Harrison cracks the door, peeking out into the cool Ramkahen night. Valentis stands resolute on the windward side, staring anxiously back.
"A moment?" he asks.
Harrison glances behind him. The room is clear, so he widens the door. Decedereful has fled to the back room.
Valentis strides into the room and removes his hat. He glances around as if seeing the club for the first time. Finally, placing a hand on the back of a chair, he turns to find Harrison regarding him.
"I do apologize for the lateness of my call, but I'm afraid it couldn't be helped," the Gilnean says.
Harrison nods, but says nothing.
"Mr. Jones... there is something we need to discuss." Valentis twists his hat nervously in his hands.
"All right, then."
Valentis sets the hat on the table. "I've gotten the gen that you're the man to ask about some papers of great value to me."
Harrison shrugs. "And if I am?"
"How much do you want for them?"
Harrison frowns. "Even if I had these papers, what makes you think they are for sale."
Valentis smiles. "Everything is for sale in Ramkahen, Mr. Jones."
Harrison's eyes stray toward the door in the back. "Not everything."
It is at that moment that they both notice that jacket thrown across an adjacent table. A long moment of silence stretches as they both stare at it, Valentis in curiosity and Harrison in horror. The Gilnean's eyes rise to meet Harrison's. They seem to soften.
"Mr. Jones," Valentis begins after a moment, "I know a good deal more about you than you suspect. I know, for instance, that you're in love with a woman."
Valentis pauses, but Harrison betrays nothing.
"It is perhaps a strange circumstance that we both should be in love with the same woman," he continues. Harrison's eyes widen, but Valentis barrels on. "The first evening I came to this club, I knew there was something between you and Dece. Since no one is to blame, I-I demand no explanation. I ask only one thing." His eyes burn with sincerity. "You won't give the papers to me: all right. But I want my fiancee to be safe. I ask you as a favor. Use the papers to take her away from Ramkahen."
Harrison cocks his head. "You love her that much?"
Valentis smiles sadly. "Apparently you think of me only as the leader of a cause. Well, I'm also a human being. Yes, I love her that much."
Harrison turns away. His mind reels. He needs a moment to digest the new information. A saunter over to retrieve the wayward jacket fills the time. He folds it neatly and places it on the bar. It smells like her.
"Let's say I can help in the way you ask," Harrison says. "Then what?"
"There is a plane, Gnomish, leaving tomorrow night," Valentis confides. "The papers will get Dece and a companion safely into Stormwind. It launches from the flats north of Ramkahen."
"I know the place," Harrison says. He has been witness to other flights under cloak of darkness. "I shall have to procure these papers, but I believe I can have them by tomorrow."
"That is all I can ask, Mr. Jones." Valentis picks his had back up. "I am most grateful."
Harrison waves a hand. "You just make sure she's there."
"I will," Valentis replies as he moves to the door. "You can be certain of that." He opens the door. "Good night, Mr. Jones, and thank you."
Harrison nods as the man slips out, his mind churning.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
QOTD: Meaningful Decrease is Meaningful?
Labels: Expansion, QotD 10 comments
Is there such a thing as "too much" meaning? I've been paying only divided attention to the information coming out about the whole Deathwing patch thing. After all, I still have plenty to do in the current raiding patch. We've yet to down our first boss.
Still, one of the things I keep seeing repeated is the following line:
First of all, we're getting the Deathwing patch already. Doesn't that seem fast to anyone? I hardly feel like we've gotten rolling. I suppose I expected to visit other elemental planes first.
I keep seeing comparisons to Ulduar. Shouldn't we be making comparisons to ICC? Isn't this raid supposed to be this expansion's ICC? We're basically going, Naxx (The three initial raids), Uld (FL), no ToC, ICC (Deathwing). Does anyone else feel like we're missing a step? Not that the ToC step will be all that missed, but it did sort provide a chance to catch our breath and set up for ICC. I wouldn't it mind it sped up, but having fully expected "steps" removed bugs me.
Maybe that's an unfair comparison though.
Another red flag is that they keep strongly hinting that we're going to get another expansion a lot sooner than in years past. I think it's pretty safe to assume that they mean to announce it at Blizzcon and then perhaps release it next year. That's almost a full year early.
