SSC and TK raid info

[Martok]

Yesterday's attempts went very well! Its great to see progression!

Phase 3 messed us up bad, but hey, its the first time we have seen that phase! I wasn't expecting the green goo piles to be such a pain in the butt. I was having trouble staying in range of Holyssa, and providing him with the grounding totem.

I know the green goo was a huge problem for ranged DPS, as I could see mass amounts of health bars gowing down.

Looking forward to this week's attempt.

[Baracko]

We'll get more and more comfortable with the fight as we get to that stage more often.

The key is for everyone to do their job and do it well. Stay alive, above all else.

Once things are a little less hairy, I know the dps this group puts out should make phase 3 easy.

- Bar

[Kadi]

Good work on Vashj last night! I feel pretty good that we will get her next week. I think the server crash hurt some of our focus, so that means that next week, if we don't crash *knocks on wood* we should be extra good to go!

That ###### is gonna die soon. Then, Kael'thas, oh yes, I will be coming for you in that long-overdue kick in the nuts I've been owing you for almost a year now...

[Kalea]

I just can't think about Kael'thas without thinking about Azerothian Super Villains. *grins*

[Eigun]

Bad news: Ship date on my computer is April 4th. Which means I should have it around the 10th.

Good news: I "convinced" a friend to let me install WoW on his computer. I also "convinced" him to give me an extra key to his place so that I can raid.

I *should* have it worked out ok for the next few weeks until my machine arrives, but I'll keep you all posted.

[Baracko]

Sorry to hear that your computer puked, Eigun, and your dedication is definitely noted.

Let us know if it doesnt work out, and thanks for your hard work.

- Bar

[Holyssa]

Just a biiiig FYI:

Orcala and I will be offline Thursday, April 10th. In celebration of her birthday that week, we're going to go see Dr. Jonathan Katz in Somerville that day.

Her role should be easy to fill, but I know of no prot paladins who are on-par with my gear level that can handle the content we're in. I'm posting this in advance so that people can find a filler for me that knows what the hell they are doing & can keep the raid alive in our absence.

[Kalea]

Just a biiiig FYI:

Orcala and I will be offline Thursday, April 10th. In celebration of her birthday that week, we're going to go see Dr. Jonathan Katz in Somerville that day.

I loved that cartoon! Enjoy!

[Holyssa]

http://www.worldofraids.com/burning_crusad...tr-patch-notes/

With the changes to 2.4, are we skipping straight to Vashj/Kael, or will we still clear the whole dungeon for missing lewts & a shot at extra badge lovin'?

[Kailand]

I think there is gear people need off of leo, hydros, lurker and kalathress. I'm not sure about tidewalker. It's probably best not to skip them.

[Calendar]

The 2.4.0 patch does not change our raiding schedule. We will still clear SSC and work on Vashj Thursday.

The only thing that "may" change is how quickly we migrate from SSC/TK to Hyjal once Vashj and Kael'Thas have been killed. Multiple factors do come into play however:

- How quickly the server is able to unlock the new badge vendors

- How many of our raiders will be able to get significant upgrades from the new badge loot

- The number of upgrades left in SSC/TK for our raiders

However, with the new option to directly confront Vashj and Kael'Thas I would like the following from all the raiders (I've ask this in all the raids I've done and I know from experience that only ~33% will comply):

- An ordered list of the remaining drops that are upgrades to you in SSC/TK.

- The approximate number of badges you require to get the new 2.4.0 items that would be upgrades for you.

The idea here is to get an overview of where the raid should be going, which bosses are still needed and how much gear is left to be gathered. If no real upgrades are left then we'll work exclusively on Vashj and Kael'Thas and then move on (I doubt this is the case for the time being).

[Holyssa]

I would like the following from all the raiders (I've ask this in all the raids I've done and I know from experience that only ~33% will comply):

- An ordered list of the remaining drops that are upgrades to you in SSC/TK.

- The approximate number of badges you require to get the new 2.4.0 items that would be upgrades for you.

The idea here is to get an overview of where the raid should be going, which bosses are still needed and how much gear is left to be gathered. If no real upgrades are left then we'll work exclusively on Vashj and Kael'Thas and then move on (I doubt this is the case for the time being).

If possible, can we get a new tab added to the Google Speadsheet/Raid Roster for this? Or do we just shoot you an in-game mail/PM?

I can also post Orcala's wish list, since she cannot post due to the forum's email authentication problem.

Currently my #1 most wanted item is Vashj's Helm of the Vanquished Champion. It is a significantly large tanking upgrade over my T4 helmet & there doesn't seem to be much else from this particular place that could push Holy any further.

