Weekend Recap: Pandaria Edition

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What a productive raid week from last weekend.

After stepping into Amirdrassil for a quick Fyrakk mount sale, we switched over and completely wiped out Vault of the Incarnates (Heroic) just to finish out any last minute rings and Whispering Incarnate Icons for anyone who still needed them. This would be our second crack at Mythic Vault just after the first week of the season. Last time we were here, I think we only had time to clear Terros. Maybe we got Sennarth? I can’t remember. After some significant upgrades, we cleared just about every boss up to Raszageth.

  • Dathea was still a pain in the butt as always, but our DPS still allowed for only one platform to be cleared. It was definitely a messy kill with maybe 40% of the raid or something alive towards the end.
  • Terros was great, except I played Shadow on this one and ended up dying early forcing a grieftorch reset.
  • Kurog muscle memory still coming in strong with the fire phase moves, and the lightning elemental positionings, and everything else that came with it. Probably one of my favourite Mythic encounters of the tier.
  • Broodkeeper fell over in two pulls. I’m surprised I still remember the movement and the different intensive healing parts of the encounter. I healed the add group as we traversed around the room. Our tank died once (whoops) but we were able to recover and get him back on his feet . I completely mistimed a Mass Dispel though (or just misplaced it). Whoops. It’s not an easy one to reprog even though we defeated Diurna quickly.
  • Raszageth took all of day 2. We spent the first few minutes undergoing video review because only 12 players currently on the team had killed it on Mythic. It isn’t as challenging as the original variation (with the reduced wind speeds), and we’re still able to phase through comfortably. The team had to get reacclimated to doing interrupts, and the raid leader continued to stress positioning throughout the whole set of pulls. Inversion is another mechanic that we had to relearn and get used to. I suspect our guild is growing tired of hearing him talk about the importance of positioning even though it’s critical. What if he used other words like placement or location? We didn’t get Rasz down until the last pull of the night.

Anyway, solid week! On the recruiting side, we picked up a new Balance Druid and hopefully they’ll be able to start with us in the next week or two, and our latest Hunter has survived about 3 weeks of trialing so far (poor guy needs to work on just living in raids though). Our latest set of trials haven’t worked out well for us over the past month which has been a little discouraging. I’ve been trying to restock the cupboard for Season 4 and get a foundation for War Within (especially with summer coming up fast). Our goals will be to continue raiding in Season 4 and hitting up all raids on Awakened in Mythic. We may not clear every instance, but we’ll tackle most of the skips. The biggest needs continue to be a DPS Warrior, a Rogue, and a DPS Evoker. We could also add another caster ranged class.

Let’s talk about the Panda in the room, shall we?

That’s right, I’m referring to Mists of Pandaria Remix. Off to a somewhat sputtering start with some controversy on scaling and currency gains. I’ve been having some fun with it and took a bit of time away from retail. They have made a few buffs and changes to it recently, but the conversation continues to revolve around the Bronze gain.

Should it be used for transmogs or upgrades? Because I can see how it can suck to have only one currency gain and only use it for item buffs or stuff that you want. I don’t have any real advice or guidance here. I’m in the camp of upgrading items to make your next raid runs that much easier. I’ve been alternating between spending bronze on mounts and upgrading my gear anyway. I’m averaging around 360 ilvl right now on… a Warlock. My suggestion is that they just increase Bronze gain across the board. I’m a little sad that alts don’t have an amazingly overpowered cloak to start with. Even then, it’s still fairly quick to level the second time around since you already have that experience gain to start. It’s possible to hit 70 within a day or two. I get that it may or may not be as efficient as leveling a character in retail, but this is an alternative way to make another character. I imagine most of us are sick of leveling through the initial BfA (or Chromie time) zones anyway.

Yes, I chose to make a Warlock alt. After twenty years of playing this game, this is the first time I have selected a Warlock. I feel like I need a shower every time I log off that character. It’s been a blast replaying some of the older raids and watching people die to snails in Throne of Thunder again though!

