Community Spotlight: Baym

Today, we had the privilege of chatting with one of the top Guardian Druids in Mythic+ and our Raider.IO Featured Streamer of the week: Baym!

Baym is a passionate WoW player who advocates for neurodivergence in our community. Although autism has presented some challenges for Baym when climbing the Mythic+ leaderboards, he believes that it has also been one of his keys to success.

Read on to learn more about Baym, his unique Guardian Druid build, the obstacles he has overcome, embracing differences as a source of strength, and much more!

Table of Contents

“To push higher and higher keys, you need to create your own opportunities, not wait for them to come around to you.”

Q-1: Hi Baym! It’s wonderful to have this opportunity to get to know you a little better. Can you please tell us more about yourself?

Baym: Hello, thank you for inviting me for an interview! In real life, my name is Will and I am a 22-year-old male that lives in Philadelphia. You can call me either Baym or Will, I have no preference! I am an individual with Autism, which has defined my journey through both life and in WoW.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Business Analytics and Management Information Systems from Villanova University. I am also a fitness enthusiast enjoying Olympic lifting, gymnastics skills, and being outside. Being a vegan and an autistic individual, I have a big emotional connection towards animals and was able to transform my personal passion into an animal ethics minor at my university. Animals have always helped me alleviate my sensory issues and given me a sense of calm.

My dad introduced me to WoW when I was 9 during Wrath of the Lich King, but I started playing the game consistently in Cataclysm. I played a Worgen Hunter named Bayym since I enjoyed the animal theme of Beast Mastery Hunters. For most of my time playing, I leveled alts or just explored the game in general and never engaged with end-game content besides LFR or random battlegrounds.

In Legion, I started Normal/Heroic raiding for the first time in Nighthold and got my first AOTC. I then started playing my Warlock named Eebon in Tomb of Sargeras. I got all purple parses as well as some orange and pink parses for the first time, leading me to try Mythic raiding in Syzygy (where my first night of Mythic raiding was spent on Mythic Fallen Avatar) for about a month. I started playing Guardian Druid casually during this time and really enjoyed playing it, getting my Mage Tower skin, and doing well in raids while being undergeared. After Legion, I took a several-year hiatus until I came back during Dragonflight.

“I chose Guardian Druid because of the attachment I had to the spec from Legion and my passion for animals. I became interested in pushing, not only because a lot of people commented on how good of a tank I was, but because I’ve always had an innate desire to constantly improve and push myself in all areas of my life.”

Q-2: When you came onto our radar for an interview, we noticed that you were the #2 Guardian Druid in the world and the world's #10 overall tank of any class. How did you get interested in Mythic+ and when did you start pushing?

Baym: Prior to Dragonflight, I barely engaged in Mythic+ at all because I wasn’t interested when I played during Legion. However, now that I have transitioned to a real-world environment, it became an appealing source of high-end content because it provided a lot of flexibility for me as opposed to the set schedule of raiding. I’ve also been enjoying small group content a lot more over the past few years.

I started off playing as a Subtlety Rogue to try something I’ve never played before, but also because I had tank anxiety. I met my first new WoW friend in 5 years, Drakktharis, a fellow Rogue player, whom I played with and helped improve a lot. I decided to switch to a tank so that it would be easier to run keys with him.

I chose Guardian Druid because of the attachment I had to the spec from Legion and my passion for animals. I became interested in pushing, not only because a lot of people commented on how good of a tank I was, but because I’ve always had an innate desire to constantly improve and push myself in all areas of my life. In this case, my goal was to try and time the highest keys I possibly can. I simply view whatever ranking I achieve as a side-effect of my efforts. I feel proud when I time a difficult key, such as when I timed +26 TJS in Season 1 and timing the first +27 key this Season a few weeks ago.





Q-3: Recently, Guardian Druid entered the Mythic+ meta, but bear was not seen as a strong tank spec for the majority of Dragonflight until recently. In fact, bears have not seen much time in the Mythic+ meta as a whole. What is it about Guardian Druid that fascinates and motivates you to play it each season? What challenges have you faced when playing a non-meta spec?

Baym: As I said, I play Guardian Druid because I love the specialization as a whole and am attached to its fantasy and playstyle. However, Season 1 was designed to kill bears and was the hardest challenge I’ve faced in all my years of gaming. Bears lacked mitigation as a whole, especially magic mitigation, which was a nightmare to deal with since every dungeon contained heavy tank damage with most of the dangerous mobs containing magic-based tank busters or casts. Some notable examples are the Minions of Doubt, Haunting Shas, and 3rd boss in Temple of the Jade Serpent; the Flashfrost Chillweavers and 1st boss in Ruby Life Pools; and the Vault Guards, Crystal Furies, and 2nd + 4th bosses in The Azure Vault. I had to learn to perfectly rotate cooldowns and learn to call out stops, interrupts, and externals to have a chance at living on high keys. The communication aspect in particular was very challenging as an individual with Autism.

