Skin a Cat
Sunday night, and again, no 25 man, but we got our main group together for ZA. We again beat the Bear Boss timer, and we were looking good on the Eagle boss when our tank died.
We had 3 melee dps along with our tank (Fury Warrior, Feral Druid, Rogue), so when one of them got hit with the static charge from Akil’zon it really hurt. We are fortunate in that our Tank for Akil’zon is our Nature Tank for Hydross so he can wear some of that gear. For this fight I throw on my healer gear and help heal the real dpsers.
Akil’zon is almost always casting something, and most of his damage is magical in nature. Those factors make it more of a Warrior or Druid tank fight. Plus, there is high amount of collateral damage to the raid so my extra healing is seen as more valuable than our Warrior Tanks extra dps would be.
He dropped this amazing Plate DPS chest. Our Fury Warrior said no thank you, so it up to me to and Brindall (our Warrior Tank). I decided to pass and let Brindall take it. I can work on potentially 3 different sets: Tanking, Healing and DPS. He can work on 2 sets, Tanking and DPS. I would roll against him on anything for my Primary set (Tank). He would never roll against me on my secondary set (Healing), so I extended the courtesy of passing on an item for his secondary set.
I consider my DPS set to be a 3rd set as far as priority only because it requires a full respect for me to slip into that role. I can heal decently as full Prot so I can use any healing gear I get, and I’m more app to use my Healing gear in a raid or group. I tried to get a group or two while I was Ret this weekend, but it wasn’t coming together. They needed me to tank.
I’m really wishing respect costs were about half of what they were. It’d be great to go to a group and be able to fufill any role without a 50g bill, but I’m sure Priests, Warriors and Rogues would like a bit more flexibility sometimes, so I guess it’s a tradeoff.
After Eagle, we went to Lynx. I really like Lynx trash. It consists of 1 big guy and 4 or 5 small Lynxes. More than 3, you need me! At one point we actually pulled two groups, plus some crocs. This was what you call a target rich environment. I started Consecrate and Holy Shield and was able to hold the group quite well. We actually didn’t wipe.
Then we get to the Boss himself.
His first trick is Saber Lash. Brindall and I stood there and ate it for about 9k a piece. I went with my stamina gear for this fight (double stamina trinkets, stamina boots over dodge boots, etc). Fully buffed, I had 20.2 hit points.
Our trouble came with the Spirit Lynx. Every 25%, he spawns a Spirit Lynx which I was to pickup. Most of the time, I picked it up just fine, but once per attempt, the thing would run straight thru my Consecration, ignore my Judgment of Justice and chew on our Dwarf Priest (Dora). Not cool. I honestly don’t know what happened. Next time we fight him, I’m going to log it so I can tell what in the world is going on.
I was able to successfully cleanse the Flame Shock while tanking the Spirit Lynx.
The fight was intense and there are many things you have to keep track of at the same time.
It took us 3 tries but we got him down. He dropped some healing plate shoulders. I was the only Paladin in the raid so I took them. I wasn’t sure at the time if they were better than my Merciless, but Sevenn, one of our Holy Paladins said they were. I would have hated to see them disenchanted and then realize I need them.
Along with the helm, I’m starting to look pretty ridiculous in that gear.
Monday night, we went back in with the idea of getting Dragonhawk. This guy has got to have the worse trash in the entire instance. It consists of one non elite who runs and beats on a drum to summon a group of elites. Even after a wipe you have to stay together and make sure not to aggro them until you are ready. These scouts respawn after each wipe.
We were able to make some really solid attempts on the boss. My job is to tank the eggs. It looks really easy at first. There is a bridge the birds must cross in order to get out, so I laid a Consecrate there and thought it would pick them up. That worked well for the most part. The boss also teleports back to himself (like the Voidwalker guy in Shadow Labs or the Aran in Kara). If he teleported while I was gathering up the birds it could be a problem. Then he puts bombs all over the ground and you have to find a safe spot. Sounds easy enough but with everything going on and birds all over your screen they can be hard to see.
Then as if that wasn't enough, he enrages and starts to hit really fast. He would blow through Brindalls Shield Block in no time, and burst him down. The fight is very mana intensive for the healers.
I think our best attempt was around 10% or so. Maybe we'll get him next time.
