent choice if you didn’t like any of the other races.  Or you just wanted to be a BELF chick.

You have your options, start picking up roles.
Tank:  Cow, Troll, BELF*
Melee/DPS:  Orc, Troll, BELF, Undead(meh)
Healer:  Undead, BELF, Cow
*pally tanks

The point is- you want to be able to justify your race.  If someone wants to be a Blood Elf hunter - make them tell you why.  Because they want a “hawt toon” is not a good answer.  You are looking to match the best races up with the best roles.  Make sure these arguments you are getting are PvE centered.  Because I want to pwn stunned n00bs is again - not a good excuse for the BELF hunter.  We are creating a World Class PvE guild that will pwn BOSSES.  Always think “Will this help me in a boss fight?” and remember that some/most bosses are immune to stun effects.  Sure there will be a boss or two in the entire game where you could prove some moderate utility - but over the long haul using our example, an Orc hunter is probably the best race/class combo.

So - do you disagree with my thoughts on each race?  Which horde race is best for which class?  LET ME KNOW!

People.  I really, REALLY need your help.  I’m BEGGING YOU.  I really really really really want to play my horde characters.  Firetree is a server that is dead - even the freaking gaurds in Ogrimmar are like “Screw this, if no - one is here, we’re going to the tavern…”.

SAVE ME!

If you know of a cool guild, if you are in a cool guild, if your buddy heard about a cool horde guild in a podcast last tuesday, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me about the guild and realm.  Come to this blog, leave a comment and save the world.

Pretty simple.

I’m trying to figure out how to make this thing better.  There is about 2405 blogs that are hunter/priest focused so I’m going to spin this different….or try.

Here are some blog direction ideas.  Plz comment on them.
-Guild managment/happenings
-daily/weekly WTF (something that happens that makes you say - WTF?)
-Professions
-How to find the center of gravity of a rocket.

kkthxbai

oh yeah, I made a druid.  Her name is foshizzil.

Ever been there?  Proud of your little corner of the digital divide?  Just purely happy for your team, your guild - for their success?  Man, last night was that night for me.  Bobo’s House of Gank voted on what to do on Wednesday and people decided they wanted to go to SSC and kill trash for recipes, and random epics.  I got on late and was invited into the group.

We had 22 people in the raid, and killed the trash around Lady Vashj, Tidewalker, and Lurker.  The DPS was eye-opening.  I think we could actually raid SCC if you look at the dps alone.  The overall raid healing and fight mechanics are where we lacked, but it was a ton of fun.  We got a few drops - and I won a roll for the leatherworking pattern - Boots of Utter darkness, which is kinda a rogue item.  I like the hit and crit on them, and I think I’ll use them.

We tried Lurker, with about 2-3 of the 22 having ever seen him.  Strategy was laid out, deep breaths were taken.  I think something was off with my Deadly boss mods.  Or maybe I’m a n00b.  Both?  The spewing thing seemed like it wasn’t really when the timer said it was.  Then I was WTFpwned by it.  It lasted about 30 seconds total but with 22 people all but 2-3 inside SSC for the first time, some of them still in greens (including me) we got him to 91%.  Pretty cool if you ask me.  Then the raid ended and we all went our separate ways.  It was fun, laid back, and new.  It was Bobo’s.

BRK’s Top Ten Things a Level 69.999 Hunter Should Know About Level 70

10. Hitting 70 means getting a flying mount.  Check
9. Start an arena team and get your Vengeful Gladiator’s Waraxe.  Check
8. When you start doing heroics, consider respecing to get at least 17 points in the Survivalist Tree.   *
7. Get two pieces of the Beast Lord set, don’t settle for the Desolation gear.  WANT
6. Leatherworking rocks for hunters.  Check (225…grrr)
5. Get a cat/ravager/raptor pet for DPS.  Check
4. Cooking is the single most important and profitable generic-profession for hunters.  Check 375
3. Your ranged weapon is your life. If you’ve got less fire-power than a Valanos’ Longbow, get to the Auction House and buy one immediately.  Check (see armory)
2. You cannot put off learning the Jump Shot any longer. Check - got that one in the bag
1. Once you hit 70, the time has come for you to teach someone. Kinda done…**

* I don’t know how I feel about this.  So far my trapping in heroics (last night in Shattered Halls heroics) has been pretty successful.
** I helped a co-worker understand how to play a hunter and make some money…does that count?

I would love the Beastmaster helm and shoulders, I’m still rocking greens.  Other than that I’ve got a pretty good start.  Yesterday I got my axe and slapped a +35agi on it.  I’m sitting on 1400 unbuffed AP with about 5 greens still.  Progress has been made.

It has come to my attention that people like to have lists for their characters.  Lists of “things to do”.  Perhaps you could benefit from a list such as mine.  I will divulge my mysterious methods of loot/reputation/instance information collection for you to peruse at will.

