Thursday 9/27 Raid Report

Mahnalor · Post by **Mahnalor** » September 25th, 2007, 3:26 pm

Greetings! On to another week of Kara! Several things to take care of1) Progression, readiness, availability, committment2) Core roster3) Roster and plan for 9/27 and 9/301) Progression, readiness, availability and committment. Though we are slowly progressing through Kara there needs to be several things we all should be reminded of:There are several encounters we have not even seen yet... and for a good reason. They are not the easiest to successfully complete. It takes a well prepared and knowledgeable raid group to take these bosses down. There are few of us that have even seen the other bosses and even fewer still that would be able to successfully orchestrate the group for the encounter. There have been requests that we try for the other bosses (Netherspite and Prince.) Well, I personally do not think we are ready for those encounters. We will get there. We just need a little more time and practice.What does it mean to be ready for Kara? Well there are schools of thought that all it takes is attunement and BAM youre good to. Ummm... not really. Attunement is not a defacto ticket to Kara. It is merely a stepping stone. There are a number of factors that go into being what I would consider "ready" for Kara. 1) First and foremost would be to know your class well. Everyone in the raid group has a role to play and it is usually based on the abilities of your character to some extent or another. Whether its an interrupt, buff, shackle, trap, blind, etc. -- you must know your class well. This includes pots, food buffs, etc. that are most useful for your class.2) Threat... know it... love it... live it. Know when to back off that last cast or keystroke and save yourself a repair bill and potential raid wipe.3) Gear. Sure it's fine and dandy to get new gear and drool over the purple drops. Word of caution - DO NOT focus on the loot. Focus, instead, on the encounter. That is the goal... down the boss! Not what loot can I get off of the boss who we havent defeated yet or saying that "your" drop is waiting for you once he is down. Which leads into...4) Knowing what to expect from the encounters. Read up on them ahead of time. I always try to post what we are going to be doing each night so there are no questions. Besides a potential order shift, there shouldn't be a need to review each fight in it's entirety. Yes there are times when folks are brought in last minute that werent expecting to go, but for those that are expecting to go, there should be no excuse. Kill order, cc assignment, role assignments due to different group makeups, etc. may change each week but the abilities of the bosses and strategies to defeat them are pretty similar from week to week. It would be nice to hear folks say "I read on an encounter where they did this and it worked for them." I very rarely hear from folks that they have actually read up on the encounter and have any suggestions other that what was learned from the previous wipe. 5) Read this thread. It's chock full of information on common raiding mistakes which we have all our fair share of....Availibility and committment. For now, we raid two nights per week: Thursday and Sunday. Raid invites start at 7:30pm and first pull at 8:00pm. Though the invites are started on time, it is rare that we start the first pull on time. In fact, we have only started at 8pm one night since we started raiding on Thursdays. This needs to change as it is not fair to those who make accomodations to be on-time. I have heard complaints from several individuals about this and it inhibits our effectiveness later on in the instance as some folks have to leave early and would like to get started on time. What this means is that we should be ready to rock and roll by 8pm. NOT doing any of the following at 8pm (as an example):Halfway around the world farming expecting a summonWorking on another character finishing up something while the group is waitingHaving to repair firstHaving to buy pots firstBeing ready at 8pm to get things going is an indication of committment to the raid group. We all depend on each other in Kara. We need to ALL make this work. If there is a circumstance that you cannot make it by a certain time, please post something on the website or contact me directly in-game.2) Core roster - This is a list of those folks that are the core group that have made a committment to raiding with us on Thursday and Sunday:Warrior - MahnalorWarrior - ThandrennMage - AnotherMage - BenvoloPriest - FionaaPriest - StarsaverPaladin - JazzmynnRogue - Drp Druid - Blave Hunter - NagashiThere will be slight changes from week to week as RL kicks in and swaps are made. Please put your name down on the posting if you are available and ready (see above for the definition) to raid on a given night. So if you are available and would like to be considered for an open spot, please post to this thread so I know your status. There is the potential for different group makeups to be considered for different fights, so keep that in mind as well.3)Thursday Raid LineupWarrior - AggrocityWarrior - ThandrennMage - AnotherMage - BenvoloMage - KurumiPriest - FionaaPriest - StarsaverPaladin - JazzmynnRogue - DrpDruid - BlaveSunday Raid LineupWarrior - MahnalorWarrior - ThandrennMage - AnotherMage - BenvoloPriest - FionaaPriest - StarsaverPaladin - JazzmynnRogue - DrpDruid - BlaveHunter - NagashiThe plan:Thursday - Attumen, Moroes, Opera, MaidenSunday - Curator, Chess, Shade of Aran, Ilhoof-Mahnalor

Blave · Post by **Blave** » September 26th, 2007, 10:30 am

Good post!

