Since everyone's going to be playing their fresh, boosted up 90's and want to have fun, I just figured I'd link some reference guides for PvE, so you can get right into the action you want to involve yourself in! This is also a chance for players who may've thought about doing regular raiding to follow up on these references of information and looking for a raiding guild.
Bear in mind, these guides will generally cover merely the necessary knowledge of the spec or class you're interested in - the best way to learn after reading these is practice.
I really wanted to recommend these guides to people, to try and get people playing something they've been interested in to higher performance, and to make the game a bit more accessible and easier for everyone to just get done what they want to get done. ^^
Class/Spec Information
Class Guides (WoW MoP 5.4) - Icy VeinsEvery spec covered in fine levels of detail! Simple to read, streamlined information regarding every spec in the game. Phenomenal start to getting skilled with your fresh 90!
Ask Mr. Robot - World of WarcraftGood site for optimizing your gear to its fullest, and squeezing out every drop of damage, healing, and survivability your gear can give to you. Takes a little bit of adjusting to show the information you need, but it's very worth the minor adjusting required.
PriestHowToPriest.com ? Index pageTerrific site related to Priest information and gameplay, would read it if you want to play your Priest to the fullest!
RogueShadowCraft - Rogue DPS SpreadsheetThis is a Rogue DPS spreadsheet tool. Very useful for more advanced optimization of your Rogue's damage output.
ShamanRestoration:
Resto Shaman Pocketguide- MoP version 5.0+ - Forums - World of WarcraftWritten by Jujubiju, this is a great guide for Resto Shaman gameplay, and has links to more extensive information for you to look into.
Class and Role Forums
Both of these selections are also great sources of information, both basic and detailed, though some of the class forum's guides are a tad out of date.
03/11/2014 10:59 AMPosted by Relesa
Forums -> Class Roles -> Damage Dealing:
Damage Dealing - Forums - World of WarcraftForums -> Class Roles -> Healing:
Healing - Forums - World of WarcraftForums -> Class Roles -> Tanking:
Tanking - Forums - World of WarcraftFrom Dropdown List,
Forums -> Classes -> (Select the Class you're interested in learning about)
Be sure to look through this thread to find posted links to other useful information as well!
Gearing on the Timeless Isle
Moss-Covered Chest - Object - World of WarcraftThis is a map of the Timeless Isle, showing designated, guaranteed spawn points of every Moss-Covered Chest on the isle, all of which will have some sort of Timeless Isle gear tokens inside them. Fantastic and easy way to grab some 496 gear, and with enough luck, a few 535 pieces! Just have to hope you get the right random enchants, though.
Blazing Chest - Object - World of WarcraftA map marking the location of the Blazing Chest, a one-time lootable item per character that contains two Timeless Isle gear tokens and a guaranteed Burden of Eternity. I'd recommend running all the LFR's you can before you decide what item you want to pop that burden on!
Crafted Gear
Cloth (Tailoring):
Items - World of WarcraftLeather/Mail (Leatherworking):
Items - World of WarcraftPlate/Weapons (Blacksmithing):
Items - World of WarcraftAll of the patterns, required materials, and stats of level 90 crafted gear that you'd consider an upgrade to your 483 starter gear. If you've got the gold or resources, this is a fantastic way to make up for RNG's neglective nature!
Gearing Through Raids
The first and most important thing to do before setting foot in any raiding environment is to familiarize yourself with the mechanics of boss fights. Sites such as Wowhead, Youtube (I'd recommend searching for Fat Boss strategies!), and even just asking right here, can help a lot with learning your role in specific raids. It's also a GREAT idea to read the Dungeon Journal to get a basic idea of fights as well!
Everyone knows how to find their way into a Looking for Raid group, but many players feel as though that's the farthest they can achieve with their character, or feel they don't have the time to get anything more done. I'm here to shed some light on that!
The first step after you've obtained enough Timeless gear, LFR gear, and maybe a few crafted items, is to look into Flexible Siege of Orgrimmar and Normal Throne of Thunder runs. Many people have a hard time finding a group, simply because they don't know how to find one. Some don't think they're good enough to get into these runs, and others simply don't want to bother with them at all. To those with a bit of worry, or having issues even finding groups, any raider, heroic or regular, has been right where you are now! There's always a point in gameplay where you may want to advance to the next stage of something, but you either don't have the resources, time, knowledge, or confidence to move in and give it a shot (Or you have before, and it's gone poorly).