First of all, the best site to find anything WoW (items, quests, etc.) is WoWhead.  WoWhead generates the cool tooltip things on my blog. 

Second of all, the best place to find class specific gear is wow-loot.com.  They have it nailed for the toon that just hit 70 and needs to gear up.

Thirdly you need to check the worldofwarcraft.com PvP section.  If you discount PvP to get some decent gear right now, you are being stupid.  You can loose 10 arena games per week and get around 200 points per week.  Some arena items are 1000 arena points and are very VERY good.  Arena rewards are a good place to start - but don’t forget the regular PvP rewards as well.

Third.5 is the amazing post from The WoW Inn that directs you to the pvp gear you can pick up at honored rep.

Fourthly is of course, the armory.  Find someone in your guild that is geared up the way you want, and check them out.  See how they gem things up, see how they enchant their items, etc.  Go to your own profile and click on the upgrade button tooltip when you mouse over your gear.  It’s a great resource that is sometimes overlooked.

5th is WoWiki.  This is a wonderful site on which instances drop which loot, and extensive reputation guides.

6thly, find a blog.  Find a blog that is written by someone in your class who knows what they are talking about.  Email them questions, comment on the posts, etc.  The most widely known blogger is BigRedKitty - and he has links to blogs written by nearly every class.

Mash all that up and you have a pimp list.  Enjoy.

It’s just easy for me to plan my hunters next steps here. Watch or ignore. idc.

Reputations:
-Get honored with Sha’tar for Shoulders
Terrokar quests, basilisk eyes, venom sacs, marks, fel arms, etc.
-Get honored with Lower cities for head
Auchindoun instances, arrakoa feathers
-Revered with Aldor for ring
marks, fel arms
-Revered with CE for head enchant
underbog steamvaults, coilfang armaments

Quests:
Do Zorus the Vindicator quest line for blue helm (4 quests)- just need to kill the dragon in netherwing ledge (3-4 players needed)

Instances:
Mechanar - beast lord helm
Steamvaults - beast lord leggings, mantle
Shattered halls - beast lord (hands)
BM - desolation helm
Seth halls - ring

Enchants:
Leg- Clefthide armor
boots- agility
back- agility
weapon - agility
chest - resilience

PVP arena:
Shoulders - 1500 arena points

Well, we went 3-7 this week. My warlock buddy left me for someone else. I appreciated his help, but wish we could have done some more matches. I think I will have around 920 points after today, so I will need 1 more week of arena for mah epics.

My prot paladin buddy tried healing a bit with mixed results. He doesnt have any (ANY) healing gear, so healing is a bit of a struggle. He was being stunned and shield bashed? taking away his healing spells for around 5 seconds, in which people would finish me off. I die really quickly, if I’m focus fired, I get about 4-8 seconds before I die. I don’t know if it’s really just horrible gear, or superior opponents. Probably both. Arg.

Anyway - almost there, once I have the axe, I’ll probably stop playing 2s. It will be nice to be completely done getting gear for my ranged weapon and my melee weapon. I don’t think there are many better than the Sunfury bow and the Arena Axe.

Yeah, it was one of those nights…

It was the night you dream of.  My guilds’ A-team lets me tag along to Kara with my alt.  4 hours and 30 minutes later every single boss, and optional boss is down.  22 badges, from 0-2500 friendly with violet eye.

Here is the hilarious amount of loot I got:
Edgewalker Longboots
Chestguard of the Conniver
Girdle of the Prowler
Fiend Slayer Boots
Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix - WOOHO!

and I got another pair of boots but I can’t remember what they were. I felt like prince (the songwriter, not the guy in Kara) with all the purple raining down on me. I guess I did ok, I mean I still have 2 green items on right now, but I haven’t seen the WWS reports yet. I never pulled aggro, my tanks had misdirects when they needed it. I provided some crowd control (didn’t need it much at all) and did my best version of Massive Quantities of Sustained, Ranged DPS.

It was funny because at the end, when we were taking screenshots of the group with all our orphans out (you couldn’t join the raid if you didn’t have an orphan) - everyone was kinda thinking - “Man, if we did that, we should be able to hit the ZA timed events…”

Hopefully they will invite me on another run.

If I have a super night tonight in arena- I may get - Vengeful Galdiators Waraxe!!! Only 300 more arena points to go!

I need your helps.  I have 2 horde characters (Ichorgoo - fire mage, Wogger- 53 Rogue)who are on a miserable server - Firetree.  I would love to transfer to another server to join a guild that is:

Somewhat mature
Active
Casual
Fun
Reigns purple down on their members every day*

*not necessarily a deal breaker

OK.  Now, if you are horde, have a good guild, and need a Mage or Rogue- please comment, email, whatever.  I love the horde, but I’m not CONNECTED to any guild or even the server.  I feel like a stranger there. 

Thanks for your help!