As for my availability this week, well I am sorry but I don't think I am going to make it. The agile people call it "sprinting"; I simply call it "unscheduled overtime". Maybe next week when things start to slow down a little at work.

Good luck everyone!

Mahnalor · Post by **Mahnalor** » September 26th, 2007, 10:38 pm

Thanks for the heads up Blave. Hope to see you back next week!-Mahnalor

starsaver · Post by **starsaver** » September 27th, 2007, 7:54 am

Quani will be swapping out with Starsaver next week, so I may bring Onestar if needed. Paul

Nagashi · Post by **Nagashi** » September 27th, 2007, 9:42 am

Hi, Mahnalor came to me earlier this week asking if I would be able to tank Thursday, I said sure thing. This will be my first time ever tanking in Kara as most of you well know. Aggrocity emotes: /scared. I'll be reading up on the bosses and hopefully be prepared for this. I have been tanking a lot of five mans and heroics (mostly Mech) while I understand those are not Kara, at the least I have some experience in more difficult instances and with different group make ups. So I will be looking for a lot of direction and a little patience

. In any case I look forward to this opportunity and hope I don't let you all down.

Drumble · Post by **Drumble** » September 27th, 2007, 11:32 am

I think you sound well prepared -- that fear will give you focus, that heroic training gives you both concept and experience in high pressure tanking scenariors (you lose aggro or the pull goes bad, you wipe - etc.). At that point - it's just about learning the pulls / patrols. When to shoot a mob, where the opportunities are to grab that patrol vs. playing "pick up sticks" with the pulls along the way. The *best* training for this IMHO is that path to Attumen -- your pulls have to be quick, watch for healer mana then go -- healers dont need to be full by any means - dont wait for DPS to sit and drink, they can be doing that while the pull is sorted out. This first section really is pull training ... Also - you might want to get some macros for quickly defining marks. I use my numpad for this, in the least be ready to mark the 2 shackles and the skull. Make it a habit to hit that "skull" button on your current target -- DPS should be following you, dont give them time to select a mob or wonder which it is you have. Also, dont wait for the mob to die before you're on to the next target -- you should have plenty of threat buffer close to it's death (since melee would have to exceed by 110%, ranged 120% to pull aggro) so save a little rage for the next mob on a multi-pull. It's a good idea to *usually* follow the same kill order (skull - triangle - star >>> which becomes the skull - skull - skull), the difference would be when positioning dictates otherwise. When I break a shackle - -since these mobs hit HARD, I throw up a taunt first -- then do my moves. That way I dont have to chase down anything that gets loose, after a few seconds of it beating on me -- that's plenty of rage to be able to outdo any residual threat. Also, it's important to note that some mobs break free or shed aggro as part of their programming -- the Spectral Chargers charge the furthest back in the raid to do their fear -- if everyone is stacked up close, everyone gets feared. Etc, etc, etc ... The only variable thing in that first section is when the patrol is walking down the corridor -- the hallway is only safe to stand in when they are dead. I use a Detect Undead potion to give me a little heads up before running around that first corridor. I wish I could be there to help direct the pulls.

Just have fun with it. As a general rule for myself -- if I lose a mob to DPS, it's DPS's fault -- if I lose a mob to healers, it's my fault. Everyone is responsible for their own threat ... you should be pumping out high numbers, but high or low - they should follow your lead.

drp · Post by **drp** » September 27th, 2007, 1:41 pm

i know the first half of the instance pretty good so if you have any questions abotu pulls just let me know.

kurumi · Post by **kurumi** » September 27th, 2007, 3:48 pm

Are we on for tonight, are we missing a druid?

drp · Post by **drp** » September 27th, 2007, 4:05 pm

we are missing a druid yes but i belive his spot was filled, i will get on around 7:30 and start throwing out invites

Jon · Post by **Jon** » September 27th, 2007, 4:13 pm

I'll try to hop on tonight in case you need one more. Currently non-feral, but tanking again sounds fun.

