Last night, the Gold Team assembled and led by Eleazarjr and Vetarra as our fearless tanks, we quickly took down two timed bosses and just barely missed the third. This time though, we went in the order you need to go in for four timed bosses so we're making progress. We took down Akil'zon easily then went and one-shot Nalorakk. After that we ran out of time on our way to Jan'Alai who we one shot as well. After switching out Eleazarjr for Aracely, we one shot Halazzi and proceeded to the Hex Lord. Unfortunately, we ran into some issues here - bad breaks of sheeps and banishes, poor timing of spells cast by the Hex Lord and just other little things that you just can't help (and many little things that need to be fixed as well).
But we did manage to get him down and he dropped two completely worthless items for our group. A plate healing item (our tank pally had left, and I doubt he'll ever go healing) and a druid staff (which neither druid really wanted, but it was forced upon Dylana). With such a great loot table and many great items that could be put to use - including the amazing Hood of Hexxing and Hex Shrunken Head.
We eventually moved on to Zul'jin and got to his last phase a couple of times, but once again, we had some people there who had not seen the fight and it took us a long time to get the eagle phase down. We made progress and hopefully we can get most of the group together tonight to take another shot at clearing Zul'Aman finally.
Other than that, Tockett ventured into Karazhan last week and has been doing Shattered Sun dailies every day when time permits. He's up to 25 badges and with another Karazhan run, he will be able to buy a new offhand weapon and then must start saving for a new main hand. Tiddlywinks created him an amazing cloak - Vengeance Wrap which received a Bright Crimson Spinel and Greater Agility. Tockett is now working on getting Leatherworking to 375 as he has two epic patterns to enjoy at that level and two Heart of Darkness ready to use in his bank.
Showing posts with label karazhan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karazhan. Show all posts
Sep 11, 2008
Jul 31, 2008
Unprepared
As stated previously, we went back to 10 man raiding this week and I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was unprepared. I had no Wizard Oil. I had one flask and I ran out of mana pots. I had to ration my food. I was not ready at all. So this weekend will be spent getting back to raid-ready status. I will be doing the cooking dailies, grinding mats for pots, flasks, and oils. I will not be caught off-guard again. It really was pretty sad when a friendly warlock came up to me to bum a hit of Wizard Oil, only to find I had none...at the beginning of the raid...I had none!
We did manage to take down Halazzi, Akil'zon and Nalorakk, almost getting the third chest (probably needed 5-8 more minutes). Jan'alai continues to frustrate us, but we had a few new people with us this week and I'm sure when everyone gets the fight down, we'll do just fine. Last night, it was an alt run through Kara. I showed up late, so I subbed in at Curator and we almost cleared the place by the time we had to call it. Unfortunately, Aran continues to withhold Sunfire from me.
On a completely unrelated note, I bought an enchanting pattern yesterday for 1500g. Enchant Boots - Vitality are mine. However, with the purchase of the formula and the firefly, I'm very low on cash, so it's back to doing dailies. I thought 5kg would last me for a while. I guess not.
We did manage to take down Halazzi, Akil'zon and Nalorakk, almost getting the third chest (probably needed 5-8 more minutes). Jan'alai continues to frustrate us, but we had a few new people with us this week and I'm sure when everyone gets the fight down, we'll do just fine. Last night, it was an alt run through Kara. I showed up late, so I subbed in at Curator and we almost cleared the place by the time we had to call it. Unfortunately, Aran continues to withhold Sunfire from me.
On a completely unrelated note, I bought an enchanting pattern yesterday for 1500g. Enchant Boots - Vitality are mine. However, with the purchase of the formula and the firefly, I'm very low on cash, so it's back to doing dailies. I thought 5kg would last me for a while. I guess not.
May 2, 2008
Recipe Progression
The wonderful Ackis Recipe List has kept me on top of my game and I finally got around to documenting how far I've come with my professions. We'll start with the easiest and best looking list of the four - first aid - 100%!
It wasn't too tough to get to 100% as there are only 15 recipes and most are trainable, but hey, I made it. Next up is cooking:
I've got a few recipes to go there and until I can organize a raid into Blackwing Lair, I will be unable to obtain the recipe for Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops. With a little more work though I should be able to get to 114/115 cooking recipes. Now, to tailoring...
As you can see, I'm at 88% of all tailoring recipes. However, this doesn't take into account that there are recipes I will not ever be able to learn (of course, without switching to exalted Aldor). There's a few recipes I still need to search down - some from Zul'Gurub rep, one in Karazhan still, and then just random other recipes from around the world. I still need to keep on raiding Knot Thimblejack's Cache and hope for some patterns from there as well.
For enchanting, I'm at 199/221 recipes or 90%. A few are from the old world, Ahn'Qiraj which no one raids any more and some others from Zul'Gurub reputation. And then there's just a ton that drop in Outland instances which I really don't want to farm, but will at some point. And the last ones on the list are really expensive rare drops which I'm still saving up for.
So there you have it. Not too shabby - 88% tailoring, 90% enchanting. Cooking should be close to finished soon and first aid is done. Next...on to pet completion!
