The goal of Triple Lifebloom is to share thoughts and advice concerning Resto Druids, Healing, and Raiding in general. During progression, most posts will be aimed specifically at the bosses my guild Full Spectrum is currently progressing on.
My personal history
I began playing WoW in 2007. My very first toon was an Undead Warlock on Proudmoore, and boy did I love that thing. With my Blueberry always by my side, I played as Affliction doing quests, running dungeons, and competing in PVP. To try to improve, I initiated a personal challenge to see how many mobs I could kill at once. I loved exploring so much that I ghost ran through Western Plaguelands all the way to Stratholme in Eastern Plaguelands. I had deleted my Hearthstone because I couldn't sell it, little did I know how helpful it would be!
I still recall the day I learned about raiding. Riding the zeppelin from Orgrimmar to Undercity, I encountered a player with really cool looking gear so naturally I assumed this player was extraordinarily rich. I asked him where he got his money and how much he made, to which he replied with “raiding, usually 70g per night.” Of course, my mind was blown that one could make that much gold by doing things like raid Crossroads and Tarren Mill so I looked forward to the day when I could raid the Alliance towns such as Southshore.
A few months later when I was level 70, I discovered what it actually means to raid, and the idea sounded cool. After finally gearing up my toon, I first set foot in Karazahn, which was a wonderful experience. I still distinctly recall being killed every attempt on Shade of Aran by Arcane Explosion. I loved standing close to bosses. My first time in there, I won Boots of Foretelling and Gloves of the Fallen Hero. I remember somebody whispered my angrily about rolling on two pieces, but I didn’t know any better, and you weren’t able to trade loot back then. Nevertheless, I improved and became wary of expected social conventions, and one of my friends got me into a couple Zul’Aman raids before Wrath of the Lich King was released.
The beginnings of Wrath were the first time I fully immersed myself in the raiding aspect of WoW. Naxxramas marked the first time I cleared all content while current, except three drakes which I did the next tier. I did my first theorycrafting in T7, including some ventures on the forums. I really enjoyed the team atmosphere that raiding offered, more so than PVP in which players reduced communication to lots of caps lock and ad hominem attacks. Rated Battlegrounds didn't exist at the time, so I could not choose to surround myself with friendlier players.
Regardless, something happened that fueled my desire to become the best player I could. My guild Hells Bells merged with Utopià, but they didn't want me to go with them. I was left behind because I wasn't good enough. After working hard and leading dozens of PUG raids, I joined Sparkle Magic, my first hardcore guild. Unfortunately, I felt out of place among the personalities there so I joined Wardens of Fate until I decided to take a break from the game during ToC.
Upon returning mid-ICC, I rolled a new warlock on Mok'Nathal where I went on to found the guild Dexterity in August of 2010. By October, we were 11/12H and proud of it. After spending two months trying to recruit a second reliable, I surrendered for the better of the group and quickly finished leveling Fumsy to tank – although I had planned to heal at level 80. We wiped endlessly on Heroic LK until the release of Cata, by which point we were regularly getting into the 40% range 2-healing with a Resto Druid and Resto Shammy and our Prot Pally handling dispels. Come Cata, we found a dependable tank, and I was finally able to go Resto. I loved it.
I eventually grew weary of guild leading and raid leading, so I found my replacement and began raiding with Flavour Country, where I eventually grew weary of raiding 16 hours per week and required another break from the game. After a sufficient hiatus, I returned to the game because Dexterity needed a healer once again. Unfortunately, the chemistry there was no longer the same, and raiding 3 days per week was more than preferred. Now, I am a proud member of Full Spectrum where I fit very well.
