1. Trial of the Grand Crusader - Northrend Beasts

[Syrah]

Pinched from this post http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa ... 1&pageNo=1 analysing a guilds failed attempts on NRB hm.

It is absolutely worth your time to read it - it could be us!

"You.
Can't.
Lose.
Anyone.

You can't screw anything up.

There is no margin for error.

None.

If more than two dps dies and you don't have battle resses for them with your dps, you should probably just wipe it.

first off, NrB on the first two bosses are very tank damage heavy (aka tank healers should have the most healing done)
second, why do u have 2 disc priests? should have a holy pally or two on the tanks along with a druid's hots
third, way too many healers, should go with 5, 6 if u want to be safe.
fourth, if u go with 1 pally and another for the tanks, dont assign him to a certain tank, should always focus on the tank that is currently tanking him, with beacon/CH/other splash heals to keep up the tanks with impale


Now, the next thing to look at are not the healing meters, but rather why your dps are dying to begin with. Just skimming here....
-I see a lot of deaths by Fire Bomb (Wraithclaw, Dokgarcia, Azrobas).
-I see tanks that aren't being topped off at the right times, or not using their cooldowns when they need to, and are thus being gibbed by Imaples+melee hits.
-I see people getting hit with Molten Spew--you must make clear to your dps that they are NEVER to be in front of the mobile jormungar at ANY time.
-Is Grief a tank? He seems to be getting one-shotted an awful lot and may need a lecture about either learning how to gear (if he's a tank) or learning how not to pull aggro (if he's not).
-Here's one where Deathzomby died because he was tanking Dreadscale and Gormok at the same time--Gormok should be dead before the worms spawn.
-There are a lot of people ticking down from the Paralytic Toxin dot, work on AoE heals there.
-Here's Grief again, dying because he got paralyzed in a slime pool. You should never be that close to a slime pool that if you can't get Bile in time you're going to die.
-Here's a bunch of people who died because they were standing in front of the mobile worm again (Acid Spew). That is UNHEALABLE damage.
-Here's a bunch of people who died because when Dreadscale was the stationary worm, they didn't range check and spread out ten yards or more, and they all blew each other up with Bile. If you're all standing 10+ yards apart, only one person at a time will ever get it.
-Damsel died because he/she/it ate a Sweep from the stationary worm and got knocked into the slime pool. Is this a common occurrence? If so, your dps absolutely need to pay attention to where they're standing and where they'll go if they get swept.
-More Fire Bomb deaths.
-More deaths from Paralytic Toxin dots.
-More deaths from that damn conal AoE Spew.
-More deaths from people blowing each other up with Bile.

Your dps is basically making every mistake in the book. It's not possible to heal through all those problems.

Your Penance use seems a little low. Only 12% of total healing. Make sure you're using it on CD if you're on tanks, especially since....
-Daggo appears to be a FoL paladin. I'm sure this is going to get all sorts of responses about how FoL paladins are viable and how this other paladin is a FoL paladin and he did just fine, but with tanks potentially taking up to 50k damage in half a second if they don't sue their CDs properly, you need a HL spammer.
-Rename looks good.
-Maltess is spending too many GCDs on Renew IMO. He/she/it is not a druid. You have dps dying because they're not getting healed through 10k/tick toxin dots while they run for Bile. 2500 renew ticks aren't going to do the damn job, but a Serendipity-hasted PoH followed quickly by a CoH with PoM bouncing around might.
-Wraithclaw's heals are WG > Nourish (??) > Lifebloom (?????) > Regrowth (.....) > Rejuv. Rejuv is a druid's strongest hot and it onyl accounts for 11% of this guy's healing. Lifebloom is subpar and it accounts for 15% of his healing. Is he TANK healing or something? His high use of WG (which is about the only thing he's getting right if he's a raid healer) suggests otherwise.
-Dokgarcia appears to be doing absolutely nothing but PW:S. If he's on raid PW:S duty, stop pulling your attention off the tanks so you can do his job for him. :s He's idling more often than any of your other healers, too. He seems to die quite early, but may also just not be doing his job.
-Xyivana is only spamming CH here really. It seems like there are times when LHW would be better (someone's dying in a fire, for example) but shaman is the healing class I have the least playtime on.

I hate to sound harsh, but basically you're getting it wrong in every possible way. I say that as someone who's taken Beasts down after quite a number of god-the-dps-are-stupid deaths myself, so I'm really, really not trying to belittle you by saying that, but you have a lot more than a healing problem to fix.

Trim the fat--bring six healers. Realize that the dps have a LOT of personal responsibility in this fight as to whether they live or die. A lot of fights rest squarely on the healers' shoulders. This simply isn't one of them. This one is ALL about the dps.