It wasn't too tough to get to 100% as there are only 15 recipes and most are trainable, but hey, I made it. Next up is cooking:
I've got a few recipes to go there and until I can organize a raid into Blackwing Lair, I will be unable to obtain the recipe for Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops. With a little more work though I should be able to get to 114/115 cooking recipes. Now, to tailoring...
As you can see, I'm at 88% of all tailoring recipes. However, this doesn't take into account that there are recipes I will not ever be able to learn (of course, without switching to exalted Aldor). There's a few recipes I still need to search down - some from Zul'Gurub rep, one in Karazhan still, and then just random other recipes from around the world. I still need to keep on raiding Knot Thimblejack's Cache and hope for some patterns from there as well.
For enchanting, I'm at 199/221 recipes or 90%. A few are from the old world, Ahn'Qiraj which no one raids any more and some others from Zul'Gurub reputation. And then there's just a ton that drop in Outland instances which I really don't want to farm, but will at some point. And the last ones on the list are really expensive rare drops which I'm still saving up for.
So there you have it. Not too shabby - 88% tailoring, 90% enchanting. Cooking should be close to finished soon and first aid is done. Next...on to pet completion!
Apr 18, 2008
Lack of Updates
I know I've been slacking, there just hasn't been too much to write about. The Gold 25 Man Team went into Gruul's & Magtheridon's Lair and absolutely destroyed the place. With so much time to spare, we ventured into SSC, cleared all of the trash without any real effort (though nothing! dropped - no Marks of Illidari, Nether Vortices, patterns, nothing), and we got to the Lurker Below. We had just one shot at him, most everyone was new to the fight (I have seen it a few times, never seen it successfully done), and we got him down to about 70%. Next week he dies.
I had a chance to make it back into Karazhan after a few weeks off and picked up some badges. I'm approaching 50 badges now from Karazhan, Shattered Sun Supplies, and random bosses (Gruul, Setthekk Halls, etc.). So now I'm contemplating making more changes to my gear.
The one item I'm considering is the Boots of Incantations to replace my Boots of Blasting. It's a loss of 25 crit for a gain of 12 stamina, 1 intellect, 23 spirit, 4 spell hit, and 16 damage. I just need to get to 75 badges and I'll make the switch.
I'm also considering losing my Spellfire set, but I probably won't as I'd only upgrade two pieces and the stat changes don't really make too much sense at this time.
One other change I'm looking to make quite soon is to switch out Enchant Gloves: Spell Strike for Enchant Gloves: Major Spellpower. I'm pretty certain that with one more Great Lionseye, I'll be able to make the change. It's a huge upgrade as usually hit and damage are traded at a 1:1 ratio, so 20 damage for 15 hit is something I'll be looking into next week.
Should be interesting to be out of town this weekend. It's been a while since I haven't played at least a little on any given day. In fact Sunday will be the first day since the patch I won't be able to complete the daily fishing quest. That stupid quest is the bane of my existence. No good reward yet. No pets, no nothing. At least with the daily cooking quest I was able to get a recipe a week, whereas it's been almost a month now without anything good - no new line, no hat, no pets.
I had a chance to make it back into Karazhan after a few weeks off and picked up some badges. I'm approaching 50 badges now from Karazhan, Shattered Sun Supplies, and random bosses (Gruul, Setthekk Halls, etc.). So now I'm contemplating making more changes to my gear.
The one item I'm considering is the Boots of Incantations to replace my Boots of Blasting. It's a loss of 25 crit for a gain of 12 stamina, 1 intellect, 23 spirit, 4 spell hit, and 16 damage. I just need to get to 75 badges and I'll make the switch.
I'm also considering losing my Spellfire set, but I probably won't as I'd only upgrade two pieces and the stat changes don't really make too much sense at this time.
One other change I'm looking to make quite soon is to switch out Enchant Gloves: Spell Strike for Enchant Gloves: Major Spellpower. I'm pretty certain that with one more Great Lionseye, I'll be able to make the change. It's a huge upgrade as usually hit and damage are traded at a 1:1 ratio, so 20 damage for 15 hit is something I'll be looking into next week.
Should be interesting to be out of town this weekend. It's been a while since I haven't played at least a little on any given day. In fact Sunday will be the first day since the patch I won't be able to complete the daily fishing quest. That stupid quest is the bane of my existence. No good reward yet. No pets, no nothing. At least with the daily cooking quest I was able to get a recipe a week, whereas it's been almost a month now without anything good - no new line, no hat, no pets.
Apr 10, 2008
Badge Vendor, Come Out...
Sometime yesterday, the Badge Vendor was unlocked in Quel'danas. While I had enough badges saved up for my Scryer's Blade of Focus, I was 12 badges short of the Fused Nethergon Band. But luckily, when I awoke in the Scryer's Inn, I was invited to a Karazhan raid that had seen one of its members disappear without notice. It was a late start for the team as a whole, so we didn't get a full clear in, but I got exactly 12 badges as we breezed through 6 bosses. After disbanding, I ported to Stormwind to fish me up a baby crocolisk and then went back to Shattrath to turn in some quests I was just finishing up before I was summoned into Karazhan.