Does that mean we're going to get a break on price? Before, I was paying a large amount of money (in addition to a monthly fee) for (essentially) two years of content. I'm okay with that, but is it fair to the consumer to expect them to pay the same amount for essentially one year of equivalent content (on top of a monthly fee), with no real explanation (other than: hey, faster is better, right?)? At what point is this worrisome?
I'm not usually one to cry wolf around here. I don't really like to complain about being "nickle and dimed" or anything, because I've generally felt like we've gotten good value for what we pay. Lately, however, the cost per hour seems to be going up. Drastically. A strategic change like this would represent a 100% increase in expansion pricing.
Maybe they plan to give a discount, though. Or give some bonus, neat swag with the purchase (discounting the swag-free digital release, since isn't that just another patch?). Maybe the quality will be completely superb, even better than we've become to expect (however, I think one could make a valid case that quality has been declining. Still great, but perhaps a bit of a slide from what once was).
At what point should red flags be waving?
I only ask because I've not see this asked elsewhere. We all seem to be taking this projected news in stride without blinking an eye. I'm not trying to be a cranky old-timer here, I just think I have some valid concerns about what seems to be a major paradigm shift. Change can be good, but I'm always wary of it. I'm willing to adapt and I'm not going to sit here and glorify the olden days, but when something is wrapped up with a "this is what you want" package, I find myself having to ask:
Is it really?
You tell me. Surely, this has piqued other minds.
Still, one of the things I keep seeing repeated is the following line:
"The next expansion should be released with a "meaningful difference" in the release timeline compared to previous expansions."Maybe it's just me, but when I read this, several red flags go off in my head.
First of all, we're getting the Deathwing patch already. Doesn't that seem fast to anyone? I hardly feel like we've gotten rolling. I suppose I expected to visit other elemental planes first.
I keep seeing comparisons to Ulduar. Shouldn't we be making comparisons to ICC? Isn't this raid supposed to be this expansion's ICC? We're basically going, Naxx (The three initial raids), Uld (FL), no ToC, ICC (Deathwing). Does anyone else feel like we're missing a step? Not that the ToC step will be all that missed, but it did sort provide a chance to catch our breath and set up for ICC. I wouldn't it mind it sped up, but having fully expected "steps" removed bugs me.
Maybe that's an unfair comparison though.
Another red flag is that they keep strongly hinting that we're going to get another expansion a lot sooner than in years past. I think it's pretty safe to assume that they mean to announce it at Blizzcon and then perhaps release it next year. That's almost a full year early.
Does that mean we're going to get a break on price? Before, I was paying a large amount of money (in addition to a monthly fee) for (essentially) two years of content. I'm okay with that, but is it fair to the consumer to expect them to pay the same amount for essentially one year of equivalent content (on top of a monthly fee), with no real explanation (other than: hey, faster is better, right?)? At what point is this worrisome?
I'm not usually one to cry wolf around here. I don't really like to complain about being "nickle and dimed" or anything, because I've generally felt like we've gotten good value for what we pay. Lately, however, the cost per hour seems to be going up. Drastically. A strategic change like this would represent a 100% increase in expansion pricing.
Maybe they plan to give a discount, though. Or give some bonus, neat swag with the purchase (discounting the swag-free digital release, since isn't that just another patch?). Maybe the quality will be completely superb, even better than we've become to expect (however, I think one could make a valid case that quality has been declining. Still great, but perhaps a bit of a slide from what once was).
At what point should red flags be waving?
I only ask because I've not see this asked elsewhere. We all seem to be taking this projected news in stride without blinking an eye. I'm not trying to be a cranky old-timer here, I just think I have some valid concerns about what seems to be a major paradigm shift. Change can be good, but I'm always wary of it. I'm willing to adapt and I'm not going to sit here and glorify the olden days, but when something is wrapped up with a "this is what you want" package, I find myself having to ask:
Is it really?
You tell me. Surely, this has piqued other minds.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Another Tequila Monday
Labels: Hot Topic, Reflections 0 comments
I wish I had tequila. Instead, I'm in the office, doing officey things. By that, I mean day-dreaming about killing giant spiders. (And humming Eagles tunes). Here are some random, unrelated things to consider:
- Hot Topic 1: Threat. I have no feelings about this either way. I can see both sides of the coin here. For me, it gives me something to needle Fuu about. "You got 300% threat and I'm still pulling aggro!" Course, I was in demon form with immolation aura, shadowflame dot ticking, and ROF'ing all over the place.
