[Declined] Rheggash Icefang - Frost DPS Death Knight

[Rheggash]

Character Name: Rheggash [Icefang]

Character Level:: 80

Character Class: Death Knight

My Armory Link

About Myself

Name: David

Age: 21

Country: England

I'm obviously fluent in English, unfortunately, limited in just about every other language.

People I Know

Well, I'm a good friend of Amitola, I've exchanged words with Mukk and Maky, and roleplayed a little with Shiryou, but nothing on more than a superficial level.

My Characters
Guinnein (Level 80 Retribution Paladin), Tevaron (level 80 Feral Druid), Lipwig (level 80 Combat Rogue), Dalgav (level 70~ Enhance Shaman) Zamozan (newbie Arms Warrior).

My Game Goals

To be quite frank, I'd like to actually get some use out of Rheggash. I'll cover a few reasons why below, but first and foremost, I'd like to raid on him, and I'm also an avid roleplayer, anyone aware of Lipwig, Rheggash, Dalgav and Guinnein in-character should be able to tell you this.

I do PvP occasionally, though I am little more than a scrub.

Guild Information

I was a part of the Silverbrand Cohort in TBC, and raided with them as Tevaron up until Sunwell Plateau. I left with a few other members in WotLK to form the ten-man strict guild, Exodus.

I'm currently part of Exodus, with whom, I am currently in the process of downing the Lich King.

My reason for leaving DMR were simply clashes of personality; I think a few others can vouch for me when I say that power went to the heads of a few of the more important members, and after putting up with their attitude for a while, we'd had enough.

Exodus meanwhile is slowly, in my opinion at least, falling apart due to people becoming sloppy and a lack of respect to the guild/raid leader during raids.


What do I expect from the guild?

Competent, efficient and progressive raiding in a non-threatening environment, with raiders that are focused within the alotted time that you raid for.

Raid Times

I currently raid from 20:30 until 11:30 server-time with Exodus, so once I leave, that should (hopefully) not be a problem, though I admit that I will need to check my work timetable--it should not be a problem.

Raiding Experience

I raided ZG to AQ40 in vanilla on my first character, a Warlock named Nikkolas.

In TBC, I started as a healer on Tevaron in Karazhan, briefly had a stint as Enhance Shaman DPS (from T4 to T5), before switching back to Tevaron as a full-time Feral tank, which continued until SWP--I cleared every raid up to that point (that is, I did not continue into SWP).

Rheggash started his life as Ayevir, a Dwarf DK Tank. On him, I went from Naxxramas into Ulduar (primarily as an alternating Blood and Frost main/offtank), before deciding that I'd had enough by the time ToC hit. With encouragement from my guildmates (and the loss of a Retadin due to unfortunate circumstances), I brought Guinnein in to make up for it. He's currently facing the Lich King in ICC10.

Again, on Guinnein, I have had the obligatory experience in 25-man Naxxramas and Ulduar (amongst others due to the weekly), and have been to Rotface and Festergut (for the Shadow's Edge quest), Dreamwalker and BQL in ICC25 (again, on Guinnein).

I know that it's quite different going to ICC25 on a different character--I would just like to point out that I do have experience in the encounters, and in 25-man raiding, regardless of the character I've played on.

These days, Rheggash is full Frost DPS, though he is mostly limited to heroics and the occasional VoA/weekly with friends from Wintermane.

Rules of Prophecy

They sound as straightforward and understandable as Exodus' rules. Serious business during raid times, feel free to goof off between them.

Connection

I will not deny the occasional hiccup, but for the most part, this is a rare, if not freak occurence. It should not interfere, and if it does, it will (touch-wood) be once at the most.

I have had very few issues in raids to date.

PC Specs

Intel Core i7 Processor (2.67GHz)
6GB DDR3 RAM
Vista Ultimate 64-Bit
GeForce GTX 295 (1792MB)

Raid UI and Addons



Fear my awesome MS-Paint Skills. (And please accept my apologies.)