Like every non-meta spec, I had difficulty getting into keys. When I first started pushing, I learned very quickly that I needed to create my own groups. I also learned that networking was vital – not just to find people I enjoyed playing with, but also to even get into keys within the 25-27 range. The social aspect is a challenge for anyone, but even more so for me because of my Autism. Despite these challenges, I still pushed to around 3400 in season 1 with help from my friends Grumpsy, Ashurra, Defy, Goyles, Barokoshama, and Ganthion.



Q-4: Speaking of non-meta, one of the reasons that you came onto our radar was due to the unique Guardian Druid talent build that you run, which appears to offer a very different playstyle than other bear tanks we’ve seen in this expansion. Can you please tell us about this build and what makes it notable/special?

Baym: The most popular builds Guardian Druids run at the moment are centered around the Moonfire talents where Maul is completely excluded from the rotation in favor of spamming Ironfur for Thorns of Iron damage. My build is the exact opposite of that: it makes Maul, or in this case Raze, the focus of the rotation while ignoring Moonfire except in single-target or light cleave situations.

There are some important synergies between talents to understand how the build functions:

• Raze turns Maul into a hard-hitting AOE ability that does uncapped damage that is reduced beyond 5 targets.
  
• Ursoc’s Fury shields us for 60% of any Thrash and Maul/Raze damage done up to a cap of 25% of our maximum HP. This talent was underwhelming in Season 1 due to lower HP pools and the high frequency of 1-shot tank busters. But with the 25% HP scaling from the Patch 10.1 healing change combined with the 15% health increase from the Guardian’s 4-set bonus, the Ursoc’s Fury talent is much more desirable this season. During Incarnation, where we have 30% more health, the shield cap is scaled even further, not even including party buffs such as Fortitude and Ancestral Vigor.
  
• Vicious Cycle is what makes the build come together. Using Mangle will increase the damage of our next Maul/Raze by 15% stacking 3 times and vice-versa. However, this effect stacks for every target that you hit for each respective ability. This means that, during Incarnation where Mangle cleaves 3 targets, every Mangle will give you 3 stacks of the buff, making every Maul/Raze do 45% more damage. Conversely, when Raze hits more than 3 targets, it will always give you 3 stacks of the opposite buff making every Mangle you use in AOE scenarios do 45% more damage.
  
• The Maul talents (Vulnerable Flesh and Tooth and Claw) combined with the Guardian 4 set bonus (a 20% damage increase to Maul/Raze) finally cap off the build and give a big punch to your Maul/Raze damage. To top it off, this build gains an additional damage reduction cooldown, Pulverize, for free.

The build’s playstyle changes whether you are inside your Incarnation cooldown or not. During Incarnation, your goal is to maintain Thrash while rotating between using Mangle and Raze and using spare rage on Ironfur. You're almost invincible during Incarnation and can do upwards of 400k healing per second on some big pulls. Outside of Incarnation, your goal is to spend almost all your rage on Ironfur while using Maul/Raze when it is safe to do so or during Tooth and Claw procs.

The build has a few downsides. It is primarily suited for Fortified weeks since you lose a good chunk of single-target damage taking Raze and losing the Moonfire talents for Tyrannical weeks. In addition, the build has lower rage generation, which means that it has lower group healing potential due to decreased After the Wildfire procs. It is also very squishy outside of Incarnation if you do not manage CDs properly or use too much rage on Maul/Raze.

“The reality of Autism, and intellectual disabilities in general, is that no one ‘overcomes’ their disability. Rather, they become better at dealing with its impact.”

Q-5: Now that we’ve learned more about you and your WoW history, we’d like to ask you something more personal. When we chatted in DMs, you mentioned that your experiences as an autistic individual could be really important to share with the community. How has Autism affected you in terms of navigating the social environment of the game and climbing the leaderboards? What have been your biggest obstacles, and how did you overcome them? Also, are there particular things that you excelled at because of Autism rather than in spite of it?

Baym: I was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3. Autism gave me severe sensory and social issues. Moderate sounds such as a vacuum cleaner or a car starting would overload me and make me break down. I couldn’t be in a classroom environment because it was impossible for me to interact with other kids my age or even my own teacher. My parents did not think I would be capable of making it through elementary school, let alone going on to accomplish what I’ve done so far in life. They gave me an unbelievable amount of support to help me progress and it’s impossible for me to express my gratitude.

