Well I have finally done it......

This is Babygorn from the the Allerian server. I have been playing 4 years now and I have 4 level 70 toons with two on the way up. My mage was my first Alliance toon that I leveled to 70 after starting with an Undead warlock on a PvP server (what a pain! :) ) My guild Schadenfreude is currently working on end game material such as Hyjal, SSC, etc. All of this history is to tell you that I come to blog with a practical view backed by years of experience so....take that!

I started out as a dyed in the wool, burn your face off, deep (51pts) into the fire tree fire mage. I did well starting in Kara and not doing too poorly but something felt...missing. Like the high damage other mages, shammys, warlocks, etc seemed to be pouring out and I wasn't. Part of this was my spec. Part is that mages are gimped right now (which is suppossed to be addressed in WOTLK making us KINGS OF DAMAGE again:) ) And part was the fact that I would not come to a raid prepared which is the subject of my first blog: RESPONSIBILITIES TO RAIDS AND BEING PREPARED!

I know, I know.....we all like to think that we do great dps the way our lovely little selves are but the fact of the matter is that we may do ok by just showing up and playing, gracing the raid with your awesomeness, we could be doing SO MUCH BETTER if we brought the pots, food, even equipment to the same raid. Since I will be dealing with the mage class I will only delve into the needs directly to them.

Lets start with the little things first. Potions. Flasks. Food. Arcane elixir will increase your spelll power by up to 20. Considered a Battle elixir and lasts an hour. Consider how many spells you cast during a raid and you will realize that you would be missing out on A LOT of dps if you dont utilize these little dittys. I mentioned these first because it is prolly one of the least expensive items to boost your dps immediately. Poached bluefish (from the cooking side) will immediately bonus you +23 spell damage and +20 spirit WHILE giving your little lovely back 7500 pts of health. So right there you have a +43 bonus to ALL damage (notice the word "mage" in there?? ) right off the bat.

Flask of Pure Death counts as both a Guardian and Battle elixir granting a bonus to shadow, frost, and fire spells by +80 for two hours. This effect lasts through death which makes the expense of these humdingers (about 40g at current AH price) A LITTLE easier to swallow:) I like this Flask because I can have bonus to both my frost and fire spells. I AM an arcane POM mage (Presence of Mind for all you newbies that allows me to cast an instantaneous pyroblast FTW:) )I will use blizzard as an AoE at times so these plus to damage really stack up. There are other flasks and elixirs that work but these fit my build and the style of play so I suggest do as I say....or not. At your pwn peril :) Get it??

Now lets talk about armour. Armoury on the main page of the WoW website is a great place to research armour for your toon. PLEASE dont make the raid leader single you out at the begining of the raid to tell you your gear needs to be upgraded. As in your guild. Read. It is NOT the raid leader's responsibility to give you this info. If you have a class lead, ask them. But, I have found, the best info is the info you find for yourself. If you are unsure about it, ask someone who knows! We all can become our own experts if we try!

I could go on for days about responsibilities and preparedness for raids. Be early and prepared. Be signed up. Have a good attitude. Have fun!

I will sign off now. Come back soon for another informative and slightly irreverant post on really important stuff!

Babygorn
ROCK ON!