[OOC] Raid! - Forging ahead in the Foundry!

For a long while, we’ve been doing RP adventures. But there’s a fair bunch of us, and I thought it’d be fun if we also took a swing at that other exciting prospect of endgame; raiding. This post is here to gage interest, and to see if, and when we can try pulling this off. So what do we need?


To raid (normals) we need...

Two tanks, about three healers, and five+ dps!All of these with around 630 item level gear for Highmaul, and 635 for Blackrock Foundry (Heroic dungeon loot is 630, so it should be fairly easily attainable!). In Warlords of Draenor, both normal and heroic raids are flexible. This means that the group can scale from 10 players to 30, in theory. So even if we find a core team of 10, others can still come along, so don’t be shy!

Focus and commitment
Raiding can be a tricky thing. The first fights aren't super hard though so it's easy enough to get started, and it can be very rewarding to pull off. Both in terms of loot and fun. But it does require people to pull their weight. What this means in practice is that they are on time and prepared. Showing up at the designated time with the time to raid, having your gear on, and in a state you can concentrate is really a key part. People rely on each other, so don’t let the others wait needlessly.

Signups and a time!
So, really not a whole lot is required to get started. Once the above things have been achieved, we can start pushing our way through the challenges of the raid dungeons as they come. But, first things first. Who wants to come, what role would you like, or can you fulfill, and what days/times would be best for you?

Rinoi wrote:
Rinoi
Protection Warrior
DPS or Tank
Wednesday 20:30 - 23:30
Thursday 19:00 - 23:30
Friday 19:00 - 23:30
Saturday 19:00 - 23:30

	Tanks
	Name	Class	Specialisation	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Pick one:
	Rinoi	Warrior	Protection								*
	Haatim	Paladin	Protection								*
	Warrine	Death Knight	Blood								*
	Healers
	Name	Class	Specialisation	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Pick one:
	Shapur	Priest	Discipline
	Meiyang	Monk	Mistweaver
	Tygos	Shaman	Restoration								*
	DPS
	Name	Class	Specialisation	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Pick one:
	Alekszander	Death Knight	Frost
	Calamity	Mage	Frost/Arcane
	Dimgo	Rogue	Combat/Subtlety
	Heiroi	Monk	Windwalker
	Charlieblaze	Mage	Fire
	Kastarn	Mage	Frost
	Demonii	Warlock	Destruction	?	?	?	?			?
	Jarke	Hunter	Survival
	Rinoi	Warrior	Protection								*
	Tygos	Shaman	Elemental								*
	Haatim	Paladin	Retribution								*

Addendums;
Meiyang: Not before 19:00 and no more than three days a week, preferably not together.

Feel free to discuss my plans or description of what is required for raiding too. I have raided in the past, but it has been quite long ago so I might make mistakes along the way. A learning process, and one of progression! Let me know what you think.

I believe this is a great idea and would be willing to take part as a dmg (Dk Unholy) , in addition I believe I will be free all four of those days although my timetable is one that can't really be predicted sadly. (A backup may be a good idea). As for motivation I'm pretty sure most of us will be in great spirits just to be raiding all together as the closest we ever go is dungeons.  Depending on what week the event is taking place will allow me to gear up to the requirement. Just to keep the details in neat and simple , Here.

Halewood wrote:Unholy Death Knight
DPS
Wednesday-Saturday (19:00-23:00)

Ready to carry

Frost/Arcane Mage
DPS (duh)
ilvl 652
Any time except Wednesday and Thursday. You know my schedule Rin-Rin!

Errr... I can do most any role haatim is 630 + for all 3 specs, Warrine is 635 tank tygos could easily be bumped up to 630 healer/ dps

I prefer to dps but I can do anything

Ret/prot or holy if an emergancy
ilvl 646 ret, 630 ish for the rest
err.. like any night I guess weekends are best tho

Blood dk 635 ilvl

Ele/resto 622 can be made to 630 quickly

I have item level 633 now and with a bit of persuasion I can talk the misses into letting me do either Thursday and/or Saturday this week. Other weeks, should be okay for whatever night depending on work.

Combat/Sub rogue
ilvl 633
Thursday/Saturday
DeePeeEss

You guys really need to get 630...

We had a raid yesterday (January 9th) and although we missed quite a few roles (and gear for some of our members)... with the help of a few friends and randomers, we cleared three bosses! Kargath went off without a hitch, the Butcher cost us one wipe after an unexpected pull. Brackenspore proved the biggest challenge, but there was a marked improvement each fight, as we honed in on the mechanics. Admirably done!

But we're not done yet! Next week, once more on Friday I have set up another raid. I hope our previous success inspires others to gear up as well and we can do it with just Braves. That may take a while yet, but strive towards it!

