Hip

Thanks gaing, things are good and I hope to be around. I'll check in with the WoW folks, some PvP ramblings could be fun. Not sure about FFXIV, I did buy the damn game, but then with the problems at launch I never even logged in when it actually went live, only played the beta. We shall see. I'd be very interested in trying to get Gold Challenge Modes done, I see a post where they'll be removing them when 6.0 launches. catch you later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg What's up gang. So, it's been a long time since I've poked around on here. I logged in to WoW for the second time since Thanksgiving last night and ran into Inedit (does anyone know who she is?) on b.net and it got some of those old feelings stirring up. After a handful of tums didn't cure me I thought I should stop in to say hello. I had stepped away from WoW due to a crossfit injury (ruptured sholder capsule doing snatches) nearly a year ago, March 2013. I came back to the game for a bit in late August to find the WoW chapter of SoH defunct and FFXIV just underway. I found a home in a 10 man on Emerald Dream server that got me through normal mode Siege of Orgrimmar, but that guild fell apart following our first Garrosh kill and was no more following the Thanksgiving holiday. I've been keeping myself busy mostly with Crossfit and my traditional bouts of fury directed mostly at inanimate objects. My shoulder is back to 100%, which has been amazing and I've been able to set all kinds of personal bests on many workouts due to the increased focus on training. It's been fun. Other than copious crossfitting I've been looking for new jobs in new cities and had a few months relationship that fell apart somewhat recently. Such is life. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'll be around much or not, but I do miss many of my old SoH friends and wanted to say hello. I hope all is well. <3, Hip

Whats up Froz, Thanks for the reply. Essentially yes, but no small feat if you've built some very different habits. What you've detailed as your approach to raiding makes sense with what I'm seeing in your logs. It does make one a bit nervous as that approach wouldn't be effective in 25H progression, but the facts that you're aware of the difference and feel you can switch gears is at least somewhat settling. So, you are no longer feeling burnt out? If you only kept playing the game for the fine graces of a lovely lady, what's keeping you playing now/got you interested in coming over here? Hip

Whats up Orbie wan Confrozie Not sure that nickname will catch on, but we can hope. Looking at your logs I'm seeing inconsistencies. On some fights I'm seeing very low use of tools like AMS and Rune tap (pretty much every fight except Lei Shen), while on others I'm seeing good use of those tools (basically Lei Shen). Why the discrepancies? I would guess you're throttling up and down depending on how hard the content is, but that always causes concern for me as it feels like a step on the path of complacency. Thoughts? I'm seeing fairly low numbers on Death Strikes and Blood Shields as far as size goes, but good uptimes on Blood and Bone Shields, thoughts? How are you using your Ghoul and your AoD? DRW and VB use look good, but trinket use looks low. Overall not bad, but perhaps deceiving due to differences in the difficulty on content. Looking forward to your reply. Hip

Whats up FO, Welcome and thanks and all that jazz. Also, my apologies for not looking over your logs or anything yet, I'm sorry to admit in the pile of Blood DK apps we've gotten lately I lost yours in the shuffle. I'll get to it today. <3 Hip

How about the word consistent then? It will consistently do the same job whenever it procs. The impact of that proc will raise and lower depending on the number of runes you have on CD but the reality should be that you would have 1 of each rune type on CD at all times during an encounter. Basically let's not get caught up on semantics. If you're happy with your talent choice (and you should be) congratulations. I'm happy to agree to disagree.

Herein lies the source of the discrepancy in your argument. I don't agree that this is as consistent or reliable as you're claiming. I will agree that you can most certainly ensure you've got sufficient Blood Charges reserved to gain an extra Death Strike when you want it. What I don't agree with is that you can exactly predict perfect usage of Rune Strikes and Death Strikes to maximize Blood Tap's on demand benefits to align precisely with big damage abilities. You are assuming perfect play in a controlled environment. Reality is that neither will ever exist on a timeline of any significance. I think you're doing a good job in your play and in your theory crafting. I'm seeing things falling well within the parameters of what I'd consider good tanking/spell use. Certainly there are areas of improvement and your attitude and desire to play well will facilitate continued improvement. My real point with RC vs. BT is to encourage you not to get too lost in the math. Yes this game is math based, and thats a very useful way to approach and analyze play. However, the giant variable of humans at the controls should influence how you're choosing to use your toolkit in various situations.

