Getting Back Into Raiding

[Nootz]

This is probably posted about a hundred times here:

I quit hardcore raiding back in October. My guild was US ~30-40 at the time and I have a couple of those top 40 kills on my Death Knight character. The thing is, my DK's item level is only hovering around 868ish. Which was higher for that early in Nightmare, but from streams I've watched it's bottom of the barrel now (for raiding). So my question is, what kind of path/timeline am I looking at for getting back into it. I don't want to do the hardcore life anymore with having to maintain mythic raiding alts and the like, but I also don't want to not be able to complete content while it's current. Let's say the level I'm looking for is at least Heroic raiding done very early and maybe a few Mythic kills, but not 7/7M in the first 3 months then farm because I just don't have that kind of time anymore.

I'm probably going to make my Death Knight an alt at this point and go to being a healer and none of them are leveled to 110. Would any raiding guilds even pick up a player like that this "late" into the expansion? It would involve gearing me and getting me raid ready for Nighthold. Pugging Mythic+ would be out of the question since, from the last time I played, players wouldn't even take my 868 DK to +4 because it was "shit geared" in the group finder. I know it's going to be a long gearing up process and I wouldn't be getting back into the raiding scene if I didn't want to do that.

TL ; DR: Been gone from hardcore top 40 raiding for months. Main is around 20-30 ilvls undergeared now. Switching that main to be an alt and leveling a healer to 110 and gearing it. What kind of gearing path/timeframe for getting geared am I looking at? Would a raiding guild (even a casual raiding guild) even pick up such an undergeared player even if I had MoP/WoD/and Legion Top 100 experience?

[HumbleDuck]

Ah, just like me. I miss raiding so much, but again being carried in alt runs feels so great xD

I don't think you can get into any raiding team for night hold, atleast not during progression, but I believe if you enjoy the class you gonna lvl up, just do it, if you stick with a class that you don't like just for the sake of raiding, you'll be burnt out fast. At least I did.

[Nootz]

Ah, just like me. I miss raiding so much, but again being carried in alt runs feels so great xD

I don't think you can get into any raiding team for night hold, atleast not during progression, but I believe if you enjoy the class you gonna lvl up, just do it, if you stick with a class that you don't like just for the sake of raiding, you'll be burnt out fast. At least I did.

I've been a healer for my entire raiding lifetime until Legion where I wanted to do DPS. Which, exactly as you said, burned me out fast. Healing is where I'm comfortable and enjoying the game more. I wonder if I could make it at least onto a Normal casual guild's Nighthold team?

[Azzurri]

Kinda the same story only not as hardcore.

I started raiding a month ago, and wanted only to try Heroic because I didn't think I want to do Mythic, but now that EN is on farm I really want to progress mythic. I hadn't raid since Vanilla WoW and I was on the top guild on the server at the time.

I have a cool guild, and we're looking to start but we need more Rdps and players in general.

[HumbleDuck]

I've been a healer for my entire raiding lifetime until Legion where I wanted to do DPS. Which, exactly as you said, burned me out fast. Healing is where I'm comfortable and enjoying the game more. I wonder if I could make it at least onto a Normal casual guild's Nighthold team?

I think you would in 2000+ guilds. They still would clear content while it's relevant, just slower.

[Nootz]

I think you would in 2000+ guilds. They still would clear content while it's relevant, just slower.

I'm prepared for that at this point. Legion looks like it's going to be a casual ride expansion even if I wanted to get hardcore again. I'm just too far behind for the top 100 US raiding. How long is the gearing timeframe now, roughly? Because with Mythic+1 pugs expecting 870 item levels now it's going to be nearly impossible to jump on one of those runs unless I'm using my key for carries.

[Deleted]

I'm prepared for that at this point. Legion looks like it's going to be a casual ride expansion even if I wanted to get hardcore again. I'm just too far behind for the top 100 US raiding. How long is the gearing timeframe now, roughly? Because with Mythic+1 pugs expecting 870 item levels now it's going to be nearly impossible to jump on one of those runs unless I'm using my key for carries.

Currently, top ~400 guilds are mostly 2/3 atm.
Honestly with your resume you could probably get into a top 500 guild when they clear it & then be fully up to speed by the time nighthold releases.
Personally, I was (untill a month ago) in a top 600 guild, we raid 4 days a week & didnt have to do heroic sideclears.

[Nootz]

Currently, top ~400 guilds are mostly 2/3 atm.
Honestly with your resume you could probably get into a top 500 guild when they clear it & then be fully up to speed by the time nighthold releases.
Personally, I was (untill a month ago) in a top 600 guild, we raid 4 days a week & didnt have to do heroic sideclears.

I just don't know of any way to get geared besides joining a guild and letting them carry me and I'm not sure there are many that will do that. World Quests and Mythics will only gear a character so much and pugging Mythic+ on a lower item level is way out of the question. That's my biggest concern. I know I'm going to be gearing for a LONG time, but finding a guild willing to carry me will be difficult.

[Deleted]

Let's say the level I'm looking for is at least Heroic raiding done very early and maybe a few Mythic kills, but not 7/7M in the first 3 months then farm because I just don't have that kind of time anymore.

For that level of raiding your 868 is already overgeared. You'll be just fine.
Most of the lower tied guilds in the bracket you're looking for are desperate for people - they're in constant roster struggle, because people come and go constantly. They'd probably take your 840 freshly leveled healer and be happy with it.

Generally, the guilds that "clear HC and get coupld of Mythic kills" don't have the same problems as a top40 guild has - they probably don't care much about gear because they're busy trying to tell their people what that fire patch on the ground does to their health.

You'll mostly likely be better than most of the players - even if you join the raid without any gear.

[Deleted]

I just don't know of any way to get geared besides joining a guild and letting them carry me and I'm not sure there are many that will do that. World Quests and Mythics will only gear a character so much and pugging Mythic+ on a lower item level is way out of the question. That's my biggest concern. I know I'm going to be gearing for a LONG time, but finding a guild willing to carry me will be difficult.

Doing myth+ is extremely easy on your ilevel, you can get +10 without any difficulties

[Cheze]

if you want to raid and are reasonably competent many guilds will take you on; it doesn't take long to gear someone up when even many 'casual-ish' raids can farm 7/7 m EN in an evening. We raid ~10 hours/week (currently 7/7 1/3M) and would probably take a look at any 860ish applicant unless we had 3+ of that class already, and I doubt we're terribly unique in this regard. Many guilds will be hurting for applicants/raiders as EN/ToV wind down.

If you want to get into a top 100 guild that might be a bit harder, but even many at that level are likely to at least look at you based on your prior experience (again, gearing people up is easy if the raid thinks it's worthwhile.)

[czimgreen]

As a healer, you dont be ditched because of your ilvl in M+. That's a DPS problem only. I mean you wont jump straight from M+2 to M+10, but you will always get invited as healer. I find M+ gearing extremely fast and easy for healers and tanks. Yeah you will probably fail 1 or 2 out of 10 Mythics because of pugs, but come on where's the fun in all perfect runs ;p

[Cheze]

and yeah, m+ are pretty easy to find as a healer. Not as easy as for a tank, but it rarely takes more than a few minutes to find a run unless you're looking for something highly specific.