Unholy Death Knight - 25man Raid

[Lannei]

Hi there, this turned out to be a small wall of text. I hope you can stick with me for a little while. 

Character: Lannei
Armory:  http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/kazzak/Lannei/advanced
Class/Spec: Death Knight (Unholy Deliciousness)
Raid: 25 Man


Personal Info:
I'm a 31 year old teacher from The Netherlands. I teach Dutch at college (green education). I also have my own editing business, I edit and proofread books for several publishing houses and individual writers.


Spec:
I leveld a dk in Wrath and fell in love with unholy.

I've always had a frost offspec when dualwield tanking was the way to face those nasty dragons in Violet Hold. Nowadays I have a blood offspec, with a fairly decent tankset to go with it. I mainly use it to tank hc's, lfr's and scenario's now. I used to be a MT and a backup tank in previous guilds.


Class:
It's hard to write out my rotation, as I prioritize most of my abilities, depending on the situation. I've been unholy for so long, pushing those buttons all just come very naturally. I read MMO Champ and EJ to keep up with my class and the changes.


Alts:
Level 90 Priest: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/kazzak/Jaila/advanced on which I raided in the past and raided on with my current guild. I'm looking to join on my dk.


Professions:
Inscription and Alchemy (recently changed from transmute- to elixermaster)


Raid Experience:
I have raided both hardcore and casual since Wrath, on my main (DK) and on alts (priest and hunter). Always raided, loved the unholy face bashing. However, I have been raiding v?ry casually since the Pandas joined us and I miss it very very much.


DK:
I started raiding on my dk at the end of Naxx. Cleared all content when it was actual and very challenging. 
Naxx 15/15
Ulduar 14/14
ToC 5/5 + 5/5 HC

ICC 12/12 + 12/12 HC (DPS & offtank)
BD 6/6 + 3/6 HC (officer & raidleader)
BoT 4/4 + 1/5 HC (officer & raidleader)
Firelands 7/7 + 2/7 HC (officer, raidleader & offtank)

Dragonsoul 8/8 + 2/8 HC (GM, raidleader & MT)

MV - raidbreak
HoF - raidbreak
TES 3/4 (old content)
ToT 4/12 - with current guild that is falling apart. 


Priest:
I started raiding on my priest in ToC. I've always healed. I've always been disc, later on I got a holy spec too.

ToC 5/5
ICC 12/12 + 11/12 HC (When disc priest were still very populair)
RS 1/1
BD 3/6 (alt runs)
BoT 3/4 (alt runs)
In Firelands heb ik  alleen geraid op mn dk.

Dragonsoul 8/8  + 1/8 HC (GM & Raidleader)
MV + HoF - raidbreak
TeS 4/4 - (old content) 
ToT 4/12 - with current guild that is falling apart.


Previous Guilds:
I've basically been on Thunderhorn since I started playing WoW late TBC. I've been in a couple of guilds on that realm. I've been an officer, guildleader and raidleader in most of them. Some split up, others dried up. the last one I left due to disagreements about the 25 man raidgroup being stripped down to a 10man group, leaving 10+ people without raids or a dedicated raidleader. 

Those 10+ people formed a new guild, we leveled it up and we got to a point of occasional 25man raids, but mostly two 10mans. Two 10mans slowly turned in to one 10man. Recruitment was hard so we transferred the guild to Kazzak. We renamed it Dark Desire and intended to continue 10-man raiding with one or two groups.

Some of the guys and girls transferred back fairly fast because they missed the old realm, others were forced to leave game, most of us just wanted to get back into 25man raiding. We desperately missed the good old days. We realized it was not going to happen unless me and the officers were to put in a hell of a lot more hours than we were psychically and mentally able to. We turned to PvP. Didn't work out either. We decided to all do what we enjoy most. For some that is spending time with the wife and kids, for others it's stepping down from leadershiproles ingame and try to enjoy the game on a more sociable level. The guild dried up and most of the time it was just me and one or two others online.