Don't get me started on Badge loot. Blizzard must have hired monkeys to toss so much +spellhit on tankadin gear, when we really need +melee hit to avoid taunt resists. Mrrr...

Edited March 25, 2008 by Holyssa

[Kailand]

I wouldn't recommend skipping bosses whose trash we'd have to clear to get to vashj and kael... we would save more time doing the bosses than reclearing the trash. I know I am only waiting on 3 pieces of loot from SSC/TK: Tsunami Talisman from Leo, Thalassian Wildercloak and the Telonicus's Pendant of Mayhem from Kael'thas. (these are best in slot for survival hunters in the game). As for badges... even bosses in MH and BT give them, so that shouldn't be a factor in determining whether to down bosses or not. And For me... most of the badge gear isn't all that better than what I have now, if I was a beastmaster raiding spec, or even the pvp tree (marksman) I would probably pick up a few pieces.

[Elrikk]

Not too much left in SSC/TK for me.

However, I am a little trinket poor, so I'm looking for the Tsunami Talisman off of Leo and the Warp Spring Coil off of Void Reaver. The only T5 piece I'm looking for is the gloves, also off the blind dude.

I would love Vashj’s belt, but I will pass on her Fang since I got Heartrazor from Solarian and I’m not really big on daggers. (Swords FTW!!).

Kael has some very minor upgrades for me (I would LOVE to walk around a bonk people on the head with the Rod of the Sun King), but I don’t really have my heart set on anything from him.

Badge wise I need approximately 280 for upgrades minus the 67 I have now.

I think taking the HS/BT attunements off was kind of cheap on Blizzards part, but we will always have challenges to face.

[Baracko]

Something to consider:

Although we are very interested in getting everyone as well-geared as possible, Cal and I are also going to have to draw the line somewhere as to when we move on.

That being said, if something is an upgrade, TAKE IT! If you are saving dkp for that one item off Vashj or Kael, then you are probably wasting your time/dkp. You never know what is going to drop, and oftentimes, certain pieces have the tendency to never drop!

Hyjal isnt that hard once its learned, and T6 lewtz > T5 loot. ;p

- Bar

Edited March 25, 2008 by Baracko

[Calendar]

Alright, so the form is now up and running. All you need to do is put in your name, check the boxes corresponding to the loot items you want and put in the number of badges you still need. I highly recommend doing this with Wowwiki open in another window, they have excellent TK/SSC loot pages.

Google spreadsheet forms are still kind of new and there's some funkiness involved. If you make a mistake or want to change your information just go ahead and redo the form (I'll deal with the outcome later). Don't rely too much on the form's "Previous Responses" section, I have no control over what Google writes there and it doesn't accurately reflect the data that's been gathered. I've instead added a link with the non-formatted data inside a spreadsheet (updates ~3min or so).

At some point I'll have something more formal that will clearly represent the data.

The links can be found in the first post.

Cal

[Holyssa]

Alright, so the form is now up and running. All you need to do is put in your name, check the boxes corresponding to the loot items you want and put in the number of badges you still need. I highly recommend doing this with Wowwiki open in another window, they have excellent TK/SSC loot pages.

Google spreadsheet forms are still kind of new and there's some funkiness involved. If you make a mistake or want to change your information just go ahead and redo the form (I'll deal with the outcome later). Don't rely too much on the form's "Previous Responses" section, I have no control over what Google writes there and it doesn't accurately reflect the data that's been gathered. I've instead added a link with the non-formatted data inside a spreadsheet (updates ~3min or so).

At some point I'll have something more formal that will clearly represent the data.

The links can be found in the first post.

Cal

Mini-FYI: I didn't see the Verdant Sphere in Kael's table.

[Calendar]

Hey Holyssa,

I missed it because it's a quest item that leads to a reward. Anyways, it's been fixed, feel free to resubmit if you like. I've also improved the final results a bit, though it's still not quite what I want.

[Zebgora]

So where can one see the spread sheet? ^^

[Calendar]

Look at the first post of this thread =)

There are 2 links

[Eigun]

Guys -

Sorry for the short notice, but I won't be able to down Vashj tonight. Hopefully Xeno may be around to take my place.

The friend whose computer I was allowed to use is expecting to entertain female company tonight, and he was not thrilled about having me in his bedroom. Even though I promised that I would only look once or twice.

T-minus 13 days until my new machine arrives....

Eigun

[Eigun]

WOOT WOOT WOOT! Machine shipped today! T-minus 5 days!

