Yay Dreamwalker!

I think I missed posting our guild screenshots of our Rotface and Blood Queen kills from a while back, but look!

Not only did I post our Dreamwalker SS, but I made it all purty-like with inspiration from Kae. Yay! Though I guess this isn't really a kill, cuz we didn't kill her. Hmmm. Dreamwalker save? And she's so purty. I wish she'd stayed around for the picture.

Last night was our second night of working on her, though our first night was a bit ago and we all know with my short term memory that I barely remember that first night. It was definitely a fight where we had to really strategize and adjust as we went through our wipes. I was healing along with our pally Nico and our priest Suzzy.

We all went in the portals to take advantage of the buffs, but all of us were also healing on the outside as well. After some trial and error, we ultimately had Suzzy go in portals 1, 2, and 3; I went in portals 1, 3, and 5; and Nico went in portals 2, 4, and 6 (though I can't remember if he really went in 6 or not... I think it may have been over by then).

With this portal strategy, it meant that we had one healer outside during the first three portals, but two healers outside during the later portals when the adds started to speed up and the raid and tanks started to take some more damage. It was good because it forced all of us to practice and learn the portal phase (which I need to get better at). And we all had to learn how to balance healing the raid. It may have not been the best or most effective strategy but it worked for us while the tanks and raid were learning how to best assign, prioritize, and manage the adds.

I used a macro to target her, but I still felt really clumsy coming out of the portals or switching from raid members back to her. Maybe I just have to get used to it more with time and practice. But Suzzy's Guardian Spirit and Nico's Beacon were great, but our secret weapon to getting her down? Nikolai and Shmoo putting their Gift of the Naaru on her! I mean having one Gift of the Naaru is awesome, but with two, we were totally OP. :p

Its nice for us to be able to balance some moderate level of strict 10 progression, with what I feel is the crux of our guild, folks who genuinely enjoy raiding with each other. Sometimes our raids are just so incredibly hilarious. Case in point, the scene before a Blood Queen pull a week ago.

Buns: It killed my sheep!
K: Huh? What?
Someone: Yeah, the little sheep pet has a mechanic where a wolf comes and kills it.
K: Aw, so sad!

Let's just pause here a sec and look at how cute our lock Buns is right now.

I just love how she's sorta sheepishly peering out underneath her hat. Don't let her fool you though. She's incredibly cute, but she will kick your freakin' ass.

Let's get back to my recollection of the crazy raid chat from that night:

Shmoopsypoo yells: OMG BALSAMIC VINEGAR AND BASIL TRISCUITS! SO GOOD!
Nikolai: (stands facing raid on steps down into Blood Queen) /clears throat
Veloreynn: /claps for Nikolai
Nikolai: Are you all ready for this? Can you handle it?
Nikolai buffs raid with Stamina
Nikolai: Did you like that? How'd that feel? Do you want more? Can you handle more?
Nicolause: /nods at Nikolai
Shmoopsypoo yells: OMG BALSAMIC VINEGAR AND BASIL TRISCUITS!!!
Nikolai: Here it comes kids!
Nikolai buffs raid with Spirit
K: /cheers at Nikolai
Nikolai: You thought that was all, eh? Well there's more! You ready?
Nikolai buffs raid with Shadow Protection
Nikolai bows
Shmoopsypoo yells: OMG BALSAMIC VINEGAR AND BASIL TRISCUITS!!!

Geez what a drama queen that Nikolai. But we love him. :) And yes, sometimes we drive Jess/raid leader crazy. I'm wondering if this was a Sunday night? Our Sunday nights are always the crazy nights.

Now this doesn't even get into the myriad of naughty raid chat that is inevitable on Blood Queen when we have to talk about biting each other. For example, folks have asked each other (and people's spouses) if there is a specific location where someone would like to be bitten. Though for some reason, I'm guessing we're not the only raid that has taken this biting mechanic to a slightly naughty turn in raid chat.