Then, off to Quel'danas. With 10 Large Prismatic Shards and 10 Greater Planar Essences in hand for Enchant Weapon: Spellpower (I have not saved up for Sunfire yet) and Enchant Ring: Spellpower, I was ready to find the vendor. Of course, there were many other people around me trying to do the same thing, but I managed to get his attention and purchase my items. I then went out on the island to do my daily quests with Mercreus. We breezed through everything except the Darkspine Myrmidion quest as they were refusing to drop keys for us, but when I returned to the questgivers, I hit exalted!
I immediately went and picked up a Shattered Sun Pendant of Acumen which replaces my Vindicator's Pendant of Conquest. But I think the Pendant of Acumen will be replaced with the Vindicator's Pendant of Subjugation once I have saved up enough honor points. With a Runed Crimson Spinel, damage is identical on the two, so it comes down to whether 21 haste is better than the proc on the neckpiece which theorycrafts into 25 damage or so (maybe less due to a hidden cooldown).
While out doing the dailies though, I definitely could see the boost in damage from the new dagger and ring. The nice thing about the ring is that it allows me to use the Icon of the Silver Cresent at all times and stay at the hit rating cap (with the Pendant of Conquest or Subjugation - I'm 8 under the cap with the Pendant of Acumen). However, if I find I like the Pendant of Acumen, two Great Lionseyes will get me to the hit cap rating exactly which I might do if I can find someone to purchase them from (I will certainly be watching the auction house for them this weekend).
Note: It has now been 2 weeks and 1 day since the patch - I have done the fishing daily quest every day and still nothing. No hat, no fishing line, and most importantly, no pets. And now that Nefernetcher has the Phoenix Hatchling, he's bringing it out whenever he can to rub it in my face...
Then, off to Quel'danas. With 10 Large Prismatic Shards and 10 Greater Planar Essences in hand for Enchant Weapon: Spellpower (I have not saved up for Sunfire yet) and Enchant Ring: Spellpower, I was ready to find the vendor. Of course, there were many other people around me trying to do the same thing, but I managed to get his attention and purchase my items. I then went out on the island to do my daily quests with Mercreus. We breezed through everything except the Darkspine Myrmidion quest as they were refusing to drop keys for us, but when I returned to the questgivers, I hit exalted!
I immediately went and picked up a Shattered Sun Pendant of Acumen which replaces my Vindicator's Pendant of Conquest. But I think the Pendant of Acumen will be replaced with the Vindicator's Pendant of Subjugation once I have saved up enough honor points. With a Runed Crimson Spinel, damage is identical on the two, so it comes down to whether 21 haste is better than the proc on the neckpiece which theorycrafts into 25 damage or so (maybe less due to a hidden cooldown).
Scryer: [((333dmg + 367dmg) / 2) * (1 + 0.5 * 0.12)] / 50s = +7.42dps = 25.97 dmg
While out doing the dailies though, I definitely could see the boost in damage from the new dagger and ring. The nice thing about the ring is that it allows me to use the Icon of the Silver Cresent at all times and stay at the hit rating cap (with the Pendant of Conquest or Subjugation - I'm 8 under the cap with the Pendant of Acumen). However, if I find I like the Pendant of Acumen, two Great Lionseyes will get me to the hit cap rating exactly which I might do if I can find someone to purchase them from (I will certainly be watching the auction house for them this weekend).
Note: It has now been 2 weeks and 1 day since the patch - I have done the fishing daily quest every day and still nothing. No hat, no fishing line, and most importantly, no pets. And now that Nefernetcher has the Phoenix Hatchling, he's bringing it out whenever he can to rub it in my face...
Mar 27, 2008
The Mini Hulk
Yesterday, it arrived. It came wrapped in the mail, but still oozing out of the package, yes...it's my very own Disgusting Oozeling. He turns me a shade of green not unlike the Incredible Hulk, just a very, very small one. Here he is at my side (bonus points if you can guess the instance - click on the image to see the full shot and reveal the instance):
So yes, I was late yesterday, but there was still room for me in the "instance" and we once again tore through the place, I earned 22 badges I wasn't expecting and now have 201 - yes, two stacks now.
After that, I hurried to do as many Shattered Sun Offensive quests as possible. I did the three now available in Shattrath - went from Nagrand to Blade's Edge to Netherstorm (stopping briefly in Nagrand to do the daily cooking quest). I ported back to Shatt, turned them in and then went over to Ironforge where I took the gryphon north and quickly completed three new quests in Quel'Danas. There was one quest I didn't complete which required bombing the Dead Scar - there were just too many people flying right in front of me or right behind me.
So I briefly considered going over to Hellfire Peninsula to complete the two dailies there, but time had run out on my stay in Azeroth, so I fell asleep inside a nice inn in Shattrath and tonight I shall reach friendly with the Offensive. And maybe I'll be able to see inside the Magisters' Terrace as well.
So yes, I was late yesterday, but there was still room for me in the "instance" and we once again tore through the place, I earned 22 badges I wasn't expecting and now have 201 - yes, two stacks now.
After that, I hurried to do as many Shattered Sun Offensive quests as possible. I did the three now available in Shattrath - went from Nagrand to Blade's Edge to Netherstorm (stopping briefly in Nagrand to do the daily cooking quest). I ported back to Shatt, turned them in and then went over to Ironforge where I took the gryphon north and quickly completed three new quests in Quel'Danas. There was one quest I didn't complete which required bombing the Dead Scar - there were just too many people flying right in front of me or right behind me.