The reality of Autism, and intellectual disabilities in general, is that no one “overcomes” their disability. Rather, they become better at dealing with its impact. I’ve seen many people ask me “Do you actually have Autism?” I am still affected by the same issues I was when I was younger, but I am much better at managing my sensory and social issues.

The hardest aspect for me in Mythic+ has been the social environment. To push higher and higher keys, you need to create your own opportunities, not wait for them to come around to you. It’s been very, very hard for me to navigate the social environment of Mythic+...making friends, reaching out, and interacting with people to ask them to run keys. Sometimes I do want to run keys, but it becomes too exhausting just for me to reach out and ask people, which is why sometimes I go lengths of time without doing any dungeons.

I have also had a very tough time communicating with my team during the run itself. In Season 1, I had a hard time speaking up and calling things such as interrupts, cooldowns, and important stops on mobs. It was even harder as a tank as many groups expect tanks to be able to cover this role for every key. I have improved a lot at this, but it is still something I struggle a lot at and I’m always thankful when the group helps with this.

The most visible effect it has had on me is on the sensory side. There are a lot of things going on in a high Mythic+ environment. I try my best and manage my stress and emotions, but sometimes they eventually compound and overwhelm me. This leads to breakdowns either after a bad run or after I log out for the night. I have had far less frequent emotional breakdowns since when I was younger, but they still happen regularly. My sensory issues are also the main reason why I don’t use many addons when I play.

However, I would say that my sensory issues have actually been one of the sources of my success. As hard as the breakdowns are for me to deal with, they act as a mental reset: they release all of the emotions and stress that have built up inside of me and I can approach keys again with a fresh mind. This also occurred during my undergraduate education as well; I had emotional breakdowns during difficult projects and once I calmed down, I was able to better focus on them and perform higher-quality work.

“I think that differences should be embraced because they bring a unique strength to the table. Autism affects every individual differently, which means they each have a unique strength that they can leverage… Disabled people are more disabled by society than they are by their own bodies.”

Q-6: What do you think is the biggest misconception about Autism that you want people to consider or learn more about? What should we be aware of, and how can others best support you in WoW?

Baym: The most common misconception I’ve seen is that people with Autism should be left out because they are “different”. Many people are averse to differences, viewing them as something abnormal or unusual. Rather, I think that differences should be embraced because they bring a unique strength to the table. Autism affects every individual differently, which means they each have a unique strength that they can leverage. For example, despite having social and sensory issues, I am highly analytical and a high performer. My friend Ben Hartranft is the opposite: he is enthusiastic and talkative but has issues learning and couldn’t go to college.

During college, the most powerful quote I read about disabilities was that “Disabled people are more disabled by society than they are by their own bodies”. To put it simply, the social structures of society are built against people with intellectual disabilities. You may have realized by now, but the very structure of high Mythic+ was built against the way Autism affects me, which presented and continues to present a huge burden for me and others to overcome.

I think more people need to be more aware of some of these barriers so that people with disabilities can be better included in a Mythic+ environment. I think that people also need to be aware of what these individuals struggle with and be better open to helping them mitigate any issues they are having. In my case, I am incredibly thankful when people are aware of my sensory issues and can give me support when I need it the most. I’m always looking out for the needs of others just as others are looking out for me.

“A person playing a spec that they know and enjoy will be better off than someone playing a spec that is meta who does not know how to play it optimally. This is because the comfort pick person will perform better while being able to focus on the mechanics and nuances of the dungeon.”

Q-7: When forming a Mythic+ team, what qualities do you value? What do you look for? What unique skills do you bring to the table that make you a great asset to a Mythic+ team?

Baym: I think the most important quality is how comfortable someone is with their specialization. A person playing a spec that they know and enjoy will be better off than someone playing a spec that is meta and does not know how to play it optimally. This is because the comfort pick person will perform better while being able to focus on the mechanics and nuances of the dungeon.

The best asset for a great team is synergy. The team needs to work well together and everyone needs to like playing with one another. People are better able to focus in a positive environment where they trust their party members. Unreliable teammates add unnecessary stress to a run, which makes it easier for others to make mistakes. A synergistic team also makes runs more repeatable: you know exactly who is going to get what interrupt and what strategy you are going to use on what boss.

“Quality time spent in keys is a better determinant of improvement. It is far better, healthier, and more sustainable to push for a few hours as opposed to playing all day since each of your sessions will be valuable and you will be less susceptible to burnout.”

Q-8: When people first start pushing high Mythic+, there are numerous tidbits of advice floating around the community. What do you think is the most overrated piece of advice, and what would you suggest instead for players aspiring to get more serious about Mythic+? What has worked for you to climb the leaderboards?

