______________________________________________________________________________________________

After having killed Baleroc we trodded along to Majordomo with our pockets full of catnip hoping to get some heroic progress by the end of the raidtime. However after just two attempts (Lumines dying by accident 15 seconds into the first try) we had him on 5% and it was clear to us this was something we would kill in just a few tries. And on the 4th try “the big stupid boss with the stupid face got deaded”! There’s not a lot to comment on regarding this kill; it went fast, there were a lot of cats, there were spores, and we won! Yayfaces on!

After some wipes on Baleroc we learned that the key to the fight was luck. When one of the two healers got linked with a tormented dps it got tricky fast, and any random thing could be a disaster. Actually even without a tormented healer we were at the edge of death many times. Outside of the luck factor the fight wasn’t hard though, and when we finally had a good try it was a done deal. Baleroc dead, and 4/7 heroic modes down! With some raidtime left we will be going to Majordomo next!

Observe: The art department has censored part of the screenshot to not make certain members (Atemm) overly excited.

When we started working on the heroic mode of Alysrazor we were aware that the only thing that was different was phase 1, and it didn’t take us many tries to get it. We also soon noticed that 2 cycles would be all that was needed to get her down. However knowing how to do something and doing it right (twice) is two different things. Most of the wipes came from personal mistakes on the ground, such as stepping on worms, being on the wrong side of the meteor during firestorm, getting run over by a tornado, or just randomly falling over and dying. Then suddenly it just started working and finally we did everything right! Alysrazor down, 4 more bosses to go!

So after having killed Shannox faster than expected we thought we’d swing by Lord Rhyolith. At first we were messing about with how to handle the Liquid Obsidians, trying to kill them off while doing enough damage on the legs, which seemed impossible. Whichever way we changed the tactic around, the players assigned to kill obsidians didn’t have time to kill them all and hit the legs too. After a break we changed to a new tactic, that seemed easier if it would work. And lo and behold we had him down in just a few more tries!

Two heroic modes in one night, five more to go!

So it was time to do our first tries on heroic mode and Shannox was the first destination. We spend some time on the Thursday learning the fight, but ended up leaving, without really being close to a kill, to swoop by all the other bosses to pick up fragments and finish off Zerina’s quest. On the Sunday we were back for more and on the second pull he was dead! There was no change in tactics between the two nights, just that we had understood the fight better and were much improved on kiting dogs into traps. First heroic boss in Firelands down, 6 to go!

Observe: When taking pictures and focusing on something, things in the background get out of focus and look a bit blurred. Clearly that is what has happened to this screenshot. The artdepartment shot the picture with the raiders in focus, to catch the bosskill joy on Lumines’ face, while Shannox being out of focus makes him look a tad different.

After two weeks of practically not pulling Ragnaros at all due to sudden lack of Lumines, we were back with two tanks ready to wipe some more. This raid however went better right from the start and we weren’t doing the regular phase 2 mistakes. In fact we had hardly even set foot in phase three before this raid, and on the third time (i think) in phase 3 we got him down. I don’t actually know what happened the last seconds of the fight because of all the meteors that refused to leave the left side of the room, just retargeting the same people over and over, which ended with me getting exploded off the edge at 13%. However I hear he disappered under the lava with a really scared look on his face!

Hardmodes next! After we’ve repeated this kill a few times that is.

The art department would like to clarify that the screenshot is not from the actual kill but rather from the PTR, which means transmogrification is the reason Sulfuras looks slightly different!

Last reset we had our first chance to look at the Majordomo Staghelm encounter and it appeared to be quite easy. We went back this week and at first we had some struggles on spores. After a series of wipes on ca 10% we finally got through the spore-phase and he died. After the spore practise this week we will likely do this boss a lot easier in the future. After killing the 6 first bosses I can say that the boss we stuggled with the most was the first one, Beth’tilac. One boss left to go in Firelands! Let’s see how long it takes for us to plow through Ragnaros!

The art department did not screenshot the kill this week (nor most other weeks), instead they decided to capture the moment right before we pulled!

After having downed Baleroc this reset we actually didn’t open his gate. The reason for this was that we had Alysrazor left up. After spending some time on the Sunday wiping on stupid mistakes and changing our setup about so two people could fly instead of just one we were back for more on the Monday. And lo and behold, as soon as the players that had never seen the fight before survived the tornados we had a kill. Even Gloín survived until the end! Alysrazor dead and Majordomo is next, and after having a few tries on him already we went away thinking we’ll kill him next time we have a chance to!

Disclaimer: The art department is not entirely sure of the exact look of the helmet of the boss, and have hence ad-libed a little. For this reason this particular screenshot is not 100% correct, unlike most others.

After killing Lord Ryolith last reset we didn’t know what boss to try first, Baleroc or Alysrazor. We decided to check out both and on first glance Baleroc seemed to be the easier encounter. In fact it seemed to be the easiest encounter in Firelands so far. With the idea that we would be able to get this down without problems we went back the first raid this reset to get the job done. At first it seemed we were perhaps mistaken as the healers were having problems healing Decimation Blade, but after a short break Zerina thought of a change of tactics for the healers, and with that change we killed him the next attempt!

Our only remaining question is why the gatekeeper is wearing such a provocative outfit? Is it an attempt to scare off the conservative raiders just by appearance? If that actually works I guess we can expect more bosses to wear thongs and stockings in the future!

After having spent a little time on Lord Rhyolith last reset we went back to get it right (pun intended)! After having a really close call on less than 1 %, while Electtra was disconnected half the fight, we extended the raidtime to get him down, and 2 attempts later he was biting the dust. What we learned was that we probably will use only 1 tank next week, that we might only need 2 healers, that Bartie, Wilkas and Samanah didn’t develop a foot fetish during the attempts, and that baby hedgehogs will try to escape if they can!

Due to popular demand the art department has this week not edited the raid out of the screenshot.

Second Firelands boss attempted was Shannox. After only having a few tries before the end of raidtime we went away contemplating our tactics. What was clear was that we hadn’t handled face rages as good as we should. The next day we came back and with the few changes we had made we oneshotted him! Much credit to Lumines thoughts on how to change tactics, to kill one dog asap. Unless this first kill hinged on luck we think this boss will be a free kill every week. We certainly are not intimidated by this encounter at least!

Firelands is out! Seven new bosses and we started with the one at the top of the new dungeon guide, Beth’tilac. It appeared to be an easy enough encounter and we had a good idea of how to execute the encounter but we still had some struggles. One reason was likely that our setup wasn’t the best, and will continue to not be excellent for a while longer due to our lack of healers in particular and raiders in general.

In any case we kept improving our performance, and on the second raidnight we crushed Beth’tilac into the ground. She however appears to be a boss we will likely struggle with for a few more resets.