A Return to ICC 10 (Heroic)

Last night, the intrepid folks from Golden Aegis once again braved the horrors of Icecrown Citadel and defeated the abominations Festergut and Rotface in 10 man heroic.

It started out like any other night, cleared the first four with no problem, doing Lady Deathwhisper on heroic this week instead of going for the hard mode achievement like last week, which in turn rewarded me with Heroic: Storming the Citadel. We then were torn - Dreamwalker or the Plauge Quarter? We chose the Plague Quarter and 2-shot Festergut and 1-shot Rotface during our first time stepping into that quarter on heroic. We then attempted Putricide, made great progress, but decided to instead do Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion so we could then go complete the Crimson Hall on heroic again.

Unfortunately nothing dropped for the mages last night, but the warrior and shaman in our group are now 4/4 sanctified after three more token drops for them. So congrats to Avielronis and Taalani. Next week, I'd like to work on Putricide more, but I think the healers want to try their hand at Dreamwalker. Either way, we're making great progress in 10 man heroics and I'm very proud of the whole team.

ICC Update

Last week, because I wanted to watch something on TV, I missed our usual Thursday night raid. Because of that, I wasn't around as the team worked through the first wing on heroic mode after our first downing of the Lich King. But they couldn't get Saurfang down, so we finished him up after our normal Sunday night 25 run. Well this week, I was ready to go kick some butt, and that we did.

It started with a very easy kill of Lord Marrowgar on heroic, netting me a very nice upgrade in the form of Frost Needle. We then continued on and opted not to do Deathwhisper on heroic, but instead go for her "hard mode," Full House. It took us two tries, but we got it. So on to the Gunship. For this one, we decided to challenge ourselves by doing I'm On a Boat in heroic mode. And it was eaaaaasy. And I got what I craved most of all...Muradin's Spyglass.

So we were three bosses in and I had three huge upgrades. We took two tries on Saurfang heroic mode (we love those tokens that drop) and then continued on to the Crimson Halls. We opted to do the Blood Council in heroic mode and after a couple of wipes using a mage as the Keleseth tank, once we switched to a paladin, we killed them. And wouldn't you know...they drop an upgrade for me too: Cerise Coiled Ring. It replaces my Runed Signet, so I lose my teleport to Dalaran, but I'll just use reagents now and not worry about it. After them, we went to Blood Queen. We wiped once as we learned about the massive damage she does in the new heroic mode and then we killed her (despite me dying with a bite...I got a battle res, continued doing normal damage and we killed her right at the enrage timer). She dropped a nice wand that would be an amazing upgrade from my ilvl 232 wands - Lana'thel's Bloody Nail, but our awesome priest wanted it as well so I passed to him after winning the roll since I had already gotten three huge upgrades.

So I not only finished off The Crimson Hall (because I missed the week that our 10 man downed her originally), but also got Heroic: The Crimson Hall and once we go back and do Deathwhisper on heroic, I'll get Heroic: Storming the Citadel. We also attempted Dreamwalker in heroic mode, but that is a tough fight, so we still have some work to do there. all in all though, it was an amazing night and we completely rocked it and I got some awesome gear.

Maly 25: Take 1

Last night, I got my first chance to step into the heroic Eye of Eternity. Parts of our "Gold Team" joined up with parts of Aenador's "Team 2" to see if we could destroy Malygos. After a few tries getting the death knights comfortable in their roles, and getting Phases 2 and 3 down pat, we almost downed Maly, getting him to 4% before he enraged and wiped the raid. On our next attempt, we had more drakes up during Phase 3, but had spent too much time in Phases 1 and 2, so again he enraged. Our last attempt was pretty ugly, but we now know that he is beatable by our group. If we bring in just a little more DPS and have more people practice the Aces High! daily, we should have no problem next week.

In other happenings, I joined up with Aenador's team over the weekend to conquer Serpentshrine Cavern. I wasn't able to fish up the Lurker for the achievement, but I was finally able to kill Vashj and get her vial for my quest. I was hoping to get the Hand of A'dal title because I had obtained the starter quest before they removed the title, but apparently with Wrath, no one is able to achieve the title, no matter when they picked up the quest.

We then went on, quickly cleared Tempest Keep and Zul'Gurub, and next week we plan on going into Hyjal and the Sunwell. Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep really were a joke for our group as we didn't really have to worry about any boss mechanics as our DPS would just destroy them before they had a chance to do anything. It was fun, but a shame I never got to see SSC or TK at normal levels to really learn the boss fights. I mean, I knew the Lurker and Hydross, but we never got further, so I never saw Vashj or Morogrim at full strength (or any boss in TK). Kind of sad.

On another note, 3.1 was released to the PTR today and news is flowing in constantly. I'll see if I have time later to post my thoughts. All I can say right now is, yay for more pets and more achievements.

A Good Night

After putting some time into crafting an all-in-one list that outlined the upgrades I needed from Naxxramas (10) and Heroics, I was duly rewarded last night with a drop in heroic Azjol-Nerub of Stone Worn Footwraps (the Rod of the Fallen Monarch continues to elude me (currently the best wand in the game until 25-man content)).

Also, Azjol-Nerub happened to be the heroic daily, so after collecting my three emblems in Azjol, then two for the daily, I was at exactly 80. And that means...new robe! The Heroes' Frostfire Robe is mine. It has been socketed with Runed Scarlet Ruby and a Veiled Monarch Topaz. Basic theorycrafting states that two rubies would have given me the most DPS, but I just lost my Leiah's Footpads and their 43 hit, so I've been a bit lacking. And even though my Frostfire Bolts all hit, I'm missing with Pyroblasts (Hot Streak), Scorches, and Fireblasts (while moving). So it's something I really have to work on bringing back up. Plus, throwing in two rubies would lose me the socket bonus as well, so I'll take that +6 hit there as well.

So right now, I'm sitting pretty. My Naxx (10)/Heroics list only has a few more items that are must-have upgrades. From heroics, I would greatly like the Sash of the Servant (again from Azjol-Nerub) and the Forge Ember from the Halls of Stone is a nice trinket upgrade.

From Naxx (10), I'm looking for a huge helm upgrade from either Sapphiron, Thaddius, or Kel'Thuzad. I'm hoping for the Tier 7 shoulders from Loatheb, and Tier 7 pants from Thaddius. Grand Widow Faerlina, Patchwerk, and Kel'Thuzad all drop huuuuge weapon upgrades, but the one thing I want more than any other is the Embrace of the Spider from Grand Widow Faerlina. It dropped for us last time around and Eirama won the roll (a very nice upgrade for her as well). That about concludes what I am gunning for in the near future. Fingers crossed!

And here's my hastily thrown together Naxx (10)/Heroics gear upgrade list: