Name: Taerik
Race, Class, and Main Spec: Troll Frost Mage
Armory Link: http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet ... d&n=Taerik

What's your name and where are you from?

I'm Nathan, I'm from Scotland.

How old are you? Please give your answer in Reverse Polish Notation.

9 7 +

How long have you been playing WoW? What experience do you have of endgame raiding?

*Note, this experience comes from my old main, Dagtheras.

I've played WoW since early TBC, but I didn't hit max level and start playing seriously until late 3.0
I raided casually from patch 3.0 to 3.2. completing 11/14 Ulduar10 normal and 4/5 ToGC10 in patch 3.2.

In patch 3.3 I started raiding more seriously. I cleared 9/12 ICC10 HC and ICC25 HC, while also going back to kill Anub HC in ToGC and do 4/5 ToGC25.

Is this your main? How often do you play this character? Tell us about your other characters, including any serious alts.

Taerik is 100% my main and will be for Cataclysm. He's the only character I play and has been for months now. Currently Taerik is completing Loremaster (Almost there!) while enjoying battlegrounds. Since there is no Arena season right now PvP isn't too serious. But I'm enjoying the mayhem that is 4.0 BGs none the less. When I'm done with Loremaster I'm probably going to try and get "the Diplomat". I can't wait to start Serious Raiding and PvP with this character in Cataclysm because I didn't get much of a chance to do either in WotLK.

Dagtheras, my old main was my main through WotLK and all my experience with raiding is with him. After a while ICC became terribly boring though so when I switched to Taerik there wasn't much motivation to start raiding seriously again. Although Taerik doesn't currently raid/having any raiding gear, I do plan to start PvE again in Cataclysm and as you can see from Dagtheras I do have experience raiding as a Dps Caster.

I also have a level 80 Alliance Warlock in greens that I barely played after hitting level 80. I don't really feel connected to that character and If I do feel like playing a Warlock alt I will probably just make a new one in Cataclysm.

What's your complete guild history, on this realm as well as any other? Why did you leave / are you leaving your current or previous guild?

Leveled Dag in <Carpe Omnius> on Sporeggar, when I hit level 80 I wanted to start raiding but couldn't with Carpe Omnius so I left.
I joined <Eraburis Shando> on Sporeggar, I raided with them through 3.0 and 3.1 in 10 man Ulduar and 25 man Naxx. but after 3.2 things started to fall apart and the officers left the game. It's a long story but near the end of 3.2 I ended up leading the guild, we raided 10 man ICC casually through 3.3 and cleared 8/12 Normal. At this point I really wanted to raid 25 mans in a more serious guild so I handed over guild leadership and joined <Wrath> on Sporeggar, It is there I did 9/12 HC on both 10 man and 25 man ICC. Due to a problem with my Internet I had to stop raiding and had to leave that guild even though I was having fun.

By the time my connection was fixed I had no real interest in playing Dag, Taerik had been my alt for a while and I was having great fun with him questing and doing low level PvP. Taerik got Loremaster of EK and Kalimdor at level 60. And Master of Warsong Gulch before 80. I tried to get back into raiding but didn't enjoy it much since ICC was the same boring raid it had always been. I started playing more and more PvP and loved it. Since then Taerik has been mainly a PvP character, while I've also been questing/hunting achievements for fun. I transferred Taerik over to Defias Brotherhood because I loved the server after power leveling my warlock to 80 there.

Once on Defias I looked for a PvP guild to join, I joined <The Vanquishers> and <War Drum> but those guilds didn't really suit me. I even tried to start my own guild but I quickly realised why I never liked leading guilds. Since then I've been looking for a guild that does PvP but I've also realised that If I want to raid at all in Cataclysm I will have to find a good guild now. Luminous Path looks great because in this guild I can get back into raiding in Cataclysm, while also enjoying PvP and achievement hunting/questing.

Provide the names of some people we can get in touch with in-game as references. Please note that references are required: give names of characters on other realms, if necessary. If you know anyone on the Path, either in-game or IRL, mention that here also.

I don't know anyone on the Path.
<Wrath> is the only serious guild I have been in, but sadly the few members there I was friendly with are no longer playing WoW (or at least I can't find them on the same character I knew them on.) The officers in <Wrath> weren't too happy when I had to leave either since they basically geared me up. I couldn't avoid leaving though since I was out of the raiding game for over 2 months.

I don't really know anyone on Defias Brotherhood either. I'm really looking for a guild to get to know people on this realm. Because while I am enjoying Light PvP/Questing atm. It does get a bit lonely and I can't raid or do rated battlegrounds on my own.

What is your role in raids? How do you judge whether you're doing a good job or not?

My role is to do as much damage as possible while taking as little damage as possible.

If I'm not dead I'm generally doing a good job, and DPS wise I know I'm doing ok if my dps is within 80/90% of my Spreadsheets predicted damage.

Describe your choice of spec, how you came to your current build, and any other things you feel we should know about why you spent your talent points the way you did.

Currently I only have a Frost PvP spec. I'm not raiding so there isn't much point making a real raiding spec right now. My gemming is a bit crazy because frost PvP priorities changed from haste to crit/mastery with the patch. And then when I found out how cheap the PvP offhand/wand was my Spell Penetration increased a lot rendering a bunch of my SpellPen gems useless. I don't think it's really worth spending a lot of gold fixing everything until Cataclysm though.

In Cataclysm I'm not sure what spec I will use for raiding. I will almost definitely play Frost PvP so even though Frost PvE looks viable and fun I might play something else for a change. I haven't decided on Fire or Arcane.

