Gear Optimization

Alright folks, after 2 very productive raiding days this week, we are entering into a raiding stage where the bosses arent as forgiving and certain steps ought to be taken by each individual raider or a trial raider. Skimming through the armory links, i see not everyone is properly raid-optimized, which is understandable if you just come back from a break, but this should be sorted asap nonetheless.

I think the title speaks for itself and i am sure that everyone here should already know this, but given the importance of this, allow me to elaborate:

Enchants & Gems:

In the beginning of a new tier, you might not always have the chance to get the loot with the exact secondary stats that you need most and there is very little you can do about it, but what you CAN do is to optimize your enchants and gems. With enchants alone (excluding weapon enchant) you get +275 of your top secondary stat and if you get lucky with a couple of socekts, that number goes to ~400.

What you need to do? It is a MUST for each raider to have the following:
Neck - +75 stat;
Back - +100 stat + 10 speed;
2xRings - +50 stat;
Weapon - the best enchant available. I.e. for casters, dont go with the bleeding enchant, but get one that procs stats.
Gems - at minimum get the +50 stat. If you feel fancy or get your hands on a BiS heroic or Mythic item with socket, feel free to go with the +75 ones.

None of those are restrictively expensive, so please make sure to sort this our by the time of our next raid.

Consumables:

As may be expected, each player must be all-round prepared for the raids and this also includes:

Augment Runes for +50 stat. Farm Vol'jin's Headhunters Rep and you will be hooked for life. But by that time - make sure you have a stack of those in your bags.
Flasks - I doubt there is need to explain;
Pots - Pre-potting is a must for every serious raider.
Food - Feasts will be provided, but always try to get the +125 food on your own. 

Craftables & Vendor Items:

As i mentioned, we have a few people who just re-rolled a new class or are just coming back from an extended raiding break, so understandably they are a bit under geared. Luckily, Blizz were kind enough to introduce countless catch-up mechanics so please make sure to make good use of them!

Apexis - While doing your dailes you get a sh*t load of Apexis Crystals, so please make sure to prioritize getting items with them over mounts at first. For 25k Apexis you can get a 695 IL item, so do make sure yo exploit that. Any raider who is already decently geared can still replace any leftover 685 items with this as well!

Craftables - with the price of Savage Blood getting to double-digits, it is very easy and cheap to get a 685 IL item(4/6 upgrade). And even going for the last 2 upgrades will not be that expensive as Felblight is surprisingly cheap as well. If you need any JC or Engi craftables, please feel free to contact me in-game.

LFR and Mythic Dungeons - doing your weekly LFR should go without saying, but another very viable gearing option that was just introduced is the Mythic dungeons, where you can get your hands on 685-705 IL gear!   


So as i said, getting loot can be a bit RNG, but for the Enchants, Gems and Consumables - there should be no excuses.  

If you have any questions, considerations or comments regarding the above, please feel free to share them here.

Cheers