My Bags Runneth Over

Back in the day, when I was a little baby druid running around the forests of Ashenvale, and my husband (then fiancé) was a big bad raider, he would make mention of how many bag-slots full of stuff he carried around with him on a regular basis. Since I only had my hearthstone and some potions that I considered necessities, it boggled my mind to see his bags filled to the brim, and I just couldn't believe that he really needed all that.

But of course, when I got up to 70, and especially once I started running Karazhan, I realized that I needed a ton of stuff too. The stuff I'd carried around for 5-mans while leveling just didn't cut it anymore. Wait, Wizard Oil, what's that? And what do you mean a stack of 10 Wild Quillvine isn't enough to have on hand? Oh, and I should carry my healing gear with me all the time, not just leave it to collect dust in the bank?

I try to have a very clear organization to my bags. That's getting harder and harder as I realize there are more and more things I need, but I think I've finally settled on something that works -- at least for now -- so I thought I'd share with the group.

Bag 1: Raid necessities (reagents & consumables)
Bag 2: 2 rows of pots, 6 slots of other random essentials
Bag 3: Additional gear (full healing set, a couple spare idols/trinkets, & my feral staff)
Bag 4: Random quest items, motes I'm farming, things to be sent to alts, etc (i.e. - temporary, but important)
Bag 5: completely empty, random loot to be vendored stays here
* all of these are 18-slots, except of course the unchangeable Bag 5

Bags 4 & 5 are doing fine the way they are. Bag 3 was starting to overflow, and I finally had to put certain idols & trinkets that I never use in the bank, as well as all my feral gear except the staff. However, now that I'm giving more thought to pure damage vs spell hit items, I'm sure it will start overflowing into bag 4 again.

Bags 1 & 2 are under control as well, but these took the most coordination to finally get to my liking. So, in addition to showing off my organizational success, I thought I'd take the opportunity to give a rundown of my essential raid items. Some of this may seem like overkill, but I'm a person who likes to be prepared.

Bag 1

You might argue that the Hearthstone isn't a "raid" essential and should be in Bag 2, but . . . it just fits there. Other contents are as follows:

One full stack Rebirth reagents, two full stacks GotW reagents, two full stacks of water, 1 stack of bandages, 1 stack each of three different well-fed foods ([Blackened Sporefish], [Poached Bluefish], [Golden Fish Sticks]), 2 stacks of [Superior Wizard Oil], 1 stack of [Superior Mana Oil], 1 stack of [Flask of Blinding Light], and 1 stack each of two battle elixirs ([Adept's Elixir], [Elixir of Healing Power]) and two guardian elixirs ([Elixir of Draenic Wisdom], [Elixir of Major Mageblood]).

This should be more than I EVER need in any given night of raiding . . . but that's the idea. I would much rather stay a week ahead of where I need to be, supply-wise, than run out of reagents and have to start ghetto-buffing everyone, or go with a well-fed buff or elixir that isn't quite right for that specific encounter. I like having options. The Blackened Sporefish, Superior Mana Oil, and Elixir of Major Mageblood I don't use as often (at least not while DPS), but I like having them for very mana-intensive fights. The Superior Mana Oil and Elixir of Major Mageblood I do use if I'm called on to heal, along with the Golden Fish Sticks and the Elixir of Healing Power. These I'm not as strict with myself on keeping full stacks (as you can see), because I don't go through them nearly as quickly. (That's also why I only carry one stack of Mana Oil, as opposed to two stacks of the Wizard Oil.)

For the damage food and elixirs, I like to keep them between 15-20 at the start of any given raid night. And I always keep two of the Wizard Oil so that I don't have to worry if I'm down to just 1 charge, I always have that extra stack in reserve. The flasks I usually let get down to 3 before I make more (or refill the stack with what I already have sitting in the bank).

The reagents and water, on the other hand, I always make sure to have topped off. Those aren't items that enhance my performance, add a little bit of damage or make my mana last a little longer. Those really are essentials; if I run out, it would be blatantly obvious, and would needlessly hold up the raid.

Bag 2

The top six slots are those "random essentials" I mentioned. Mount and riding crop are a given, but I do like to keep my fishing and cooking materials on hand as well.

No, those green glowing rocks aren't healthstones. It's a stack of [Charged Crystal Focus], created from the [Depleted Crystal Focus] that drop off mobs near Ogri'la. They aren't quite as powerful as Warlock healthstones, but they're on the same cooldown timer (which means separate from potions), and are very nice to have when you don't have a Warlock in the group. I like to keep a couple on me, just in case.

I keep 3 stacks of the [Super Mana Potion], as well as 2 stacks of [Unstable Mana Potion]. The lesser ones I use either very close to the end of a fight where I don't want to waste my good potions, or very close to the beginning of a fight, when I want to get that cooldown started, but a larger potion would overfill me.

Also, since I'm an alchemist, I've replaced the standard [Super Healing Potion] with [Mad Alchemist's Potion]. They give back more health, plus mana as well, so that if I'm in dire need of popping a health potion, I don't miss out on the mana I could probably use as well. Also, when I use them out soloing, they have a chance to give a random battle or guardian elixir buff. However, they won't overwrite existing elixirs or flasks, so I rarely see that effect in raids.

If you like the idea of the health/mana combo but aren't an alchemist, anyone can use [Super Rejuvenation Potion]. They do the same thing, but without the nifty "side effect."

The four open slots in the middle I may use for warlock healthstones or mage water, but most often I use it if I have 1 potion left in a stack. Rather than going in a bit short-handed, I'll stick that one potion up there, and replace the stack (so, rather than having 6 Mad Alchemist's Potions, I'll keep 11 till I use up that one extra).

This is, as I said, WAY more than I ever use in one night of raiding. But I still like my setup for a couple reasons. First, if I ever do, for some reason, forget to restock between raids, chances are I'll still be fine for the next night. Second, if there are some less responsible raiders (or someone who's normally prepared but just had a random space-out) lacking in materials, I can afford to give out a few. It's nice knowing that if a healer says in Vent, halfway through our run, "Oh man, I only have 2 mana potions left, anybody have any extras?" that I do have extras I probably won't be needing that night.

Maybe I take my preparedness to the extreme. But I'd much rather be at this extreme than at the other end.