Shared Topic: Gearing up for another role
Shared Topic: Gearing up for another role
Blog Azeroth Shared Topic: Gearing up for another role
The current shared topic over at Blog Azeroth is a discussion around gearing up for another role, this is definately a topic worth writing about, especially as a raid leader. Many times i've been asked by guildies and pugs alike either in raid chat or more often than not in whisper if they can roll for gear that isnt relavant to the spec they are playing or have traditionally played.
The Hybrid Gear UpNow as a player of a Druid which is a three role hybrid class, I completely understand the feeling that people get when wanting to gear up for another role. Although my chosen path is that of the tree and the boomkin I really do have sets for bear and kitty and also some PvP items in the bank. Put these combinations together and you have to be very careful people dont think your just one big loot whore and taking folks for a ride. So exactly how do you gear up for another role without alienating people and making a few enemies along the way?
Balance your classes
You see those adverts for class runs to VoA 10 and Ony 10? If your not running these places with your guild then you should be trying to get class runs more often than not, I have got a number of pieces for my feral set and my PvP sets by default just by being the only Druid in raid. That's the reason people do class runs and I strongly recommend that you use that to your advantage.
If your setting up a raid, dont overfil the classes, try and balance them as much as possible, remeber there are 10 classes in WoW, that means in a 25 man raid you will be looking at 2.5 of each class, well that's impossible so some will have 3 and some will have 2. If you can get 5 classes which have 3 and 5 classes which have 2 your all set. Making your own class one of the ones that you only have 2 of in the raid is one of the perks of being the RL. Just never jeapordise the raid or the start time by being too rigid on this, but if you have the choice of two players and one is of your own class it makes the decision a lot easier.
Say Up front
The other thing you can do is chat to any other of your class that are in the raid and find out what they are after and see if you can come to some pre-arranged agreement over who will go for what. I've been to VoA a number of times now even though there isnt really a great deal I want from there anymore (apart from emblems ofc!) I dont mind running with a very well kitted bear tank as they more than likely have everything they want from there as well, have a word with them at the start and you'll soon be surprised at how much extra loot you get for your other specs in exchange for passing on a couple of pieces that you dont need for their other specs.
Check with the raid leader
As I mentioned at the begining of this post I often have a whisper or two from members of a raid if I'm raid leading asking if they can roll on offspec/off role kit. Usually this isnt much of a problem but it really does depend on your team. In my role as RL I'm not really empowered to make that decision, after all it could mean another raid member doesnt get the item for their current spec which would be considered their main at the time. One of the ways which I get around this is that I advise them to talk directly to the relevant team members and get them to agree before the raid starts, not only do they need to agree but they need to whisper me to confirm their agreement directly from those players. This saves me having to organise the issues in raid chat and a massive debate interrupting the raid and also negotiations between players help to open channels of communication where often needs and requests often come to light that are easy to fulfill. If full agreement from ALL parties is not gained then standard loot rules must apply, whatever they happen to be for your raid.
Collecting bits and pieces
If you raid or run heroics regularly you cant help but pick up a few pieces for offspec, items that drop that nobody wants or need can help to put together a basic set or fill holes where your waiting on a specific piece of kit. With iLevel 200 epics dropping in normal ToC that are farmable due to no lockout timer surely there is very little excuse to not being able to put together an offspec/off role set of kit. This works best in 5 man heroics or 10 man raids, the 25 man raids tend to have someone who wants or needs it more than you do.
Emblems are the key
Emblems of conquest are readily available, these will purchase you two pieces of tier 8 kit plus a multitude of other items for any role your looking at delving into, it's more than possible to put together a decent set of kit that's viable for ToC 10/25 normal versions without ever having set foot inside Ulduar. Every raid or heroic you do that brings in Emblems of Conquest or Emblems of Triumph brings you that much closer to a set that will be considered main spec viable and allow you to make that transition between roles a much more viable option.
To guild or not to guild?
A lot of people are saying that it's not right to rely on your guild to gear you up etc, but a lot of guild members really dont mind if your looking to gear up for a different role, as long as the players who play their specs constantly and that form a major part of the raid team dont miss out on that excellent upgrade that will help out the whole guild. That's why you should be targeting raid content that is a full tier below the current progression content of your guild, that way your certain to build up a good enough set to take on progression content and still pull your weight.
In short what I think is the best route...
1. Farm Heroics
2. Pug all the little raids you can, VoA/Ony/OS 10's and 25's.
3. Farm ToC Normal
4. Say up front in a raid if your collecting other kit, most people dont mind too much
5. Dont try and take items that are from top tier level places that will benefit main raiders
6. Emblems are your friend, farm them and make your purchases clever.
Good luck everyone with collecting your new sets of kit, i'm going to add to this as it's been a bit of a rush job during my lunch break and I have a few more points to make but any comments are more than welcome. :)
Cheers
Cyb.
Posted: 2009-10-21 06:33:58
Last Updated on Thursday, 15 July 2010 00:31 Written by Cybac Wednesday, 21 October 2009 07:33