I know I might not look like the sort of guy loves Min-Maxing and doing a lot of research about their character. But I really am. I love pushing my dps to the limits and I'm the sort of person that thinks even a +2 Intellect increase for 100g is worth it. When Cataclysm comes I will have an optimal raiding spec with perfect enchants/gems.

*If you look at my Old Main to see my gearing choices etc. Note that my gems/enchants haven't changed since 3.3.5, And my reforging may not be optimal as I didn't do a lot of research about it. I have the PvP legs for the +5% Int bonus. I barely play that character anyway so was really just playing with the new features

Where do you go to read about your class outside of the game?

Elitist Jerks for Raiding. As well as WoW blogs like wow.com.
For PvP I use Arena Junkies and Hydramist.net primarily.
For general WoW Info MMO-Champion.

Please provide the following (you may link them or attach them directly to your post). For both, you may capture either a 10- or 25-player raid, and VoA is perfectly acceptable.

• a screenshot of your UI during raid boss combat; and
• a log parse from a 10- or 25-player raid boss encounter using worldoflogs.com or similar.

~~~

Roleplaying Section: End your application with a short in-character biography, a note from your character to the officers, or other RP story or RP statement about yourself. Effort is much more appreciated than length or content, and your application will not be considered without it.

Taerik is a "For the Horde" type of troll who kills Alliance on sight. I do roleplay but not as much as I PvP etc. When I do roleplay its generally in small PvP groups or questing groups so a simplistic, barbaric, Horde loyalist personality suits my character best In my opinion.

Additional notes. Optionally, mention anything else you'd like us to know about your application.

*Note, my Name on these forums is "TaerikWoW" because when I originally registered here I had trouble with the e-mail I used and had to create another account. But of course "Taerik" was taken from my first attempt.

I'm very interested in becoming a part of your team for Cataclysm. I'm not the sort of person who causes drama about loot and raiding spots etc. I'm generally quite relaxed about that stuff. It just irritates me when people don't keep their promises. I would love to be a member that can fill in for people whenever it is needed but not necessarily expect to be raiding every night.

You mentioned you want members in your guild who are not only good raiders but also want to become a part of your community by having fun and helping out with achievements and random events. That's me in a nutshell. Guild achievements look like great fun to me I'd love to be in a guild that takes them seriously. I'm the sort of person who is always up for everything, I love coming to Old World raids, completing odd achievements in BGs or Raids and generally participating in guild event.

Thanks

Uhoh! Guess I'm supposed to take this one on, being a mage and all but....I don't play Frost and I certainly never PvP!

That said, I read the whole thing and oogled your spec/gear. Of course, those 2 things don't say anything about your ability to raid but your progress sheet does. In fact, I'd say that from my point of view, you are what we are looking for: nice player, dedicated, good at PvE/PvP/whateveryouwanttodo and interested in becoming part of the Path.

I have no idea what else I could ask you regarding magey things so if anyone else has anything to add, be my guest!


Sav.


EDIT: Geeh, actually thought of something now....What spec do you prefer out of the 3 for PvE and why. Also, what kinda of rotation/gear/glyphs would you pick for it!

You can add statpriority to that list aswel me thinks

Other then that I agree with Savian (my former collegue mage) Nice detailled app and the like, and even if I'm a frost pvp mage myself I don't think any questions regarding that would matter in this raid oriented application.

Good luck ^^

Please give us little RP story about your character It's not optional.

For Cataclysm, Frost PvE looks fun, and I have experience with that spec. Arcane PvE looks boring in my opinion. But I think I'm going to try Fire to start with as it looks great fun.

I don't have any experience with Fire in WotLK, but this is what I've discovered. Of course everything will change at 85.

This would be my raiding spec for level 80;
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#o0bZfchMkzRRssoc

Fire Mage rotation as I understand it is;
Keep Living Bomb up, Spam Fireball and hit Pyroblast when Hot Streak procs. Cast scorch while moving. Use Combustion when all of my DoTs are up for max damage. It sounds simple but I just tried it and it feels like it will take a lot of practice to perfect.

Glyphs; (Mage glyphs are bugged so these will definitely change)
Prime ~ Living Bomb and Pyroblast, (No third usefull glyphs)
Major ~ Fire Ball, Molten Armour and Polymorph (I think Evocation might be more useful for survivability in raids but it depends how important evocation is for mana. I'm using Polymorph because it will be more useful for soloing and dungeons/PvP while leveling.)
Minor ~ These don't really matter.

Stat Priorities ~
I couldn't find evidence that these priorities are tested and correct. But I think it is
(Assuming Hit Capped at 17%) Int > Crit > Haste > Mastery
I think Fire Mage Mastery is bugged currently so I'm not sure how important Mastery will become once it is fixed.

*About the RP story. I thought what I wrote would suffice as an "RP Statement" about my character. I can't say I have an RP Back story for my character. I'll have to get back to you with that soon if it is needed.

Looks good to me! Agreeing with the facts mastery and glyphs are beyond buggy at the moment, which is pretty sucky.

About the RP story hrm...I think Naru will eat you if you don't at least write something up

Nice RPN , I'll take that as evidence that you've checked our General Info forum which is promising.
Now as you seem to be 16 years of age, I have to ask you who controls your game time and are there any signs of problems in your real life that will take you away from WoW for a long period i.e. school or parents etc.?

/ Vedder

That's not a problem at all.

Sorry just want to make things clear. Probably bad phrasing on my part , but does your answer mean there will be no risks of parentaggro during raids or other guildactivities aswell?

If I sign up to an event/raid and agree to be there then I'll keep my promise and stay to the end, always.