Re-activating your WoW account, or interested in "Trying Before You Buy"?The Fall Of Naxxramas
Priest Healer Feels Small On Kel'Thuzad's Throne
Naxxramas is not a superbly difficult raid instance, especially to those people who ran the instance when it was designed back in the 40-man raiding days when level 60 was the level cap.
And then there are people like me who are benefiting incredibly from their past experiences... going through Naxx PUGs these days and hearing the 10 minute long explanation to new tanks learning the ropes is a huge reminder of how lucky I am.
Our guild team has a solid core and has also had a chance to gel with the its new lineup (since members have come and gone since level 70 raiding) by going through content that is "old" for half of the group, and "new" for the other half of us, yet still a fun adventure for all.
By the time Ulduar opens up, we'll be a well-oiled machine.
Are You REALLY Ready For Brand New Content?
When the expansion first came out, and I was taking part in the first weeks of Pick Up Groups through the LFG channel, taking on the various instances from level 70 through to level 80 heroics, it was interesting to listen to the wide variety of player opinions about them.
Some friends cringed at the thought of going through an instance they had never experienced before, and yet others delighted in the exploration of something brand new and unfamiliar, including the multitude of ways that we could possibly die.
Eye of Eternity, Malygos 25
Ulduar, I expect, is going to need a very similar attitude regarding exploration and wondering just how many ways we can possibly be killed.
The Malygos fight was a small taste of how our larger team will handle new and difficult content - those nights when we were working on 25 man Eye of Eternity and wiping 18 times in a night, it was easy to see who has the Progression mentality and who has the We Should Be Able To Two-Shot Everything one.
Fortunately, I'm glad to say that the vast majority of those I raid with on scheduled guild raids are of the first mindset, not the second.
While none of us "like" wiping over and over in a challenging encounter, a great many of us are able to hold a few key thoughts in mind:
- This Progression barrier is temporary.
- Once we beat this encounter, the next time we take it on, we'll go from 18 wipes to 4 or less.
- Next week we'll have more upgrades as a raid, from running everything we CAN clear in a raid week
And most importantly,
- Challenge is FUN!
Are you one of those who find joy in the challenge of progression raid runs?
Are YOU ready for the challenge of progressing through Ulduar?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!Related posts:
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My guild started with a core group of people who had broken off from a previous guild and expanded with new players. We had a sharp learning curve, but progression is the name of the game and every time you wipe, you learn something new. Good luck on Malygos!
I cannot wait for uldar as i think part of the reason im of raiding proper at the moment just now is its too easy.
I'm pretty excited for Ulduar. I couldn't care less about a new tier of loot, but it'll be fun to enter a place that hopefully requires more delicate handling of trash (limited AoE, or at least, make the AoE pulls chaotic like Hyjal), new bosses to figure out, fun visuals and audio (Moroes' harpsichord, anyone?).
I'm sure it'll vary greatly from one player to the next, but I love progression wipe nights. My raid uses flasks, another player and I go on fishing trips to provide Fish Feast for the guild, and potions are only one-per attempt, so the financial cost isn't too high (repairs remain tough, especially for plate wearers).
Our first night on Malygos-25 was 20 wipes. The next night in there, much fewer wipes, resulting in a sweet sweet kill. Now we do weekly farming one-shots, which I actually dislike greatly, mainly due to the silly (IMO) dragon mounts in phase 3.
However, all raid farming isn't too bad for me. I still like the weekly clears of Naxx, especially as we push for faster and faster clear times, push for improved times to kill each boss, random achievements here and there. Especially as they patch/repatch hunter skills every week, I like having Naxx to play in and figure out how to work my toon. Thinking back to Karazhan, I did finally reach a point at which I said "you wont get me back into kara unless me, the main tank, and all the healers are drunker'n hell" which actually played out from time to time for some nice fun, but that was only well after we were on into T5 and T6 country.
OS25+3 wipe nights are my current favorite. Actually wiped 25 times during one 3-hour night, resulting in a 26th attempt which was our second kill, not even the progression night. Yes, it starts to drag on, it gets frustrating, but watching the team click and master each element of the encounter is very satisfying. The first night we beat him was just awesome, and its still a very tough fight even after a few kills.
I love exploring new parts of the game world, and wiping 18 times doesn't really bother me as long as it's because it was hard rather than someone being stupid.