So I briefly considered going over to Hellfire Peninsula to complete the two dailies there, but time had run out on my stay in Azeroth, so I fell asleep inside a nice inn in Shattrath and tonight I shall reach friendly with the Offensive. And maybe I'll be able to see inside the Magisters' Terrace as well.
Mar 6, 2008
Three Hour Kara
Last night, the Gold Team ventured into Karazhan after the informative Darklight Resolution guild meeting in Stormwind Park and we completely tore the place up.
Our previous record was just under 4 hours for a full clear. First pull last night:
3/5 18:54:03.586 Aracely's Shoot hits Spectral Stallion for 113.
3/5 21:53:05.093 Prince Malchezaar dies.
We just made it in under 3 hours. It was close after a partial wipe and a full wipe on Prince due to some horrific infernal drops. But we did it. We were all awarded 22 badges for our time and effort, Dylana got some new gear. Hemnetcher also got a couple of pieces, and we got a lot of void crystals.
In the end, it just goes to show what some insane DPS will do for you when combined with teamwork and fun. Congrats Gold Team!
Our previous record was just under 4 hours for a full clear. First pull last night:
3/5 18:54:03.586 Aracely's Shoot hits Spectral Stallion for 113.
3/5 21:53:05.093 Prince Malchezaar dies.
We just made it in under 3 hours. It was close after a partial wipe and a full wipe on Prince due to some horrific infernal drops. But we did it. We were all awarded 22 badges for our time and effort, Dylana got some new gear. Hemnetcher also got a couple of pieces, and we got a lot of void crystals.
In the end, it just goes to show what some insane DPS will do for you when combined with teamwork and fun. Congrats Gold Team!
Feb 28, 2008
Zul'Aman Fun
Ahh, my favorite time of the week, Zul'Aman. After breezing through Karazhan on Tuesday and one-shotting every boss with an odd team make-up (no hunter, no warlock), in well under four hours, we continued rolling along and switched up our strategy in Zul'Aman a little.
We usually would go for Nalorakk first, but now that we have Akil'zon down, we went to him first, then quickly downed Nalorakk and bum-rushed Halazzi. Unfortunately, we needed about 5-7 more minutes than the timer allowed and we only unlocked two timed chests. But after quickly dispatching Halazzi, we moved on to Jan'Alai. After a few wipes - one close call - we tried a new strategy. After two tries with the new strategy, we downed Jan'Alai! We just barely pulled it off as we killed him five seconds after his enrage timer. I luckily got an invisibility off during his last fire bomb stage so I had no threat and as he went around and one-shotted our tanks, our DPS, our healing, it was just me, Legionaire and Harkor standing. Just enough DPS to get rid of him.
We are certain we can improve on the strategy next week now that we've gotten him down and I look forward to more practice and new bosses. From the second timed chest, Nefernetcher finally upgraded his staff from the Curator to the sweet Amani Divining Staff. Comador picked up a couple of new pieces (like he needed them) and we added seven more badges to our stashes.
However, I had to use those seven badges to buy a primal nether to make some Runic Spellthread. After making the thread, I headed over to the arena vendor to pick up a brand new pair of Vengeful Gladiator's Silk Trousers. However, when I tried to buy them, he told me I was short on points. What!? So I checked...1,874 points. Needed 1,875. ONE point short. Oh well. Next week they shall be mine (unless of course they announce the new arena season and set a date for the new patch).
We usually would go for Nalorakk first, but now that we have Akil'zon down, we went to him first, then quickly downed Nalorakk and bum-rushed Halazzi. Unfortunately, we needed about 5-7 more minutes than the timer allowed and we only unlocked two timed chests. But after quickly dispatching Halazzi, we moved on to Jan'Alai. After a few wipes - one close call - we tried a new strategy. After two tries with the new strategy, we downed Jan'Alai! We just barely pulled it off as we killed him five seconds after his enrage timer. I luckily got an invisibility off during his last fire bomb stage so I had no threat and as he went around and one-shotted our tanks, our DPS, our healing, it was just me, Legionaire and Harkor standing. Just enough DPS to get rid of him.
We are certain we can improve on the strategy next week now that we've gotten him down and I look forward to more practice and new bosses. From the second timed chest, Nefernetcher finally upgraded his staff from the Curator to the sweet Amani Divining Staff. Comador picked up a couple of new pieces (like he needed them) and we added seven more badges to our stashes.
However, I had to use those seven badges to buy a primal nether to make some Runic Spellthread. After making the thread, I headed over to the arena vendor to pick up a brand new pair of Vengeful Gladiator's Silk Trousers. However, when I tried to buy them, he told me I was short on points. What!? So I checked...1,874 points. Needed 1,875. ONE point short. Oh well. Next week they shall be mine (unless of course they announce the new arena season and set a date for the new patch).
Feb 15, 2008
Two Free Chests
I had been waiting to post about last Wednesday night since I took some great photos, but I keep forgetting to send them to my journaling location. Anyways, after a 2 week hiatus from Zul'Aman, I was able to rejoin the Gold Team as we went for timed chests and hoped to take down Jan'Alai. We started on time and completely tore through Nalorakk and Akil'zon both with time to spare. We got some cool loot from the timed chests and I walked away with Shadowcaster's Drape. I don't have many haste items, but this is the start of my haste set.
