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We’ve decided to declare summer even if it’s only May. Raiding will resume around expansion time. We finished at 11/14 HC, and we’re not entirely dissatisfied with that!

Happy summer to everyone!

Around the time of progress beginning on Thok heroic mode, the first rumblings of raidbreaks started amongst the raiders. Siege of Orgrimmar fatigue had started to hit, much earlier than I had anticipated, and as February passed and we came into March it was obvious we needed to recruit to be able to continue raiding. However when asking around the raiders it seemed it was only about 4 people at all interested in a continuation, the rest wanted a spring + summer break. In the midst of this we were trying to down Thok, changing setup for every week, and spending raidtime adjusting the cooldown rotations and similar. After a while, when we were closing in on 100 wipes, it started to seem this was the boss we would just not get down at all, and we would just have to take a break from him. But then we did a final push and managed to finally kill him. What a group effort that one was! Summer break is next, raiding will start again next expansion most likely!

The first time we attempted heroic mode Spoils of Pandaria was before we started progress on Malkorok. At that time it seemed like insane amounts of damage and healing would be needed to do anything within the time given. As we now came back we noticed immediately that it didn’t seem as hard as when we looked at it last time. In fact it seemed like something we could take down pretty fast. However as we progressed through the encounter discussions arose about what box to open when, and how to move the mobs, and who should be on what side, and what would be the most optimal way of doing the boss. Some people were trying to argue that their way was the best way while others were saying that way wasn’t working. These negotiations made the groups change so many times that in the end we most certainly had more wipes than necessary. After a few nights of wiping we finally pulled it together, the boxes were all opened on time, and the encounter was done! Ten bosses down, four to go, end of discussions!

New year, more raiding in Siege of Orgrimmar, and the next heroic encounter is Malkorok! Early on we realised that this is a fight where one fuckup kills us all. And it’s quite easy to mess up because you have to pay attention to your surroundings every second at the same time as it’s a dps race with lots of healing needed. But with some practise we started improving. We hit the berserk a few times and died, and then finally we shaped up and killed him! Malkorok is dead! Spoils of Pandaria are next!

Happy holidays to and from everyone in Lazy Peon Tavern!

We knew coming into the Dark Shamans heroic fight that it would be chaotic and hard. We split into two teams, one for Haromm and one for Kardris. The Haromm team went to a far away corner while the Kardris team used the main space. The tactics in both teams were easy, but that did not stop the wipes. Haromm’s team had more incoming damage and were responsible for most wipes, it even got to a point where it was a success if the melee dps (mostly Gandogar) were alive past 50%. After a while we started sorting the fight out with exact positions, and expected movements. And it would all go fine until about 20% when things would slowly fall apart due to mistakes and bad luck. Finally things went our way and the shamans are dead! Good job everyone!

The last few resets we’ve struggled on Iron Juggernaut and the times we haven’t had three solid healers signed up we’ve done a few pulls on General Nazgrim heroic instead. Tonight we were back again and pretty sure we could oull off a kill, considering the fight didn’t seem to be that hard. We had already figured out positionings in the room to allow melee to have as little running as possible and to always be in range of healers. Now it was just that pesky business of actually killing him that was left. Well tonight was our night! General Nazgrim is dead and we’re at 7/14 and half way through the heroic modes! Yay!

The art-department would like to point out that it’s not a flaw in the image that Nazgrim appears to be holding his axe backwards, it was an intentional pose by the general when agreeing to this picture, symbolising his demise. Orcs are deeper than you’d think.

The first heroic mode that felt significantly hard in Siege of Orgrimmar was Iron Juggernaut. To begin with it seemed like we didn’t have enough cooldowns to survive, and then it seemed like even if we did manage to survive we still wouldn’t have the dps to beat the berserk timer. It felt like a big step up the ladder from the previous five bosses. When we reached Juggernaut tonight we had already been quite close to a kill, and we were certain the group would be good. We had three mainspec healers and a cooldown rotation, and now it was just for the dps to do their job and kill the sucker! And finally we did it! With 1 second to go on the berserk timer he died! Yay us! Next heroic encounter will be Nazgrim!

Observe: Unfortunately the art department’s camerastand fell over just as a mid-fight screenshot was about to be snapped. This is the reason why there is no boss in the actual picture, just the ground next to him.

Back again to Galakras! We did some pulls last reset and figured out the encounter was basically business as usual, with some heavy damage parts. Mainly the points of deaths were during the clearing of the first tower and during the second phase when the boss is grounded. Today things seemed a bit easier, and we soon got to the very last percentages. With a few more tries we improved the very last little bit and the drake was dead! Galakras down, Juggernaut next!

While Norushen is considered one of the easiest heroic modes we have deliberately been putting it off because Luria thought it was one of those fights that didn’t suit us. We do it sloppily on normal mode and that must mean heroic will be a wall of pain. Thus we were looking at Galakras heroic instead. Today we killed the first two bosses quite fast and decided to stop and see what Norushen heroic was like. To have an idea of how hard it would be when we would return to this encounter in the future. Well it turns out Luria was incredibly wrong thinking this boss could be a hurdle because we almost oneshotted the encounter. Norushen heroic done in two tries! We should have done this two weeks ago!

We tried Sha of Pride last reset and weren’t very close to a kill then. This reset we’re back for more! After practising the “Pacman-maze” with Dailyleaf, and resolving some issues with people running off for rifts while needing dispells and evoking the wrath of Kihel, we started doing better. The zerg ending turned out very chaotic with tons of rifts shooting us to bits, but we managed to sail through it with Heroism. Sha of pride is dead! Three bosses down, next is Galakras (or possibly Norushen).

The second evening on heroic modes and we stop to try The Fallen Protectors. At first it’s painful and it seems like a lot to heal for two people. Then we start getting the hang of it and within ten tries they’re dead. Two heroic modes down! Onwards to Sha of Pride!

“Once upon a time there were three little bears who worked for the Golden Lotus. And they were each assigned very hazardous duties.
But I took them away from all that, and now they work for me. My name is Garrosh.”