Wednesday Night (17 Nov) - Once More Into the Breach

Wednesday Night (17 Nov) - Once More Into the Breach

Last week the MM G1 ICC10 group defeated the Lich King. Ten guildies now wear the title of Kingslayer. I wasn't sure what the G1 would be doing this week, but was pleased when they set up an ICC raid for guildies who could still use gear and reputation from ICC. They started with a fresh run and downed six bosses. Very nice. The Nooners ICC group, with only the Lich King to face, took aim but again fell short.

That left Wild's G2 for our regular Wed/Thurs head bashing against the Lich King. As is usual with this laid back group, invites began at 6:20pm with only five G2 raiders in game. We are supposed to start the raid at 6:30pm, but again it was close to 7pm before we started filing into Icecrown Citadel. We were short one DPSer and picked up a guildie mage making his first appearance against LK. We always seem to have a newby in our ranks. Our healing triumvirate was also missing one member, our paladin. Bd, normally playing moonkin, switched to healing for the night. That meant that our priest healer would be doing dispel duties for much of the fight, with Wild and Bd, both druid healers, doing the bulk of the healing.

Getting to the Lich King's platform high atop the Icecrown Glacier is pretty simple. Enter into the main lobby of ICC. Take the convenient teleporter to the fourth floor (Upper Spire), exit and walk directly to the center across a steel wire bridge to the teleporter to LK's platform. We have to make that trip every time we wipe as well. There is one additional small detail. Two elite val'kyrs fly about that area, and making that jaunt between portals requires timing it so that the val'kyrs don't pick you off. There is another way to handle that, which is to gather together and kill the two val'kyrs, a very easy task. Yet we don't bother. Individual players make that run and almost every time at least on raider gets killed. It wastes time that we could be using to get in more attempts on LK and it bugs me.

Anyway, we eventually got started. Our first four attempts were very solid. We were focused and have that first phase (P1) down pat. We were also doing very well with the transition through P1.5 and into P2.

Small mistakes were still getting us, but on our fifth attempt we got a taste of just how close we were to nailing it. On our fifth attempt we got the Lich King all the way down to the magic 40%, which initiates Phase 3. We weren't perfect, raiders were dying, but things we were failing at before we had much better success at. We managed the Defile so much better, getting ourselves out to the edge of the platform when it was coming so that it wouldn't contaminate the center. Our biggest hurdle, killing the val'kyrs before they could drop raiders to their deaths, was also much more successful. By the time we were down into the low 40s% there were only four of us left alive. The amazing thing is that with one tank, one DPS, and two healers, we were able to keep the battle going a good long time. Imagine what we could have done if more raiders had survived to that point. We did not actually transition to the phase beyond 40%, there being too few of us to survive that, but that's as close as we've ever been.

I'd like to say that even more progress was made, but despite four more attempts we never got that far again. The final three attempts came after a break, and we seem to lose focus every time we take a break. Normally breaks sort of last as long as the tardiest person to get back into the raid, anywhere from five minutes to 15 minutes or more. This time there was an attempt to limit the break to three minutes, plenty long enough for a bio break, a drink/food run, smoke break, yell at the kids break, etc. Raiders were told that we were going to start up the next attempt exactly at the three minute mark.

At the three minute mark the main tank engaged Tirion Fordring to start things up. Fordring and LK talk for about fifty seconds, and then LK attacks. There was no ready check. One tank, one healer, and two DPSers did not respond when the Lich King attacked. We wiped, of course. There was anger and annoyance and finger pointing. I support a hard break time, but starting the fight without knowing if everyone was ready was foolish and wasted more time than just letting raiders trickle back whenever they wanted.

Everything else aside, though, we really do have the ability to beat the Lich King. If we can only stay focused for two to three productive hours, he'll go down. I'm sure of it. It's the "productive" two to three hours I worry about.