Tonight we hit our first obstacle to guild progression. Patchwerk in Heroic Naxxramas is a gear check, and one we didn't pass. I think we were close to downing him, and if we weren't dealing with warlock soulshard issues, cranky raiders, and weather-induced internet crashes, I think we would have succeeded. But since we did have those issues, we didn't quite manage to walk away victorious. However, I'm proud of us. Our casual approach to semi-hardcore raiding allowed us to take 25 fairly new 80s into Heroic Naxx over three raiding days and down 9 bosses. We blew through the Arachnid, Plague and Military Quarters wearing mostly blues, and we did so while having fun.We haven't finished putting together our steady group of raiders that we call the Progression Group, but we will soon. We're using these early weeks of raids to give both new and old members a chance to prove themselves to us, and, for the most part, they are doing well. We have a few that may not make it to a regular raiding spot due to scheduling issues, connection problems, or attitude, but most have shown promise. I can't wait to get back into Naxx on Wednesday, but I plan to use tomorrow night to heal a few heroics and pick up some more pieces so that my gear will help us succeed the next time we face Stiches's big brother.
Patchwerk is indeed maybe the only real gear check in this instance. Tanks have to be well geared to soak those hateful strikes up, good dps shortens the fight and the more heal the better. My tipps:
ReplyDelete1) Run with around 6-7 healers. Precasting big heals and stopcasting is a good idea. 2 healers for each hateful strike OT and 2-3 on the MT. I was third healer on MT helping out hateful strike healers.
2) Frontload Patchwerk. I feel like this applies to every difficult encounter done by a progression oriented guild: Start your first night of the raid ID with patchwerk. Don't do every wing you have on farm before patch. But don't try too hard if it makes no sense and there is no progress over the evening.
Enjoy your loot.
I think our tanks were slightly undergeared. The druid off tank did well absorbing the strikes, but if he wasn't topped up and another warrior took it, his health was scary low.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally we have nights when everything just clicks. This wasn't one of them, but we'll get him next time.