Healer & Arena Rating Questions

Like many others my pursuit of Gladiator is in full forward motion. I've shown I can beat the best even when they're on to my Quad Box set up.

So with my 4X Shaman setup I play with an established pool of healers, but Im constantly looking for new talent to support the team. I figure the more Healers I can find he more likely I can log on and Arena. I dont like to let healers try out for the team by BG'ing because the 4Box just destroys everything. Not to mention I can't get a good feel for how the healer would perform in the Arena. And as much as gear is an issue, I can't use it as a judge of skill alone. I had a 3/5 Brutal Duelist Priest heal for 2k after 2 of my guys were down. He didnt say a word on vent, never communicated he was cc'd, and quite frankly left me feeling like he was conspiring against me. Any healer looks good when I face crap teams, but the only place Im going to find Full S3 teams is in a rated match, so this is where I let them try out.

So in the search for better talent Im also frustrating some of my existing healers with the Rating Fluctuation. Its common for me to lose anywhere from 100-150 points by letting someone try it out. I justify the points loss by telling my core group that I'm going for unbeatable. Is this realistic? Should I just keep the healers I have and play for rating? Only play against teams I stomp. or should I take the time now to learn how to beat these 2k teams from S3?

Others are complaining that the competition is too tough at the moment. I actually love the competition and I dont have a problem taking a Loss if I learn something new. But once again this is hell on the rating. Queueing up game after game to take loss after loss. But beating a top 40 BG group rated team is priceless to me. Ater losing so many times and then handing it to them, I feel like I'm making progress even though my rating might not show it.

I guess my real approach is learn to beat the best early in the season, while finding as many good healers along the way. And then at the end, take the best healers I've found and make a run at *Gladiator.* Any input appreciated.

I would say that you should take better care of your healers. You should have a more thorough trial process before letting people into rated games.

When you play with other healers you are sending a message to the other healers that you are not satisfied with their performance. This in turn destroys their loyalty and you will find them leaving the team eventually. So if you are playing with a new healer, it'd better be worth it, because you may be sacrificing your current healers for it.