In the meantime, we continue to recruit for the rest of Season 4. Current needs are:

  • DPS Warrior
  • Rogue
  • Mistweaver Monk
  • Dev and Aug Evoker

Anxiety in Tanking and Healing Mythic Dungeons

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Happy Wednesday and I hope you all had productive vaults this week! My Priest has gone dark and heavy on Shadow and DPS gear for the first week (up to 503 ilvl now). I was able to 2 chest a +10 with some guildies and stocked up some 8s. As a raid team, we completely cleared out normal and heroic before finishing out with 3 bosses in Mythic (Terros defeated). This week, we’ll be revisiting Aberrus.

I have a story here about a recent tank applicant to Death Jesters. On paper, the player looked like a fit. Their logs were on target, the defensive usage lined up, and it didn’t seem like there were many mechanical issues until I came across the below (Paraphrased):

“I’ve always found Mythic Plus content challenging and it tends to make me quite anxious, as it’s not my main focus in the game. My primary objective for this fated tier is to improve in this area. While this issue hasn’t impacted my performance in raid progression—I make sure not to be the weak link—it has caused some tension in previous guilds. I’m actively working to overcome this, though I expect it will take a bit of time. Fortunately, the fated tier presents a good opportunity for this.”

This admission does highlight a common feeling among players, especially tanks and healers, in the opening weeks of a new tier. Heck, this level of anxiety is even more pronounced during patches that introduce new dungeon content, where players have to learn new routes and strategies for handling enemies (and whatever abilities that might wipe the party). While this tier is already familiar to many of us with revisiting previous dungeons, the challenge of re-learning still looms, although that’s been mitigated by the various nerfs and tuning changes (Season 1 Ruby Life Pools was a nightmare).

However, avoiding Mythic Plus dungeons in the early stages is unacceptable at the Cutting Edge (CE) Progression or even a mid-level mythic raiding guild. Tanks are expected to step into these keys from the get-go. This early dungeon running is crucial not only for personal gearing but also for the success of the entire team. In guilds like ours, the majority of loot is allocated to favour DPS players, meaning that tanks and healers have to obtain upgrades predominantly from dungeons to supplement the raid.

As a tank within a raid team, one assumes the role akin to Atlas—a Titan doomed to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders. Like Atlas, tanks have that responsibility and must be both resilient and proactive in ensuring that all team members complete their keys with minimal reliance on outside players (pugging). Some players may have friends or other communities they can tap into, but others might be reluctant or unable to do so, requiring help from guild tanks and guild groups to step in and help with a smoother key experience.

With us, our tank expectations are clear — Step into mythic raid content feasibly early while simultaneously supporting the team’s collective needs. A tank that just logs in to update their gear and achieve our dungeon minimums before disappearing just barely meets the guild’s standards. Tanks are just such a bottleneck role at the start. We have a few healers and other DPS that are diversifying and collecting tank pieces to help address that and add more variability to schedules (and their goal isn’t to push high, but to get to a point where +8’s are reasonably comfortable). The role demands extensive involvement, a commitment to team progression, and an unyielding dedication to overcoming personal and collective challenges. I can certainly understand and sympathize the level of anxiety for pushing keys beyond the 10 (or even the 8 range) early on. I feel the same way. I did not feel confident at all healing anything past 8, that’s why I decided to give Shadow a go and get healing gear that way to help be available for raid needs.

Symptoms and Addressing Tank or Healer Anxiety

Anxiety experienced by tanks and healers can come about in different ways. This includes hesitation to join groups, fear of criticism, performance stress, and making decisions under pressure. This anxiety not only diminishes personal enjoyment but can also impact team dynamics and success. Tanks are also the ones dictating the pace of the dungeon (since they’re the ones tackling pulls). Is it time for a big monster pull? Go slower, and steadier at 1 or 2 pulls at a time? Are there DPS cooldowns up and available?