- Hot Topic 2: Trans-googly-moogly. That stuff wherein you may change the look of your gears (presumably to be implemented with 4.3). I generally feel positive here. It's a neat option and I think it'll actually lead to a greater diversity of looks out there. Aion had this, and it made things visually interesting as toons tended to reflect the tastes of the player more than simply boasting end-game gear. For every run-of-the-mill tier set, you'll likely have a pirate with an eye-patch. Or the Monopoly guy (as a Gnome of course).
- My Topic 1: Demo vs Affliction. We're getting to the point in the game where I start running as Demo at least 50% of the time. This generally happens when I feel comfortable with Affliction and simply want the change of pace. The major difference between the two? I feel like Demo is still more forgiving. It was rocky when they first did the talent revamp, but it seems like the Demo rotation has been slowly ironed out. With Demo being raid viable too, it really gives me an interesting choice. On nights when I RL (and thus do subpar DPS because my focus is divided), Demo might be there better option. I feel like with Affliction, you either play hardcore or not at all. DPS drops off sharply if you're not playing well. With Demo, the "minimum" (if you will) is set a bit higher. That's just a personal observation though.
- My Topic 2: I hate, hate, hate that one change to DK's where our frosty thing has a cast time. SEE! I can't even remember its name now because of how little I use it (Hungering Cold). I used to love that spell, but now it's pretty much worthless in PvP. Or, at least, not nearly as dependable as it once was.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Caught in a Storm
Labels: IC Fridays 2 comments
It is the following evening, several hours after closing that Harrison sees her again. Decedereful and her fiancee had been curiously absent all night, but now she sneaks in through the front doors. She peers behind her as if worried of pursuit, and then resolutely shuts and locks the door.
Harrison stands frozen in the midst of wiping down the bar. He had already sent the help home, and was simply finishing up a few last chores. When she turns and spears him with her beautiful blue eyes, she freezes like cornered animal. There is something wild about her appearance, and it serves only to enhance her ravishing beauty.
She wears a long jacket, having just removed the wide brimmed hat from her head and letting her dark hair spill out over her shoulders. Moments ago, before she'd spun around, Harrison might have thought her one of Renault's henchmen, come to pay him an unsavory night's visit. Instead, one look at her chases all thoughts of self-preservation from his mind.
His face remains impassive. He watches as Decedereful gathers her courage and approaches him across the club. When she nears, she slips the jacket from her shoulders and drapes it over a chair. The dress she wears beneath is enough to set Harrison's blood on fire. His heart thumps painfully against his chest, and he struggles to stay calm. She continues forward until she stands before him, regarding him with burning, doe-eyes. Harrison keeps the counter between them.
"Why did you come back?" Harrison asks. "To tell me why you ran out on me at the railway station?"
A look crossing her beautiful face. "...Yes."
"Well, you can tell me now. I'm reasonably sober." Harrison replaces several full bottles to the area he'd just been wiping.
"If I am to be honest with you, you must promise me something," Dece says.
"What is that?" Harrison asks.
"That you ask no questions of me that I cannot answer," Dece replies.
"No questions, then. Okay."
There is a pause as she gathers herself.
"I would not have returned," she says, "would not have chanced causing you even the smallest hurt, were the situation not dire. Valentis, he needs to get out of here if he is to continue his work. And it's important work, you know that, Harrison."
Harrison nods, but says nothing and crosses his arms. Her eyes contain nothing but sincerity.
Decedereful continues, "As it is, I come to you because of the love we once shared, the love that still burns deep within me, in the hopes of eliciting your help." She smiles. "When I left the Lost City-"
"I wouldn't bring up the Lost City if I were you. It's poor salesmanship," Harrison interrupts.
The smile melts away and she takes a deep breath. "Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. Please, believe that. And now it seems that fate has brought me back to you. I'm not the same girl that you knew, but I love you all the same. These times make for complicated situations."
Harrison can no longer stand it. "Who are you really, and what were you before? What did you do and what did you think, huh?" It is obvious a war rages inside of him.
Decedereful shakes her head. "We said no questions."
Harrison frowns and lifts a clean glass, "...Here's looking at you, kid."
Decedereful smiles. Like a cat stalking her prey, she moves smoothly around the end of the bar to join Harrison on his side. She steps in close. Harrison peers down into the face he once loved so well. His features soften.