Whats up Sim, Thanks for touching base with us again and congrats on your progression since we last saw you. As for the level 75 talent choice discussion I agree that one of the primary benefits of Runic Corruption is the "Set it and forget it" element. However I don't think it should be overlooked that it also offers the most consistent results as well. Certainly Blood Tap offers the most control over Rune regeneration and can be treated as an extra CD (both offensive and defensive) however not only does this require consistent monitoring of your Blood Charges it may also require pooling or camping those charges or sitting on Rune Strikes to have the correct number of charges to proc the Runes to get the Death Strikes at "the right time". It would take nearly impossible planning to play Blood Tap perfectly (never missing a window for gaining an extra DS, without wasting Runes or Charges and having those DS's for the perfect opportunity). Basically it would come down to what do you want/need your Runes for. If you know you have a fight where you will absolutely need/largely benefit from that on demand DS then I wholly agree BT is the way to go, otherwise I don't see the costs outweighing the benefits in most situations. anywho Logs! Blood Shields look ok; could be bigger size wise, uptime could be a bit higher Death Strikes look in-line as well, 36% overheals, but that could easily be attributed to your off-tanking times. Bone Shield uptime looks on the low end at 33%, probably a factor of some of those skewed numbers on DS/BS Rune Tap usage looks nice at 16 and only 14% overheals AMS could have been used more, you only popped it once and there are opportunities to avoid plenty of fire damage in this fight. Vamp Blood use looks good to me, probably maxed that one out. Your other CDs could have gotten more use; IBF, DRW, Trinkets could all have gotten a few more pops but not way off on use. thoughts?

Whats up Riz, Thanks for the app, interesting approach with the swinging green boobs and all. Question about your gearing. Why the 4pc bonus, what advantage do you feel that gives you? You are under expertise dodge cap, whats your rationale there? From the logs, your healing looks pretty solid and Blood Shields look good. I'm seeing good use of DRW, decent use of Rune Tap and solid use of your trinkets. Your use of Vampiric Blood looks low to me, I think you could be getting more leg work out of the increased healing. Bone Shield uptimes are pretty low, typically < 40%, what are your thoughts on that? From what I'm seeing with your Blood Shield uptimes as being high and Bone Shield uptimes low I'm lead to believe that you're casting DS when not on the boss and driving uptime % on BS but not maintaining a good shield while actively tanking and taking hits to your bones and droppiing them. How are you using your Death Pact spell? I'm seeing irregular use of it, when are you deciding to get out your ghoul and how are you deciding to drain that bad boy? Hip

tonight works, I'll log on to wow around 7 pm EST, if you can make a toon on Stormreaver and whisper me I'll be on Hipocalypse

what evening works best for you?

Whats up Elchy, thanks for the app, welcome and good luck From your character sheet So much expertise, whats your thought process there? Why the reforge to haste from dodge on your second ring slot? I'll get to logs soon. thanks

I can do an evening this week 7 pm or later should work for me

What other nights this week might you be available. I'd rather do something outside of your work time to be sure we can have all the positive vibes we can muster. I can do any evening this week or Sunday late afternoon/night

Some food for thought. You're applying to a guild that would provide an environment where you will be facing many fights that will be new for you. New in terms of format 10 v 25 and new in terms of Normal v Hard Mode. You can't afford to miss the basics or allow your base gameplay to get distracted. Review the tools you've got (keybinds, UI, bars/timers) and be sure everything is in working order before you step into the raid. I agree that experience is the best way to polish your play, but taking a big step up in content won't allow you much practice time to grow. This is a strategy that I'd change. The DPS gain isn't worth the 30%+ damage reduction you get while channeling he spell. If you're so worried about the DPS finish the channel and let the ghouls do their thing. Yeah, you wouldn't want to camp Runes for too long, nor more than a second or two max but with your set-up you shouldn't be DS'ing on CD. You will want to be a little patient depending on a few factors; known/predictable incoming damage, current Blood Shield size and time remaining, time left on your next pair of FU/DD runes. Mastering this is the heart of Blood DK, particularly in 25H progression So far so good, and I'd like to chat We should set something up with you, me and Ashin; when might you be available to do a mumble interview?

