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Ready Check: Icecrown Citadel introduction quests
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): The Forge of Souls The Pit of Saron, and The Halls of Reflection So, let's take a look at these three instances and how to blur through them.
Ready Check: Breaking up is hard to do
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.
Raid Rx: Cheater's guide to healing heroic Val'kyr Twins
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. So the good news is we managed to get Twins down on heroic. The 25-man iteration is largely more challenging than the 10 man due to the amount of coordination required. There's two methods for taking down Twins and I'll go over them in detail here. One is the traditional method which stresses individual ability to dodge balls and the other is the not-so-traditional method which relies heavily on lady luck.
Ready Check: Real time execution
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.
Raid Rx: Heroic Faction Champions
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. I finally lived through Faction Champions and now you can too! After surviving defeating Faction Champs in Trial of the Grand Crusader, I've managed to figure out a few tricks healers can use to help themselves. While it's almost impossible to come up with a unified and methodical strategy, I've compiled a list of tips and advice to maximize your survivability and the players around you. Think of it more as guidelines as opposed to solidified rules.
Ready Check: You're fired
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.
Ready Check: How to coach your raid members
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. One of the most difficult issues in any raid is "that guy." You know who I mean. The one who stands in fire, isn't pulling his weight, doesn't bring potions or food, is mean on Vent, is quiet on Vent, is a drama bomb, argues about loot, or otherwise does something that makes you think "this guy isn't getting it done." The only way you're going to resolve these problems is to coach them through it. Of course, there are many reasons someone in a raid might need coaching as there are raids. Not every reason for coaching is necessarily a performance flaw. Most coaching sessions will probably be performance related in some way, but you could end up coaching a raid member because you think their sense of humor is just a little off. Ultimately, it's up to you and your guild officers who is responsible for the actual coaching. But whoever does the job, you want to make sure they're doing it well. Take a look behind the jump for some coaching tips.
Ready Check: Communication for raid leaders
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. One of the most difficult tasks any raid leader is going to face will be one of communication. Communication is a complex, ugly issue. It can be one of your strongest assets, but it can equally be your biggest downfall. This is because communication operates on two levels. First, there's the obvious data-based communication. Things like "The next boss is named Anub'arak" are data-based. It's fact, unassailable, and fairly meaningful. Almost everyone's going to agree with quantifiable information. You're not going to round the corner of the instance, and find something that's not Anub'arak. Second, however, is "shadow" communication. This is a level of communication that can be a great deal more complicated. In the absence of quantifiable information, the recipient will "read into" your words a whole series of meanings and concepts that you may not have intended. For example, "This next boss is Anub'arak, so you should get ready" can be interpreted as "Get ready because we're going right now" or "get ready by reading up on the boss strategies." Now, that's a fairly hyperbolized example, but it's a true one none-the-less. We've all had experience with "I didn't mean it like that" in our lives. One of the oldest business cliches is that "Workers don't leave companies, they leave supervisors." While a raid leader isn't a supervisor in the same way as a business manager, some of the viable tips from the corporate world can still apply to raiding life. Let's take a look after the jump at some simple tips to enhance communication.
Ready Check: Anub'arak
Here he is. The big cheese. The final countdown. The last boss (currently) available in raiding progression. Anub'arak is the final encounter in the Trial of the Crusader. If you feel a sense of deja-vu while getting ready to throw down with the big bug, don't worry -- you're not insane. (At least, you're not insane because you think you recognize the boss.) Anub'arak was the final boss in Azjol'Nerub. And while the Trial of the Crusader version is certainly much higher octane, this raid version does share some basic similarities with the previous fight. They both have adds, some kind of burrowing action, and bugs. Lots of bugs. Let's jump behind the cut and see how to get this done.