"I'm sorry for asking. I forgot we said no questions," he says.
"Well, only one answer can take care of all our questions."
Decedereful rises up on her toes and pulls his head in, kissing him. Their lips mingle as words flee. The room swirls in Harrison's vision as he loses himself. He brings one hand up on her smooth, cold back, pressing her into him. Her fingers worm down into his hair, gripping as if her life depended on it.
A knock pulls them apart.
"Does anyone know you are here?" Harrison asks breathlessly. His first thought is of henchmen, and that perhaps he's put Dece in danger.
"No. No one," she replies.
Harrison disentangles himself and approaches the door. The knock sounds again.
"Who is there?" Harrison says in a loud voice.
"Valentis," comes the muffled reply.
Harrison turns to find Decedereful with a look of panic on her face. And also, perhaps, just the slightest hint of something else. Harrison despairs to name it, but cannot deny it.
Shame.
Harrison stands frozen in the midst of wiping down the bar. He had already sent the help home, and was simply finishing up a few last chores. When she turns and spears him with her beautiful blue eyes, she freezes like cornered animal. There is something wild about her appearance, and it serves only to enhance her ravishing beauty.
She wears a long jacket, having just removed the wide brimmed hat from her head and letting her dark hair spill out over her shoulders. Moments ago, before she'd spun around, Harrison might have thought her one of Renault's henchmen, come to pay him an unsavory night's visit. Instead, one look at her chases all thoughts of self-preservation from his mind.
His face remains impassive. He watches as Decedereful gathers her courage and approaches him across the club. When she nears, she slips the jacket from her shoulders and drapes it over a chair. The dress she wears beneath is enough to set Harrison's blood on fire. His heart thumps painfully against his chest, and he struggles to stay calm. She continues forward until she stands before him, regarding him with burning, doe-eyes. Harrison keeps the counter between them.
"Why did you come back?" Harrison asks. "To tell me why you ran out on me at the railway station?"
A look crossing her beautiful face. "...Yes."
"Well, you can tell me now. I'm reasonably sober." Harrison replaces several full bottles to the area he'd just been wiping.
"If I am to be honest with you, you must promise me something," Dece says.
"What is that?" Harrison asks.
"That you ask no questions of me that I cannot answer," Dece replies.
"No questions, then. Okay."
There is a pause as she gathers herself.
"I would not have returned," she says, "would not have chanced causing you even the smallest hurt, were the situation not dire. Valentis, he needs to get out of here if he is to continue his work. And it's important work, you know that, Harrison."
Harrison nods, but says nothing and crosses his arms. Her eyes contain nothing but sincerity.
Decedereful continues, "As it is, I come to you because of the love we once shared, the love that still burns deep within me, in the hopes of eliciting your help." She smiles. "When I left the Lost City-"
"I wouldn't bring up the Lost City if I were you. It's poor salesmanship," Harrison interrupts.
The smile melts away and she takes a deep breath. "Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. Please, believe that. And now it seems that fate has brought me back to you. I'm not the same girl that you knew, but I love you all the same. These times make for complicated situations."
Harrison can no longer stand it. "Who are you really, and what were you before? What did you do and what did you think, huh?" It is obvious a war rages inside of him.
Decedereful shakes her head. "We said no questions."
Harrison frowns and lifts a clean glass, "...Here's looking at you, kid."
Decedereful smiles. Like a cat stalking her prey, she moves smoothly around the end of the bar to join Harrison on his side. She steps in close. Harrison peers down into the face he once loved so well. His features soften.
"I'm sorry for asking. I forgot we said no questions," he says.
"Well, only one answer can take care of all our questions."
Decedereful rises up on her toes and pulls his head in, kissing him. Their lips mingle as words flee. The room swirls in Harrison's vision as he loses himself. He brings one hand up on her smooth, cold back, pressing her into him. Her fingers worm down into his hair, gripping as if her life depended on it.
A knock pulls them apart.
"Does anyone know you are here?" Harrison asks breathlessly. His first thought is of henchmen, and that perhaps he's put Dece in danger.
"No. No one," she replies.
Harrison disentangles himself and approaches the door. The knock sounds again.
"Who is there?" Harrison says in a loud voice.
"Valentis," comes the muffled reply.
