What does the future behold for The Brotherhood?
Update: April 14, 2008
First Look, Sunwell Trash!
I said if we went into Sunwell iand downed any trash I would post a picture. Well trash was a lot easier than originally expected. If we're all in the game and focused, use at least a portion of our brains; trash goes pretty swimmingly. Like I said in the raid last night. "If you want to progress through a hardcore instance, we've got act a bit hardcore."
So everything else in the post still applies, it's an instance we can certainly conquer on par with the rest of the server. Enjoy your first look into The Sunwell Plateau.
Where We Stand
So here we are. Illidan is dead and there is another whole instance opened ahead of us. When do we expect to join the other 8 guilds ahead of us in Sunwell. Well, the thing is.. we're still a bit under geared for Sunwell. That means we need to continue farming BT/Hyjal and keep our fingers crossed for great drop loots. We need everyone to show up, be willing to show up, communicate, and make sure the high priority items get to the right raiders. Does that mean we're not going to be attempting Sunwell soon? No, it just means we are 1-2 weeks of GOOD DROPS away from going into Sunwell and at least learning the trash and maybe the first fight Kalecgos.
Some things we need to work on going into Sunwell....
Gear the Tanks!
Gearing the tanks is one of the most important thing we can do right now. If you haven't heard the bosses and trash in Sunwell hit like fucking trucks. Sure Karrde is maybe a piece or two away from being able to successfully tank, Mercator is probably a chestpiece and Illidan shield away, and Nihmm just needs a few gaps in his tank gear filled up and we're ready to look at Sunwell. The bosses in Sunwell have had their Crushing Blow table taken away. Seems easy enough right? No more crushing blows equals higher threat and less spike damage right? Well, they decided to get away from Spike damage completely and they've tweaked the bosses hit/expertise tables as well, pushing a lot of dodge off the table for tanks. Good/bad. Tanks get hit hard, constantly. That means healing can be as intense as it is for the Bloodboil fight for all fights. Tanks need to work on getting higher armor/stamina and going for such stats as parry and block value over dodge and agility. Expertise is huge because you don't want a boss parrying you since the hits are bigger and more guaranteed to land on their target. This is why extremely geared Druid tanks are the best for Sunwell. We don't have a feral at that level yet but perhaps something we should consider working on.
Do Your Sunwell Research!
Start reading up on strats now, find the strategies best suited for our guild and how we down bosses. Read up on what your class is supposed to do for certain boss fights in Sunwell. Use those raid forums and class forums to theory craft! We might be close to being able to go in there and fight Kalecgos but nowhere near the DPS we need to go in there and lay waste to Brutallus. So as a guild we need to improve our DPS and I don't necessarily think it's a gear thing (although that helps) I think everyone needs to refresh on their spell rotations, what stats they should be boosting in their gear, what spec they need to be and just practicing at it. I certainly trust the majority of you to be capable to reach a Sunwell potential in the next few weeks, don't let us down!
We will also be allowing for some donations! Sunwell can be consumable heavy when starting out; so potions (Elixirs of Demonslaying comes to mind off the back) will be opened up for DKP reimbursed donations incoming this week! If you can think of other things that will help us progress through Sunwell, let me know!
Sitouts and Getting Burnt Out!
Please let us know if you are getting burnt out by the game. We've been raiding Hyjal/BT non-stop for a few months now and I more than anybody realize... it can get boring. We're trying to rotate casuals in to pick up the loot that we know is getting disenchanted. But please, do not loot and the next week scoot out till Sunwell. We've already have been hit by some major retirements that has set us back a couple weeks, we don't want to be left in the dust by anymore. So if you're considering taking a few weeks off or retiring in general please talk to officers and keep them in the loop. If you are, perhaps picking up that piece can be forwent until you return. Keep the progression of the guild in mind!
Sitouts have obviously grown to immense proportions since 2.4 has arrived on our doorsteps. We are still in the works of rewriting the guild charter and possible changes to how sitouts and casual loot pick up will work. But as of right now, we need patience from everybody. This past week was just proof that we will have spots open for Hyjal/BT if you're patient for them! As for when you're in there, we expect you to perform. Karrde has a low tolerance for people who don't know what they're doing on fights, so if you don't know... first read bosskillers, then ask a veteran class representative in the raid, if all else fails ask one of the officers or Karrde himself what you're supposed to do. If you excel in the raids when you are first brought in, you'll lose that casual tag in no time and be awarded with a nice shiny "raider" tag. These spots are competitive people. Also, do not ask when you're casual tag will be taken away. It's there for a reason. If you're performing and showing up you'll get a raider tag. That's our decision when it happens not yours. Over the next few weeks we will also try to offer some alternative raiding solutions during raid times to keep everyone entertained (and getting gear) and we will be narrowing down our Sunwell roster to who we want to bring in there. So again, with the above paragraph, please let officers know if you are considering taking time off until Sunwell. We need an accurate representation of who needs time to recuperate and return and we need to know who to gear up properly.
