They will tell you it can’t be done.  They will tell you that if you don’t raid at least 3 times a week, you’ll never see any success.

They tried and failed?
They tried and died.

They will say that you can’t learn the advanced encounters, that you’ll hold the group back.  They will tell you "show up 80% of the time, or don’t show up at all."

Lies, all lies.  And I am here to prove it.

One of the questions I often get asked is this:  "PTD, how do you do it?  How do you raid part-time like you do?"  Well, today I’ll try to give you some insight as to how I accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, and give some recommendations on how you can do it yourself.  Without further adieu, here are my five keys to casual raiding.

Key #1:  FOCUS!

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

The first key is simple.  To be a successful casual raider, you MUST have one character that is geared to the hilt, and raid-ready above and beyond any other character.  The more hard-core out there can afford to gear multiple characters for raiding, but for casuals like us, we need to focus.  In time, you can slowly gear another toon, but do NOT do it at the expense of your main. 

The problem with this key is that as a casual player you probably have a LOT of alts.  I know I have every slot filled with characters level 8 to 63, and I’m sure I’m not alone.  They key, though, is that my Druid is in very good shape.  I didn’t even attempt to start 25 man raiding until I was fully equipped in epics, with proper gemming and enchants. 

If you are going to try to raid only one night a week like I do, that one character better be good, very good.  Don’t get too wrapped up in gearing alts.  Make a decision on a main and stick to it.

Key #2:  Be Overly Prepared

Shield Practice.
Gurney, we had practice this morning. I’m not in the mood. 
Not in the mood? Mood’s a thing for cattle and loveplay, not fighting!

Similar to Key #1, you can’t afford to mess around in terms of knowledge, either.  You aren’t going to have the same number of attempts to learn about the various boss encounters, so be as ready as you can be.  To counter that, do your homework.  Read a few different strategy guides for the bosses you expect to see.  Watch at least one video, but if you can view a few different ones from different perspectives.  Admittedly, there is no replacement for actual in-game experience - but you need to get as close as you can. 

Also, make a point of being that guy that’s always early for raid night.  Make sure your gear is repaired, and make sure you are fully equipped with pots, oils, food, elixirs - everything.  Don’t be the guy that asks for a summons 2 minutes after the raid was supposed to start, or who asks if anyone has any healing pots.  Be there and be ready.  Be an example, and you’ll have a better chance of being invited back in the future.

One other thing regarding preparation is this:  don’t be afraid to ask questions.  If you show you’re actually interested in getting things right, the raid leaders will notice.

Key #3:  Be Honest About Your Availability

As the new Duke, I hereby invite you to ask me for whatever you wish. You may request anything of me, anything at all.

This part is just as important as the others.  When you are looking at raiding, make sure you are honest with the raid leaders about your availability.  Be honest with yourself, too.  Don’t say you can make 2 nights a week when you can only REALLY commit to one.  Don’t say you can make a 5:30 raid time if that’s the time you walk in the door after work. 

The point is to make things as clear as possible, before you even get an invite to any raids.  Don’t write any checks with your mouth that your butt can’t cash.  Chances are, they may already be hesitant about you and your limited availability, so don’t say you can do something you can’t.  On the nights you CAN raid, be utterly reliable.  If you can make EVERY Wednesday night raid, make sure the raid leader knows that.

This can also be important if you have issues similar to mine.  My wife wants nothing to do with WoW, and I have an 18 month old and another baby on the way.  I am VERY clear with her with regards to the nights that I raid.  She knows and accepts that Saturday nights I will get on the game before 8 PM, and she’s ok with that. 

Key #4:  Be Open to Other Raiding Avenues

I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear’s path, and only I will remain.

You must be reliable if you are to raid casually, but you also might have to be flexible.  I know it’s frightening to think of, but there are in fact 25 man PUGs that happen all the time.  Don’t be afraid to give them a try if that’s your best way to see that content.  Perhaps in the course of PUG raiding you will find other people with similar schedules.  Maybe that can lead to a more established raiding group.  If you’re not raiding at all right now, it’s at least worth a try.

