Raid to the Karazhan, 2009-09-07

I did not understand, what was the deal with raiding. I figured it was just the same thing as instances, only with more people and better gear.

But then I joined 15th Dusk – to at least get a feel of raiding. And I realized I had been wrong.

Raids are where Blizzard spends a huge part – if not majority – of their creativity. No two bosses are the same, boss fights are long and complicated, often requiring many wipes before the team learns the tactics.

Another major aspect of the raids is the endgame. Raids are where the major storylines are tied up, where you meet legendary characters such as Medivh, Onyxia, Kil’jaeden, Illidan, Kel’Thuzad, Malygos, Anub’arak – and yes, eventually even Lich King himself.

And the third big aspect of raids is bonding, doing something together. All working towards the same goal, trying to avoid mistakes the best they can, knowing that the others trust and rely on them.

Shadowsteel is not a raid guild and it will not be a raid guild. We have no aspirations to be the first guild to clear a new raid or down boss in a hardmode. But I know that quite a few of us would like to see those legendary characters, in both retro and modern raids. We’ve been hoping even to go to Naxx-10 soon.

Yesterday we ventured to Karazhan, a level 70 raid. We had some issues with the content itself – side door did not open after the opera event (I posted a ticket about it this morning, although I am unsure if CM can help with this bug), we did not understand the tactics on Shade of Aran and managed to wipe there at first. Very big thanks to Artaar for guiding us, that was truly needed – and as big thank you for everybody who stayed with us until the end of the raid.

I like RP in raids and instances – as I have said before, in many ways it is my favorite type of RP. I did not expect to participate much in RP yesterday, as the raid leader rarely has time for it. But what I was hoping for was a nice raid where we can (re-)learn how to work together.

If your character is a bitch RP-wise, you must understand when to drop RP bitchiness and work for a team. Ruining the raid is not a solution – and even worse, causing deaths with your behavior is something everybody wants to avoid. No one likes repair bills – for well-geared characters, one death can mean 10G or more.

In a raid or not, everybody are expected at least to know the basics of their own class. What an aura, totem or buff does should be learned as soon as you get it from the trainer. If you are not sure, ask – no one will ever bite your head off because of it, at least not in Shadowsteel. Ask, but don’t be silent and hope that it will pass.

Consumables. I was horrified yesterday when I moved Deliorion to Kara gates – and found that I had only six Wild Spineleaf, reagent for 60-minutes Gift of the Wild buff. Thankfully, Aza had more and even my six would have been enough – but the possibility of letting others down by not being prepared…

And yet it seems for others it is not an issue to walk into an instance or raid without consumables. Please come prepared.

Behavior. Yesterday we spent quite a lot of time clearing trash that really didn’t need to be cleared. As a tank, it was my decision to do so. Why? Because I cannot trust people to avoid those trash mobs – instead of running on the side of the corridor, they happily jaunt in the middle. I left two of such trash uncleared at opera entrance – and naturally someone eventually pulled them both. Be aware of your surroundings – or, at least just follow the tank. When the tank is on the left side, there might be a reason for it.

Three first boss fights (excluding the servant quarters’ hound) were not started by the tank. People saw it fit just to pull or talk to NPC. In a real raid, this would have mean wipe every single time, but as this was a low-level raid, we managed with only few deaths – these could have been completely avoided.

Only tank or raid leader pulls or starts the fight. Many high-level bosses can kill clothie with a single hit. Wrong pull will mean deaths or a complete wipe. You don’t want to be the one who causes that.

I do not expect anyone to be super-raider, not at all. But I do expect you to try to give your personal best, not just give up without trying. I am not asking anything from anyone that isn’t something I am not willing follow or do myself.