Weekend (24 Jan) - Trial of the Crusader 25 Man Style

Weekend (24 Jan) - Trial of the Crusader 25 Man Style

Wild got to meet a lot of new guildies on Friday night as the transfer players that either already joined our guild or joined as they checked in for the raid added their numbers to current guild members.

The raid leader, surveydrood, had an ambitious agenda of clearing ToC25 in an hour and then hitting it a second time in hard mode (Heroic). All but one raider had at least some experience with ToC, and most of the new guildies had cleared it on their old server, so we looked ready for the challenge. We had only five healers, though, so one DPS, a pally, volunteered to heal, giving us six, although seven healers are typical. Druids dominated the healing ranks, with three of us, plus the pally, a holy priest, and a shaman. Even though the ranks of healers were tight, there was no lack of guildies wanting into the raid, and many in game standbys who either signed up late or did not sign up at all did not get invited.

Since there was a raider getting his first look, a quick discussion of strategy was needed for each fight, something that weighed against us making our one hour target for the clear. However, as long as we could keep the kills coming, I doubted anyone would care.

We slammed through the first encounter, Northrend Beasts, and took the three waves down on our first try. It was not without it's losses, though, with Wild dying along with a number of others. Wild found himself behind in the healing, 5th out of 6. A T9 token, [Trophy of the Crusade], drops in each encounter in ToC25. A hunter won the roll, with Wild coming in second.

Lord Jaraxxus fell next, followed by the Faction Champions. In ToC25 there are 10 Champions. We downed them all on our first attempt, a feat which the whole raid universally said none of us had ever done before. The loot chest for the Faction Champions dropped a leather healing chest piece [Robes of the Shattered Fellowship] and Wild won it! This i245 piece was good enough for Wild to equip on the spot even without an enchant and without gems in the two sockets. Prior to the next encounter the hunter that had won the T9 trinket whispered Wild and said that after thinking it over he could not use the token and traded it to Wild. Wow. Two drops for Wild.

We pushed on, bringing down the Twins and then facing off against the final boss, Anub'erak. It was a bit messy, but we killed the bug, earning a clear of ToC25, Wild's first.

We had started the run at 6:15pm and finished it at 7:47pm, about a half hour late, but we teasingly blamed that on the raider that was new to ToC.

We departed ToC25 and then re-entered with it set to Hard Mode. We were warned at the beginning that everything happened a lot faster in hard mode, that bosses hit harder, had a lot more health, and that everyone had to be on their toes. Healers in particular were told that if we weren't taxed to the limit something was wrong.

There is really no way to describe our effort as anything but forgettable. After three attempts where we could not get past the wyrms (the second wave of NRB), a seventh healer was added. The two attempts that followed were even worse. We took a break and thought about it. Some folks offered that we should just head over to Onyxia (which had been suggested after the last wipe) and get that done with the time we had left. In the end, we decided to make one more attempt in ToC hard mode. It failed.

So we all trooped over to Onyxia. Wild remembered to wear his Onyxia cloak this time, and that must have made Wild a lot smarter because I never got hit with a Deep Breath, the ability that kept getting Wild killed in other Onyxia fights. More likely I was saved because I picked smarter raiders to run away with when Ony started that Breath.

The raid, which had gotten a bit subdued during the ToC hard mode effort, rebounded and took the frustration out on Onyxia, killing the dragon easily. Wild almost won a couple of items from Ony, but lost close rolls both times. That was ok, Wild already had those two drops.

Over the course of the evening Wild's position in the healing ranks steadily improved. The druids came in 1-2-3.

#1: Mg, 3432 hps, 18.6% of the healing
#2: Wild, 2584/12.9%
#3: Sp, 2526/12.8%
#4: cy-pally, 3086/12.3%
#5: Rz (shaman), 2208/11.0%
#6: pally2, 1860/8.9%
#7: pally3, 1401/7.9%

Afterward Wild got his new chest piece enchanted and gemmed up, and it looks mighty fine. The T9 token will take a little more time, as Wild must have triumph emblems in addition to the token to buy any gear. The token is generic, which means I can buy any one of the five tier pieces (the older tokens usually were for a specific type of gear and often a specific class). Wild will likely purchase the helm, as that would be his best upgrade, but needs to earn another 18 badges to get to the 75 needed to buy it.

Wild also has enough frost emblems to buy ilevel 251/264 gear, but I cannot make up my mind on how to spend it yet. The key question is do I spend them as I get enough, or should I save up for the bigger purchases? Wild can buy a single trinket, relic, or a pair of gloves with the 60 frost he has now. But the really good stuff, and the higher need stuff, costs 95 frost. Decisions.

The Toc/Ony raids weren't the only action going on Friday night, either. Narcissus ("Sis"), played babysitter to Ando and EZ on a trip through the mid-20s level dungeon Gnomeregan. EZ went from level 23 to 24 on the run, and Ando popped two levels, going from 26 to 28.