« Archives in August, 2015

Kilrogg Deadeye Heroic

Killrogg Deadeye Heroic Fidelity

Kilrogg Deadeye was killed on our third attempt on heroic difficulty. Our first attempt we had issues with extra terrors. Rending Howl is the destroyer of raids, and with more than one terror up it is very difficult to prevent. The second attempt we were cruising until about the 50% mark. We had a some issues with multiple heart seeker hits combined with a well timed Death Throes and we were toast.

Fortunately, the third attempt was back to our normal execution and we scored a kill. We used Esta to tank the boss full time as in normal difficulty. Fortunately, the Fel Corruption was able to be kept in check with our regular strategy. For each Vision of Death we send in one healer and two damage dealers. When the healer comes out, they can stand on the melee pile to clear the stacks of Fel Corruption. Failing that, I was able to out range the terror exploding on death to avoid Fel Rupture and the 30 stacks of Fel Corruption it applies.

Three new bosses on heroic mode in one night was a great way to end the raiding week.

Hellfire High Council Heroic

Hellfire High Council Heroic Fidelity

Hellfire High Council was another kill on our first attempt on heroic difficulty. Esta tanked Dia, while Borg tanked Jubei and Bloodboil. After killing these bosses on normal several times, heroic difficulty feels like paying just a little extra attention will make things go like clockwork. Raiders were practiced at laying reap puddles, dodging Jubei’s swords and taking it to the face like a hero when Bloodboil decides to fel rage.

Getting the bosses to 30% health one after was pretty well executed, with maybe just a touch too much damage into Dia to be comfortable. Bloodboil went down very quickly, and Jubei was pretty much bang on 30% as he died. Jubei went down quickly, and the healers didn’t look the least bit bothered by his windwalk. After we popped heroism, Dia got blown to bits, and Mark of the Necromancer come close to getting out of hand.

Our second new kill for the night. Onwards to our third…

Kormok Heroic

Koromok Heroic Fidelity

Heroic Kormok was killed on our first attempt with our group of 14. Nothing about the fight felt much different than normal, although we were caught out at the end of the fight by the accumulating mechanics.

In normal, you only have to deal with the empowered mechanic associated with the pool Kormok recently took a paddle in. In reading the heroic guides for the fight, I had a little disconnect and took the importance of pool order as read.  We quickly realised in Heroic that we were still getting dragged during grasping hands… However, that didn’t prevent a collective brain fade on the third pool when the empowered explosive runes came out and the boss was nearly dead. With two thirds of the raid dead, we were able to comfortably finish off the boss for a satisfying one shot.

My understanding used to be that normal and heroic modes were mechanically identical, with only tuning being changed. So paying attention to any quirks between modes will serve us well for future bosses.

Iron Reaver Heroic

Iron Reaver Heroic Fidelity

Iron Reaver went down after 27 pulls, with 23 of them being on the night of the kill. We had a raid of 14, and after some time getting through 11 normal mode bosses, the gear level through the raid is the most even it has been in quite a while.

Not the most mechanically challenging fight, it did take a little while (and could still use improving) to get the positioning right. We tried to have everyone as close to the boss as possible, while still staying spread enough not to compound unstable orb damage. There’s nothing quite like watching someone die during pounding because they are out of range of Tranquility. Kal, the master of all, swapped specs again to Holy for an extra cooldown in the form of Divine Hymn. Esta and I had lots of fun managing artillery, since the timing gets a little awkward at moments.

Outside of some silly deaths, we didn’t have too much of an issue with the second phase. If we had everyone up, the bombs were dealt with without incident.

A quick note on bananas. Blizzard, in their infinite wisdom, have made a terrible change to our favourite toy. [The Golden Banana], on transition to the toy box, developed a neon blue glow. So no longer will we use this ‘golden’ banana, but with due restraint and respect for bag space, shall fling the [Magic Banana] instead.