Mahnalor · Post by **Mahnalor** » September 27th, 2007, 4:54 pm

It looks like I will be able to make it after all. However, I will step back if certain spots have been promised. I have already contacted Myrdinn and he was still up in the air so he is ok with not going tonight if i was coming. If this works out this way, then Aggrocity can go back to Nagashi and I will be bringing Mahnalor. I will still have to see what has developed though.... I'll be online sending tells.... -Mahnalor

Akumabarai · Post by **Akumabarai** » September 27th, 2007, 5:54 pm

I'm usually always online and more than willing to fill a druid's spot.So I'll be on tonight if needed

I'm well geared for cat, and ok geared for bear (only about 22k armor). Also been pugg'ing Kara recently so I know what to expect.

Kaittlynn · Post by **Kaittlynn** » September 27th, 2007, 9:42 pm

Hey guys it completely excaped my mind, but i work n Sunday, so Jazz will not be coming to the raid on Sunday. Hope ya'll have a good time

Jon · Post by **Jon** » September 28th, 2007, 2:34 pm

I can fill a heal spot on Sunday if needed.

Mahnalor · Post by **Mahnalor** » October 2nd, 2007, 4:05 pm

Hi Folks,my oh my... fun night on Sunday. Thursday was.. well... um... an unmentioinable evening that only saw us take down Attumen. Sunday was different however as we took down: Moroes, Opera, Maiden, Curator, Chess and Shade. Yup.. you heard right.. Shade

Though we have always had a decent plan of attack, our execution was questionable. One thing or another always went wrong. Sometimes related to luck and others to just not paying attention to our role for the fight. Sunday we executed... plain and simple... everyone stepped up and did what they were supposed to do. Excellent job folks!!!Here is a brief recap of Sunday:Moroes:Very well executed. I did manage to keep spell reflect spammed and was able to aviod most of his blinds and gouges. Though this is not necessarily a bad thing for a tank, it was tough for Thandrenn to build rage and therefor threat. When the group got to Moroes folks actually caught up to Thandrenn in terms of threat and surpassed him. Second thought might be to still use it, just not as much

Loot:Royal Cloak of Arathi Kings - MyrdinnIdol of the Avian Heart - DEOpera (Big Bad Wolf):Third time was a charm as we were able to get him down. It was a little luck and also making sure to run AWAY from him. We had issues with running away when we were transformmed. Seemed like we finally got the hang of it by the third try

Loot:Red Riding Hood's Cloak - FionaaBeastmaw Pauldrons - DEMaiden:One shot here with fantastic execution. An initial pull by FIonaa using Inner Fire caused a little scare, however we were able to settle down and take care of business.Loot:Bracers of Maliciousness - ThandrennGloves of Centering - DECurator:Nothing but smooth sailing. With Thandrenn's large health pool and adequate threat buildup, he was able to soak up the hateful bolts and survive the entire encounter

Loot:Staff of Infinite Mysteries - AnotherGloves of the Fallen Defender - MahnalorChess:We had a few issues at first and i though we might actually fail the first attempt, however we managed to take down their King and complete the encounter. I attribute this to mainly folks who havent been to chess and were having a hard time with the movement, attack, etc.Loot:Fiend Slayer Boots - NagashiRing of Recurrance - BenvoloShade:Amazing! We had an additional interrupt this time around with Idravenl helping us after Fionaa had to leave. Idravenl handed him his butt!!! Out-dps'ing our uber rogue regular Drp.

Way to go man! As far as the interrupts and heals... absolutely amazing folks. Awesome job! This was our first downing of Shade for this raid group.Loot:Boots of the Infernal Coven - StarsaverAran's Soothing Saphirre - StarsaverCombat starts here.-Mahnalor

thandrenn · Post by **thandrenn** » October 2nd, 2007, 8:26 pm

Though we did awesome, Tim's nearly ill-fated discovery should be mentioned. Inner Fire draws aggro from Maiden. This wasn't known at first, so we had a bit of a problem getting and keeping Maiden in position at first. Afterwards, rock solid.

Drumble · Post by **Drumble** » October 3rd, 2007, 5:12 am

Not just "Inner Fire" -- any buff cast when any mob has been engaged and has 0 threat (like when we're all running towards Maiden/Prince/Curator/etc..) will draw aggro.

Dionia · Post by **Dionia** » October 3rd, 2007, 6:17 am

Yep, I cast Power Word Shield on myself as Curator started running towards Chuunks today and he stopped and made a beeline straight for me, luckily dwarfies get that ankle kicking racial thing and Chuunks was able to trip him before he got to me

thandrenn · Post by **thandrenn** » October 3rd, 2007, 12:06 pm

Good to know. I'm trying to picture a tiny Dwarf tripping that huge thing. On that same thought, they need to add [Banana Peel] to the game

Gives 60% chance of tripping enemy.