I think the addons I'm using are quite standard, and I'm hoping they'll generally speak for themselves, but as the question says to detail why I use them, I shall;

- Deadly Boss Mods - Because everyone likes knowing what to look out for, when to prepare to use a cooldown, and when they're standing in fire, am I right?

- Omen Threat Meter - Dead DPS return no DPS.

- Mik's Scrolling Battle Text - I'd rather be told that I've hit a mob 20 times with a total damage amount than have 500 numbers clutter my screen and slow my framerate--plus the procc announcements are useful.

- oRA3 - Whilst not entirely for my benefit, this helps the raid leader know my cooldowns, gear durability level, resistences, etc.

- TukUI - Because I hate the normal WoW UI. I'm a fan of Borderlands, and this definitely gives it that quality. On top of that, there are alot of handy little features it has that cleans up my interface, and I'm very fond of it.

I did at one point use Power Auras, though I haven't reinstalled it since I got my new computer. I've yet to find it to be any significant help in addition to things that I keep track of anyway (diseases, HoW, cooldowns coming off of CD, etc.), so I can't decide whether or not to reinstall it. If anyone can suggest a good enough reason, I'll gladly try it.

How I Play

My keybindings range from the first five number keys to my mouse buttons to misc. Alt, Shift and Ctrl bindings, along with the E, Q, R, Z, X and other keys. This is carried across all my characters, with certain abilities I use more often than others (or 'main attacks') keybound to E, secondaries to Q, etc.

I obviously move using WASD, and turn with the mouse. This includes the ability to turn around and run, without backpeddling. I obviously do not keyboard-turn.

Without wanting to sound boastful, I think my awareness level ranks up there with the best.

You won't catch me standing in fire, ignoring adds that need blasting, or running away from people that I need to run towards (a la Yoggy's Mind-Link, Blood-Queen's Pact). Obviously, Deadly Boss Mods helps with this, but I am not one that will sit there and stare blindly at the screen until it finally screams at me to move. I can look around at the screen whilst also being aware of my cooldowns and resources, and do not tunnel-vision on the stand-still fights, as simple as they can be.

From my beginnings in raiding, I like to think I've progressed greatly. It admittedly was only recently that I started using advanced keybindings--as a feral tank, everything was keybound to the number-keys, which made it far more difficult than it should've been--yet I managed to progress along with the others to Illidan.

However, even since then, I have come along in leaps and bounds. I'm proud of both my tanking and DPS, I macro with the best of them, and I think my achievements in raiding to date have earnt me at least that respect.

What I plan to do..this one's honestly quite tough. Without wanting to sound egotistical, I think I'm a very good raider. While I'm aware that there are differences between both ten and twenty-five man raids, my abilities can be applied to both. I'm proud of my class knowledge (though I'm sure others can test me on that), and I do my best to stay on top of the changes to both my class and the raiding environment through theorycrafting and patch-notes.

I will of course always listen to advice--provided that it is correct, and not in itself presumed (e.g. I often get told I should be using a crit meta despite the agility meta providing a higher net DPS return), but I admit I will respectfully argue otherwise if their information is not correct. I am aware that the classes are changing all the time, and do my best to keep up with them. With these rules in mind, I am not afraid to try new things.

Talent Spec

Rheggash is currently DW Frost.

I chose this specc because I feel that it has a little more flavour than the strict, rigid rotation of Blood, and whilst I do have an Unholy offspecc, I feel Unholy is slightly too clunky for my tastes. Frost feels elegant, and also factors in knowledge of proccs, priority and a slightly more relaxed, reactive rotation--much like the Retribution Paladin.

Important factors of note are;

- 4/5 in Killing Machine(!?): Yes. With the increase (read: guaranteed 45% increased haste) of Imp. Icy Talons, Killing Machine actually tends to procc more often as a result of the slower 1H weapons that have been speeded up. As such, there is a risk of the proccs being wasted--with 4/5 (it can be reduced to 3/5 to put another in Black Ice), this is lessened, and can be seen as a DPS increase.

