Raid Progress

As mentioned in the introductory post – we hit Naxx for the first time about 3 weeks after the release of Wrath. Since then we have made pretty steady progress each week, with the exclusion of the Christmas holiday week, since most people were not available.

In the first couple of weeks, the group learned to mesh and took down Arachnid. The following week onwards, Arachnid was on farm and we took down Plague wing. The week after that was the same and we got to 4 horsemen in the Military wing, then the Christmas holidays hit and everyone had a hiatus (or pugged.) We had an attempt the week back, which was not as good as previous (what with the raid averaging 1500-1600 DPS due to more geared people still absent) but we cleared Obsidian Sanctum, Arachnid, Plague and the first boss in the military wing.

I think we have a strong core group for 10-mans, and a large selection of people to mix and match each week for gearing. At this moment in time our schedule is thus:

Wednesdays: Farm Obsidian Sanctum (0 Drakes at the moment, though we plan to start adding them in with the stronger group visits.) followed up by a quick clear of Arachnid, plague and Military wings (if there is time. Raid starts 7pm and ends 11pm.) This group is comprised of an experienced tank, and a couple of our heavy hitting DPS, and two healers, the rest is made up of a tank that wants experience, and a variety of DPS ranging from low to high, that want gear and experience.

Fridays: At this point, it’s a progression team – the most experienced and hard hitting members (+ anyone available that is well geared if were shy) to learn the remaining bosses, this usually takes 2-4 wipes apiece – and the group will consist of a third healer for the trickier bosses (4 horsemen which are left in military, then Patchwerk onwards.

If we can clear this we are going to get two groups going, we have the numbers – and after a week or two of farming this, we will be doing it on heroic, whenever we can get the sign ups. For this Saturday we also have our first heroic on the books: Heroic Obsidian Sanctum – this will be preceded by regular obsidian sanctum for those that are not locked after Wednesday’s trip in pre-Naxx.

Overall I must admit I am proud of the rate of progress we are making, we are currently ranked 45 on the server (were 26 before Christmas holidays, but have slipped in ranking since then.) for progression. We went in and started doing successful takedowns very early on, with a group of people had had barely seen a heroic, and often 2+ members that dinged 80 the same day.

At the same time, all I can say for guilds like Ensidia is Whaaat???

The fun I find in raiding, is working for the progression, getting to make and work with friends, getting gear and enjoying. It is a game. These guys cleared everything available before my character hit 73… crazy stuff, I can but imagine that they will just be sitting about waiting for Ulduar now with everyone in the raid decked out in full epics – and due to this gearing, they will clear that place the day its released as well. Still. From what I hear they are a paid guild, and that sounds like a fantastic job – as long as the pay is not too bad…

Were actually planning our first outing to eye of eternity actually – it will be weird to hit and take out the “final boss” before the expansion brings in the next Tier. I think it’s possible with the stronger members of the guild (the 2,200DPS + crowd, the healers that never run out of mana and heal for stupid amounts – and the tanks with 30k health each. That’s assuming it’s as forgiving as Naxx on gear if the people are smart about the encounters.

Enough for me on this for now, I will likely follow it up with another progress report in the future.

-V