Baym: I’ve seen a lot of people tell others to run Wowhead or Icy Veins builds. These guides are designed for the average player and the general public but not for doing the hardest content in the game. The Guardian Druid builds (no offense to the guide-writers themselves) are a great example as the Mythic+ builds there are very bad for high keys. Instead, I would recommend people look at the builds people run on Subcreation.net or other websites that track what the top players are doing. This will give you a general idea of what builds, items, and trinkets people in high keys are running.

To add on here, I would not just copy the most popular build or a build a top player runs. That build might be well suited for a specific comp or dungeon but may not serve you well for a different scenario. Use the tools I listed in the paragraph above as resources to better understand how your spec functions so that you can adapt to different scenarios. Knowledge of your spec is the greatest asset you can have as a player.

I’ve also seen a lot of people asking what community Discords to join. I think these are amazing resources for getting new players into Mythic+ and building small communities, but they should not be viewed as a primary way of running high keys. Most push groups consist of people who met each other in PUGs, added their Battletags, and later asked them to run keys with them. Like I said earlier, networking is key, and the best way to find like-minded people who want to push is through PUGs.

Lastly, too many people destroy themselves by spending 10+ hours a day in keys with the hope of “improving”. Quality time spent in keys is a better determinant of improvement. It is far better, healthier, and more sustainable to push for a few hours as opposed to playing all day since each of your sessions will be valuable and you will be less susceptible to burnout. Analyzing and observing what other people are doing in streams or VODs is also critical to learn how to handle certain dungeons.



Q-9: What are your personal or professional goals for WoW and beyond?

Baym: I am very uncertain what my specific goals are now. I want to keep pushing keys as high as I can possibly go, but as I’ve learned from playing sports, you cannot be pushing all the time. I feel very burned out right now as I’ve sacrificed a lot in my life to push keys over the past few months combined with the unhealthy amount of time I spent in keys. The high key scene is also scarce on NA at the moment, which has made it very difficult not only to find people to play with but also people who understand my challenges and needs as an individual with Autism.

I originally started streaming so I could have VODs for my runs that I could watch back and analyze. A large amount of people have shown in my stream so I want to keep it up, grow it more, and try to help people who come into the stream to ask questions, learn and have fun.

In general, I’ve been wanting to try and help the community more whenever I can. I’ve been thinking about creating my own Mythic+ guide for Guardian Druid as I’ve found that there is not much information out there. I think I’m in a good position to give advice to other Guardian Druids as well as people in general who are looking to improve in Mythic+.



Q-10: If you could shapeshift into any animal in real life whenever you wanted, what would it be and why?

Baym: This is unironically the hardest question for me! I would choose either a gorilla or a monkey. I’ve always admired the strength, stamina, and vitality of these majestic creatures and as a fitness enthusiast, their ability to perform acrobatics and other feats fascinates me. On top of that, their diet is (almost) entirely plants.



Q-11: Do you have any closing thoughts that you’d like to share?

Baym: I think Guardian Druids are in a great spot now. The spec feels far stronger than it was in Season 1 and the talent rework coming in Patch 10.1.5 is very welcome. I will echo the community sentiment though and ask for new bear forms to give us more options to customize our furry friends.

Talking about Mythic+ in general, Blizzard rolled out constant tuning in the first 2-3 weeks of the Season, but now they have pursued any consistent tuning until the past week or so. While the last round of tuning is very welcome and addressed some of the outlier dungeons and bosses, there are still many elements of these dungeons that need adjustment.

The 3rd, 4th and 5th boss of Uldaman and the 1st boss of Halls of Infusion, even after the nerfs, need to be reworked so that they do not require specific comps or races to be manageable in high keys. There are also a lot of bosses that scale poorly with Tyrannical, such as the last bosses of Halls. The trash in Vortex Pinnacle is very overturned on Fortified weeks and the dungeon has almost no routing options with how limited pulls are in the dungeon. I haven’t even mentioned some of the run-ending bugs in many dungeons.

I have also heard a plethora of complaints from healers about how miserable this season has felt for them due to the healing changes in Patch 10.1. The topic of healing is outside my realm of expertise at the moment, but my point here is that Mythic+ and spec tuning should be a constant process and not something that takes over a month to roll out a set of hotfixes. If Blizzard were more proactive about listening to community feedback and addressing specific elements of dungeons, Mythic+ in my opinion would be far more enjoyable for everyone.

I want to give my thanks to everyone who has supported and ran keys with me. There are too many people to thank and express my gratitude to and I know that I will leave a lot of kind people out if I only name specific people.

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Links

• Find Baym on Raider.IO
  
• Follow Baym on Twitch
  
• Follow Baym on YouTube

About the Authors