This is how we prepare for the raid

Our second raid had us killing five bosses out of seven. Unfortunately, we still had bad luck half-way through, with half our raid DC'ing. When the group was filled back up with randomers to continue on, at least half an hour later, everyone returned. That made the group rather big and unwieldy. It ceased to be a Brave raid, I felt like. That was unfortunate, but hopefully we can do better next time!

Haatim and I tanked the majority again, although another tank would gladly make Haatim return to DPS. Healers are our primary stumbling block at the moment. Only Shapur is a dedicated, active healer in the Band. Hopefully some others are coming up the pipeline, so we can have a full-on, Brave only run!

Also for those who want to raid but lack the gear: PLEASE make sure to have item level 630 and a basic idea of your class rotation (check www.icy-veins.com for in depth guides on every single class/spec in a PVE setting). Showing up 20 item levels short makes you a dead weight as the boss scales up depending on how many people are in the raid. As a DPS on Highmaul normal, if I remember correctly, you need to do 14-15k DPS to pull your weight.

And, as a side note, download teamspeak 3 and be willing to sit in the channel and listen at the very least. No need to speak if you're a shy person but the two bosses that are left in the raid actually require a lot of coordination to kill. Imperator Mar'gok especially.

I better add myself to this, make myself appear a little more organised.

Shapur
Discipline Priest
Sickest healer of them all
ilvl: 630<
Available on all days except saturday and occasionally not on friday.

Lemme just fix this because it now bugs me :3

Halewood wrote:Frost Death Knight
Dps
Ilvl:630+
Same days

I have updated with the addition of Shapur, and Aleks' new spec. I feel like we're still missing people who do show up, but aren't on this list. If you see them, poke them to post here so we can have an up-to-date list! ... I'll also see if I can add in the itemlevel 630 thing. Although really, that should just be the case regardless. An exception here or there, okay... but it is the requirement.

Oh, and in case you haven't looked into getting  RaidCall yet, Tygos made a great post about it here!. We'll be using it as communications program. It's the free version of things like TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. In a previous raid we also used Teamspeak, but since this was provided by David, who is technically not in the guild at this time, RaidCall will be our go-to thing.

Six out of seven down lets be stuck for ages now

Now that we have cleared 6/7 of the bosses, we'll mostly likely attempt to do some heroic versions as well. Kargath, for example, is not much harder than its normal counterpart. This'll allow us to gear up for the Imperator fight (last boss). This one -is- pretty damn tough. I would like to take a look and a stab at it though. Next week we'll have the Brave battle, but the week after that I'll attempt two days of raiding, so we can really progress. This week will also see the release of the new raid instance; Blackrock Foundry. Hopefully we can get in enough of a rhythm (and enough people consistently) to be able to progress in here as well!

I have updated the first post with Charlie's addition.

Yo, yo, yo! Purple Thunder up in this bitch.

Kastarn wrote:DPS
Frost Mage
available any evening.

Here is mine

Meiyang wrote:
Mistweaver Monk
Healer(but can dps if needed)
ilvl 653
All days except mondays and only after 19:00 Would prefer a 3 day or less scedual which isnt to tight together

I vouch eli as a tank! So i can be mindless more

Woah! , Watch It Cael Ol' Pal! I still need to gear first!

Hush! just go in there and get beaten.. and I think we can assist in gearing you in heroics and stuff easy

We recently attempted to go to Blackrock Foundry, and were rather harshly beaten by its first boss; Gruul. Not an uncommon occurance according to this;



However! It also rubbed home the point that this content, as brand new as it is, is really tough! Which is cool, but unfortunately if we are to progress here and not be stuck in Highmaul forever, we're going to dig deep and really try to defeat this content! This is rather counter to my original ideal to have (normal) raiding be accessible for everyone who wants to come raid. As such, I propose the following;

We continue to have normal Highmaul raids once a week. Everyone (above 630+ itemlevel) can come to these. It doesn't mean you can just slack off, you've still gotta try hard! ...

However, the second, progression raid of the week will have much harsher restrictions. 645+ gear for one, and as DPS you've got to be able to pull off 20K DPS on the (normal) Butcher fight. As we do this boss every week, and if you want to make it on the progression raid team, you have plenty of oppertunity to prove you can do this. These numbers are really needed to make headway into Blackrock. As well, as a focused group, willing to get good consumables, pot, pre-pot, and know which way is left and right! The progression raid can thus learn and gear for the fights ahead, so the other raid can follow in their wake in due time!

Let me know what you think!

Edit: OH! And furthermore. Right now we've been doing Thursday and Friday as raiding days. I have asked you all to put up your data for which days suit you best, and I believe we've acquired a fair share to possibly reassign raiding days. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday might be good alternatives as well. Food for thought!