Whats up Shaffer I see that you did some re-gemming/reforging and I’m going to need a little help understanding what went on with that. You’re now just over hit cap and just under expertise cap (after having gone all the way to expertise hard cap at 15%). Were you unaware of the DK spell mechanics prior to your application? Did you just switch to placate me so I’d be happier with your gearing? Take me through your thought process a bit there please. From the Logs I’m going to use the Jin Kun fight as it’s been the furthest heroic most of our recent applicants have been working on and the analysis I’ve been using. Spell usage/rotation looks in-line and your dps looks decent. I’m a bit concerned about your Frost Fever/Blood Plague uptimes on the kill you only maintained them at 75%. That’s too low. What tools are you using to track FF/BP and what is your strategy for refreshing these spells on that particular fight. (I see low uptimes as a trend through other fights as well so please address this in your reply). Defensively Death Strike’s look very low at 35916.5 average healing per DS. But I’m also seeing nearly 60% overheals on DS so I’m guessing a lot of them were cast while not actively tanking the boss? What is your role on that fight? I’m seeing good use of AMS, what attacks were you using this CD for? I’m seeing 3 misses on Slimed as well as fairly low Infected Talons damage so just curious. Rune Tap use is pretty decent at 12 of a theoretical 20, but you do have 35% overhealing on that spell so it could have been utilized a bit better. Nice to see that you didn’t totally overlook it however. Bone shield uptime looks good at 80% Vampiric Blood use also looks nice at 5 casts, depending on tanking rotations you might have been able to eek out 1 or 2 more of these, but I would guess this is probably constant use of the spell, nicely done. 4 casts of DRW, also in-line with proper usage. How are you timing this spell? What things do you take into account before you press that button to maximize its benefits? Only 1 cast of IBF for the fight, why such little use? What situations are you using/saving that spell for? I’m also seeing very low use of your Trinkets, how do you have these set-up for use whilst tanking (again a trend across other fights)? I also see that you’re spec’d into Death Pact and that you proc’d Will of the Necropolis, so your health dropped fairly low. However I don’t see any healing for Death Pact. How do you use this spell/what situations do you want it for? How have you set-up your UI to make it’s use easier? When do you get your ghoul out? I see damage from your AoD, how are you using this spell in a typical fight? Summary Overall things look decent to me. I’ve got a few questions and I’m seeing some room for improvement but it feels more like polish to me than an overhaul. I’d be curious to hear your answers but I could even concede that some of the gaps I’m seeing are more to do with playing in a 10s environment moreso than a deficiency on your part. Looking forward to your response. Hip

Whats up Badmoo, At this point we're going to pass on your application. Sorry you're in a situation with a guild you're not happy with, hopefully you're able to turn it around or find a home you'll be happy with. Good luck. Hip

If you were a pally or perhaps a warrior I'd be less concerned about your itemization. However, you're significantly overvaluing expertise as a DK, even for 10 man, and to a lesser extent undervaluing Hit Rune strike cannot be dodged or parried, needing zero expertise Death Strike cannot be parried, requiring 7.5% expertise so as not to be dodged. Being under hit cap will give a chance that your Outbreak, Pestilence, Blood Boil, and Icy Touch can miss. The only spell that is benefiting from that extra 2604 expertise rating you've invested is Heart Strike, and a paltry 46 rating you could invest to get to hit cap (drop a hit/mastery gem in your chest piece, get to hit cap and pick up a free 120 dodge rating (or switch one of those mastery/stam gems to mastery/hit).

Whats up Shaffer, Thanks for the app Few questions off the top. You addressed it in your intro, but that 15% expertise and under hit cap is throwing me off a bit. What spells are you hoping to capitalize on going all the way to expertise hardcap? Also, would you change your gemming/reforging strat if you went to a 25s format, and if so how? Walk me through parts of your UI a bit. What tools are you using to track your CDs, in particular the uptime on your defensive CDs (blood shield, IBF, Bone Shield, etc.) You also talked about talent and glyph changes and that you could explain some of your choices. Go ahead and explain away. I appreciate your confidence, and I'll scrutinize your logs at some point very soon (by Monday), but it's been said before and no exception here your lack of experience in 25s and HMs this xpac is concerning. Also, as a Ginger were you automatically drawn to playing a DK? Both of you being soul-less and all. Hip