Also be sure to ask around and see if there are guilds out there that are open to outside members to fill their raids.  Use the official boards to look for guilds that may be doing that.  Believe me, there are MANY guilds out there that can’t quite fill a 25 man, and they’d love to have a reliable fill-in.  Maybe you can find a group that suits your playtime, and since you are so utterly prepared (See Key #1 and #2), your success will net you future invites. 

Key #5:  Perform

I’m dead to everyone unless I become what I may be.

Above all else, this is the true key.  Beyond preparation, reliability, and flexibility lie skill and performance.  If you have any dreams of being able to raid on YOUR schedule, you had darn well better perform when you get the chance.  You’re like the rookie that gets one shot during a pre-season game to show your stuff.  Make sure you show it.  You can’t afford to make big mistakes or even little ones, you have to show that you have the goods from the first pull.

Don’t randomly go afk.

Don’t ignore the orders of the raid leader.

Don’t break sheeps, AOE in a bad place, pull aggro, or let someone die.

Basically, don’t do anything stupid.  Be as close to perfect as you can be.  If you show that you can handle the job, you’ll get the job.  I am normally way down the healing totem pole in terms of gear.  My +heal, MP5 and everything else are usually bringing up the rear, or close to it.  I still routinely lead the meters in terms of overall healing.  I think one of the reasons for this is that I get so focused about the one night I raid a week.  I make a point to get everything right, because in some way I have to.  If we fail repeatedly because of me, I would feel like I let a lot of people down.  So I make a point not to do that.  I mean business when I’m raiding, and the raid leader(s) know that.  My skill and overall performance trump my gear.

There you have it.  If you’re looking to raid casually, that’s my advice.  Focus on one character, be prepared, be honest, be open, and, most important of all, perform.  If you follow my advice, I don’t know how any raid leader could turn you down, regardless of how seldom you can raid.  The point of all of this is to assure you that it CAN be done.  I raid one night a week for four hours.  That’s it.  I’ve seen 5 bosses in SSC, 4 in Mount Hyjal, and 4 in the Black Temple.  So don’t listen to "them" when they say it can’t be done.  They’re just jealous is all.  Thanks for reading!

I’ve been strictly resto spec’d for a long time.  The vast majority of my time as a level 70 Druid has been spent as a healer.  I enjoy healing, I consider myself a strong asset in raids, and I will always be a healer first.

Last night, however, I switched sides, at least for a day or so.  Through my days of raiding, when I saw the first 5 bosses in SSC over and over again, and farmed Kara many times for badges, I made a point to pick up any cat or bear gear that would have been sharded otherwise.  I hate to see a purple go to waste.  So over time, I have gathered a fairly respectable, albeit imperfect, set of gear for tanking.  I have the Heavy Clefthoof set, of course, and I also have some very nice epics to fill things out.  Heck, I have the best tanking weapon for a Bear in the game, I may as well put it to use sometime, right?

I do still have some issues.  I obviously haven’t concentrated much on slots, I’ve just picked up stuff that dropped.  I’m presently sporting a DPS helm and shoulders, and a green pair of bracers.  So I have some spots to fill.  Last night, I was half tempted to pick up the nice badge tanking bracers, but luckily remembered the whole point of going feral.

Farming for badges.

It seems, at least on my server, that the hardest class to get a hold of for heroics is a tank.  We seem to have more than enough healers willing to do the job, and of course more than enough DPSers, we just don’t have all that many tanks. 

So, I figure, why not?

I headed to Darn, picked up all my tanking pieces from the bank, and hit the druid trainer.  My cost to respec had bottomed out to 15g, so no big deal.  (I will have to respec again on Saturday for BT, however.)  I carefully chose my talents, and ended up with 0/47/14 or something like that.  I’m pretty sure I hit all the key talents for tanking, and threw in the DPS talents as well.

I put on all my bear gear, and took a look at my stats.

• 11.4k Health (A little low, but should be doable for a lot of easier heroics with a good healer methinks - this is completely unbuffed, though, I didn’t even have Mark up.)
• 20,800 some armor
• 20.33% Dodge
• 417 Defense (Yay!  No crits!  This is one thing I reworked the gems a bit to achieve.)
• 1600ish Attack Power

Not bad.  I spent the next half hour or so setting up a tanking bar, as it had been a LONG time since I tanked. 