We had 3 melee dps along with our tank (Fury Warrior, Feral Druid, Rogue), so when one of them got hit with the static charge from Akil’zon it really hurt. We are fortunate in that our Tank for Akil’zon is our Nature Tank for Hydross so he can wear some of that gear. For this fight I throw on my healer gear and help heal the real dpsers.
Akil’zon is almost always casting something, and most of his damage is magical in nature. Those factors make it more of a Warrior or Druid tank fight. Plus, there is high amount of collateral damage to the raid so my extra healing is seen as more valuable than our Warrior Tanks extra dps would be.
He dropped this amazing Plate DPS chest. Our Fury Warrior said no thank you, so it up to me to and Brindall (our Warrior Tank). I decided to pass and let Brindall take it. I can work on potentially 3 different sets: Tanking, Healing and DPS. He can work on 2 sets, Tanking and DPS. I would roll against him on anything for my Primary set (Tank). He would never roll against me on my secondary set (Healing), so I extended the courtesy of passing on an item for his secondary set.
I consider my DPS set to be a 3rd set as far as priority only because it requires a full respect for me to slip into that role. I can heal decently as full Prot so I can use any healing gear I get, and I’m more app to use my Healing gear in a raid or group. I tried to get a group or two while I was Ret this weekend, but it wasn’t coming together. They needed me to tank.
I’m really wishing respect costs were about half of what they were. It’d be great to go to a group and be able to fufill any role without a 50g bill, but I’m sure Priests, Warriors and Rogues would like a bit more flexibility sometimes, so I guess it’s a tradeoff.
After Eagle, we went to Lynx. I really like Lynx trash. It consists of 1 big guy and 4 or 5 small Lynxes. More than 3, you need me! At one point we actually pulled two groups, plus some crocs. This was what you call a target rich environment. I started Consecrate and Holy Shield and was able to hold the group quite well. We actually didn’t wipe.
Then we get to the Boss himself.
His first trick is Saber Lash. Brindall and I stood there and ate it for about 9k a piece. I went with my stamina gear for this fight (double stamina trinkets, stamina boots over dodge boots, etc). Fully buffed, I had 20.2 hit points.
Our trouble came with the Spirit Lynx. Every 25%, he spawns a Spirit Lynx which I was to pickup. Most of the time, I picked it up just fine, but once per attempt, the thing would run straight thru my Consecration, ignore my Judgment of Justice and chew on our Dwarf Priest (Dora). Not cool. I honestly don’t know what happened. Next time we fight him, I’m going to log it so I can tell what in the world is going on.
I was able to successfully cleanse the Flame Shock while tanking the Spirit Lynx.
The fight was intense and there are many things you have to keep track of at the same time.
It took us 3 tries but we got him down. He dropped some healing plate shoulders. I was the only Paladin in the raid so I took them. I wasn’t sure at the time if they were better than my Merciless, but Sevenn, one of our Holy Paladins said they were. I would have hated to see them disenchanted and then realize I need them.
Along with the helm, I’m starting to look pretty ridiculous in that gear.
Monday night, we went back in with the idea of getting Dragonhawk. This guy has got to have the worse trash in the entire instance. It consists of one non elite who runs and beats on a drum to summon a group of elites. Even after a wipe you have to stay together and make sure not to aggro them until you are ready. These scouts respawn after each wipe.
We were able to make some really solid attempts on the boss. My job is to tank the eggs. It looks really easy at first. There is a bridge the birds must cross in order to get out, so I laid a Consecrate there and thought it would pick them up. That worked well for the most part. The boss also teleports back to himself (like the Voidwalker guy in Shadow Labs or the Aran in Kara). If he teleported while I was gathering up the birds it could be a problem. Then he puts bombs all over the ground and you have to find a safe spot. Sounds easy enough but with everything going on and birds all over your screen they can be hard to see.
Then as if that wasn't enough, he enrages and starts to hit really fast. He would blow through Brindalls Shield Block in no time, and burst him down. The fight is very mana intensive for the healers.
I think our best attempt was around 10% or so. Maybe we'll get him next time.
Comments
If you send a steathed rogue up to stun lock the non elite guy that hits the gong, you could get to the boss and kill him without any elites being summoned at all.
John III