I joined Cuddle Vendor a couple of months ago. A lovely bunch. The raidteam is falling apart though and a lot of people looking for loot, love and raiding in different guilds. And again I log on, do some farm work, blow kisses to my piggies, log to my banker and log off again due to a lack of companions being online. Talking to my Black Tabby just isn't the same.


Availability:
I used to spend between 4-8 hours ingame per day with a minimum of 9 hours and a maximum of 15 hours a week raiding. I can't really commit to that anymore. My own business, going to the gym and my regular job don't allow me to spend that much time raiding or hanging around in Mhoo-town/Ogrimmar getting drunk and eating Buttery Wheat rolls.

Your two raid days would suit me perfectly.


Communication:
I've got all the voicecomms installed and got a working headset and mic. I'm generally very chatty, easy going and always in for a laugh or a serious discussion. I am also a regular user and great fan of forums.


Addons/UI:
I use Elv UI. Most of the stuff I need for raiding are included (like Omen). Besides Elv, I use DocsDebugRunes to keep track of my runes, diseases and runic power. For tanking I use a bloodshield tracker, Taunt Tattle and Tankwarnings.

I also use DBM, Death Note and BigBrother.


Other Games:
With my job and my own business I don't really have time for other games.


Why Iron Edge?
You seem like a nice bunch and you raid 25man. Something I've passionately enjoyed for a long time, but wasn't able to do anymore.

Most guilds on this server mass invite people. It's hard to make new friends (even with a stack of Salty Pretzels and booze) when one has been a part of a tight knit group for so long. Arisawa told me about you lot. I got a nice vibe from snooping about on the forums.


What can I offer Iron Edge?
I'm always in for a hc, scenario, old content, maybe even a BG or two. I'm a dedicated raider who takes the job seriously. I bring my own flasks, food, pots and good spirit to raids. I read up on tacts and watch some explanatory vids. When a fight is new to me though, I need to participate in the fight once or twice to get the hang of it. After a couple of tries I understand the mechanics and abilities thoroughly and react accordingly. I suppose having been a raidleader, having a overview of a fight and picking up fast never left my system.


Where did I hear about Iron Edge?
From a guildie. Surprisingly I did not find you on forums when on my quest for a nice raiding guild with a strong community side.


Last Words?
Thank you for reading. I saw you've had a couple of dk's applying. I really hope you are willing to consider my appplication. 


Also. I thought you might like a selfie of me, my Tabby and my Piggies.

[safire]

I like this application, nice written. I don't know dks but you're missing 1 enchant on your back (maybe a new item).
I think the dk roster is quite full, though, I cannot see why we'd decline this appliction as I think you'd fit very well with us. Goodluck :)

[Lannei]

Thank you!

It's a new cloak, just enchanted it, didn't log out yet. Should be fixed now :)

[Gaeios(Graxlos)]

Great application. Roster is slightly crowded, but will get back to you very soon.

[Cabronsote]

I had an LFR with him he did great in there, for what a LFR is worth, definitely a thumbs up from me

[Lannei]

I had an LFR with him he did great in there, for what a LFR is worth, definitely a thumbs up from me

Her ;) (and ty!)

[Auja]

The application is really well written as safire told. Gemming and enchants seems ok, however the gear is a bit on low side. Good luck with ur application :)

[Ezzardo]

My own business, going to the gym and my regular job don't allow me to spend that much time raiding or hanging around in Mhoo-town/Ogrimmar getting drunk and eating Buttery Wheat rolls.

I had an LFR with him he did great in there, for what a LFR is worth, definitely a thumbs up from me

Her ;) (and ty!)

Picture?

Joke aside. Nice application, good luck!

[Schumacher]

PSV or Ajax?

[Sven(zenith)]

Few questions,
1 What rotation do you use for unholy?
2 why are you unholy while your current gear supports frost better?
3 why are you gemming stamina while you can still reforge hit away from your helmet and 4 get it back through gems?
5 why do you have a hit/haste gem while you didnt even gem haste in your yellow sockets.
6 why do you gem purple in your chest but not in your weapon while the bonus per socket is exactly the same?

will have some more questions depending on your answer on q1

[Lannei]

Right. I'll write up a post with a bit of geekyness. Hang on. 