After Nalorakk and Akil'zon, we hurried to Halazzi, but ran out of time. It is rumored that in Karazhan gear, you should be able to get 2 timed chests and it takes Serpentshrine Cavern and Black Temple gear to get 3 timed chests. We will keep pushing it though to see if we can pull it off. I certainly would love to see the Mana Attuned Band from the third chest.
Even though we ran out of time, we quickly one shot Halazzi which gave us a lot of time to learn the Jan'Alai fight. We got in 6 tries (reset him quite a bunch, so it didn't take too long), but ran out of time in the end. However, on our last try, we completely cleared out one side of eggs and about 1/4 of the other side before we lost our tank and had to run out. I am confident that if we can keep our tank up, we can balance the DPS on Jan'Alai and take out the eggs in a timely manner. Next week he should go down. After that, we can begin working on Hex Lord Malacrass who drops the amazingly magnificent Hood of Hexing and sometime after that, take down Zul'Jin and clear the place out.
The thing is, last Wednesday, I genuinely had fun running with our Gold Team. We enjoy ourselves on vent, we have time to joke around - even during timed boss fights - and there's never any loot drama. The only real drama we have is people refusing to take items...Contrast that to last Sunday when I ventured into SSC with 24 other people. We wiped countless times on one boss, took an inordinate amount of time discussing strategies and other minutiae, and it just was too long. And as I go back and re-read my post on that subject, I just wonder how much more I can take in there. I know it takes time and sacrifice to progress, but I personally feel, that until we can take down Gruul and Magtheridon (there's a reason they were pre-requisites for Serpentshrine Cavern attunement), we have no business inside that place. And I'm not willing to waste 5 hours of my Sunday wiping over and over. I will probably give it a few more weeks, but will notify the leaders that they should look for a replacement mage and replace me when possible.
For my future reference, WowWebStats from 2/13 Zul'Aman: http://wowtid.com/wws/wws-20080213-1854
After Nalorakk and Akil'zon, we hurried to Halazzi, but ran out of time. It is rumored that in Karazhan gear, you should be able to get 2 timed chests and it takes Serpentshrine Cavern and Black Temple gear to get 3 timed chests. We will keep pushing it though to see if we can pull it off. I certainly would love to see the Mana Attuned Band from the third chest.
Even though we ran out of time, we quickly one shot Halazzi which gave us a lot of time to learn the Jan'Alai fight. We got in 6 tries (reset him quite a bunch, so it didn't take too long), but ran out of time in the end. However, on our last try, we completely cleared out one side of eggs and about 1/4 of the other side before we lost our tank and had to run out. I am confident that if we can keep our tank up, we can balance the DPS on Jan'Alai and take out the eggs in a timely manner. Next week he should go down. After that, we can begin working on Hex Lord Malacrass who drops the amazingly magnificent Hood of Hexing and sometime after that, take down Zul'Jin and clear the place out.
The thing is, last Wednesday, I genuinely had fun running with our Gold Team. We enjoy ourselves on vent, we have time to joke around - even during timed boss fights - and there's never any loot drama. The only real drama we have is people refusing to take items...Contrast that to last Sunday when I ventured into SSC with 24 other people. We wiped countless times on one boss, took an inordinate amount of time discussing strategies and other minutiae, and it just was too long. And as I go back and re-read my post on that subject, I just wonder how much more I can take in there. I know it takes time and sacrifice to progress, but I personally feel, that until we can take down Gruul and Magtheridon (there's a reason they were pre-requisites for Serpentshrine Cavern attunement), we have no business inside that place. And I'm not willing to waste 5 hours of my Sunday wiping over and over. I will probably give it a few more weeks, but will notify the leaders that they should look for a replacement mage and replace me when possible.
For my future reference, WowWebStats from 2/13 Zul'Aman: http://wowtid.com/wws/wws-20080213-1854
Feb 11, 2008
First Foray into SSC
//CAUTION: WALL OF TEXT
Yesterday was our first official visit to SSC with a set group of people that we plan on raiding with each Sunday. We spent a few hours learning the Hydross fight and while we were unable to get him down, we did learn a bit about the fight. It was the first time seeing SSC for most people in the raid and while we were able to handle the trash without problems, the first boss gave us lots of issues.
Basically, Hydross debuffs everyone in the raid so they take more damage depending on which stage he is in. Every 15 seconds the buff goes from 10% more damage to 25, 50, 100 and 250. So you have about a minute before you need to transition him to his other form. Each time you transition him though, he spawns four elementals. So the key is you need enough DPS to kill the spawns before you need to transition again and spawn four more. Our problem was we were unable to kill the spawns in a timely manner each time. Another problem we had is that when transitioning from one tank to the other, he drops all aggro. So if a DOT goes off or an arrow hits him at the wrong time, you can pull him back causing another transition and with 8 elementals, there is a wipe.