Harrison turns to find Decedereful with a look of panic on her face. And also, perhaps, just the slightest hint of something else. Harrison despairs to name it, but cannot deny it.
Shame.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Writing Contest? I need your help!
Labels: Hot Topic 4 comments
Tanking! And threat! And MOAR TANKING!
Okay, that's all I'm going to say about that. Shows you how much I care about the recent change that seems to be on the tips of everyone's fingers. I don't really play a tank, and I've never really had a problem moderating my own threat so as not to get myself killed. Admittedly, I don't go back and run dungeons with PuGs at a high level of gear. I generally have a well-geared tanking familiar with me (my wife). Fuu might have some opinions about this... maybe I'll prod her to come back and write. I know y'all miss her.
No, what I want to mention today is the Writing Contest that Blizzard announced. I have an admission to make. I've never entered a writing contest before. I can't really say why. Most of it is probably due to laziness. Also a lack of confidence in my own work. I've never thought of myself as award-winning. I just like telling stories. I'm no Hemingway.
Yet, a lot of you have given me strongly positive feedback. It's been great for those black days many writers have (wherein all that is, was, and can be... is crap). It's gotten me thinking: maybe I should be considering the contest. If nothing else, it could be fun.
As I was contemplating what I might write, or what I might possibly be able to submit, I began to despair again. I have 112 marked IC Friday posts, and I lovehate them all. Yes, lovehate is a word. I think it's the closest a Warlock gets to true love.
In any case, I figured I'd turn to you, fair readers. Has anything I've written in the WoW universe stuck out to you? Would it make a good submission? Now, the word guideline calls for 2500 - 7500 words. My single posts are nowhere near that. Thus, we'd be looking for a string of maybe 5 posts that told a neat story.
So, I figured I'd make you guys a deal. You pick the posts, and I'll do whatever else needs to be done to pretty them up and submit them to Blizz. If we win, we'll throw a cake party or something. If no-one one comes up with anything, that's fine too. I'm not sure what I write translates well to contests anyhoo. Entertaining? Yes. Hemingway? No. No biggy.
I just wanted to put this out there for kicks and giggles.
Okay, that's all I'm going to say about that. Shows you how much I care about the recent change that seems to be on the tips of everyone's fingers. I don't really play a tank, and I've never really had a problem moderating my own threat so as not to get myself killed. Admittedly, I don't go back and run dungeons with PuGs at a high level of gear. I generally have a well-geared tanking familiar with me (my wife). Fuu might have some opinions about this... maybe I'll prod her to come back and write. I know y'all miss her.
No, what I want to mention today is the Writing Contest that Blizzard announced. I have an admission to make. I've never entered a writing contest before. I can't really say why. Most of it is probably due to laziness. Also a lack of confidence in my own work. I've never thought of myself as award-winning. I just like telling stories. I'm no Hemingway.
Yet, a lot of you have given me strongly positive feedback. It's been great for those black days many writers have (wherein all that is, was, and can be... is crap). It's gotten me thinking: maybe I should be considering the contest. If nothing else, it could be fun.
As I was contemplating what I might write, or what I might possibly be able to submit, I began to despair again. I have 112 marked IC Friday posts, and I lovehate them all. Yes, lovehate is a word. I think it's the closest a Warlock gets to true love.
In any case, I figured I'd turn to you, fair readers. Has anything I've written in the WoW universe stuck out to you? Would it make a good submission? Now, the word guideline calls for 2500 - 7500 words. My single posts are nowhere near that. Thus, we'd be looking for a string of maybe 5 posts that told a neat story.
So, I figured I'd make you guys a deal. You pick the posts, and I'll do whatever else needs to be done to pretty them up and submit them to Blizz. If we win, we'll throw a cake party or something. If no-one one comes up with anything, that's fine too. I'm not sure what I write translates well to contests anyhoo. Entertaining? Yes. Hemingway? No. No biggy.
I just wanted to put this out there for kicks and giggles.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
A Warlocky Beth'tilac Strat
Labels: Raiding 2 comments
I mentioned I might do a strat post today. However, instead of BH, I substituted Beth'tilac. Apparently there's a good write-up for BH on WoW Insider that I've not had time to look at yet, but it's not a hard fight.
