So running endgame instances is different than pre-60 instances/raids. There are 2 in particular that can be very challenging for new endgame players: Scholomance and Undead Strat.
The difference between these instances and earlier ones like ST, SM, Uldaman is that they require a much higher degree of group coordination. Each boss/miniboss requires a tactical discussion. Failing to follow the plan, in most cases, leads directly to a wipe. Alexi Barov, for example, is one of the toughest minibosses you'll ever meet if you don't have a plan. I can't count the number of times that guy killed our party...before we came up with a strategy. Now we make him wear his ass as a hat.
That doesn't mean, however, that any single player in my "regular group" can pwn the guy just by knowing the strategy. It's a concerted effort and it requires all of the players (well, 3 at least) to be on the same page. It does mean, however, that all of the people I regularly run with know what works and what doesn't. Ask any of them how to take down Alexi, and you'll probably get something like this:
-Priest shackles the guard on the left
-MT goes to Alexi, kite him away from the casters
-OT on the second guard, full DPS until he's down
-Full DPS on Alexi and the OT picks up the second guard
-Zerg the second guard
We learned it by doing it over and over and over. Failing over and over and adapting our tactics. Now everyone knows their job and the guy drops quick. The interesting thing about it, though, is that the organization and unity that we built through that carries over into all of the instances that come after.
I ran (most of) UDS last night with a different group than I'm usually in. It took us a little while to get our rythm. It took too long, in fact, and we couldn't finish. I got to thinking about how the "core" group pulls in that instance. Very fast, very aggressive, very focused. That doesn't mean the people I was grouped with don't know their jobs, I know they do! It just means that the learning curve for a "new" group is steep.
I like to think that eventually all of the members of this guild will have run together so much that talking about tactics will become unnecessary. I like to think we'll arrive at a point where everyone is so experienced that every player can mark the targets and spell out the strategy. That is where we'll need to be if we want to run Naxx. That is what will keep quality players trickling in to fill our ranks.
And it all starts with the steep learning curve of Scholo/Strat. Anyone up for a run?
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you're right. You know what
Submitted by PallasAthena on November 22, 2006 - 4:39pm.
you're right. You know what else though, things change when you play with a new toon. I feel like i know Baron like the back of my hand... as long as i am running with Pallas. I recently started running these instances with Corai (who is 59 now, YAY!) and I feel like i'm learning them once again. Yes i know who to pull and what to expect but i play a different role so i can't just pull the mob of the priest any more (not a shot at you Grey). I find that i have to reply more on tanks and crunshies to hold agro in order for me to be effective.
That being said, please excuse my ineffectiveness untill i get my routiene down... also like N says, you run with the same people then you get to learn our ways. Back when Palls was running with Mormont Pam Neub and Nev, we could farm Baron easy. I hope to get that way again with Corai to be more versatile with the guild... and then eventually my Shammy!
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Does this tabard make my ass look fat?