When you first engage Hydross, you have a chance to do maximum DPS as there are no elementals to worry about. During this first phase, the raid should be able to get him to about 80%. However, we were unable to do that. I didn't watch it as closely as I probably should have, but I think our best might have been 85-86%. The problem I have is that I can do a lot of burst damage and I get too close to the tank's threat. This is mitigated with invisibility as I shouldn't reach the tank's threat again through the fight, but that causes downtime as well. Either way, the problem is we couldn't get enough initial DPS on him. DPS will also be an issue later on...
After the first transition, he spawns the elementals and the warlocks are banishing one while the druid tank picks up two and another is tanked by an off-warrior tank. The DPS needs to be coordinated and work on the same elementals one after another. I've also heard that these can be AOE'd down, but I think that might just take a little too much coordination for our group at this time. As elementals went down, I switched to get an occasional fireball off at Hydross as a poorly timed fireball that hits after the elemental is dead would be completely pointless. There was also some time in there where I could get some scorches stacked while an elemental was banished, but usually, after we got the four spawns down, I was unable to do any real DPS as another transition was happening.
So where'd we go wrong? I'm still not sure what exactly was going wrong as we were all brand new to the instance and learning how the fight worked and what our responsibilities were. At first glance, I'd say we didn't have enough DPS. Towards the end of the night, I started logging the fights and I analyzed them with WowWebStats. Here's our third to last attempt. Sustained DPS numbers are off as there's downtime at the start where the tank builds aggro, but you can just see that there's a top tier of DPS and then a huge drop off. I'm 82% present since I did nothing at the start while the tank built aggro. I could have been helping with the initial elementals, but they only have 8k DPS, so if I had used my mana to kill them, I don't think it would have been efficient so I got ready to let loose on Hydross when we were ready.
Going on from there, we had our second to last attempt. Again, you see a top tier and then some dropoff in DPS. I'm again only present for 92% of the time as I'm waiting for the tank to grab aggro rather than working on the small elementals. For the last attempt, I started in on the elementals to try and help out a little this time, but an errant hunter arrow during the transition wiped us. Either way, there wasn't enough DPS being done and not enough coordination during the spawns to really get everything working correctly.
While the saying "practice makes perfect" is true, I feel that there's a point at which you're just banging your head against a wall and nothing is being accomplished. After 4 hours of trying to down him, I'm not sure how much more "practice" people can take. After seeing it 4-5 times, I think that's about as much as you should attempt in one night. Maybe more if you have soulstones and can quickly attempt it again. But after a certain time, you need to call it a night, have people do some homework, and have people work towards the next week.
When it comes to DPS and healing, these are what make or break a raid. DPS and healing not only comes from skill, but also from gear. According to Bosskillers.com, this is what you should expect gear-wise.
The problem here is I don't think we're adequately geared for this instance. If we don't have the DPS to down Gruul, let alone Magtheridon (not even attempted yet), how are we supposed to progress? I've spent thousands of gold on patterns, gems and enchants to ensure that I have the best gear possible and to ensure that I can output the most DPS. I've spent hours reading forums, learning about he mechanics of a mage and even though my talents are cookie-cutter, they do more damage than anyone else.
The problem is, I can't say that everyone else has done the same. I raid in full epic gear except for the Scryer's Bloodgem which I only use on bosses for the +hit. There were people in our raid last night that were in greens and blues. If we are going to be seriously attempting 25 man tier 5 instances, we need to make sure everyone is geared. Bosskillers recommends Karazhan quality gear. This means mostly purples, some blues, and there should not be any greens. Also, it means PVE spec and PVE gear. There's always going to be some PVP gear that just outshines any PVE alternative at this level, but for the most part, if you have resilience, you are wasting stats. Looking through the armory profiles, it appears many people are adequately geared, so it may just be a matter of looking at specs and spell/melee rotations. Also, while you may be wearing purples, if you don't have the necessary +hit or expertise to hit on a consistent basis, you are just wasting damage. Also, a quick browsing of profiles shows people with green gems in sockets and *gasp* EMPTY sockets. That is unacceptable for raiding. Go run 4 dailies and you can buy any blue gem you need. I think this was a last-minute fill in that I saw, but still, how can you be running around with green gems and empty sockets?
Another thing that really upset me while we were waiting to attempt the boss is the lack of self-applied buffs. According to BossKillers, these are the MINIMUM, requirements:
I brought a Flask of Pure Death, multiple Superior Wizard Oil and two full stacks of +spell damage food and even some +30 stamina food in case I needed an HP boost. On top of that, I was also prepared with more +stamina gear in case an encounter called for stamina over +damage. While clicking from person to person, I rarely saw food buffs and even worse, rarely, if ever saw flasks or potions. The reason I brought the flask of pure death is because it persists through death. Had I known we were spending 4+ hours in there, I would have brought two. Either way, for the first two hours of attempts on Hydross, I had my flask. I always had a +spell damage food buff and I always had Wizard Oil applied to my weapon. I was prepared. Most others weren't.
If this is going to be a serious raid, that requires that you spend time grinding for stuff you need. Take the money you get from a day of dailies and buy two flasks. Those will last you 4 hours and persist through death. Buy the food you need or ask someone if they can make it for you. And I believe everyone has oils, stones, or poisons that can be applied to weapons. They should ALWAYS be applied. I also came with 10 mana pots and 10 healing pots, but didn't use many, but if I had needed them, they were there. I also had a stack of bandages I could use in a pinch as well. I was prepared. Most everyone else wasn't. I realize we're more of a casual raid group, but farming these items doesn't take much time. Put the work in and we'll have more success. Don't put the work in and we'll continue to bang our head against a wall for weeks on end.