I like to make my own strats, so this is as much for me as it is for any of you. Likely, you're all beyond this big arachnid anyway. One thing I like to try to do when I'm attacking a strat write-up is to condense and make it funny/interesting. There are tons of dry strats out there. Most of the times, those strats won't hold the attention of our raiders (myself included). There is definitely a point where my eye cross and I start thinking about lolcats (killing them, of course). Thus, here is my somewhat irreverent strat for Beth'tilac.
Big boss spider sits up on top of the web and rains AoE down until a tank picks her up. Medium sized spiders (spinners) drop down. Once they are taunted off their strings (or killed), the strings can be used to ascend to the top. Small spiders (spiderlings) spawn in a group and run to a big spider (drone).
This happens in a series of three waves. Each wave consists of 1 drone, a half dozen spinners, and 2-3 waves of little spiderlings (~12).
That is all just for Phase 1. We'll get to P2 in a sec, but don't worry it's easy.
In P1, the name of the game is add/damage control. This is a "live through it" phase. We send three folks up top to keep the big bitch occupied (tank, heals, deeps) while the remainder of the group struggles below. You need to assign someone to get the spinners off their strings (their spit hurts more than their melee, and they don't really require a tank). You need to kill the spiderlings before they get to the drone, or the drone will gain a stacking damage buff from each eaten. You also need to kill all spiderlings before the boss comes down for P2.
Thus, we have the following assignments, with 2 tanks, 3 heals, 5 deeps:
After the 3rd wave, she'll deign descend from on high to fight us for reals. Likely, there will be a very last spiderling spawn right before this. It'll be key that we down all those 'lings so that the big girl doesn't eat them, otherwise she'll heal up per 'ling lunch.
This, if you haven't guessed, puts us into Phase 2. P2, thankfully, is pretty simple. Burn like fel. She'll get a stacking buff that works as a "soft" enrage timer. Longer we take, the harder she hits, until splat.
Questions/Comments? Call the hotline: 1-555-Bethsux. (Sounds like a 900 number, but it isn't, for safety reasons).
I like to make my own strats, so this is as much for me as it is for any of you. Likely, you're all beyond this big arachnid anyway. One thing I like to try to do when I'm attacking a strat write-up is to condense and make it funny/interesting. There are tons of dry strats out there. Most of the times, those strats won't hold the attention of our raiders (myself included). There is definitely a point where my eye cross and I start thinking about lolcats (killing them, of course). Thus, here is my somewhat irreverent strat for Beth'tilac.
Big boss spider sits up on top of the web and rains AoE down until a tank picks her up. Medium sized spiders (spinners) drop down. Once they are taunted off their strings (or killed), the strings can be used to ascend to the top. Small spiders (spiderlings) spawn in a group and run to a big spider (drone).
This happens in a series of three waves. Each wave consists of 1 drone, a half dozen spinners, and 2-3 waves of little spiderlings (~12).
That is all just for Phase 1. We'll get to P2 in a sec, but don't worry it's easy.
In P1, the name of the game is add/damage control. This is a "live through it" phase. We send three folks up top to keep the big bitch occupied (tank, heals, deeps) while the remainder of the group struggles below. You need to assign someone to get the spinners off their strings (their spit hurts more than their melee, and they don't really require a tank). You need to kill the spiderlings before they get to the drone, or the drone will gain a stacking damage buff from each eaten. You also need to kill all spiderlings before the boss comes down for P2.
Thus, we have the following assignments, with 2 tanks, 3 heals, 5 deeps:
- Tank 1 is up top with Healer 1 and Mad Deeps 1. I would suggest Mad Deeps 1 be an Aff'lock because of course you have one and Aff'locks are (nearly) worthless on trash. Instead, they excel at sustained damage with moderate movement. Leave the burstier melee deeps downstairs for sure.
- Tank 2 (your tank with the best situational awareness) remains down and focuses on tanking the drone and avoiding the spiderlings. It is on this tank to keep his/her head on a swivel and puzzle out the spiderling spawn points (they are finite, but I'm not sure exactly where they occur).
- The people up top simple need to live by avoiding meteors, keep her engaged, and the deeps needs to deeps. Deeps now helps us in P2 later.
- Healers 2 and 3 are downstairs split between raid and tank, doing their thang.
- (Melee) Deeps 2 with the worst combination of taunt/AoE (or best deeps) would be assigned to be on the drone when it pops, deepsing his/her heart out.