By the time I was done, though, I was yawning.  It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to tank a heroic for the first time fairly tired.  I had stayed up later than usual to watch the Bears get beat by the Chiefs, and then to watch the So You Think You Can Dance finale.  Yes, I’m a sports nerd, and a lot of other nerds rolled into one.  My name is PTD, and I am a gaming nerd, blogging nerd, sports nerd (go Cubs and Bears!), reality TV nerd (especially Gordon Ramsay) and a Bowling nerd.  Beat that!  Oh, and if you ever want to get pwned on the lanes, give me a ring.

Anyhow, I elected not to try to get anything going, but logged off in Shatt with the SP daily heroic saved.  I plan to start with either that or Ramparts.  SP has classically been known as the "easiest" heroic, but I think I might prefer to do Ramps first, as I have a more solid understanding of how all the pulls work.  Hopefully tonight I get a shot at my first tanked heroic, and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.  Who knows, maybe I’ll love it and finally be everything my class could be.  A Tank, Healer or DPS, whatever you need, for any situation.

Next I’ll have to look at my DPS gear overall.  I know I have a nice epic chest from SSC!

Before we get started, a riddle.  What do you get when you combine the Cubs’ curse, toilet humor, and a Thundercats reference?

The answer?  My interview on Twisted Nether!  Go listen now!

Anyhow, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Part Time Druid is largely a Wrath-free zone.  I’m not in the beta, and there are other, better sites to get your dose of news and analysis about the beta.  Now, if someone were kind enough to drop a beta key in my lap, that might change.

But I digress.  One of the things that has everyone in a tizzy is the introduction of the first new class since the inception of WoW, the Death Knight.  No, I’m not going to get into the role of the DK, or how OP they are going to be, or what tradeskills will work best with the new class.  No.  I only really want to talk about one thing.

Death Knights start at level 55.  At first, it was suggested that you would need a level 55 ON the server you intend to make the DK, and you could only have one per server.  Now I hear that you just need a 55 anywhere, and you can make a DK at 55.  (I wonder, though, does this include PvP?  Being a carebear, could I roll a 55 DK on Warsong if I so chose?)

Anyhow, I am very excited by Blizzard’s decision, and I think it was the right one.  If they had decided that new DKs would start at level 1 like everyone else, that would have favored the more “hard core” amongst us in a big way.  I still remember how after just a few days of BC I saw level 50-60 Draenei Shammys running around.  At first I was jealous, then I started to wonder how they relieved themselves.  Anyway…  The point is it would take a LONG TIME, without the 55 boost, to get a DK to the end game.  Especially since the level cap will be raised to 80.

So my question is, why are only DKs getting such a leg up?  Why couldn’t an established player make ANY character and start them at 55?

One argument that I’ve heard relating to this is that such a change would literally kill the old world content, and be detrimental to new people to the game as they try to level up.  Honestly, though, isn’t that already the case?  When someone who has one or more 70s levels an alt, do they spend their time helping out new players, and teaching them how to survive in Azeroth?  Or do they blow through the lower levels as quickly as they possibly can, either alone, multi-boxed, or with guildmates?

I think we all know the answer to that question.  They try to set leveling records, and get their new toons up to speed as quickly as possible.  So I don’t accept that it would “kill the old content” and hinder new players.

So are there other reasons they wouldn’t do this?  I suppose you could argue that it would be too easy to make strong farming or tradeskill toons.  I can buy that, but I also have an answer.  Limit it.  Limit it just like they are with Death Knights.  I’d be happy if they only allowed me ONE level 55 alt.  Hell, I’d be thrilled with one free level 55, as I always seem to hit a roadblock around 40!

I’ve even dreamt up an interesting way to implement it.  Make it a quest.

“Recovering Lost Allies”

It would be a quest in the Caverns of Time.  The quest involves saving a hero from ages past, maybe someone who died at the Battle of Mount Hyjal.  This someone just happens to be level 55.  Maybe it’s part of a long chain, you have to gather this, kill this boss, blah blah blah.  In the end, though, you pull a hero from the past into the present.  This would activate a special slot on the character creation screen, with a shadowy, unrecognizable character.  You fill in the relevant details, and boom!  Level 55 Paladin or Druid or whatever.

