Filed under: Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Professor Putricide

by Michael Gray Feb 5th 2010 at 6:00PM

Ready Check is a column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Icecrown Citadel, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses.

Professor Putricide is the final boss in the Plagueworks. He's kind of the R&D guy for the Lich King's slime armies. If you recall from fighting Rotface, Putricide is the guy who's constantly screaming about what good news it is that the slime is working again. Frankly, I'm mostly motivated to kill the guy to get him to shut up about the slime.

Putricide is a movement fight. There's a lot of mechanics that will require your raid to rapidly swap targets (to kill adds), and then not-stand-in-stuff. (Most of the stuff you'll not be standing in is one variety of slime or another.) It's not really much of a coordination fight, per se, because your tanks are probably pretty well-versed in swapping aggro back and forth. However, Putricide is going to put to the test your raid's ability to get on an add quickly. And not stand in stuff.

Let's take a look behind the jump and talk about the fight in more detail.

Filed under: Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Rotface

by Michael Gray Jan 29th 2010 at 10:00PM

Rotface probably has the best name in World of Warcraft. Can't you just see a pair of elementary school kids standing out in the playground, yelling at each other? "Well, you're a Rotface!" "Well, you're just a Festergut!" The comparison's pretty apt when you hear Rotface's voice, too. And then that voice gets even better when Professor Putricide yelling, "Good news, everyone! The slime is working again!"

Rotface is the mirror twin of Festergut. I usually raid Festergut first, and then go to visit Rotface. Rotface manages to be both a DPS check and a coordination check in a single fight. This is because Rotface does things to your raid. The longer you let Rotface stack up these things, the more difficult Rotface becomes. It's not necessarily that the damage increases as much as you're increasing the likelihood that something will go wrong. It's therefore best to burn him down as quickly as possible, even while trying to handle the coordination elements of the fight.

Jump behind the cut and let's check out the fight.

Filed under: Raiding, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Festergut and friends

by Michael Gray Jan 22nd 2010 at 4:00PM

Now that you've conquered the tragic hero-turned-evil Deathbringer Saurfang, the path is clear for you to go into the Plagueworks. This is where some of the slimy, funky, icky creatures serving Arthas keep their truly hideous and nasty creatures."Slimy" really is the word here, as the whole area just seems... moist.

In a small break from normal operating procedure, I want to talk a little about the trash on the way to your first boss. The trash in Icecrown Citadel is fairly awesome, and worth a little bit of description. As soon as you enter the main spire, you're going to find these jets of blue smoke shooting from the walls. It's worth noting that you shouldn't stand in them, or you'll die. Rogues can disarm these traps fairly handily.

Jump behind the cut and let's start looking at Festergut and his wonderful array of friends.

Filed under: Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Deathbringer Saurfang

by Michael Gray Jan 15th 2010 at 3:00PM

Deathbringer Saurfang is the final boss of The Lower Spire of Icecrown Citadel. This is the orc you once knew as Dranosh Saurfang. It turns out that the orc affectionately known as "Little Cleave" didn't simply die at Wrathgate. Instead, while we weren't looking, some ill-mannered Scourge grabbed the body of Dranosh Saurfang and spirited away. We probably assumed that his body had been burned to ash when the red dragons torched the place. Still, however it happened, you've now ascended to the opening of the Plagueworks, and now have to show down with Deathbringer Saurfang.

The Saurfang fight is pretty interesting, actually. There's a lot of moving parts and abilities to try and monitor, but the actual flow of the fight isn't too bad. From a tank's perspective, you stand there and taunt every so often. From a healer's perspective, you're healing . . . and then healing some more. It's the DPS players who really need to be on their game. There's adds that show up which they have to kite and kill in short order, or really horrible things start happening to the raid.

Let's take a look behind the cut and start talking about all the horrible things that could happen.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Gunship Battle

by Michael Gray Jan 10th 2010 at 2:00PM

Easily one of the most creative and distinctive fights in Icecrown Citadel, the Gunship Battle is something many raiders have been looking forward to since BlizzCon 2009. As a little bonus, this fight is also the source of a certain cloak that's white and longer than your average cloak.

