Friday, January 8, 2010

Reflections of... the Way Halls Could Be


In general, I don't sit around and ponder tactics in fights, especially in Heroics. Other than trying to remember the "run away when this happens, don't attack when this happens, etc," I don't much worry let alone care.

even if there's a sub 1k DPS there ;)

Overall, the heroics are so dang simple, that even at my gear and skill level, they just don't take much thought or preperation. Tank & spank, go hit stuff, and try not to get TOO much aggro. (I believe I have more armor & health than many tanks did when msot heroics were first released)

So, it's a bit of an oddity when I go into a heroic, with decently geared folks, and reasonably intelligent folks, and yet we wipe. Multiple times. (and never finish)

Such was the case of my one (any only) foray thus far into Halls of Reflection.

We wiped 3 times in the first room (the one with the multiple phases) and then we died multiple times trying to out run Arthas. (Here's one thing I figured out that may help some: when you are on that path of ice walls, Traveller's Mammoths can be summoned to repair equipment)

Anyhow, we tried 4 or 5 times, and usually died at the last wall, with one or two mobs left, and Arthas came and ate us.

One time really sticks in my head: we had only one mob left, with low health, when the Lich King rained on our parade. What irks me is not that we came so close and failed, but that another 10,11 or maybe 12 seconds might have bought us enough time.

Say, if I had taunted Arthas, bubbled, and pulled him away. (or maybe bubbled THEN taunted, whichever)

Would the extra (effective) 8-10 extra seconds have given enough time to drop the last mob/wall?

Would Arthas relent, if the wall was droppedonce I had died?

Is Arthas even tauntable like that?

If it did work, would I be able to get credit, emblems and loot (because I know for certain I would die as soon as my bubble dropped) because the group would HAVE to leave my corpse... alone... untended on the icy mountainside... (and/or would I be able to run ack) After all, the survivors would be on the airship or flying boat at that point...

Can a Pally bubble survive Arthas' full attention? (I assume so, for all 12 seconds)

Where is Hoffa's body?

What would YOU do for a Klondike bar?

So many questions, so few answers...

I think our failures were due to us all being "marginally geared" for the instance, with none of us being exceptional players. As a group, I believe we were pulling 7-8k total DPS and the tank could usually keep aggro. The healer may have been a bit of a weak link (we wiped on that first room multiple times until Kattastrophe stopped DPSing and helped heal) However those fights at the walls seem to be mainly an aggro and DPS thing, and I think the DPS was just not sufficient.

Ah well, it was still an interesting fight, and neat in the sense that it was something we HAD to work at, and couldn't just blow through it.

5 comments:

  1. My thought on this one is raid composition, I don't think we had the right make up for the encounter and that's what made it fail. IMO :D

    Shammy's Rule (shameless plug...he he
    http://kattastrophe1.livejournal.com/

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  2. I'm pretty positive Arthas cannot be taunted away from his target (Jaina or wotsit-Horde-chick), so bubbling and taunting wouldn't have helped.

    Also, if you die on that last wave, just lay on the floor and don't release - you still get credit for the instance if the rest of your group can beat it. After they get to the boat and it smashes the wall between the group and Arthas, then Lich King disappears and a group member can come back to where the last wall was and rez you.

    One tip is to make sure that the tank is behind everyone else, and have everyone else stand next to the wall - this way, initial aggro is all on the tank. Also, at each wall, there is a little "alcove" out of LOS of Arthas and his summoned minions - have your healer stand there and have the tank stand in LOS of the healer. This way, the minions won't immediately jump on your healer due to heal aggro.

    Definitely kill the sorcerer guys first, followed by the abominations.

    For the first room with all the waves, kill the priest first, and if you have a priest in your group have them shackle the gunner or mage that's shooting at your group from range - this helps to cut down on the damage. Similarly, if you have a dk in your group, deathgrip those guys to you.

    Hope these tips help! I don't think I've commented on your blog before, but I do enjoy reading it.

    -D

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  3. Oh, actually, there's a "ledge strat" that's a bit of a cheat, but it still works from what I've heard (I've never tried it). When you first come to Arthas fighting Jaina or the Horde chick and she "stops" him to "allow" you time to run away, and you talk to her and first start out on the ice path? There's a ledge immediately to the left where you can all stand right away, allow Arthas to stroll past you. Then, just stand in the doorway and wait for his mobs to come to you - it's supposedly easier because you won't get as overwhelmed and you won't deal with his supposed AOE as he gets close (I've never noticed an AOE, but I've read about it). This strat is supposedly a lot easier.

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  4. @ Thanks for reading and your replies :)

    It's been a crazy day here at work, but want to reply... so it may be late tonight or early tomorrow *cross fingers*

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  5. OK, I actually have 10 minutes or so to write up a bit here...

    When we were fighting on the ledge, the Tank was really clear about kill order (as you say, casters first, etc) and he stood back a bit. (he took first hit from Arthas all but once, when it was me that got hit)

    We did NOT know about the alcove, and that would be a HUGE help.

    I still think our DPS was just not up to the task. The healer *was* stressed during these fights, but losing the tank or DPS wasn't really the problem (they did happen once each, but not every time). We just took too long.

    My concern over getting credit is because in most instances, when you die on the last boss, you are in the same room. Here, everything happens later on, so I was just concerned.

    Bummer that it's not likely we can taunt Arthas... but I may have to try it, just to make sure. ;)

    Thanks again for the comments/tactics/etc!

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