Sir, we've analyzed their attack...
Hakkar, get out while you still can.
As of last night, the Pod People took down Arlokk, the last Aspect priest that stands in between us and the big, snakey, winged-thing that is Hakkar the Soul Flayer. Best of all, this wasn't just our first panther boss kill. Oh no. This was the culmination of two nights of focused efforts in Zul'Gurub (and about a week of frenzied planning and considerable mental efforts on the forums) where we had already decided that we WERE getting to Hakkar this weekend. Thursday evening we started with Thekal the tiger.
I'll admit, having only taken him down once before, I was pleased with our level of ambition that was developing, but I won't lie when I say that that one kill was simultaneously one of the most exciting, and one of the ugliest that we've ever pulled off. (If I remember correctly, Vespasian and Zayd were the last two standing, and it was a final Frostbolt from Zayd that took Thekal down before a few errant tigers bent both of them over and broke it off). It was the Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs. Because of this, I was rather concerned, but emboldened, nonetheless.
Getting to Thekal was interesting, because we decided that we weren't going to bother with that whole crowd-control nonsense thru the trash mobs. AOE was the word of the day, and we burned through those snakes and trolls like a Katrina evacuee with a FEMA charge card. This put us in front of Thekal in 30 mins, and we were much richer for the experience.
What we did, however, once we got there, was get the farker down to about 16% when he inexplicably began to evade our attacks, and regened up to 60-ish%. The tigers that spawn were giving us quite a time, but we were good mammals and adapted our strategery. Since Thekal loves to charge the group with their backs against the wall in Phase 2, then we figured that we'd treat him like the Spider boss, and whichever tank could grab him (since he wipes aggro when he does the Thunder Clap/knockback) would call that they had the aggro and pull him out of the squishies. Other tanks engage the tigers while they get AOE'ed. Done.
One cool thing is that I picked up my first rolled epic: Seal of the Gurubashi Berzerker. It has a 6-8% drop off all 5 aspects, so chances are, you're gonna see it numerous times if you clear to Hakkar. And that we did. It dropped off Panther and Bat, last night as well. It's certainly not one of those situations where I was secretly hoping to be unique for a long time, being the only Pod to have it. Screw that. I'd much sooner save that for Thekal's Grasp and Arlokk's Grasp. Yeah, they're fist weapons, but I'm a Fury warrior, so shut it. Here's a terribly cool video of what this pair can do when it procs: Additional Pod joke, FTW.
With Arlokk having been on the menu for last night, we got over to her and had her down within about 3 or 4 tries. We have more warlocks than we have sense, so there's always a soulstone up. Pair that with a handful of pro shaman to pop when there's no SS up (has that ever happened with us?), and the scope of our wipes is only limited to our durability, baby :D.
As an aside, that is what I love about this guild more than anything else. I already have a full time job. I spend as much if not more time in WoW as I do there to balance this. I'm here to have fun, and were I to be in a guild where the 50 DKP MINUS style reigned supreme, then that'd last about seven seconds, and I'd be logging in to a blank ta-bard. (There, Bill). Bad things are going to happen in this game. Don't make everyone else's experience suck because you can't be flexible and deal. Develop a coping mechanism and move along. When the game doesn't get fun for you, it often doesn't become fun for others, too.
/Cast BackOnTrack (rank 4)
As a note for those that haven't done the Panther boss, I highly advise you bring 3 competent tanks with you. Here's why: There are 2 pens along the side of the room that happen to face the gong. MT engages Arlokk in the center of the room. OTs get in the pens, with a dedicated healer for each. Ranged DPS (i.e. rest of raid) gets their backs to the wall against the shield by the door down in. In the pens, panthers will begin to spawn every few seconds. This is where the OTs spam Demoralizing Shout. Since the panthers haven't engaged anyone, the debuff on the Demo Shout is enough to keep them on the OTs, and they stay in the pens. There gets to be about 20 panthers that hit you for about 30 each, and the Rage generation flows like milk and honey. Any healer that is worth their salt can keep you up while you handle this. The only thing is that it's really hard at the start of the fight to keep rage generated to spam Demo Shout. There are a few cats that escape at the beginning of the fight, but so long as everyone knows that they're going to be getting out, then hunter pets can engage them. The fight gets much easier as the number of panthers increases. Arlokk drops, and then you just DPS down the remaining panthers. (Note: I'm completely marginalizing her Vanish and Cleave but I didn't have any experience with that part, as I was in relative safety with the kitties),
On to the Blood God tonight.