Here's the basic story. As you've just managed to lay waste to Lady Deathwhisper, you ride the elevator up to where you'll see the Horde and Alliance doing battle. The fight happens almost identically the same whether you're Horde or Alliance. The only difference is which faction leader you're attacking and which faction leader you're following.

You pick fights with small parties of the enemy faction as you fight your way to get to your gunship. This is the same ship that's been circling Icecrown for all of Wrath, so you'll probably recognize Orgrim's Hammer and Skybreaker. You'll want to be sure to grab a jetpack as soon as you get onboard, and spend a little time shooting around and getting used to the rocket jump. Even if you're not going to be part of the raiding party attacking the enemy ship, the jetpacks are too much fun to completely ignore. Also, as has been mentioned before, these jetpacks gave rise to the infamous Rocket Bear.

Once the encounter starts in earnest, you'll quickly find yourself fighting the enemy in ship-to-ship combat. Let's take a look behind the jump and talk about how this is going to work.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Lady Deathwhisper

by Michael Gray Jan 2nd 2010 at 8:00PM

My guild is made up of long-time gamers, including folks who've been roleplaying for dang near two decades. And even though we like to style ourselves "hardcore raiders," we all have to admit that we have those characterization inclinations from time to time. We like our immersion. We like our stories. So when we came across Lady Deathwhisper, we had to make a story up for ourselves.

As the story goes, we met and defeated Kel'Thuzad back in Naxxramas. But, Arthas wasn't quite finished with his trusted lieutenant yet, and raised him (again) from the dead. But something went horribly, horribly wrong. Lord Kel'Thuzad returned from the grave as Lady Deathwhisper! Naxxramas was only a setback, but it was one heck of a setback!

While this little story of ours has no real basis in real game lore, the comparison between the two characters is absolutely appropriate. Both boss fights involve heavy magic damage, adds that spring from the walls to defend the boss, and more than a little coordination. I actually think Leady Deathwhisper is the most difficult fight of the first wing of Icecrown Citadel, which makes her a decent comparison to Kel'Thuzad.

Let's take a look behind the jump and start breaking down the fight.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Tonight we're gonna raid like it's 2009, pt III

by Michael Gray Jan 1st 2010 at 8:00PM

If you're a little confused about why this week's Ready Check: Tonight we're gonna raid like it's 2009 begins with part three, then you probably didn't catch last week's riveting parts one and two! Go check them out, and come back as we continue our epic journey through raiding in 2009.

We talked first about a handful of new concepts that would change the way Blizzard designed raids. Achievements provided the hardcore raider a little something extra to which they could strive. At the same time, "bring the player" and "accessibility" were the two overwhelming thoughts that would drive the first instances like Naxxramas. With that in mind, we did a quick reminder about those vestige raids of 2008, Obsidian Sanctum, Naxxramas, and Eye of Eternity.

Now that we have that firm grounding in the past, take a look behind the jump. We'll start out this week's review of 2009 with Ulduar.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Tonight we're gonna raid like it's 2009

by Michael Gray Dec 23rd 2009 at 7:00PM

When we're talking about Raiding in 2009, the story actually starts in 2008. Okay, sure, you could talk about raids going all the way back to the opening of the game, and how things have changed, and grown out of each other, and it could go on forever and a day and never actually end and it'd be like a run-on story just like this sentence.

But if we're going to keep the conversation manageable, we'll start in 2008. It was a cold and frigid night in November 2008 when Blizzard released the newest expansion to World of Warcraft. With much hullabaloo, the Wrath of the Lich King hit the shelves with a brand new paradigm.

That paradigm was that end-game raiding should be accessible to everyone. Raiding -- and the gear associated with it -- was no longer the sole province of people who had many, many hours to farm potions, reagents, and hone their skills every single night. This new idea of accessibility would change the way raiding in WoW has worked ever since. The changes were pretty thorough, so let's start breaking it down behind the jump.

In this installment, we're going to take a look at the first three raid instances in Wrath of the Lich King, and the design philosophy that fueled their creation.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Lord Marrowgar

by Michael Gray Dec 18th 2009 at 7:00PM

If ever there were a boss just begging to be turned into a totally Camaro-awesome tattoo, it's Lord Marrowgar. Like an epic, multi-skulled skeleton made of bone and skulls and spikes, Marrowgar is hands down one of the coolest looking mobs in the game.
While the sophomoric "Dude, he's a bone guy with a bone axe!" revelation has me only a little ashamed, I nonetheless get a certain thrill up my spine each time I see him.

