I watched the Texas Rangers lose to the St Louis Cardinals on Friday night. I was rooting for the Rangers, but my uncle is a big Cardinals fan and he was ecstatic so I didn't mind. It was something of a miracle season for the Cards, anyway, so it was also appropriate for them to prevail. The Rangers have now lost two World Series in a row and are still looking for their first Championship so they should be very motivated next season.
Afterward Happy and Lost got their work done. Wild's guild was doing a BWD fun run, but Wild wasn't much interested in that. There were plenty of takers so Wild wasn't needed. There were a couple of PUGs forming up for Firelands trash runs, but it was hard to get excited about killing a bunch of trash mobs for a small amount of rep. I was swapping back and forth between alts getting together some heirloom stuff for Sista. Another call in trade chat popped up asking for raiders for a fresh Firelands run. What caught Wild's attention was that the guild was Blackblades, a solid raiding guild that frankly was out of Wild's league. They were doing an alt run, however, and were looking for fill ins. It was pretty late, but Wild volunteered. They needed a resto druid, and Wild was in.
If Wild's guild raids are one of slow but steady, the Blades raid was like stepping into a roller coaster. Tanks waited for no one. Get there and do your job. We blasted through the trash in the direction of Beth'tilac. The three healers were Wild, a pally, and a Blades shaman. Both tanks and one DPS were Blades. The rest were all fill ins. Imagine a guild that is willing to run an alt raid for just four raiders and a bunch of us PUGs.
While we were still working trash Wild started having trouble with vent. I really didn't need that distraction while running with a group of strangers. The raid was pretty easy going about the whole thing, but not being able to hear what was being said half the time was pretty frustrating. Wild managed.
We arrived at Beth'tilac. It was funny that half the raiders started denying that they had ever climbed up into the web and would be terrible choices for that. Sounded just like Wild! Wild kept quiet this time. I had a feeling the raid leader would be hand picking his own folks for those difficult jobs up in the web. Wild was tasked to heal the group on the ground.
The raid leader wasted no time, making the assignments and then calling for the tank to engage the hated spider. The group of raiders on the ground did a good job of minimizing the damage from the falling AoE and the tank was excellent at rounding up and handling the spider adds. Raiders climbed up into the web. Wild kept up with the healing and we got through the first Smoldering Devastation with everyone still alive. That was a definitely a first for Wild. We got through the second Devastation as well, again with no deaths. Wow. On our third Devastation the healer fell out of the web early. She was the guildie shaman and her guild mates razzed her mercilessly - she gave as good as she got, while up in the web the tank stayed alive long enough for us to enter phase 2. It was Wild's first time reaching the second phase. Beth'tilac went down with no deaths. We had killed the spider.
[Cowl of the Clicking Menace] dropped. It's a leather healing head piece, i378, and Wild got it. It replaced the last piece of under i359 gear Wild was wearing, and equipping it got Wild the achievement Cataclysmically Perfect! Wild was the leading healer on the spider fight, averaging 12.5k and 32% of the healing with the shaman getting 11.5k/30%. Wild is loving his altered stats with the focus on +haste.
Beth'tilac - Dead Spider
"So, on to Shannox?" the raid leader asked. "Go for it," someone said. We went for it. Wild knew this fight, too, and even has one kill. Frankly, it was pretty easy. We had no trouble killing Shannox. Wild was dizzy with success - two Firelands bosses down on the same night!
The raid was ready and eager for more. Wild wondered who the next boss was. Maybe he should find out.
Wild Hastily Reading up on the Next Boss
The next boss was Lord Rhyolith. I've already forgotten where Lord Rhyolith is located. I vaguely remember that we came down from the portal and stayed to the right instead of the left, I think. We had to dodge a number of groups of mobs that seemed way to close to slip by. But the raid leader knew the way and everyone stayed to the unmarked path. We got there.Wild had no idea what the strategy was for this fight. Wild knew what tank he was healing, and figured that if something stung him Wild would know to avoid it the next time. There was no discussion of the strategy beyond ensuring everyone knew their roles. Away we went, and four minutes, 35 seconds later Rhyolith was dead. Wild could hardly believe it. Three bosses down. But he has the proof:
Lord Rhyolith Meets His Match
We moved on. Wild's guild leader, Bd, whispered Wild as we were winding our way deeper into Firelands. He just wanted to say hi and to ask what Wild was up to. I had a feeling he already knew, if he had looked at the guild info and noticed that beside Wild's name was the word Firelands. Wild told him about the alt run and that we had downed three bosses. The response was "Oh, NICE." Nice for Wild, but Wild was also now locked out of joining any other Firelands raid until the reset on Tuesday. After the deal with getting Wild back on the raid calendar, Wild will not be able to raid Firelands with the guild on Monday. Maybe Bd was a little worried about all the success Wild was having tonight - with another guild. Wild was having too much fun to worry about that, though.