I would figure this would require you to have a level 70 character.  Maybe some Keepers of Time rep, too…Honored or Revered.  I would also limit this as either a ONE TIME quest, or perhaps make it so it was repeatable every 3 months.

Honestly though, think about how hard it is now to get a character from 1-70 if you decide you want to finally get a Pally to end game?  Sure, maybe not all that tough for some of you, but the part-time players out there know it takes a LONG time.  Now imagine trying to get from 1-80.  Ugh, it makes me cringe!  Blizz is already boosting leveling from 60-70 to go along with the boost from 20-60 from 2.3.  Why not just cut some corners, and let me start at 55!

Oh, and Blizzard, if you want to implement this, I’m more than willing to be a guinea pig.  And, as long as I have your attention, where’s my beta key?

Yours truly, PTD, has now set foot in both T6 instances.  You already know about my foray into the Black Temple.  Well, now I can scratch Mount Hyjal off my list of "Places to see before WoW shuts down."  I don’t mean that in a "I walked in and wiped to trash" kind of way, but more in a "I went there in a group and killed stuff" kind of way.

Well…actually…maybe that’s not entirely true.  I say this because, truth be told, we did wipe on trash Saturday - repeatedly.  But I’ll get back to that.

First, the good stuff.  Once again, I found myself all geeked up Saturday night as I entered a new raid instance.  I’m not one of those people who randomly set foot in BT or MH just to say I did, so it was all new to me.  The way that MH is set up with a central "hub" is quite interesting.  I really have no idea what the different areas are, as I just followed the crowd.  I know one portal went to a horde encampment, one went to a night elf place, and I think there was at least one more.  I’m not real sure.

Anyhow, they ran MH on Wednesday night without me and got through the first three bosses.  So Saturday night we headed for the Horde Encampment to take a shot at Azgalor.  For those of you familiar with that fight, you probably already understand my comment about wiping on trash.

Anyhow, I digress.

You find yourself in a little horde base, with a bunch of Tauren Warrior NPCs, some orcs and, the Coup de Gras, Thrall himself. 

One of the things I always enjoy in WoW is seeing familiar faces.  Like the quest that ends with Jaina Proudmoore making an appearance, for instance.  Or the Undercity, for another.  So I’m always excited when I see someone like Thrall in game.  Woot!

Anyhow, on to the fighting, eh?  For those of you unfamiliar with MH, this is how it works.  In other raids and instances, you go through a map, working your way through trash to a boss. In MH, you stay in one location, and the trash comes to you in waves, followed by a boss once you get through so many of those waves.

So, in this particular fight, there are 8 separate waves of a whole mess of tough mobs to fight, followed by the appearance of a boss, Azgalor.  We got all buffed up, and the raid leader started to explain the encounter and the waves we would have to deal with.  Well, the problem is that there are 8 waves.  Each wave is a little different.  In other places, like SSC, you explain the particular trash mobs you are about to fight.  You rinse, move on, and explain the next pull.  In this situation, we kind of had to go over 8 different pulls.  Exhausting, to say the least.  In fact it really wasn’t possible.  So the RL tried to sum up, and we started it off.  Hell, I just have to know who I heal, really.

That shot is of the first wave incoming.  Big green nasty Abominations and some Necromancers.  Oh boy.  Already these guys look scary.  Not only did they look scary, they hit HAAARRRD.  So hard, in fact, that two tanks went down on the first pull within about 2.5 seconds.  Ouch, we were not prepared for that.  So we wiped it and started again.

On the second try, we did a little better, and lasted a little bit longer before we had to wipe it.

By the third try, we had a decent handle on it.  There was kiting, there was CC, and yeah, there was a lot of healing.  If there’s one thing I learned about the Azgalor trash, it’s that the fights are very FRANTIC.  The waves come from different directions at different times, there are assorted mob types to worry about, and they can be tough to take down.  I found myself kind of all over the place most of the night. 

Here is a combat shot of the gargoyle wave for reference.

