I can safely exhale.
We’ve recleared Fyrakk a second time. I still standby my statement that 2nd clears of a boss can often be harder than first kills. This past week was our first raid week in a while where we stepped back in against Gnarlroot and Igira (and the first time I raided in months, especially with the new Holy Priest changes). The last time we took down those two was back in 2023 since we started extensions shortly thereafter! Things looked a little rough on Smolderon and Tinderal before the team flipped a switch, powered through, and followed up with a nice finish on Fyrakk. That led to two more mounts for our Holy Paladin and our Demon Hunter tank. I will say I was a little worried about our reclear because we had to borrow a tank to come in.
Yup, our main tank completely ghosted and left the community on the same day of raid with no notice. I recruited them in myself and supported them as best as I could, but it clearly wasn’t enough and I’m still pretty livid about it. In our guild, accountability is something we hold everyone to regardless of their role, their tenure, and so forth. For someone to say that they want to see accountability and fairness across the guild and then simply tuck tail and leave when things get demanding means they have their own insecurities to work their way through. We always ask the team to make an effort in raid, and we’re honest about what we need the team to do and how to do it.
Maybe the problem exacerbated itself when I was asked to look for a third rotational tank, and they took it as an affront or a sign that they were going to be outright replaced. We run a pretty deep roster that ranges between 22 to 28 players throughout the course of the season. We have 6 healers and as many as 18 DPS because we raid on the weekend, and we understand that things come up. But to only have two tanks puts us in a precarious situation in case something impacts them. Our tanks sacrificed concerts, vacation time, and other activities just to ensure that we could raid. Personally, I don’t want them to make a tough decision like that on a recurring level. There are so many guilds out there that have folded and ceased due to a lack of raiders and I don’t ever want that to be the reason why we stop. It’s my role as a recruiter to make sure we’re never in that position and that if we decide not to raid, it’s because it’s a holiday. Everyone needs the away time to reset and reenergize themselves or have a date night or self care weekend. I respect tanks, and I understand the high pressure that comes with it. It is not an easy role to play and progress with.
It’s another thing to quit the guild with no notice, but to do it on a raid night is just blatant disrespect. If you’re feeling miserable and awful about the raid team you’re in, maybe talk to an officer or the guild leader for an honest conversation about what you’re feeling and why. Is it something that was said? Is the raid atmosphere different? It’s okay to feel insecure, but how a real team works is by collectively talking about the problem and discovering if there is a solution. If nothing’s working, then separation can be discussed without burning bridges. We’ve had players who were with the roster years ago and left to take a break or play with their friends and then when an opportunity came up, they returned. We’ve had trials come in only to realize that this was way beyond their comfort level and needed some more seasoning in other less strict teams before they came back after they received additional experience. This is why I stopped trying to get close to and have lasting friendships with raiders on the team. I get hurt way too much, and I can’t do that anymore. Never again. I’ll help the team do keys and other raid-relevant activities, but I’m done outside of that. I can go back to Deep Rock Galactic Survivor or jumping into Helldivers.
We have an immediate tank vacancy, and I’m looking to pick up another CE oriented tank for the Fated season and for the next expansion. I’m also looking to sign an Aug Evoker (with a Preservation offspec) along with either a Mistweaver or a Resto Shaman. You can find out more about us here. Our plans for Fated are to focus just on Fyrakk clears. We might look back at some of the other instances, but the priority remains on the mount.