- 3/5 in Black Ice(?): Killing Machine and Black Ice are less than a 1% difference in DPS, therefore, it is widely regarded that the last talent points in these talents are interchangable. The only other place that they could be put is Subversion, for the threat decrease, though I am sure that if the average tank can keep threat off of me in a 5-man, the tanks of Prophecy should have no problems whatsoever.

- 2/2 Chill of the Grave: This is a risky choice, because with too few in CotG, you can be starved for RP, with too many, you can be bloated with it. This makes most of the RP you gather wasted, especially if there is a Druid giving Replenishment in the raid. I would move points around if this is the case, perhaps going 4/5 BI, with 1/2 CotG.

The remaining information should generally be common sense, but I'll state it to be on the safe side;

- Improved Icy Talons: With Imp. Icy Talons now stacking additively up to 45% haste, it is more important than ever. While it was originally just a good replacement for Windfury, it now increases the average white-damage of the DK up from 1/4 of the Death Knight's damage, up to an incredible 1/3.

- Blood-Caked Blade/Necrosis: These are obvious. With so much more white damage, attacks that benefit from weapon-speed are now incredible DPS gains. The 3rd point in BCB can be used in Subversion, though I feel that the 3% crit to the abilities can be negligible by comparison to an almost 30% chance to deal extra damage on each white hit (which, at 1.6~ speed for 600 damage weapons is amazing).

- Frost Strike/Howling Blast, Rime and Killing Machine: These are what add to the 'priority system' of the Frost Death Knight; while it used to be 'wait for Rime procc/Howling Blast to come off CD', the Threat of Thassarian and NoCS damage increases have made it far more worthwhile to spend your KM proccs on Frost Strikes over Howling Blasts, unless there are more than two mobs in the vicinity.

- Unbreakable Armor: This should obviously be more to everyone than just a defensive cooldown.

With the strength bonus increased to 20%, it works greatly when combined with a 'blow cooldowns' macro. This allows me to pop my trinkets and Blood Fury.

To put it simply; after I've run in and used the first two lines of my rotation (IT, PS, OBL, BS, BS, OBL, OBL, OBL) I will pop my UA macro, activating Blood Tap (thereby giving me a Death Rune), all of my offensive cooldowns, and raise my ghoul.

Of course, that's in a 5-man setting for most bosses. If I'm in a raid, I would assumedly save it for Bloodlust--the ghoul, anyway. The others are usable more than once in the fight in the time it would get to the (I'm guessing) 40% or so that Bloodlust would be cast at.

Stats

The general consensus for the average Death Knight seems to be 'stack strength'--unless your gem socket is yellow and adds a +4 strength bonus or higher, in which case, use an orange strength/crit gem (Inscribed, Etched if absolutely necessary and low on hit).

I mentioned above that Frost DKs are best using the Relentless Meta (21 Agi) with a Nightmare Tear as the net gain from using only one blue (read: purple) gem is stronger than using two blue (again: purple) gems. Rather than using the +10 strength and +15 stamina gems, we use a single +10 all stats gem, with this meta, thus freeing up the other slot where another purple gem would be, for an all-strength gem.

This does not hold strictly true for all speccs; Unholy can currently use one or the other, though it seems to be regarded that Relentless is still the better choice, due to the easier requirements.

I am only leaning towards 28% base crit chance (30% with HoW), but thanks to many talents (Annihilation, Rime, and the averaging-out of Killing Machine), most of my main abilities are sitting at around the 50%~ mark. Still not worth gemming for crit, however.

Obviously this can change depending on specc. Blood seems to be quite ArPen-focused, while the changes to Unholy cause that spec to also lean in the same direction. For now, I am steering clear of the ArPen until more testing has been done--with the faster 1H speed, it is assumed that ArPen would be a more welcome stat--and while there is nothing wrong with ArPen and gear, it is not something I am currently going for.