Again, here's the link to our most recent raid with a successful NRB kill, with a few wipes for good measure. If it helps, it helps: http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-bc7iepbmry32t3po/

-Xyivana isn't gearing for the haste she needs to be doing that kind of CH spamming. Shamans here talk about aiming for 800+ haste, even as much as 1200. She has 440. /facepalm. I'll bet aside from her tendency to not move out of the fire, she says things like "well I was casting a Chain Heal, but he died before it landed." That's why. Have her gem for haste or expand her spell selection to include LHW a lot more often.

-I'm astounded that Daggo is spamming FoL so much yet is gemming for pure intellect. You gem for intellect to sustain HL spam because it's a very costly, very overheal-prone spell. You gem for SP if you're a FoL paladin, because FoL is a TINY AS HELL HEAL. If he's gemming int and using FoL primarily, he basically couldn't be performing worse unless he wasn't casting anything at all. >.<;;;;

-It's my belief that if you're doing top-tier hard modes, you have no business setting foot in a raid without epic gems and the best possible enchants. Talk to Dokgarcia about upgrading all those blue gems (and getting rid of those spirit gems if his primary role in your raids is disc), and talk to Maltess about enchanting her weapon and upgrading her bracer enchant. Check Maltess's head, robe, and foot enchant to make sure they're up to par as well; she logged out in holiday gear, so I can't tell. "


I know it's a lot to read but if you recognise yourself in any of this and need to regem, regear or just rethink what you are doing cd or spellwise - then do it plse.


Syrah

[Erian]

Superb!

[Korchinks]

/applauds

<Points at WoL for Sundays raid>

We need a guy like that around here - yes I am sure my ass would get a whoppin or two (or more) as well, but this guild generally needs a severe talking to in a similar fashion about similar issues

[Zuzza]

Interesting crappy music


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c6booW6 ... re=related

[Giruy]

The 1st phase on our last attempt of yesterday’s raid was very good.

One thing I would point out though is that Snobolds were going down at varying rates, either people weren’t following MA or what is probably more likely is that multiple Snowbolds were being targeted.

In my mind ALL should be following MA, the quicker we get them down the quicker that individual can get back to their task, haveing 2 being dps’d at a time means that 2 players are gimped for longer than is necessary.

A prime example was myself before doing the MA, for almost an entire attempt I had a snobold on me, this meant unecessary healing for an inordinate amount of time and a loss of damage done.

[Syrah]

We need a guy like that around here

Who's going to be the 'Guy'


Syrah

[Sarri]

I think we need a priority list for snobolds, and whoever is MA needs to be aware of that priority, healers snobolds should be nuked by ALL ASAP, regardless of if you were previously on another snobold, unless its another healers snobold. Next highest priority is casters, ie dps priests, mages and locks. This can be handled by ranged and spill damage from melee. Next down is hunters, and this should only be dealt with by ranged as they dont get close enough to melee to benefit from spill damage. Last priority is melee who can be force nuked down after the boss is dead.

By experimentation over the last 2 nights, I have found the following:

I lose a large portion of damage dealing when I am constantly switching between targets. I do better damage ( NOT dps) when Im mostly on the boss and just nuking the healer adds when needed. This is due to the 17s ramp-up time of SoV to get to full damage level. I tried experimenting with different seals to exclude that and it drops my overall damage too much. Last night I found the above method most efficient for damage, and occasionally switching to a caster add also, but mostly spill damage from the aoe parts of my rotation on the boss worked fine.

In my humble opinion if we keep to the priority list, snobolds should be easily controlled...

/2c

[Giruy]

Having a priority list requires a lot of management and in my mind is a complete waste of time.

Snobolds should be dealt with on a first come 1st served basis and nuked as hard as possible, if were quick enough we can burn through them as each of them occur.

The problem i have with the priority method is that we leave one person languishing with a partially downed snobold where if we'd just continued and finished it off we would be on the next quicker, instead what we now have is 2 players incapacitated, also, why do healers have priority when dps is just as important in this fight? (see the earlier post about why this fight is more about dps not messing up than healing etc).

All it needs if for everyone to follow MA quickly and accurately and the snobolds stop being an issue.

[Syrah]

This (which I pinched from the wow forums again) any help for the tanks in P2?:

"I (Paladin) would pick up dreadscale to begin with while the warrior would tank the stationary Acidmaw. The sequence of events goes like this: Burning Bile on Dreadscale Tank (Me) -> Paralytic Poison -> Flame Spray. What I do as the tank with the BB is that I wait for the spray to finish then immediately swing around the clear any Poison-infected individuals that were coming to me. We've had bad positioning/luck that our warrior tank and get infected along with like 4 melees. But I would always have enough time to kite dreadscale half way across the room with Burning Bile on myself to clear all those melees then kite back across the room for the following spray without killing the raid.

