18 Is the New 25!!

So there we were…8pm and 18 people on. Another failed attempt to raid.

But not so fast! Our raid leader (like many of the rest of us) was sick and tired of not raiding. "I want to try to clear some trash in BT. Whisper me if you’re interested." Hell yeah! Of course, this is the guild that can’t down Al’ar, or Leotheras…but we wasted Rage Winterchill in three nights. (Go figure.)

Shortly, 18 intrepid souls are flying to Shadowmoon Valley (or being summoned there). We gather ’round the stone, then start flying to the entrance portal to Black Temple.

*bump*

"Take it off heroic!" (Question: Is there such a thing as a heroic raid instance??)

"All instances are reset to normal mode."

*bump*

"Do we need to be attuned??" "Anyone have a key?" and other silliness.

"OH HEY!! It’s over here!" (Where the hell is "here"? Since the person yelling this is now inside the instance.)

So finally we all figure out the portal is in a little alcove on the right side of the promenade up to BT. What a bunch of n00bs!

Now that we’re all inside and in one place, I take a look at our build. Four tanks…two pally, two bears. And a warrior who can probably tank as well. Super; no problem in that department. Healers…

Healers? 

Yes, we were three: Myself (just respecced to [spell]Circle of Healing[/spell]/[spell]Lightwell[/spell], and trying to figure out where on my spellbars to put those two spells), another priest (also newly respecced to CoH from Shadow) and a holy pally (who isn’t the strongest healer in the guild). Not exactly the optimum ratio of healers to tanks, plus raid heals. Nice way to start my career as Class Lead. Not.

Sure, we knew this could be an expensive night, and wipes were inevitable, but the idea is to postpone those wipes as long as possible. Of course, 2x CoH and at least one Lightwell give us a bit of an edge. And two ‘locks = two soulstones.¹ Then again, 2x CoH = 0 IDS…

So two healers and five DPS short of a full raid, we buff and begin. To make a long story short, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. We skipped the first group you see as you first enter, and turned to the right, up the first spillway (at least, that’s my word for the ramps with water flowing down the center).² We killed, and some of us died. It probably should have been more than some, but occasionally, we’re pretty good.

We got to the first "big" pull: A great big water dragon and his two henchmen, a couple big nagas. I have the main tank, and I missed the part in Vent where he said he was where he was going to drag the skull target. So I spent that fight (until I died) stumbling around a rock trying to get rid of "Target is not in line of sight". I did die, used my soulstone, got a Lightwell down, a couple CoH’s, found the MT, hit Renew and frisbee, then a Greater Heal. He died. I died. BUT…

…the rest of the group (well, the four or five who were still alive) managed to finish everything off. Woot! 

We pressed on up to where we could see Naj’entus; everyone died a time or three, but we never had an official "wipe." That in itself is pretty impressive. We all gathered ’round and gaped at Naj. The question came up, can we pull the two Aqueous Lords (sounds like a huge Sharp LCD TV, no?) without getting the boss? So someone got naked…and went for Naj. Of course the two Lords attacked as well. Oops…not what we meant.

So I said on Vent, "We need a hunter to toss an arrow at one of the Lords, then feign death." "Sure, I will" pipes up one of our officers. One of the mages opens a portal to Shatt. Funny stuff!

The hunter heads over to the nearest Lord; several of us (and you better believe this squishy priest was one of them) edge closer to that portal. Arcane shot flies, two Lords move towards the hunter, but Naj stays still. I saw all I wanted or needed to, and dived into the portal. That was a tight squeeze, lemme tell ya!

Funnier yet, the hunter made it through the portal…so the two Lords hang out where they last saw the hunter, much to the detriment of those not quick enough to get through before the Lords arrived. Hilarity ensued. Fortunately, our pally RL had gone down to the bottom of the ramp, along with the other mage, so rezzes and another portal were had.

All in all, everyone agreed it was a fun way to spend an hour or so. And, I think it got people back in the mood to actually raid: We’re really pretty damn good when we have a full group of eager raiders. I’m hopeful the word spreads among the guild and we get a bigger group. Still, it was great fun to see someplace new, and I know I’m not the only one who wants to go back with a full group and actually kill that big water snake.