On your Jin-Kun fights it looks like you had some survival issues. Certainly some of the deaths were late enough in the fight that they came after the wipe was called. But I’m seeing Death’s to Talon Rake’s in the first pull and the Kill. First pull Talon Rake/Infected Talons and a pure Talon Rake on the kill. What are your thoughts on this and what did you learn from those pulls? Focusing on the killing pull You took 4.9 million damage from Feed Pools, what’s the story there? It wasn’t from intercepting the food as you were only “Slimed” once. Rune Tap usage still looks low at 11 out of a theoretical 29 possible (Will of the Necropolis proc’d 4 times). Also 22% overhealling on Rune Taps. Death Strikes/Blood Shields look better, either better utilization of the spell or a factor of the damage difference. Either way, they seem to be more in-line with what I’d want to see. Use of Vamp Blood, IBF, DRW, synapse springs all seems ok to me at 4-6 each falling in-line with tanking rotations due to phases in the fight. Bone Shield uptime looks good at nearly 80% Only 1 use of AMS is very poor use of that spell given the amount of magical damage in the fight. You took that 4.9 million from the Pools and 4.2 million from Infected Talons, but only used this very powerful CD one time. I can't fathom how that's possible, I could even see an argument for taking the AMZ talent, much less utilization of this spell from your base toolkit. I also see no use of AoD. Are you using this pre-pull? That’s a significant waste of a powerful defensive CD for a Blood DK so by not using it or popping it before the pull is a considerable loss [At least a 35% damage reduction while channelging (taken from your character sheet)]. Meta Gem Choice You took 12,247,261 melee damage, 5,565,250 Talon Rake damage, 3,637,442 Quills damage and 65,2081 Cheep damage for a total of 22,102,034 physical damage. Based on PPM the Tanking Legendary meta gem has an expected uptime of 35%. 22,107.034 x .2 x .35 = 1,547,142 expected damage reduction from using the tanking meta, or a 7% reduction in physical damage taken. Your DPS meta gem did 4,389,180 lightning damage to Jin-Kun, 10% of your damage done. Thoughts? Summary Some things look pretty solid. CD usage on most of your tools is right in line and shows skill at the class [VB, IBF (nice use of the glyph), DRW] Significant oversight/misuse of AMS, particularly given the amount of magic damage and most importantly avoidable magic damage you took on this fight. I can’t come up with any reason why you wouldn’t use AMS. I would compound this mistake with your choice in taking the Conversion Talent. No the Runic power from the absorb wouldn’t turn into healing, but it would give you a nice full bar to work with before/after popping AMS to use on other spells/pool Runes/etc. Trinket’s wise I’m not seeing any use of your active trinket, but I may be overlooking it. I was able to find the passive heal from your other trinket, but not the active HP increase. Rune Tap also appears to be mishandled, but not so horribly. You could get a lot more leg work out of that spell. I harp on it so much this tier because it is free. Without the set bonus it is often not worth using, however with the 2pc, not using it is leaving survivability off the table. Let me know your thoughts. Hip

Whats up Heman, I don't want to discourage discussion in this thread if people are finding it's helpful, but I wanted to update you that we are going to continue our search for a Blood DK in a different direction. Good luck with your search for a new raid team and thanks for looking us up.

We had spoken about one and then radio silence, just curious. I think it could be worth a chat if we've got parties on both sides interested

Curious where we're at here, still thinking interview or no?

Hey Heman, thanks for your replies. I would strongly encourage you to explore add-ons like Magic Runes or CLC DK. I have used them both in the past and find them extremely useful for tracking the availability of Runes. From your current UI I can't see an easy way for you to know what runes you've got available and how you could therefore maximize your DS/Blood Shields. You may also consider using Blood Shield Tracker as a means for helping you decide when to use DS for creating a maximum Blood Shield. From your logs I'm seeing a few things I like. I see proper/liberal use of IBF and DRW which is good. Too often do I see tanks pooling larger CDs and wasting them. However I am seeing extremely low use of Rune Tap, Vampiric Blood, Trinkets and your Ghoul/AoD CDs; whats the deal there? With the 2pc bonus your Rune taps are free and you hardly use it. When you do a large portion of it is often going into overheals. Vampiric Blood use is low and it's a 1 minute CD, this should be used almost on CD when actively tanking. You are still hanging on to that Jade Warlord trink when there are viable options available for purchase with VPs that would be big upgrades. Not only that but since you do have it the "on use" portion of that trinket is a nice boost to Mastery and you're leaving it off the table, why? A substantial portion of your Death Strikes and Blood Shields are going into overheals, this doesn't show me mastery of tanking/survival. I can appreciate the damage you are taking is lower and that many DS's may occur while not actively tanking so the numbers can get skewed. I don't doubt you have no issue surviving the current content you're facing, but the step-up in challenge to where we're at is huge. What I'm seeing in your logs and with the tools you're using doesn't show me you're ready for a challenge of that magnitude. Let me know your thoughts. Hip

You've got me intrigued so far. But as Ashin said, the logs will show the goods, hopefully you've got em. Few things before I attack your logs. Your UI seems to be lacking quite a bit of what I would consider essential information. How are you tracking your Blood Shields? What is that scowling face up at the top of your screen? How are you tracking uptime/availability of Bone Shield? What are you using to track CDs on your Runes? It seems you're tanking a hefty pile of mobs, where your main target is not currently in front of you. What steps do you take to ensure you don't have mobs hitting you in the back when you tank packs? Also, that hefty pile of mobs is attacking you and you don't have any CDs running, at least as far as I can tell, it looks like all of them are available to be used and nothing is showing up in your buffs and on top of that it seems you have no Death Runes currently available. Any commentary on that scenario? From your recount meter it seems you're being dominated in healing/absorbs by the other DK, whats going on there? You are considerably under Hit and Expertise caps, why? I see that you've upgraded several pieces of gear with Valor points, but also have equipped your Jade Warlord figurine, whats the story (morning glory)? Looking forward to your reply, <3 Hip