Raiding has never been easier than in 3.0.2

Karazhan isn't exactly cutting edge content. It's had a few nerfs in its time. That being said, walking into Medivh's home-away-from-evil with a collection of random alts, sightseers, and new-to-raiders can sometimes prove interesting. And by interesting, I mean "repair bill" and "love of all that's Holy, just kill the dang flares!"

Last night was one of those nights. My Guild has spent the last few weeks helping folks prepare for 25-man raiding in Wrath. The gear from Karazhan won't be applicable in the expansion, sure, but the skills and habits you learn now will help you be successful in the future. We had some particularly green folks with us, and while we knew the changes from 3.0.2 would make it easier, we weren't quite aware how easy.

We were breezing along. Who doesn't breeze past Attumen, Maiden, and even Opera? When we hit Curator, we started to really feel the difference. The chap barely made it to his first Evocation. We skipped on past, slapped Aran around, and went up to Prince.

Prince got down two infernals before dying. Confused, I checked the raid's gear. Had our all-in-greens Rogue somehow been replaced with a Warglaive-wielding maniac? Did the new specs really make that much difference?

And then we recalled -- every raid mob in the Burning Crusade got nerfed. So, now, for the next few weeks, we have an odd nirvana in which to help folks learn to raid.

As we've covered pretty thoroughly, the changes to WoW from 3.0.2 are huge. Many classes feel radically different, and everyone's gotten one kind new skill or another. Inscription further buffs our characters. It's even easier to get to the end game, since Recruit-a-Friend triple-XP gets you to Outland so quick. The reduced XP requirements makes going from level 60 to level 70 a flash. But, more importantly for the accessibility of raiding, mobs in Burning Crusades have had their health significantly reduced.

This week, I've seen a Karazhan run in what felt less than an hour. By the time I thought to check the time, the dang thing was almost over. I've seen a 3 minute Gruul fight and a 5 minute Magtheridon fight. The time reductions I've heard for Mt. Hyjal, Serpentshrine, and even Sunwell are all on a similar scale.

This creates an environment where you can take someone even brand new to the game, power them through levels, then help them learn how raiding works. It still benefits you to have the proper gear, but with all the mobs sporting 30% less hit points, it's not quite so critical that you be optimal.

I think we'll be hearing soon about folks who were roadblocked after Karazhan now breezing past Zul'Aman, and maybe even sweeping into the 25 man instances with PUGs. This is a very exciting time to explore the content, and see the stories you may have missed before.

And, for my Guild, some of whom are relatively new to raiding, it's going to be a great time to practice our skills. It's difficult to keep folks motivated when you spend more time wiping than running around. And while it's fair to say "This is too easy," I'm trying to look at it as a chance to put on the training wheels before trotting up to Arthas.