Who Needs Bloodlust

Who Needs Bloodlust (WNB) was a premiere 10-player raiding team in AIE, now retired. Many of the former members of WNB can now be found in the raiding team Roll For Initiative.

The Team

• Tanks
  • Ranali (Paladin)
  • Sporc (Warrior)

• 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 do boss fights as they work 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 either 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 able to access for our raids.

Recruitment

• WNB full members are in the Invictus co-guild in AIE. Standby can be in any guild. Any raider who joins the raid team full-time will be transferred to Invictus, so we can get guild achievements, guild challenges, and other guild bonuses together.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Shoulder and Head Tier Tokens:
  • As with weapons, we try to get the tier tokens to players who can best use them: those who are waiting for a token, to get a 4 piece set bonus.
  • When there are multiple people who can get a 4 piece set bonus with a tier token, it is rolled off just like other loot.

Raid Bank

We run a raid bank that handles the materials and extra BoE items obtained from raiding.

• Any BoE drops that aren't needed for the main specs of raiders, and materials such as crafting orbs that drop in raid instances, are put in our raid bank.
• Any epic BoP drops not needed by our raiders are disenchanted, and the Maelstrom Crystal are also put in the bank. We give these crystals to our raiders for any enchants they need on their raiding gear.
• 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.
• Crafting materials such as Living Ember are put in our bank, and then used to craft equipment for our raiders. This gear is distributed based on the best use and greatest need for the items, as with weapon item drops.

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

• The Burning Crusade

Originally formed in March of 2008 as Drunk with Power 2.0 ("Inebriated With Virtue"), the second 10 man team of Drunk with Power, lead by Retsmile. Was the first AIE team to clear Karazhan [Retsmile, Bonzzaii, Draggonus, Siyufeiming(Dye), Nerelia, Norser, Thyatira, Helloise, Uchihavino, Amyus] and was 4/6 in Zulaman when Burning Crusade patch 2.4 was released. Also, combined with the original 10 man Drunk with Power, cleared 25 man raids Gruul's Lair and Magtharidon's Lair, again before Burning Crusade patch 2.4. Due to confusion with the original Drunk with Power 10 man raid team, in April of 2009 DWP 2.0 changed its name to "Who Needs Bloodlust", being deemed appropriate as they regularly achieved first boss kills while forgetting to use Bloodlust.

• Wrath of the Lich King

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 at level 80 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.

• Cataclysm

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. In Cataclysm, we were the first AIE raid team to kill a Cataclysm raid boss in heroic mode, and the first to slay a boss in Firelands. We continued to raid at our own pace, clearing the content in just two nights a week.

WNB wrapped up its venture in Cataclysm by killing Ragnaros and heroic Shannox. Following the second falling of Ragnaros, a couple of people decided to move on/take a break from raiding.

A big thank you to Cuer for leading the team and taking care of all of the logistics. WNB at the time of the Ragnaros kill: Ranadin, Teenytank, Muddadin, Dikadar, Noseeum, Cuer, Zexen, Bulkathos, Dremi, and Atriana.

Many of the team moved on to form the raiding team Roll For Initiative.