Our tank takes preparation to a bit of an extreme with this multi-monitor setup

Addressing these issues would take multiple approaches (and this list isn’t exhaustive either):

  • Education and Preparation: Knowledge of dungeon layouts, boss mechanics, and optimal strategies can ease some of the uncertainties that fuel anxiety.
  • Communication: Talking it out with the party can foster a supportive environment where fears can be shared and addressed collectively. Before big pulls, I’ll try to remind the team of key interrupts or things that can smoke the party if left unchecked. Tanks can call for personals or any extra externals (“Gotta kite, drop an Earthbind!”).
  • Incremental Progression: Slowly increasing the difficulty of dungeons can help build confidence in a controlled and manageable manner (I started from 4s and worked my way up).

Lastly, it also helps to play with people you know and trust who are familiar with each other.

If the root causes of anxiety can be addressed, raid teams can ensure that all members — regardless of their role — feel both competent and confident in their abilities to face the challenges of Mythic+ dungeons. It helps ensure that the game remains a fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved. The best step might be to join a more relaxed, less focused raid team to start where the pressure of grinding all those keys isn’t a factor. A competitive CE raid team isn’t the best environment to help properly support a player like that from the start. It’s not an easy journey, but it’s not impossible to work through and help control.

Anyway, back to Aberrus this week! If you’re looking for a raid team for Season 4 and the next expansion, come check us out! We’re looking for a Mistweaver Monk, assorted range DPS, and another tank!

Mythic Fyrakk: Kill Video Analysis

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Our official kill video for Mythic Fyrakk is now out and available! These are perspectives and shots from our initial CE kill.

I managed to squeak in for my CE kill, and it only took me 5 tries (seriously, why did it take so long, fellas? It didn’t seem so hard at all). There are only two days left, and there are several Race to World Last streams going on as guilds attempt to get their place on the CE list. Best of luck to those teams! I died on each phase at least once. The hardest phase of the encounter is like everyone said — the first phase. Can’t afford to relax or lose focus. The nerfed intermission phase is a nice breather with the reduced ball damage.

My finest moment is in this last phase: https://clips.twitch.tv/GiftedHungryMinkLeeroyJenkins-A7nWmgLO0_PWzly9

I swear I slammed my feather button, but it didn’t go off! In any case, that’s a wrap for us on Season 3 and the whole expansion.

Season 4 plans

With the new season starting in just a few days, the Awakened raid schedule recently changed to a weekly rotation instead of every two weeks. I doubt we’ll step into Mythic Vault of the Incarnates right away. For us, our plan is to open with normal and then heroic before beginning to award and complete 4 piece tier sets for everyone. It’s doubtful we’ll get to Mythic Vault in the initial week. Our roster is sitting at 27 total players but we still have room for a few more. Our immediate need is a tank for the upcoming expansion, and we’ll be using this time to look for one that fits into our raid environment.

Mists of Pandaria Remix!

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Are you kidding me?! Blizzard just announced a limited-time event where players can level through Mists of Pandaria in an express manner. I am actually really stoked about this. Even though I’ve had no interest in Classic or Season of Discovery or any of that, I am definitely intrigued by the Pandaria Remix. I guess it’s because it’s only for a limited time, and there’s speed levelling mechanics involved. Not only that, but the various raids are opened up earlier in the leveling process, which means I can step into it earlier. I’m going to look at assembling a weekly raid group just to step into those Panda raids. Some of my favourite encounters were in that expansion.

  • Tortos
  • Spirit Kings
  • Blade Lord
  • Durumu
  • Malkorok
  • Blackfuse

I just can’t help but wonder if they fixed that unskippable Tortos cutscene yet or not. Maybe they fixed it to be twice as long.

I’m not sure what class to level yet, but maybe a Priest. Or I could level a DPS character, but I’m not sure what was great around this time.

Anyway, aside from Pandaria news, we are continuing to recruit for Season 4 and beyond! Ideally, what we’re looking for right now are players who we can immediately slot into Mythic Fyrakk (as in, there’s no reroll or regearing needed and they’ve had a few pulls in there). For players with experience that isn’t quite there yet, I’d encourage them to apply later on in Season 4 or before The War Within.

For classes, we’re primarily looking for another tank and ranged DPS. Come check out our Raider IO page and apply via the link in the profile.

Back to CE Reclears!

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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.