World-ranked brawler shares secrets of Brawler's Guild success
How do you achieve a #2 world ranking in something without having any idea you're busting through every mark of achievement to set a blistering, world-record pace? You enjoy the process too much to even notice –- at least, that's how things went for champion brawler Lubricatèd of Eredar (US-Horde). The undead assassination rogue's rise to the top of the ranks was built not on a drive to set new records but on a burning desire to own a cool mount.
"I had been trying for the mount from Galleon basically since launch with no luck, so I saw reaching rank 10 as a way that I could earn the mount without having to deal with the low drop chance of Galleon's mount," he explains. "I was already rank 8 with all rare bosses down the afternoon that patch 5.3 went live, so I went directly into the arena and started queuing up for the new fights."
When the dust on the arena floor settled, Lubricatèd had nabbed himself not only that cool mount but also the number two slot in the world for the Brawler's Guild. We chatted with Lubricatèd about his winning strategies, what it was like to discover he'd torn up the charts, and his top tips for players new to the Brawler's Guild.
Main character Lubricatèd, undead assassination rogue
Guild <Destinatus>
Realm Eredar (US)
WoW Insider: How did you first get started in the Brawlers Guild?
Lubricatèd: As soon as I heard about Brawler's Guild, I couldn't wait for it to be released. The day it hit live servers, I went to Krasarang Wilds and started farming the PvP rare spawns for an invitation. It took eight or nine kills before I received my invite, and from there, a few friends and guildmates and myself spent the rest of the day in Brawler's Guild and had a blast reaching rank 8.
What would you characterize as the most difficult fight?
From a melee perspective, I have two I would characterize as difficult at the time with the first being Disruptron. That fight took me a few nights of solid attempts to kill, with a good majority being the frustrating middle turret shooting out invisible rings. It definitely made for some interesting times in Brawler's Guild.
The second fight that I remember spending quite a few hours on was pre-nerf Dark Summoner and how the ghosts had a melee range of what felt like 10 yards or more.
Definitely felt great to finally down those fights without over-gearing them.
Were there any fights you found unexpectedly easy to overcome?
Yes, in fact, the one fight as I was leveling up through Brawler's Guild that I completely overestimated after seeing others have so much trouble with was GG Engineering. I actually went in and killed it in one attempt due to being melee. After I defeated them, I realized the reason it was so easy was because of the friendly fire of the rockets; being melee, it was very easy for me to take advantage of the extra damage.
You've mentioned the Nibbleh was a real toughie to overcome. What made that fight so difficult for you? How did you tweak things to push through?
Nibbleh was the first boss that I died to that day. The problem wasn't exactly due to the difficulty of the fight mechanics, so to speak, but more so just being a melee DPS that relies so much on auto-attacks, coupled with a hit box that basically required me to stand on top of the boss in order to hit him. After trying again and failing, I decided I'd have to change up my keybinds and basically toggle run/walk while backpedaling around the arena. That strategy, although slightly annoying, actually worked out just fine, and I was able to move on to the next boss.
What do you think is the key to succeeding in the more difficult fights?
Keeping an open mind and being persistent. If something doesn't work the first couple of tries, change up your approach until you find something that allows you to succeed. I see a lot of people give up after dying once or twice and use the excuse of being under-geared, when the fact [is] that it's possible to defeat every fight through rank 8 in LFR/valor gear -- even more so with item upgrades.
So it's really not all about gear?
Gear really isn't necessary until the later tiers of ranks 7 to 8. Gear can completely trivialize those fights if players are only looking for an achievement or reward, but if they genuinely want to experience Brawler's Guild for the fun of being challenged, ranks 1 through 8 can be completed with gear from heroics and valor points. Ranks 8 through 10 have a significantly higher DPS check, and I would say gear starts to become a factor there until 510+ ilevel, which should allow you to meet these DPS requirements. Of course, that number will be different for certain classes, but this is just my experience.
What's it been like to bring up other characters through the ranks? What classes/specs have been easiest for you, on the whole? Are there any characters you play that you've found it trickier or much more difficult to succeed with?
This is basically my favorite part about Brawler's Guild now, after removing the ability to queue random fights at max rank. As far as the easiest class/spec, so far [it] has been my demo lock or frost DK, mainly because of the cooldowns available for just a two-minute fight (Army, etc.).
I've definitely noticed a difference in certain fights after playing ranged and melee classes for each, most notable being Dark Summoner, Battletron, and GG Engineering. Those fights are a lot different in favoring either ranged or melee, and the mobility of certain classes versus others plays a huge role as well.
So any insights from your view at the top into improvements and additions for the Brawler's Guild? What would you hope to see implemented?
First, I think it would be interesting to try item level scaling for Brawler's Guild so you can't out-gear the content too fast, and perhaps make it optional for those that just want achievements and those that find the encounters fun at lower gear levels.
Second, I would love to see them bring back the random queues at max rank and make some of the rare bosses more accessible, since I'm on 70+ days now without finding the quest item from Blingtron's daily quest.
Let's close out with some advice for other players. How about a Lubricatèd's Top 5 Tips for Upcoming Brawlers?
Use Brawler's Potions from the vendor inside. Sometimes a pre-pot before a difficult fight can make the difference between success and dying to enrage. They're much cheaper than using your own. so stock up.
If you reach a boss that's giving you some trouble, don't give up. Some fights I would queue into and try to do nothing but survive for the entire 2 minutes, and it helped me recognize some mechanics that I might have missed while focusing on my DPS and beating the enrage timer. There are also plenty of great videos out there with guides for each rank.
Buffs: Bring a flask and some stat food. If you're the only one queuing inside, Drums of Forgotten Kings is a nice way to increase DPS you're lacking -- a stat buff and can be made by leatherworkers, with 50 charges. Every little bit helps when you're hitting enrage on a boss.
If you see the ground beneath you catch fire, you basically have 30 seconds until enrage. There were some pretty close kills that I was able to survive because I would stand on the opposite end of the rain of fire during enrage for those few extra seconds of DPS time.
Most importantly, have fun. Some fights in Brawler's Guild can be extremely frustrating after attempting them over and over, and it's easy to get careless and make mistakes you normally wouldn't. Generally for those fights, I would go take a break for a while and come back to kill them later within a few attempts.
"I never thought of playing
WoW like that!" -- and neither did we, until we talked with Game of Thrones' Hodor (Kristian Nairn) ... a blind ex-serviceman and the guildmates who keep him raiding as a regular ... and a 70-year-old grandma who tops her raid's DPS charts as its legendary-wielding GM. Send your nominations to lisa@wowinsider.com.
