Independance Day

Happy 4th of July to you. I hope everyone reading this had a very happy 4th of July. My daughter does not like fireworks (well she likes them, but is none too big of fan of the loud noises that accompany them), so after a day out at the beach we called it a night early.

After a bit of time gaining rep with the WifeandDaughter faction, I ported to Outland.

There really weren't a whole lot of people on last night, but I managed to get a group for normal Tempest Keep. There was much discussion about which instance we should run. I wanted to do Botanica for another shot at my shoulders. Two of the people were looking for drops from Mechanar (which I had run the day before). A couple of people didn't care much, they just wanted the rep. We eventually decided on Arcatraz. Its the only normal mode 5 man that I have yet to finish.

So our group of holiday instancers was :
Me (Prot Paladin)
Ferth (Fury Warrior)
Sameth (Discipline Priest)
Darolynn (Shadow Priest)
Sylvara (Rogue)

Arcatraz has some of the hardest hitting mobs in a non-Heroic. I'm used to getting hit for 1k plus now, but to see that from a normal mode mob was a surprise.
We wiped in the first room due to a bad pull. Most of the party zone out but they had a debuff that spawned adds so they died, outside of the instance, to adds.
We got our act together and moved on. The first boss wasn't too bad. I had to keep moving him around to avoid some sort of mega damage thing he summoned at his feet. It was textured almost exactly like he was and it was darn hard to see.
Then we get to get 2nd boss. She has a debuff she puts on the tank such that when he gets healed she gets healed, but the debuff can be spell reflected. Thanks Blizzard for designed a boss around an ability only Warriors have! That really irks me.
We debated trying it with me and having the priest only shield me while I had the debuff. I opted to offheal and let the Fury Warrior tank.
Why? Well a couple of reasons. One, I know he wanted to get some practice tanking. Ferth really likes to tank, but he's a PVPer at heart and likes his Fury build for PVP. He does some sick damage. Any Horde in the Nightfall battlegroup, I advise you: Do not, and I repeat DO NOT, attack this dude if he's got even half a rage bar, unless you'd like a quick trip to the spirit healer. Second, I need to get used to being in a group with someone else tanking.
Second, I've got to get over this irrational fear that the minute I start healing in PVE, I'll never tank again. I'm fairly well established in Heroes as a pretty good tank, so I think I can get away with even main healing an instance from time to time.
Now, this boss is a challenge to me. I will find a way to beat her with me tanking. Find a wall, you climb or you go all Ben Grimm and go right through it.
We made it through the rest of the instance with little trouble, and were ready to face the last boss.
This fight was alot of fun. A gnome joins your party to help fight the boss, and some of the banter going on between him and bosses in the event cracks me up.
And wouldn't you know it. First time I ever kill Harbinger Skyriss, he drops the tank ring, The Elementium Band of Sentry. Two nights, two incredible tank items. And just to show that my guild had not lost any confidence in me due to that 2nd boss, Ferth (Fury Warrior) passed on the ring. I love my guild. (Aside: I ran Botanica with him and the DPS plate boot dropped. You should have seen how quick I went for the pass button!)
So it seems my loot luck has completely turned around. After a couple of weeks where I couldn't get a drop to save my life, I get two in two nights.
We've also got a ton of new faces joining Heroes, and soon we will be fielding two Kara groups. I am so excited to get back in there and downing those encounters with my fellow Heroes.

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