I guess in the end it just comes down to how serious about this everyone is. Do we really want to progress or are we just in there to have some fun and kill some time? Why should I put in over 100g to two flasks of death when I could just slack off and not use any pots? Why should I put over 700g into my new pair of boots when I could just use a blue? Why spend so much on different sets of helms and pants including the best enchants and best gems available when I could just put cheap enchants and cheap gems in them? Well, yes, I like doing the most damage. And it's not by pure luck that I do so on most raids I attend. It's because I've put the time and effort into making this one character the best he can be. I know my role and I do it to the best of my ability. Sure there's probably areas where I could improve my DPS, but the raid as a whole needs to be improved in my opinion before we can take Hydross down on a consistent basis.
Last night we managed to get him down to the mid 70% range a couple times I think during our best attempts. We we able to get up to 4 or 5 transitions at most before a tank went down or aggro was pulled back across the transition line. It's still a work in progress, but while I would like to share the same optimism of our raid leader, until we are able to take Gruul down on a consistent basis - after all, you just really need pure DPS there and you just really need DPS on Hydross - I'm not sure if we have a chance. I'll be there next Sunday and I'll come prepared, but until we get everyone Kara and Gruul geared, there's a limit as to what the raid can accomplish.
Yesterday was our first official visit to SSC with a set group of people that we plan on raiding with each Sunday. We spent a few hours learning the Hydross fight and while we were unable to get him down, we did learn a bit about the fight. It was the first time seeing SSC for most people in the raid and while we were able to handle the trash without problems, the first boss gave us lots of issues.
Basically, Hydross debuffs everyone in the raid so they take more damage depending on which stage he is in. Every 15 seconds the buff goes from 10% more damage to 25, 50, 100 and 250. So you have about a minute before you need to transition him to his other form. Each time you transition him though, he spawns four elementals. So the key is you need enough DPS to kill the spawns before you need to transition again and spawn four more. Our problem was we were unable to kill the spawns in a timely manner each time. Another problem we had is that when transitioning from one tank to the other, he drops all aggro. So if a DOT goes off or an arrow hits him at the wrong time, you can pull him back causing another transition and with 8 elementals, there is a wipe.
When you first engage Hydross, you have a chance to do maximum DPS as there are no elementals to worry about. During this first phase, the raid should be able to get him to about 80%. However, we were unable to do that. I didn't watch it as closely as I probably should have, but I think our best might have been 85-86%. The problem I have is that I can do a lot of burst damage and I get too close to the tank's threat. This is mitigated with invisibility as I shouldn't reach the tank's threat again through the fight, but that causes downtime as well. Either way, the problem is we couldn't get enough initial DPS on him. DPS will also be an issue later on...
After the first transition, he spawns the elementals and the warlocks are banishing one while the druid tank picks up two and another is tanked by an off-warrior tank. The DPS needs to be coordinated and work on the same elementals one after another. I've also heard that these can be AOE'd down, but I think that might just take a little too much coordination for our group at this time. As elementals went down, I switched to get an occasional fireball off at Hydross as a poorly timed fireball that hits after the elemental is dead would be completely pointless. There was also some time in there where I could get some scorches stacked while an elemental was banished, but usually, after we got the four spawns down, I was unable to do any real DPS as another transition was happening.
So where'd we go wrong? I'm still not sure what exactly was going wrong as we were all brand new to the instance and learning how the fight worked and what our responsibilities were. At first glance, I'd say we didn't have enough DPS. Towards the end of the night, I started logging the fights and I analyzed them with WowWebStats. Here's our third to last attempt. Sustained DPS numbers are off as there's downtime at the start where the tank builds aggro, but you can just see that there's a top tier of DPS and then a huge drop off. I'm 82% present since I did nothing at the start while the tank built aggro. I could have been helping with the initial elementals, but they only have 8k DPS, so if I had used my mana to kill them, I don't think it would have been efficient so I got ready to let loose on Hydross when we were ready.
Going on from there, we had our second to last attempt. Again, you see a top tier and then some dropoff in DPS. I'm again only present for 92% of the time as I'm waiting for the tank to grab aggro rather than working on the small elementals. For the last attempt, I started in on the elementals to try and help out a little this time, but an errant hunter arrow during the transition wiped us. Either way, there wasn't enough DPS being done and not enough coordination during the spawns to really get everything working correctly.
While the saying "practice makes perfect" is true, I feel that there's a point at which you're just banging your head against a wall and nothing is being accomplished. After 4 hours of trying to down him, I'm not sure how much more "practice" people can take. After seeing it 4-5 times, I think that's about as much as you should attempt in one night. Maybe more if you have soulstones and can quickly attempt it again. But after a certain time, you need to call it a night, have people do some homework, and have people work towards the next week.
When it comes to DPS and healing, these are what make or break a raid. DPS and healing not only comes from skill, but also from gear. According to Bosskillers.com, this is what you should expect gear-wise.