We came to a bunch of firebirds and eggs and stuff and plowed into them like they were ordinary trash. I guess that's what they were, but for the first time things did not go smoothly and we wiped. Wild has been in a few PUG raids in his time, and a wipe usually starts an exodus of players leaving the raid. Not this time. The raid leader laughed it off and hurried us up to get rezzed, buffed and ready to go again. This is what that area looked like after we brought those mobs down.
We then made our way to Alysrazor. Really, another boss? Wild had at least heard of Rhyolith. Wild had no clue to Alysrazor. Wild learned this fight the hard way - by dying. Twice. There were more than a couple of phases and frankly Wild winged it - that's a joke. Alysrazor is flying around in the air in the first phase. There are these feathers that get picked up so other raiders can fly around after her. Wild knew not to pick up feathers only because someone had joked about stupid healers picking them up. There are several adds and more dropping of feathers and the whole thing lasted a long time while Wild tried not to die. And that was just the first phase. In phase two there are fiery tornadoes. Wild doesn't like fire, and he doesn't like tornadoes, but as one raider quipped, those tornadoes really liked Wild. Wild didn't know the pattern required to avoid them. Wild pinged from one tornado to another like a pinball banging against burning bumpers - and died for the first time. Wild was battle rezzed and we got to phase 3. Wild knew nothing about healers DPSing the boss on this phase (the boss returns mana that Wild could have used). We got to phase 4 and Wild died a second time mere seconds before the boss fell. Ah well, we still got him!
Alysrazor's Pile of Burning Feathers
Wild is really tired now. We're past midnight. How long has it been since Wild's had to face more than a single boss? Buck up, buddy, Wild told himself. Keep 'em coming! Wild shouted. We headed for Baleroc.There was a slew of trash mobs between us and Baleroc and we plowed into them with our usual reckless fury. We wiped. Then began a rather hilarious fifteen minutes as we tried to get back to where we left off. We had gotten strung out coming back from the wipe. The raider in the lead had a large head start, which turned out to be a good break for the rest of us. He aggroed some little turtles (turtles which have big bites) and died. We all laughed. Another pocket of raiders then aggroed another group of mobs and we had a near wipe with Wild getting caught up in it and killed. More laughing.
I was still having a nightmare time with vent and Wild was a behind everyone else getting back. Wild was doing pretty good remembering the way but maneuvering around all those mobs we didn't kill was really tricky. Wild touched off one mob but out ran it, finally making it safely to the rest of the group. Wild had time to buff the raid with Mark of the Wild and sit down to eat some buff food when ...
Well, I "thought" I had out run it. Nope. Not only did that mob find Wild, it brought with it all its brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles. We wiped again. Wild owned up to it and after all the prior shenanigans it was just one more crazy thing to deal with.
Baleroc is a close cousin to the balrog in Lord of the Rings. I've seen LOTR more times than I can count, and that encounter always gives me chills. For this fight, though, Wild had to admit he had no clue what to do. They didn't want to take the time to teach Wild a fight mechanic that required healers to use Sparks and Torment as a way to deal with damage to the tanks. Instead, the other two healers would perform that function while Wild's entire job was to maintain heals on the tank. Wild could do that without hardly moving and while the level of damage got pretty crazy right at the end, Baleroc went down.
How many is that now? Five bosses?
Beyond Baleroc was the arch and the great bridge to the center of the Firelands. Or at least near the center. If things were hot on the outskirts, it was getting plenty hotter now.
The Fire Bridge
Now we faced Majordomo Staghelm. Staghelm guards the way to the final boss, Ragnaros. In classic WoW Ragnaros was the end game boss and had as his door keeper Majordomo Executus. Ragnaros kills Executus himself in Molten Core. Not so in Firelands - the job of killing his new Majordomo, Staghelm, falls to us.Wild had a lively time with this fight. Sometimes we collapsed together, which caused Staghelm to turn into a scorpion. Other times we spread out and Staghelm became a fire cat. Wild was smart enough to figure that out on his own, as well as avoiding exploding seeds, staying out of the fire, and watching out for pounces. All in a night's work. Majordomo Staghelm died.
It was well after midnight. The Blackblades raiders thanked the rest of us for an excellent night. This was as far as they were going, though. A couple of Puggers had to leave, a couple of the Blades were tired, and we called it a night.
Ah well, no Ragnaros, but Wild can't complain. When he started his night going to the Firelands was the last thing on his mind. When he started the night Wild had one kill on one boss in Firelands. And now Wild has downed six of the seven bosses. Many thanks to the good raiders of Blackblades for giving Wild the opportunity.
Wild still has trouble believing it really happened. After all this time. After all the disappointment. After all the failed attempts. Wild may not get Ragnaros down before Patch 4.3. But on one amazing night, Wild faced and conquered almost everything Firelands could throw at him. Wild can now happily face the upcoming patch knowing that he had overcome the specter of failing the Firelands. What a night.
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