Lord Marrowgar is not a complex fight, although there's a few things about it that are going to be counter-intuitive. I think that slight change-up in normalized behavior is probably the biggest challenge of this fight. It's kind of a clever design that way, but otherwise, you should expect Marrowgar to be your first, solid gear check in Icecrown Citadel.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Walkthroughs, Raiding, Bosses, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Icecrown Citadel introduction quests

by Michael Gray Dec 13th 2009 at 12:00PM

It's not technically an attunement, but there is a series of quests that guide you through the introductory 5 Player Dungeons surrounding Icecrown Citadel. You don't have to do these dungeons to get into the normal versions of Icecrown, but it sure brings a lot to the experience. I guess, in a sense, you can think of it as a simplified attunement.

Additionally, the gear that drops from these first three instances will go a long way towards catching up people to the ICC raid. In my raid, we call this "bootstrapping." There's a bunch of reasons you might need to bootstrap folks: a tank rotation, new people, meteor crashing into the planet, what have you.

As you do the quest, you'll enter (and do battle in):

So, let's take a look at these three instances and how to blur through them.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Icecrown Citadel introduction quests, pt III

by Michael Gray Dec 13th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Icecrown Citadel introduction quests, pt II

by Michael Gray Dec 13th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Breaking up is hard to do

by Michael Gray Dec 4th 2009 at 8:00PM

Ready Check is a column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Ulduar, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses.

It happens. It's a tale as old as Hogger. In the growth and progression of a raid group, there eventually comes a time where no amount of coaching or communication can possibly hold it together and keep it going. It's not even a matter of whether or not people are right or wrong, skilled or unskilled. It's just that when you put enough years behind a raid, the people who make up that raid can grow apart.

It sounds like a horrible break up letter doesn't it? "Look," the raid leader says. "It's not you. It's us. We want different things. I think it's best if we go and raid with different people. You know. As a trial. See how it goes." And then all of a sudden, half the existing raid group has suddenly swapped off to a different server, and the other half is left to wonder what the heck happened.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: Real time execution

by Michael Gray Nov 19th 2009 at 7:00PM

Ready Check is a column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Ulduar, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses.

I like the phrase real time execution when talking about raid management. It sounds real raid-like doesn't it? We're not fighting these bosses in a turn-based atmosphere. We're providing them some real time execution. This time it's for real, and this time, you're getting executed! No more of this "it's only a set back nonsense!"

Real time execution is not a science. It's a skill and it's an art. When you refer to "real time execution," you're talking about the actual nuts and bolts of running the raid right now, in the instance, as-it-happens, Leeroy Jenkins style. RTE is the on-the-spot management a raid leader performs to overcome performance issues the raid is having right now, which cannot (or should not) wait for down time for remediation.

Real time execution is also noticeably different from long term management techniques. In a perfect world, when you're coaching a raid member, you'd like to be able to document their issues, work with them to find solutions, and tend to their emotions and feelings. During real time execution, however, you want your raid member to stop standing in that fire please.

So, take a look behind the cut, and let's talk about executing the real-time stuff.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

Ready Check: You're fired

by Michael Gray Nov 13th 2009 at 9:00AM

Ready Check is a column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Ulduar, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses.

For the last few weeks in Ready Check, we've been talking about some of the more difficult tasks that face raid leaders. We talked first about some tips in communicating with raid members. Then, last week, we covered some ideas about how to coach raid members.

But what happens when you've stepped up your communication and provided repeated coaching, but the raid member in question still isn't working out? When you're left with no option except to excise the raid member from your group? We could call it a dozen different things but it all boils down to this: you have to fire your raid member.

I want to make it clear that I'm not talking about how to get rid of people. It's probably more in the hands of your guild officers whether or not the raid member is still going to be in your social circle. But how do you tell someone, "Look mate, we like you, but you can't raid with us anymore."

Let's talk about it after the jump.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ready Check (Raiding)

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