[Lannei]

1 What rotation do you use for unholy?
As single target fights go, I try to use Festerblight as much as I can. Although I don't have the desired trinket for this playstyle (or the best race, i.e. orc), I found it has improved my dps significantly.

The principle of Festerblight is rather simple: you use all your trinkets and buffs then apply your diseases with Unholy Blight. For the duration of the fight, you use Festering Strike more often to keep these original diseases applied.

By stacking temporary buffs at the beginning of the fight and casting outbreak or plague strike with temporary buffs we can get extremely powerful diseases on a target and maintain them for the duration of the fight.

More details on that playstyle can be found HERE and HERE

Besides popping everything I have, keeping my diseases up to do maximum damage, I toot my horn whenever I can (have it macrod) and use ams for runic power gain and damage decrease. With the festerblight playstyle and a regular use of Bloodtap, there is room do more scourge strikes and lay down Death n Decays more often. I also try to keep my death coils stacked to transform Timmy into a big ugly monster as many times during a fight as possible. 

When my target is below 35% I apply Soul Reaper as often as I can for the extra shadow damage and the increased haste I get when the mob dies.


2 why are you unholy while your current gear supports frost better?
I find frost to be a very boring playstyle. As I wrote in my application, I've been unholy for so long, it has become a second nature. I wouldn't know what to do if I have to face those nasty bosses without Timmy by my side.


3 why are you gemming stamina while you can still reforge hit away from your helmet and 4 get it back through gems?
I'm redoing my gems and reforges as we speak. My tankset was not complete, so I used dpsitems with stam gems to get that extra bit of HP.


5 why do you have a hit/haste gem while you didnt even gem haste in your yellow sockets.
I found the hit- and expertise cap a little difficult to reach, as my gear wasn't that high. Also I have not exactly been raiding at a steady pace for the last couple of months. So I didn't put maximum effort in getting my char gemmed in the best way possible. 


6 why do you gem purple in your chest but not in your weapon while the bonus per socket is exactly the same?
The chest is one of the items I also use for tanking, so I gemmed stamina.


I know my gems look messy. And I probably should have sorted it before I applied. I'm redoing everything as we speak. I hope this answers your questions.


(and @Schumacher: neither ;))

[Sven(zenith)]

:) thats exactly what I wanted to hear, got no more questions :) the question 1 was because you said : "I've been unholy for so long, pushing those buttons all just come very naturally." so I thought you wouldnt be playing festerblight since it's rather new to PvE(it was already common practise in pvp though)
also, I'd recommend you to use reforgelite addon and use simcraft from http://simulationcraft.org/ to calculate scaling(if you need help with this just mail me in-game, dont whisper since ill most likely will be either busy or afk studying for my exams) just put those weights into your reforgelite and reforges will sort themselves with a simple click on a button :)

[Lannei]

:) thats exactly what I wanted to hear, got no more questions :) the question 1 was because you said : "I've been unholy for so long, pushing those buttons all just come very naturally." so I thought you wouldnt be playing festerblight since it's rather new to PvE(it was already common practise in pvp though)

also, I'd recommend you to use reforgelite addon and use simcraft from http://simulationcraft.org/ to calculate scaling(if you need help with this just mail me in-game, dont whisper since ill most likely will be either busy or afk studying for my exams) just put those weights into your reforgelite and reforges will sort themselves with a simple click on a button :)

How can one not love Festerblight? ;)

I use reforgelite to reforge my goodies. I reforged some stuff and changed around some gems today too :)

[Auja]

Well, tbh i haven't seen a female (excuse me for my "female" word) dpsing as a melee dps. Moreover, it' a DK and unholy spec. As i know for so far the best dps spec for DK's is unholy. U can check all top guild dps DK's are unholy specced. So it would be interesting to see how u would do :) Good luck with ur application again.