Don't give up, take some time and take these tips so you'll have a broader experience and choice of play that might be just what you're after!
Other Raids: There's a tab that not many people know about in-game now, labeled "Other Raids". Simply by going to your Raids tab, then looking at the upper right hand corner of that window. From there, you can take a peek at all of the options available to you! Just remember to take a peek at anything you're not sure of in the Dungeon Journal before finding a group. :P
OQueue:
https://solidice.com/addons/wow/oQueueFantastic add-on that's sure to help you with finding groups for just about anything. Thousands and thousands of players use this one daily, and the pool of players is massive - you can find groups reliably for just about anything you're after at any time of the day, or you can seize the initiative and form your own group! It does require constant updating, though, so be sure you watch that you keep it up to date about once a week.
Your Friends and Guild: Yes, that's right, the people you (hopefully) interact with often may also be interested in doing these raids with you! It's also a good way to keep a crowd of players you enjoy playing with around you, no matter what kind of play you find yourself in.
Finding a Raid Group Suited for You!
Now that you've taken some time and read through all of this, you might be thinking "You know what? I like what you're putting down, maybe I can try regular some day!" (I really hope that's what some of you may be thinking, at least, game needs more regular/heroic raiders :c). If you decided at some point into this read that it just doesn't interest you;
That's perfectly fine. Everybody draws a line somewhere, just play the game to the fullest of your extent and enjoy what there is to offer! Get out there and make the community a better place.
To those that do still have interest in all of this, getting into these groups can feel daunting. Trust me, when I get into a raid group, I make sure I do my best to hold onto my spot - finding a new one can take loads of time, depending on all sorts of things, like your gear, experience, and availability. However, I will also say it's probably the single most rewarding experience you can find in the game, in my opinion. Everyone's different, so while the experience may not appeal to others, I can personally say from the time I began raiding in Tier 7 with my first raiding guild, up until now, with different guilds and people often, these things have always held true:
You WILL meet great friends. Raiding in an organized environment requires a high morale environment, and that kind of naturally happens, so long as everyone's social enough with each other and working as a team. A good example of this is my Cataclysm raid guild; after a few raids they took me along for as a pug member, I was invited to the guild to permanently fill their missing spot. I only knew two of the members as my friends at the time (Both of whom referred me to the guild master as a potential recruit), but after a few weeks, I met the people who I can safely say are my best friends in this game, through that guild. Even though some of us don't raid together anymore, we still talk and keep in touch often.
Raiding does NOT have to be a negative experience. If you run into a group as a pug, and the group's just being rude and convictive with mistakes (Perhaps even your own), then get out of that environment, and find yourself a real group. This game's about fun - that's what games are supposed to be. It's fine and expected to be called out for a mistake a few times, and yeah, sometimes people will be a bit assertive after a few times seeing the same issue, frustration's just part of who people are, and that will happen - but if you wipe once to something like missing a land mine on Iron Juggernaut and the raid leader jumps down your throat as though you insulted their mother, then it's best to move on for greener pastures.
Finally, it ALWAYS takes time and dedication. People in an organized raid group expect you to be online on time, and usually with flasks and food buffs ready to go, reforged, gemmed, and enchanted optimally (And yeah, these are huge impacts on your performance in a raid). Some groups may be more lineal towards you missing a few gems or an enchant here and there, but you should do your best to always come prepared and show your group how much you care about getting content done with them!
Now that I've shared some of the crucial things to keep in mine, here's some resources to finding raiding guilds.
Your Realm Forum!
Potentially the most efficient, surefire way to find an easy-access group, your realm's forums should have posts from guilds that are seeking filled spots in their rosters If they're looking for someone of your specialization, but you get told you can't raid with them due to gear, that's fine! Most guilds these days may still take you in and you'll have a bit of time to work on that, then come back to them and seeing if it's still possible. And if not, hey, you can still make some friends, and their friends might need spots filled on a reg run or two at some point - great way to get yourself out there!
The Guild Recruitment Forum (
Guild Recruitment - Forums - World of Warcraft)
Perhaps the most obvious resource, guilds across the globe look for players on these forums to fill specified places in their rosters. While heroic raiding guilds may be asking for a bit more gear than you have available (Or even access to, at this point), there's still plenty of regular raiding guilds that will be looking for someone with something you can provide! However, just checking every other resource you've got so far should be fine enough for finding a group on your own realm.
Thanks for reading everyone, and good luck in whatever you do with your 90's!
