Who Needs Bloodlust

Who Needs Bloodlust (WNB) is a premiere 10-player raiding team in AIE. We make our way with skill and aplomb (and far too many inexplicable Hunter deaths!) through all current Cataclysm raid content. We are an adult raiding team who enjoy putting in serious effort to take out raid content, in a smart manner that only requires raiding two nights a week.

During Wrath of the Lich King, we were the only AIE raid team to completely finish Icecrown Citadel, by destroying the Lich King on heroic mode and completing the meta-achievement. In Cataclysm, we were the first AIE raid team to kill a Cataclysm raid boss in heroic mode.

We have fully completed normal mode tier 11 raiding: Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent, and Throne of the Four Winds. We are currently working on various tier 11 heroic mode bosses, and further gearing up our raiders. Next up is Firelands, with legendary staves to obtain and extinguishing Ragnaros completely. We look forward to continuing this all the way through the expansion, to destroying Deathwing!

The Team

• Tanks
  • Hoofton (Death Knight)
  • Open

• Healers
  • Dikadar (Restoration Shaman)
  • Muddadin (Holy Paladin)
  • Noseeum (Holy Priest)

• DPS
  • Cuer (Feral Combat Druid)
  • Zexen (Frost Death Knight)
  • Atriana (Shadow Priest)
  • Bulkathos (Elemental Shaman)
  • Dremi (Marksmanship / Survival Hunter)

Raid Schedule

• WNB runs two raid nights a week. Our raids are from 10PM to 1AM server (Eastern) time on Monday and Thursday nights.
• As a static raiding team, raid members are expected to attend all raids. In the rare case that real life prevents attendance for a raid, the member should post in our raid thread as early as possible, before the raid happens.
• We use the in-game calendar to organize our raids; raid invites go out a few days before each raid. Raiders are expected to accept these invites, or decline if they cannot attend. The earlier we know about possible schedule issues, the easier it is to organize replacements.
• We are often on other evenings during the week around the same time, to run a daily heroic or a battleground together for anyone interested.

Raiding Requirements

• Be prepared to have fun! We take our raiding seriously, but not ourselves.
• Be on Time - all raiders should be logged in and ready to raid 5+ minutes before 10PM.
• Come Prepared - be repaired, with potions and other consumables useful during the raid. We supply flasks and food, funded by our guild bank.
• Know Your Class - Raiders are expected to have appropriate gear, enchanted and gemmed properly for their spec.
• Do Research - Raiders should have researched the best spec and abilities to use, to fill their role, at ElististJerks and elsewhere specific for their class. When we are going to attempt a new boss, there are often videos and other guides posted in our raid thread. Everyone should check that thread at least twice a week, to stay up to date with our current plans.
• Be Flexible - We're a big fan of doing fights as it works best for us. While we study the normal methods of boss kills, we're just as happy coming up with methods that work better with our raid composition. We're a big fan of hybrid classes, who can help out in different roles as need be. Raiding characters aren't required to have their alternate spec geared up and available to use in a raid, but it certainly helps when they can.
• Addons - Raiders need to have Omen, and up to date versions of one of the two main boss addons: BigWigs or Deadly Boss Mods.
• Ventrilo - We have our own Ventrilo server, which everyone in the raid needs to be in for our raids.

Recruitment

• Current Recruitment: Tank - WNB is looking for a dedicated tank who can reliably run with us, on our standard raiding days on Monday and Thursdays from 10PM to 1AM server (Eastern) time. We are looking for someone who is interested in this for the long-haul, through Firelands and beyond; we are a static raiding team, and not interested in swapping characters around each week. Any non-Druid tanking class will work.
• If you are interested in applying to raid with us, you can post in our raid thread, send a PM to Cuer on the AIE forums, or chat with him in game.

Loot

• WNB uses basic /random 100 and spread the loot around methods of assigning epic item drops. Since we run a very static raid group, we are interested in gearing up everyone equally.
• For Bind on Pick up Items:
  • All drops from a boss are linked in raid chat first, so everyone knows what dropped.
  • Each individual item is announced with a raid warning, and then main spec rolls are opened up.
  • Anyone who needs the item for their main raiding spec does a /random roll, and the character with the highest number gets the item.
  • If no one needs the item for their main spec, then we open it up for offspec rolls. Raiders often wait to roll until here for an item, if it is a minor sidegrade. The character with the highest roll here gets the item.
  • If no one needs the item for their main or offspec, the item is disenchanted, and the Maelstrom Crystal is put in the guild bank.

• For Bind on Equip Items:
  • Anyone who needs the item for their main spec does a /random roll, and the character with the highest number gets the item.
  • Characters are expected to only roll on BoE items that their main raiding spec can and does use.
  • If no one needs the BoE item for their main spec, it is sent to the guild bank to sell at the Auction House.

• Spread the Loot Around:
  • We want to spread the loot around, so that as many different raiders get a useful upgrade as possible, per raid.
  • Once a character gets one item needed for their main spec in a raid, other raiders who need future items for main specs will get precedence; that raider won't roll on main spec items unless nobody else needs it, for that raid.
  • Similarly, if a character has obtained an offspec or sidegrade item, and another offspec or sidegrade item comes up, they are expected to pass to anyone else who needs it.
  • The same is true for items from a single boss; if multiple people can each use multiple items that drop all at the same time from a boss, we will spread the loot around so that we don't have a situation where one character gets two items and another character gets nothing, if they could both use the items.
  • Naturally, this is only based on items that characters can actually use; sometimes the random number generator just smiles on one character, and they end up getting a lot of upgrades that nobody else can use, all in one raid!
  • Along with this, raiders are expected to pass on sidegrades of the same ilevel, for characters who are upgrading from a lower ilevel item in that slot.

• Weapons:
  • Since weapons provide huge upgrades for all classes and specs in Cataclysm, we give precedence for characters to get the best weapon possible.
  • As such, we spread around weapon drops to make sure they go to the character that will get the biggest upgrade.
  • For example: a bow drops that has Expertise on it, and the two possible characters to take it are a Hunter and a Warrior. It will go to the Hunter, if it is a bigger upgrade for his DPS, than it provides in stats for the Warrior.
  • We try to make sure that weapons go to the character who gets the biggest bang for the buck, even if they have already gotten an upgrade that raid.

Raid Bank

We run a raid bank that handles the materials and extra BoE items obtained from raiding. This includes any BoE drops that aren't needed for the main specs of raiders, and materials such as crafting orbs that drop in raid instances. Any epic BoP drops not needed by our raiders are disenchanted, and the Maelstrom Crystal are put in the bank. We provide these crystals for any enchants that raiders need done on their raiding gear. The extra BoE items are sold on the Auction House, and the gold goes to purchasing food for feasts, and materials for the flask cauldrons used by the raid each week. In this way, we are self-supporting for the major costs incurred in raiding.

Post-Game Analysis

• Logs of our raids are posted at World of Logs.
• Details of each raid, with drops and bosses downed, are posted in our raid thread.

History

WNB was active through all of Wrath of the Lich King, with a team lead ably by Gobu and Palatinus. We were the only AIE raid team to completely finish Icecrown Citadel, by destroying the Lich King on heroic mode and completing the meta-achievement. The final raid team in Icecrown Citadel that took out the heroic Lich King was: Gobu, Palatinus, Muddy, Dikadar, Visygoth, Norser, Cuer, Gogmog, Prometheuz, Mannibis.

As Cataclysm approached, some of the raiders left WoW entirely. The raid team picked up new members and forged ahead into the shattered world of Cataclysm.