This sequencing of events happen twice then Dreadscale burrows. The DS tank will have a new BB debuff and can clear any poisons put up last second by Acidmaw. Acidmaw burrows later than Dreadscale on the first rotation.

When Dreadscale comes back up and stays stationary, I would just hit it with some threat attack before i preceed to the mobile Acidmaw with the other tank so healers wouldn't get killed by Dreadscale's flame bolts. The first tank (warrior) will get Paralytic Poison about 10 seconds into the second rotation. I taunt Acidmaw off the warrior immediately and continue the kite (for some reason acidmaw almost ALWAYS return to the first tank despite taunt. Therefore, it is important for your first tank to not deviate from the kite path or else Acidmaw will spray the raid unintentially). The second tank (myself) will tank Acidmaw until the first tank's poison is cleared. Then the second tank will get paralytic poison. When that happens have the first tank taunt Acidmaw off.

This will conclude the second rotation. Acidmaw should be dead. If it burrows again, you're dps is too slow. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: If Acidmaw dies well before the burrow. DO NOT have your melees rush immediately to the stationary Dreadscale. This may cause A LOT of melees to get the last second Burning Bile and cause them to all kill each other.

The third (last) rotation begins with Dreadscale being mobile and enraged. Typically I (Paladin) will pick it up first. I will tank Dreadscale for the entire rotation, exhausting my cooldowns, especially during Flame Spray. By the time Dreadscale burrows, it should be dead, or near death.

Icehowl is timed to come out while Dreadscale is burrowed (if not killed in third rotation). My warrior tank would pick the stationary Dreadscale up for the last few % while I go pick up Icehowl. Finish Dreadscale then proceed to Icehowl. Keep in mind that the raid needs to be fanned out while finishing Deadscale so they don't all get killed by the frost breath."

Or this for P1

"we use 2 tanks because our third is also our top dps.

you can't take 4 stacks with rising anger, however. that'd be very unsafe.

here's how we do it:

pally-warrior makeup.

warrior starts, goes to 4.
paladin taunts goes to 3. >>>Bubbles<< >>>clicks bubble off immediatelly<<<
paladin (who now is at zero stacks again) tanks 2 more.
warrior taunts. goes to 2. >>>> Hand of protection from offtank<<< >>>clicks it off immediatelly<<<
warrior (who is now at zero) tanks 2 more.
paladin taunts and goes until gormok dies. (usually 2)

this covers 15 impales. if he's not dead by then you're in trouble because the worms are up and running by now.

for phase 2: 1 tank on each, after dreadscale does his dot on tank, cross-taunt. you'll have fire near acidmaw in case he poisons the melee.

for phase 3: trivial tanking, trivial healing, trivial dps, just move out properly and you got it.

note: he enrages as he does his 4th charge. so if you're at 5 seconds left and 2 million hp you probably have the kill unless you fail the charge.

tip: go with 3 tanks if you have the dps. this 2-tank dance with bubbles left and right might confuse the crap out of your raid. "


Syrah

If I keep looking I'm sure to find a strategy we can use eventually.

[Fagan]

A priority list isn't really needed in my humble opinion. It's pretty simple, everyone nukes snobolds on a first come first served basis, unless on lands on melee, you then ignore that one and nuke the boss. Melee should be fully nuking the snobolds as well as ranged (not just splash dmg, most classes will lose some dmg/dps from switching targets anyway). If everyone is nuking Snobolds, then they should be dead before the next one is launched anyway, as long as people are awake and move asap (I understand it can be tough when they knock you over) and move to the right position (under his tail). Ok, occasionally we might have attempts where non land on melee - hunters, do they mess you up or not really affect you? If they don't affect you we can leave them alone as well. Then they can be nuked once Gormok is down, or on burrows, if they aren't dead by then.

MA needs to be melee really as we can see the snobolds being launched, so can tell if it is on melee, ranged or a tank. (V key pressed of course!)

I've seen this method take Gormok from 30% on worm spawn to dead before worm spawn (His death of course starts the spawn, which then gives us more enrage time). Sunday nights raid didn't really get us much in the way of progress, as we had already seen icehowl and killed one worm previously, but working on the worm tactics meant it certainly wasn't a waste of time.

But, as Erian said, and Syrahs posts point towards, every part of our play needs to get better (My dps can very wildly each attempt, so I certainly have some work to do.)