As of last night, the Pod People took down Arlokk, the last Aspect priest that stands in between us and the big, snakey, winged-thing that is Hakkar the Soul Flayer. Best of all, this wasn't just our first panther boss kill. Oh no. This was the culmination of two nights of focused efforts in Zul'Gurub (and about a week of frenzied planning and considerable mental efforts on the forums) where we had already decided that we WERE getting to Hakkar this weekend. Thursday evening we started with Thekal the tiger.
I'll admit, having only taken him down once before, I was pleased with our level of ambition that was developing, but I won't lie when I say that that one kill was simultaneously one of the most exciting, and one of the ugliest that we've ever pulled off. (If I remember correctly, Vespasian and Zayd were the last two standing, and it was a final Frostbolt from Zayd that took Thekal down before a few errant tigers bent both of them over and broke it off). It was the Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs. Because of this, I was rather concerned, but emboldened, nonetheless.
Getting to Thekal was interesting, because we decided that we weren't going to bother with that whole crowd-control nonsense thru the trash mobs. AOE was the word of the day, and we burned through those snakes and trolls like a Katrina evacuee with a FEMA charge card. This put us in front of Thekal in 30 mins, and we were much richer for the experience.
What we did, however, once we got there, was get the farker down to about 16% when he inexplicably began to evade our attacks, and regened up to 60-ish%. The tigers that spawn were giving us quite a time, but we were good mammals and adapted our strategery. Since Thekal loves to charge the group with their backs against the wall in Phase 2, then we figured that we'd treat him like the Spider boss, and whichever tank could grab him (since he wipes aggro when he does the Thunder Clap/knockback) would call that they had the aggro and pull him out of the squishies. Other tanks engage the tigers while they get AOE'ed. Done.
One cool thing is that I picked up my first rolled epic: Seal of the Gurubashi Berzerker. It has a 6-8% drop off all 5 aspects, so chances are, you're gonna see it numerous times if you clear to Hakkar. And that we did. It dropped off Panther and Bat, last night as well. It's certainly not one of those situations where I was secretly hoping to be unique for a long time, being the only Pod to have it. Screw that. I'd much sooner save that for Thekal's Grasp and Arlokk's Grasp. Yeah, they're fist weapons, but I'm a Fury warrior, so shut it. Here's a terribly cool video of what this pair can do when it procs: Additional Pod joke, FTW.
With Arlokk having been on the menu for last night, we got over to her and had her down within about 3 or 4 tries. We have more warlocks than we have sense, so there's always a soulstone up. Pair that with a handful of pro shaman to pop when there's no SS up (has that ever happened with us?), and the scope of our wipes is only limited to our durability, baby :D.
As an aside, that is what I love about this guild more than anything else. I already have a full time job. I spend as much if not more time in WoW as I do there to balance this. I'm here to have fun, and were I to be in a guild where the 50 DKP MINUS style reigned supreme, then that'd last about seven seconds, and I'd be logging in to a blank ta-bard. (There, Bill). Bad things are going to happen in this game. Don't make everyone else's experience suck because you can't be flexible and deal. Develop a coping mechanism and move along. When the game doesn't get fun for you, it often doesn't become fun for others, too.
/Cast BackOnTrack (rank 4)
As a note for those that haven't done the Panther boss, I highly advise you bring 3 competent tanks with you. Here's why: There are 2 pens along the side of the room that happen to face the gong. MT engages Arlokk in the center of the room. OTs get in the pens, with a dedicated healer for each. Ranged DPS (i.e. rest of raid) gets their backs to the wall against the shield by the door down in. In the pens, panthers will begin to spawn every few seconds. This is where the OTs spam Demoralizing Shout. Since the panthers haven't engaged anyone, the debuff on the Demo Shout is enough to keep them on the OTs, and they stay in the pens. There gets to be about 20 panthers that hit you for about 30 each, and the Rage generation flows like milk and honey. Any healer that is worth their salt can keep you up while you handle this. The only thing is that it's really hard at the start of the fight to keep rage generated to spam Demo Shout. There are a few cats that escape at the beginning of the fight, but so long as everyone knows that they're going to be getting out, then hunter pets can engage them. The fight gets much easier as the number of panthers increases. Arlokk drops, and then you just DPS down the remaining panthers. (Note: I'm completely marginalizing her Vanish and Cleave but I didn't have any experience with that part, as I was in relative safety with the kitties),
On to the Blood God tonight.
posted by Voice by Ben at 10:28 AM
1 Comments:
"...and we burned through those snakes and trolls like a Katrina evacuee with a FEMA charge card..."
Way to go, Big Brother.
--Dagobah :D
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