Gear must be extremely high quality. Every member should be able to look through their equipment and be able to say to themselves "I only need a few more upgrades from Karazhan or Gruul's lair."
Melee DPS: Karazhan quality weapons, lvl70 blue armor or better
Healers: Mix of Karazhan quality blue/purple armor or better
The problem here is I don't think we're adequately geared for this instance. If we don't have the DPS to down Gruul, let alone Magtheridon (not even attempted yet), how are we supposed to progress? I've spent thousands of gold on patterns, gems and enchants to ensure that I have the best gear possible and to ensure that I can output the most DPS. I've spent hours reading forums, learning about he mechanics of a mage and even though my talents are cookie-cutter, they do more damage than anyone else.
The problem is, I can't say that everyone else has done the same. I raid in full epic gear except for the Scryer's Bloodgem which I only use on bosses for the +hit. There were people in our raid last night that were in greens and blues. If we are going to be seriously attempting 25 man tier 5 instances, we need to make sure everyone is geared. Bosskillers recommends Karazhan quality gear. This means mostly purples, some blues, and there should not be any greens. Also, it means PVE spec and PVE gear. There's always going to be some PVP gear that just outshines any PVE alternative at this level, but for the most part, if you have resilience, you are wasting stats. Looking through the armory profiles, it appears many people are adequately geared, so it may just be a matter of looking at specs and spell/melee rotations. Also, while you may be wearing purples, if you don't have the necessary +hit or expertise to hit on a consistent basis, you are just wasting damage. Also, a quick browsing of profiles shows people with green gems in sockets and *gasp* EMPTY sockets. That is unacceptable for raiding. Go run 4 dailies and you can buy any blue gem you need. I think this was a last-minute fill in that I saw, but still, how can you be running around with green gems and empty sockets?
Another thing that really upset me while we were waiting to attempt the boss is the lack of self-applied buffs. According to BossKillers, these are the MINIMUM, requirements:
Melee DPS use a Flask of Relentless Assault, Fel Strength Elixir, Elixir of Major Agility, Winterfall Firewater, DPS food, and any other damage increasing consumable. Poisons do not work on this fight: bring Adamantite Sharpening Stones.
Ranged DPS use Flask of Firepower, Adept's Elixir, Elixir of Major Fire/Frost/Shadow Power, and any other damage increasing consumable.
Tanks use Flask of Fortification, Defense Potion, Elixir of Mastery, stamina increasing food; anything that will increase HP or mitigation. Note: Stoneshield-type potions are useless because all "melee" damage is elemental (resistance gear check, not armor).
Healers use Flask of Mighty Restoration, Mana Regeneration Potion, Elixir of Healing Power; anything that will increase your healing efficiency or the amount of mana you have.
I brought a Flask of Pure Death, multiple Superior Wizard Oil and two full stacks of +spell damage food and even some +30 stamina food in case I needed an HP boost. On top of that, I was also prepared with more +stamina gear in case an encounter called for stamina over +damage. While clicking from person to person, I rarely saw food buffs and even worse, rarely, if ever saw flasks or potions. The reason I brought the flask of pure death is because it persists through death. Had I known we were spending 4+ hours in there, I would have brought two. Either way, for the first two hours of attempts on Hydross, I had my flask. I always had a +spell damage food buff and I always had Wizard Oil applied to my weapon. I was prepared. Most others weren't.
If this is going to be a serious raid, that requires that you spend time grinding for stuff you need. Take the money you get from a day of dailies and buy two flasks. Those will last you 4 hours and persist through death. Buy the food you need or ask someone if they can make it for you. And I believe everyone has oils, stones, or poisons that can be applied to weapons. They should ALWAYS be applied. I also came with 10 mana pots and 10 healing pots, but didn't use many, but if I had needed them, they were there. I also had a stack of bandages I could use in a pinch as well. I was prepared. Most everyone else wasn't. I realize we're more of a casual raid group, but farming these items doesn't take much time. Put the work in and we'll have more success. Don't put the work in and we'll continue to bang our head against a wall for weeks on end.
I guess in the end it just comes down to how serious about this everyone is. Do we really want to progress or are we just in there to have some fun and kill some time? Why should I put in over 100g to two flasks of death when I could just slack off and not use any pots? Why should I put over 700g into my new pair of boots when I could just use a blue? Why spend so much on different sets of helms and pants including the best enchants and best gems available when I could just put cheap enchants and cheap gems in them? Well, yes, I like doing the most damage. And it's not by pure luck that I do so on most raids I attend. It's because I've put the time and effort into making this one character the best he can be. I know my role and I do it to the best of my ability. Sure there's probably areas where I could improve my DPS, but the raid as a whole needs to be improved in my opinion before we can take Hydross down on a consistent basis.
Last night we managed to get him down to the mid 70% range a couple times I think during our best attempts. We we able to get up to 4 or 5 transitions at most before a tank went down or aggro was pulled back across the transition line. It's still a work in progress, but while I would like to share the same optimism of our raid leader, until we are able to take Gruul down on a consistent basis - after all, you just really need pure DPS there and you just really need DPS on Hydross - I'm not sure if we have a chance. I'll be there next Sunday and I'll come prepared, but until we get everyone Kara and Gruul geared, there's a limit as to what the raid can accomplish.
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