Raid Rx: Healing heroic Lord Jaraxxus
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. This week, we challenge Lord Jaraxxus!. This is the second boss in Trial of the Crusader. After you healed through the gate bosses that comprise the Northrend Beasts, Lord Jaraxxus is the next step. My raid group managed to get this demon lord down this past week. We got the 10-man version down several weeks ago but the 25-man version eluded us for some time. Compared to Northrend Beasts, this boss should feel relatively easier. Your raid will spend less time learning Lord Jaraxxus than the previous boss. Let's check out the healing side of things, shall we?
Ready Check: Twin Val'kyr
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. The Twin Val'kyr encounter is the fourth and penultimate battle in the Trial of the Crusader. In this fight, your raid will face down two Val'kyr bosses. They are identical in every way, except for the nature of their attacks. Fjola Lightbane will attack you with the power of the Light. Her sister is Eydis Darkbane attacks you with the power of the Dark.The Twin Val'kyr fight is a confusing one. However, e should be careful not to mix up confusing with difficult. But we should at least be honest and acknowledge that keeping track of the "Stand in Light" and "Attack the Dark" can get pretty mindbending. To sum up, you get light and dark buffs that protect you from your aligned source of damage, and buffs you when you do damage to your opposite. So, while this fight's pretty easy once you get the handful of maneuvers down, it can be confusing to talk about.
Raid Rx: Healing heroic Northrend Beasts
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. his week, we step into one of the more challenging hard mode encounters: Northrend Beasts in Trial of the Grand Crusader. Welcome to the NBE encounter. And no, I'm not referring to Megatron. NBE is shorthand for the Northrend Beasts Encounter. It's a straightforward engagement on normal. Once the switch is toggled to heroic, the fight goes into over drive. There's a few changes that us healers need to grasp. For one, there's a strict time limit on each set of beasts. Can't kill Gormok quick enough? Too bad! Ready or not, here's the twin snakes!
Ready Check: Faction Champions
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. Okay. This event is different than any other raid instance that currently springs to mind. It's got a level of customization that is novel to World of Warcraft's raid design, and heralds even more exciting changes in Icecrown Citadel. What's the big deal?The boss mobs change according to your factions. Sure, statistically, the enemies are similar across the two factions. (Can you imagine the outcry if the Horde mode was somehow easier than the Alliance? Or vice versa?) But the character's names and models are customized according to whether your raid is Horde and Alliance.The other thing that's specialized to the Faction Champions encounter is that the exact characters you fight will change week to week. It's random, similar to the old Karazhan Opera encounter. That makes it more difficult to figure out a strategy before you face the encounter. The first step is to understand what each character does, and then try to piece together some overall tips out of that collected knowledge.Let's jump behind the cut and take a look at the fourteen different possible characters you'll be fighting.
Ready Check: Lord Jaraxxus
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. Last week, we took a short break so that Matthew Rossi could join us and celebrate the return of Onyxia. Hopefully, everyone's had the opportunity to go re-pwn her by now. If not, don't give up -- I'm confident everyone will be able to get her down eventually.Lord Jaraxxus? Maybe not. Lord Jaraxxus is the first boss fight in the Trial of the Crusader which I felt was a true raid-check. It's not an impossible raid check, mind you. Once you get the hang of the fight, you'll do fine. But getting the dance steps down in the first place will probably give a few raids a migraine headache. Let's take a look at the big demon behind the cut.
Raid Rx: Healing Onyxia
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. Onyxia's the latest raid boss to challenge healers. Here's some phase-by-phase tips to help you get through the ordeal. I finally managed to heal this fight through a lag infested night when patch 3.2.2 landed. Onyxia was a pain in the butt to heal at level 60. Have things changed since then? No, not by much. In some of the pickup Onyxia groups I joined on my alts, I've seen tanks drop several times. I don't want to guess who the blame should go on to (tank or healer) but I'll provide some pointers and observations for all the healing classes to help streamline the entire healing process. My colleague, Matthew Rossi, has written a fairly detailed piece on what the entire raid can expect throughout Onyxia's various phases. While the encounter is easy in terms of theory, in practice it can still be challenging for healers if they let their guard down. Do not take Onyxia too lightly.
