Could you please introduce yourself and your guild?
Oh well I am Delemos, an officer in Death and Taxes. I mostly handle the healing roster for the guild.
Currently I am a Feral druid serving as the primary off tank. About Death and Taxes, we are a hardcore raiding guild with several players who are also competitive in PvP. With Sunwell, we are aiming to be among the first to kill Kil'Jaden and look forward to competing with guilds like SK-gaming =)
How much has Death and Taxes raided on PTR and how much did you get to test?
We went several times a week and were able to test most of the bosses and their revisions up to M'uru. Unfortunately, a good amount of testing was hampered by server inconsistencies so it was not as much as we had hoped.
Did you have the chance to raid anything together with GM's to do some extensive testing on a special boss or so?
Yes we did. Early on, there was significant GM assistance with Kalecgos and Brutallus, but not as much in the latter testing phases with Eredar Twins and M'uru.
Did you get testing done on several versions of the first bosses in the instance?
We did not really test the 2nd revision of Kalecgos; however, we were able to test most of the different revisions of Brutallus and Felmyst.
What did you think of the quality of this PTR compared to lets say BT/Hyjal?
Initially, the 2.4 PTR experience was superior to what we saw in BT/Hyjal. The GMs were quite helpful and content was being changed for the better. However, the server inconsistencies hampered our ability to really organize testing in the later weeks.
I guess it could be for the better that there is a degree of uncertainty to the bosses and that Blizzard locked them before the final version was pushed.
Do you think the bosses you have tested on the PTR had the right difficulty/tuned right? Latest versions that is.
The first version of Kalecgos was tuned very well for being an entry boss; however I can not really comment on the second version several beat and felt was easier. The last version of Brutallus we tested was tuned very well outside his spike damage output which felt too high. Felmyst really just needed some changes to Encapsulate to make it the right difficulty. Eredar Twins still had some mechanics that were broken so it was not possible to really get a feel for the difficulty required significant tuning.
M'uru required slight tuning to either the spawn rate of the additional mobs and/or their health points. The difficulty of the encounter is almost perfect though and I really look forward to it on live.
"The difficulty of the encounter is almost perfect though and I really look forward to it on live."
How do you like this new Gate idea in Sunwell from Blizzard that it will all open Simultaneously?
The recent changes to the whole Sunwell Gate concept is at least a compromise to the competing guilds in Sunwell. It does bring longevity to the zone as a whole since no guilds will be able to clear the instance in a short time. Overall, I prefer the new gate concept over the original; however, depending if the gates are truly simultaneous will determine if I prefer it. It is a blow though to the top guilds competing though.
How extensively has Death and Taxes Prepared for Sunwell? Guild requirements/Professions/Pots etc.
Outside PTR testing, we have made sure all members are prepared consumable wise and the guild bank is prepared to assist with Marks/Potions. There has been extensive discussion on all the encounters, and what class setups we plan to bring. A lot of our members are already Leatherworking and I do not recall many re-leveling for the new patterns.
What do you think about when you're creating a raid and what different hybrid classes are you using?
When you first analyze an encounter, you always look at what is the optimal raid composition you would want to bring. Then you compare that to the roster you have available. This is where the benefit and flexibility of hybrids really becomes apparent. You can fit them in quite well and that is why we run with a Boomkin while others run with Elemental Shamans. There really ends up being no "optimal" group for hybrids
But do you have all hybrid classes represented in the guild? And which ones do you find most viable for raiding?
We have tested most hybrid classes, but if there is one thing we have seen almost all roles are viable. Balance druids and Retribution paladins have recently been recognized as viable and I know several guilds who use Elemental shamans effectively. Enhancement shamans, feral druids, and shadow priests have been utilized already.
It really just depends on what you need in your raid as in if you are caster or melee heavy
What are your guys goal progression/competition wise for Sunwell, how hard will you be pushing for fast kills?
"Well we are aiming for world firsts on the last 3 bosses especially, so let the best guild win =)"
Which three guilds do you think will kill Kil'Jaeden first?
Well from the guilds who have done PTR, the guilds I would watch out for Nihilum, SK Gaming, and Vodka. Though some guilds whom we have not heard a lot from include Forte, Last Resort, and For the Horde.
US wise Premonition and Vis Maior remain threats as well.
Last question is not really related to sunwell - I'm sure alot people have heard about your recent drama, Also remember your previous drama threads mostly regarding girls, could you tell us something about that? =)
Personally, I haven't kept tabs on those events; however, quoting one of our guildmates: Sure. We love camwhore, if they're good players we like them even better. If they're bad players, we enjoy laughing at them. I don't think you could really call it drama, it's not disruptive to our guild or raiding as a whole. It does however, provide endless entertainment.
Thanks to Delemos & Death and Taxes for the interview!
Website: www.dtguilds.com
Interview series by gosey & mackzter.
- The Sunwell Race: Vodka
- The Sunwell Race: Last Resort
Next interview is delayed a bit, we will change the questions a bit for the next couple of top guilds about the experience of the first 3 bosses and such! But more will come very soon!
#sk.wow @ quakenet!