I know it doesn’t look all that hectic, but I couldn’t really take a screenshot whilst flying around the battlefield now, could I? 

So we kept on trying, and we kept on wiping.  One of the other issues with MH is that if you don’t get through ALL the waves, you have to start back at the beginning after the wipe.  It’s not like other raids where the trash will stay dead.  Every time you wipe, whether it’s the first wave or the sixth, you have to start back at wave one.  Ouch babe.  Very ouch. 

We managed to get pretty good at the first few waves, through wave five, to be exact.  In wave six you get a whole mess of nasty, shadow bolt throwing caster types in the form of Banshees and Necromancers.  They all come at once, and they can focus fire and kill just about anyone VERY fast.  They beat us around like red-headed stepchildren.  They took us out to the woodshed.  They ate our children, in the parlance of Mike Tyson.  In short, they beat us down.  The next shot shows how wave six ended for us, every time.

Yup, that’s me.  Taking a dirt nap, along with everyone else.  We’re scattered, but there are 25 corpses about.  It was nasty, it wore us down, and we never got past that sixth wave.  So we did that a number of times, I’m not sure how many, and we aren’t getting any better.  If anything, we’re regressing.  We start fairly late, so when we are having a bad night things can spiral pretty quickly.  We ended up calling the raid about a half an hour early since we stopped making progress. 

Oh well, that just means it’s time to research and prepare for the next time we’re there.  No love lost for WoW, that’s how it goes when learning new content. 

I look things up later only to find that wave six just happened to be the wave that ate many a raid’s lunch.  Surprise, surprise.  So though we never saw Azgalor and wiped repeatedly on trash, at least I know a LOT of people wipe on that same trash.  I found an interesting technique involving banishing a previous mob and NPC help, maybe we’ll try it next week.  Regardless, I’m sure next time we will be better prepared, with a winning strategy.  I can’t wait. 

That’s all for now.  Next week is BT week, so maybe I’ll get to see ANOTHER totally new boss.  I just love that!  Oh, and if you have any advice for MH and that Azgalor trash, feel free to drop your wisdom in the comments.  Thanks for reading!

My apologies to Fimlys of Asleep at the WoW, and to his guild.  Many thanks for being so welcoming, and I enjoyed my time with you.

But…

It just wasn’t meant to be.  If you remember, dear readers, I contemplated moving to Fim’s server full-time for a number of reasons.  Draenor is a West Coast server, so it would be more compatible with my play times, for one.  There are also more than a couple bloggers that are playing over there as well, including Lady Jess and Awlbiste. So in early June I moved my highest level alt, a level 52 Shadow Priest over there.

I had some good times over there, sure, and Fim’s guild was more than welcoming.  They are also progressing nicely, running Kara quite a bit and even stepping into ZA and some 25 man content.

It just wasn’t meant to be, though.

I’m a part-time player, hence the blog title, and splitting my part-time play-time in two was just not going well.  I only play about half as much as most people, and then try to split that half into quarters spread across two servers and 3 characters…well…you get the picture.  I found myself mostly ignoring my priest over there, and my priest also happened to be my highest level alt.  Aside from that, the priest is a high level enchanter and tailor, and I don’t have a replacement back on my “home” server.  I’m already tired of vendoring high level greens.

So a decision had to be made.  For this to work, all my characters must be together.  It was time for me either to go whole hog or go back home.  Sure, we their play-times aren’t 100% compatible with mine, but I love my guild.  It’s a great group of people, and in case you haven’t noticed I even got to raid the Black Temple recently.  The decision seemed all too easy.

So it was that I tucked my shadow priestly tail between my legs and went back home.  I completed the transfer back to Whisperwind with my priest this morning.  I do have a couple low level alts still on Draenor, though.  And one of them has a fantastic name for a Gnome Warrior (Halftime) and a fully tricked out, enchanted to the hilt set of white gear.  He’s one bad-ass level 10 warrior.   Maybe I’ll just play him from time to time to still hang out with Fim’s awesome guild and the other bloggers.

Anyhow, sorry I couldn’t stay, but thanks for being so kind.  Just don’t ignore me if I ask for a run through the Deadmines sometime soon!