Ready Check: Onyxia
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.Hi howdy and hello, everyone. I'm Matthew Rossi, famous for being tail whipped into the cave on our first Onyxia 10 attempt yesterday. Twice. Despite having been a veteran of the original raid, which means I've heard this kind of ranting many, many times. What I'm getting at is, there are certain things you do not do in a successful Onyxia kill (then and now) and if you go in cocky, thinking that you're mister fancy pants Conquerer of Ulduar, then she's going to embarrass you. If, on the other hand, you just go in and kill her, it's much less embarrassing all told. As long as you keep her mechanics in mind, she's not a terribly complicated or hard fight, but she's been updated and tuned fairly well for an 80 raid.Before we get to the meat of things, two caveats: one, she can hit very, very hard. On 10 man, as I dragged her back into position (we'll go more into that) I found that I went from 45k health to 11k health in two seconds. My healer actually screamed on vent. Later, we had a discussion about how mister tank doesn't go out of range on mister healer without warning. Secondly, I'm not sure if I'm just remembering it differently or if it has actually changed, but her hit box seems a lot smaller than it was at 60. It does not seem possible to melee her while she's in the air, for instance, and my melee DPS reporting having to come in fairly close to hit her.Not to worry, though. You'll have plenty to do without being able to melee Ony. She brought friends! Oh, so many friends if you're not careful.
Blood Pact: Warlock guide to surviving Trial of the Crusader, part 1
Welcome to Blood Pact , the column for Warlocks that'll get under your skin and fester. You might need some cream for that or if you like I could cauterize it for you. This might sting a little.In the far and frozen north of Icecrown, Highlord Tirion Fordring has had an arena built in order to test the skill of heroes. He is looking to take on the might of Arthas, and what better way to prepare his army than to shut them into a room with some pretty nasty creatures and see if they survive? Well, I guess that's the kind of thinking you get when you put a Paladin in charge.Trial of the Crusader is the latest 10 and 25 man raid instance -- just the place for your modern Warlock to flex his spell book and bag some shiny new loot. With both a Normal and Heroic mode for each size of raid, this instance has a lot of variety despite only having five bosses. I'm going to focus on the Normal mode for now as this is where most of the fights are being held but I'll try and throw in some insight for the Heroic fights as I go along.
Raid Rx: 14 patch 3.2 trinkets to check out
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. It's been a while since I looked at trinkets. What options are there available since then? Yes, the linked article goes to the Priest column on trinkets. Not every healer's going to use them. But truth be told, there aren't that many new options for healers in the current game since Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader opened up. Let's look at everything available since Malygos. So what do we have to work with?
Ready Check: Northrend Beasts
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. The Northrend Beasts are the first series of encounters inside the Crusaders' Coliseum raid instance. Today we'll look at their non-Heroic version. You actually fight four different critters, all of whom are the Biggest and Toughest of their racial types in Northrend. That Tirion sure is a kidder, isn't he?The four bosses that make up the Northrend Beasts are: Gormok the Impaler, a massive magnataur Acidmaw & Dreadscale, a pair of Jormungar worms that Hunters cannot tame Icehowl, a really big Northrend yeti These encounters all take place immediately after one another, so you're not going to have a lot of time to buff, rebuff, and drink in between the fights. You can consider the entire encounter to be like an endurance test, but it goes by fairly quick. Let's jump behind the cut and get started on how to kill them all.
Raid Rx: What's a good raid healing makeup?
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. What's the ideal raid healing team for 25-man raid groups? As your guild starts acquiring better and better gear, you'll soon come to the conclusion that you can scale down the amount of healers that are needed in a raid. On several boss fights, your raid can get away with as low as 5 healers. In fact, 5 healing a raid is the norm now. During Burning Crusade, a majority of raids set up healing teams of 6-7. In Wrath of the Lich King, there's been more of a shift towards increasing the DPS. Nowadays, healers are far more equipped to handle the different forms of incoming raid damage.