- (Melee) Deeps 3 with taunt (DKs are good for this) with Deeps 4 (Hunter) focus on the hanging spinners. The goal is to get them off strings and then kill them. Hunter MDs to DK and the world keeps on spinning. Ha, get it? Like I said, their melee bark is far worse than the bite. Don't need tank gear here, but will need some heals, especially if we get behind.
- This leaves Deeps 5 (best AoE) to focus on getting those spiderlings down when they spawn. Other deeps should drop their AoE's if they can. Deeps 4 could slide over to help if we're both ahead on the spinners and/or behind on the 'lings. Deeps 2 could help finish off any that get close too.
After the 3rd wave, she'll deign descend from on high to fight us for reals. Likely, there will be a very last spiderling spawn right before this. It'll be key that we down all those 'lings so that the big girl doesn't eat them, otherwise she'll heal up per 'ling lunch.
This, if you haven't guessed, puts us into Phase 2. P2, thankfully, is pretty simple. Burn like fel. She'll get a stacking buff that works as a "soft" enrage timer. Longer we take, the harder she hits, until splat.
Questions/Comments? Call the hotline: 1-555-Bethsux. (Sounds like a 900 number, but it isn't, for safety reasons).
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Caught Up
Labels: Raiding, Reflections 6 comments
Well, we did it. As a guild, our extremely casual 10-man group is now officially in Firelands. In the span of two weeks, we knocked out the latter half of all of the previous tier's raiding content. I'm sure the nerf had a lot to do with it, as well as the low-hanging gear improvements (from dailies/questing). We even owned TB (as alliance!) last night, so we got to roflstomp BH.
Yes, we have our Defenders of a Shattered World title, and our shiny new mounts. They may be slightly stale, but for us the taste is still just as sweet. On our off nights, we'll probably go back and polish off the personal achievements for some of our subs and the people who couldn't make it on a given night. But, as a guild, we're there. Hanging on by the skin of our teeth.
I'm excited to see where we get to before the next major content patch drops. Can we polish off FL in the interim? To me, and to most of my guild (I think), our success always seems a sort of "proof of concept." That is to say, a lot of us wouldn't be raiding at all if we had to conform to a more traditional schedule. Theoretically speaking, we shouldn't be successful. We don't spend the time in-game wiping and learning that everyone else says is necessary.
We're not on the bleeding edge, but we're seeing the content. We're experiencing it. We're not being carried by a half-hardcore team. We're working together toward a goal. Heck, our small guild still has yet to hit level 20, and it isn't for lack of trying.
We did get about 45 minutes to work on Beth'tilac last night. That seems a fun fight. Here are my initial impressions:
I think maybe I'll do a quick write up of the BH boss tomorrow. It was pretty easy, but I didn't see many written strats out there. Link me with a good one and I'll make sure to point to that (I know there are good videos, but I like a write up).
It feels good to be "caught up."
Yes, we have our Defenders of a Shattered World title, and our shiny new mounts. They may be slightly stale, but for us the taste is still just as sweet. On our off nights, we'll probably go back and polish off the personal achievements for some of our subs and the people who couldn't make it on a given night. But, as a guild, we're there. Hanging on by the skin of our teeth.
I'm excited to see where we get to before the next major content patch drops. Can we polish off FL in the interim? To me, and to most of my guild (I think), our success always seems a sort of "proof of concept." That is to say, a lot of us wouldn't be raiding at all if we had to conform to a more traditional schedule. Theoretically speaking, we shouldn't be successful. We don't spend the time in-game wiping and learning that everyone else says is necessary.
We're not on the bleeding edge, but we're seeing the content. We're experiencing it. We're not being carried by a half-hardcore team. We're working together toward a goal. Heck, our small guild still has yet to hit level 20, and it isn't for lack of trying.
We did get about 45 minutes to work on Beth'tilac last night. That seems a fun fight. Here are my initial impressions:
- Kill the hangy spiders and get up top... I'm sick of being puked on.
- Small spiders, AoE.
- Big guy... kill?
- So many spiders. Why couldn't it have been snakes?
- Aaannd we're dying.
- More spiders? Argh.
- Wipe.
I think maybe I'll do a quick write up of the BH boss tomorrow. It was pretty easy, but I didn't see many written strats out there. Link me with a good one and I'll make sure to point to that (I know there are good videos, but I like a write up).
It feels good to be "caught up."
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