With the added strength from Endless Winter (the new 4%), it is assumed that the stat weighing for Strength will increase enough to warrant the +15 Strength on gloves enchant (over 44AP), but I have not gotten around to it just yet.

Greater Speed on my cloak is again to aid in the faster attack speed, the haste is rated higher than agility, according to my current gearing and build in RAWR. I do not, should not, and will not gem or enchant for Haste over strength or AP, however, same with ArPen. and crit.

As can be seen from my gear, I am sitting above the hit-cap for dual-wield special abilities. I am not gemming for it, simply letting it appear on my gear. Whilst again, I will not be trying to aim for it, it is acknowledged that gaining hit over the spell-hit cap is still a DPS gain, as it can earn more white hits. I am aware that it is not worth trying to hard-cap it though.

Expertise I feel is as high as I can get it at the moment through gear I am able to obtain (not including the 226 plate belt). I would of course like to reach the 26 Expertise DPS cap.

I will listen to recommendations as to whether or not people think that it's worth using Tuskarr's Vitality on boots--I may have become too accustomed to having Pursuit of Justice, so it may be worth looking into, for the run-speed increase--however, I think that Unholy Presence (hotkeyed) often benefits me in that way.

Glyphs

I use the (currently) standard Major Glyphs for Frost;

- Glyph of Obliterate - Because 20% more Obliterate damage is a no-brainer, really.

- Glyph of Frost Strike - Allows for more frost-strikes between our rune cooldowns.

- Glyph of Disease - Thanks to the change in 3.3.3 allowing GoD to refresh the abilities given by the diseases as well as the diseases themselves, this glyph essentially allows us to use just one Blood Rune to refresh diseases, leaving us to Obliterate-spam to our heart's content. Provided we can make the most out of the strict cooldown (you have to be very aware of the time left on your rune refreshes and the disease timers), the DPS gained is invaluable, and makes a large difference to the Glyph of Icy Touch in 3.3.2.

Minor Glyphs are the few standard glyphs that are considered the best;

- Glyph of Horn of Winter (everyone likes longer-lasting buffs)

- Glyph of Raise Dead (because nobody likes reagents)

- Glyph of Pestilence (woo, great range for our diseases!)

Research!

Raid Encounters

This is simple enough; a combination of WoWWiki, WoWHead, TankSpot, Google and YouTube.

Sometimes these overlap.

Class Knowledge

Elitist Jerks, first and foremost. I also frequent the official WoW class forums and the MMO-Champion forums (yes, yes, I know).

Addendum

I apologize to the reader if I came across as egotistical, opinionated or arrogant throughout any of my application, I would just like to stress that I believe I fill the criteria of being an excellent candidate. I try my hardest in whatever I do, and do my best to outperform those that I play with--not to epeen, but to simply prove that I am able to do just as well as anyone else, given the right circumstances. I put that down to a few competitive raid-spots on Guinnein, against a few 25-man geared Ret Paladins. Being able to show that I can play my class as well as or better than those players despite their gear advantages makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I am aware that I am undergeared for most of what Prophecy does, and I also understand that there is a long list of potential applicants, and that you are only currently recruiting DPS Warriors on an apply-and-trial basis.I do however, hope that this application shows that I am a player of good calibre.

Also, I do not mean to come across as SRS BSNS as I probably am--I understand that there will always be the occasional silly moments, I just want people to realize that I will be as serious as the raid calls for, and will not mess around when the time comes.

Thank you for reading.

(And I apologize for any great walls of text that may have crit you, killed you, and given you any durability loss and/or resurrection sickness.)

[Selassie]

Greetins Rheggash,

Thank you for you application. We will discuss it and get back to you in a few days.

[Rheggash]

And thank you for the response!

[Selassie]

Greetins again,

I'm very sorry to say this; but we're unable to accept your application at this point.

Best of luck in your further adventures.

[Rheggash]

No worries, my hopes weren't high. Thanks for the response!