Why, oh why, Dell, must you toy with my emotions... =(

[Calendar]

Hey guys,

Well I have to admit last night was a little rough trying to kill Vashj. It would seem many of us are getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of progression on this fight. We all knew that this fight would be though coming into it, but it's very disappointing to see when the little progress we have succeeded in obtaining gets washed away.

We need to pull together if we want to succeed and EVERYONE really needs to pull their own weight. We were all made aware that this raid was going to be taken more seriously than previous raids and that if serious progress is to be had then an equal amount of effort on the part of raid members should be given. That being said, we are noticing a lack of effort on the part of certain raid members.

How do we fix this?

We've invested much time building up group cohesion, getting gear and learning the fights. If a player is a weak link, my personal preference is to aid this player in overcoming their issues rather than replacing them and starting over.

What's Going on?

I'm instating class leads based on the various roles required in the instances. The job of these leads is to provide feedback to other raiders with respects to their performance and provide me with a general overview of each player's contribution.

- They will keep track of when and who is using consumables

- They will keep track of who comes to the raid repaired and unflagged

- They will provide you with feedback on your performance

- They will provide me with feedback on your performance

- They will be the go-to person whenever you have questions or opinions with certain encounters or raid policies

- They will manage their group of people in the manner they see fit (and subsequently mind their own business with respects to other groups)

- They will make recommendations with regards to whether or not you are viable for MH/BT or if we should cut our losses and find someone else

Here is the new raid structure:

Why are we doing this?

We have in the past relied on raiders coming forth whenever they needed help or if they thought their performance was sub par. We place A LOT of value on players with an active interest in improving themselves. However, it would seem our weak links either don't know they are under-performing, are too shy to ask for help or are simply too stubborn to follow any advice.

We need to have players with a more raid-centric mind set. I hope that having a more organized structure within the raid will help our players obtain a higher performance level so that we may achieve our goals.

Your raid leader,

Cal

[Elrikk]

Fights like Vashj wear a good team down. We can’t let frustration set in; it will delay our inevitable success.

Each of us needs to look at ourselves and plan strategies that will help us do our jobs with the precision needed to accomplish this goal.

One way of helping you understand the fight would be to read guides that our specific to your class, there is a ton of information on the net to help you play your role better. Cal suggested that he was going to analyze the fight and give a critique on each specific person; I think this is a great idea. I need to know if I am doing what I need to do.

Here are some other ideas that I think might help:

It seems to me, with my limited point of view (I’m usually staring up some Naga’s bunghole) that the reason we are wiping is that people are dying way too early. This was happening to me when I first started raiding with Cal during the Gruul fight, I compensated for this by wearing my PvP gear and buffing my stamina to give me a little health edge.

I’ve been using “Drums of Battle” as much as possible during the fight, they are extremely cheap to make now, and give our group a pretty good buff. There are a bunch of different drums available but you need to be a leatherworker to use them. I’m not sure how many leather workers we have, but I’m willing to help with the skins and hides for anyone.

One of my “Out of the box” ideas would be to enlist the help of our respective guilds in this mission. If we can put an “Tower Team” to take and hold the twin spire towers at the time we are making our attempt on Vashj it might make the difference. 5% damage increase is HUGE. We just need to come up with a reward system for them if it works.

If we keep morale up I think we can progress quickly through SSC and TK very soon.

[Kailand]

Hi,

I would like to recommend to everyone who is filling out the questionaire to see if there is offset pieces for them outside the T5 sets, because odds are, you will not be able to complete a four piece bonus with the limited time we have in SSC/TK. Additionally for rings/trinkets/necks I would recommend taking a look and see if you'ld actually still be wearing it if we complete MH/BT/SW. I know for melee (not hunter) the best trinket in the game is out of heroic magisters terrace (Shard of Contempt), and one of the top three fall off of zul'jin (Beserker's Call).

As for people who say we aren't geared enough... we are actually overgeared compared to other groups. Vashj has been done with pople still in half blues and T4 and that was before the nerf... so gear ISN'T the issue. As Elrikk has mentioned, if you are dieing in your role (or letting people die in your role) then look up some guides that may help. If for some reason the guide says you may be better with another roll, mention that to your new role leader or to calandor and it can be reviewed. Note, putting more ranged DPS on the side groups isn't viable, as we run with more melee than conventional groups. Finally the one thing that can't be stressed enough - Make sure you are situationally aware: if you see a strider spawn infront of you, run out of its way and call it out. As a healer if a strider spawns near you, stop casting heals if possible and get out of its way to avoid grabbing agro, if you have the static charge debuff STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND MOVE! The key thing that many noticed is that as soon as one person died we couldn't keep up. That being said, people make mistakes: Just learn from them and avoid repeating it.

Kailand