Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Left Claw's first Kara entry

Last night was our first entry into Kara. It was a little nerve wracking for me before we even started because we had planned on going with 3 healers, but ended up only having 2, one of whom is Suzzy... a prior shadow priest who has recently respecced holy. Our group included 3 people who have been to Kara before, with one on a character who was also new to Kara. Of the final group of 10, I would say that 4 of us were geared really well, 3 were geared pretty darn close, with the last 3 geared probably less than needed.

Our first passes up to Attumen and Midnight, I think we were trying to just get used to running in a group of ten and there were probably some nerves as well. But we spent way too long clearing the trash and ended up in a painful cycle of respawn. It then took us a couple of tries at the boss. Try one, I was healing Jess too much when Midnight went to 95% and Attumen spawned and I got aggro and died. Try two, I tried to be more aware of that, but then healed Jess too little right when Attumen spawned, and Jess died. /cry.

Finally we got the balance just right on try three and once we figured that out, it was super easy. We took them down with everyone at full health (full green bars makes for a happy healer). Jess got [Vambraces of Courage] and Nio picked up [Worgen Claw Necklace]. I also think we got them down at try three because I brought out Sebastian, my magical crawdad pet. Behold the power of the crustacean!

Two of the members who'd been to Kara before said we did pretty well considering it was our first time... though we weren't able to take down Moroes, which I really wanted to do. We went at Moroes with 9 (we lost one to sleep... it was late) and would have completely had him if one of the shackles hadn't broken. Because then Jess got blinded or whatever, and while Wut our off tank then should have gotten aggro, he got MCed or something by the unshackled mean girl. This meant I went from a happy tree to a pile of kindling. I think one more try we would have totally had it, but it was really really late and everyone was tired.

I think as a group we worked pretty well, part of it I'm sure has to do with the fact that 7 of us who went last night know each other pretty darn well. We'd been running numerous 5 mans lately so we really understand each other's playing styles and what each other can/may/will/like to do. Jess did really well as the nervous but capable raid leader. I had joked that I fully expected a full clear up to Prince on our first try, or else I would blame our raid leader. That didn't happen last night... but I'll try not to be too mad as Jess. ;)

On a personal note, I think I did ok. OMG I was so psyched to see my MP5 while casting at one point at 243 and +healing at near 1600 with buffs. Yeah, mana and healing was never ever a problem for me last night. So while its good to be at well over the healing and MP5 requirements for what we're doing, it does cause the problem that I can grab aggro because of my uber powerful heals (heh heh).

It was also different for me to work with another healer. Suzzy did really well as a new holy priest. But I definitely have more healing power and mp5 right now and there were times when she was on others and I wasn't sure if I should heal them as well. I didn't want to step on her toes. But then a couple of people died once or twice. So next try when I had my tank Jess up at full health and had spare lifeblooms, I just decided to send them to whoever else needed it. It's hard for me to ignore declining health bars... I want to heal everyone! It was funny at one point because we arranged the groups so that Jess, the shadow priest, mage, and us two healers were in group 2. I joked to group 1, "Sorry group 1, you getz no healz".

It's interesting because some people take deaths and wipes better than others. I would part of the others. I don't take it so well. And while voice is critical to us communicating during encounters, I do think there's a drawback to it. When I die or if we wipe, the others last night probably heard me sigh or groan, which isn't very good for team morale. I need to be a little quieter I thinks.

9 comments:

  1. It's an adjustment to get used to running with 9 other people, and also not being the only healer. Lots of teamwork required there. Sounds like you guys did really good though, and you'll be taking down Prince before you know it!

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  2. WhoHoo!

    Sounds like a most excellent firt outting, and I's most happy fer you and yer team.

    Can't speak fer others, but a sigh or groan over vent at a wipe wouldn't bother me none. It's the pick yerself up and get ready fer another go what counts. Me old GM used to start in with "this game sucks. I'm gonna quit" at around the fourth wipe of the evening, and ultimately he did. That were hard on morale...

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  3. First outting. First! No idea what a firt outting be...

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  4. Congratulations on your first run, especially with only 2 healers. As for your point on healing assignments, let me suggest that you don't worry about them. We heal free-for-all in our runs and while there may be some overhealing and stepping on toes, we keep everyone alive and the run moving. I guess we're a pretty laid-back guild, though, so it may be different for others. (And perhaps healing assignments are more important in 25-mans than 10, but I can't speak to that.)

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  5. You keep it real K. Don't worry about it. You and I are probably the worst in terms of being marginally "hardcore" and getting frustrated after wipes, but I think every raid needs one or two folks to be like that, and it's probably best if they are tanks and/or healers.

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  6. Thanks everyone!

    Well I did try to behave last night... at least I didn't say 'Oh God...' or 'For F*** sake' or 'Freakin' A' like I commonly do when we wipe, like oh... our first time in Slabs?

    So last night I say 'I think we're actually better than we are doing'. Jess, you were like, 'what?' (low warrior intellect I tell ya). But I think you got my point. Its one thing to wipe when its clearly over your head... another to wipe when you know you're better than that.

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  7. LOL! Yeah I remember that. I was so overwhelmed with working on strategy, keeping up with voice and chat, reading and responding to whispers from everyone with questions and advice, and just tanking, that when you said that I just didn't have enough processing power left to parse it.

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  8. Don't ever be afraid to step on another healer's toes. You never know if they're out of range or if they're incapacitated somehow. Better to err on the side of caution.

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  9. Grats on your first kara kill! With the level of gear you say your group had, I'm surprised you did so well with only 2 healers. I know it was a giant adjustment for me when we switched from three to two healers (and for the group, as the other healer was... unprepared for doing more raid healing.)

    Also, to agree with Matticus, with two healers, if you don't have any mana issues (which it sounds like you aren't) toss a lifebloom on anyone that needs it if you can. Overhealing is almost always better than underhealing!

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