Raid lockouts have been the talk of the town as of late, with Ghostcrawler recently providing more than enough forum feedback for ardent raiders and trolls alike to sink their teeth into. With Beta on the horizon and a number of connected and lucky players very anxious to post without fear of the NDA hammer falling, speculation, discussion, comparisons, and talks about the raiding end-game changes have been making their rounds. As an ardent 25-man raider (I do it on…

Yes, that title means exactly what you think it means. FH went into ICC last night, powered through 11/12 Hard Modes and got ready for a night of work on LK. Attempt #1 of the night saw him down to 22%. And 4 attempts later he was dead. On a Tuesday. With an hour left in our 5-hour raid night. During an enrage. With healers dpsing and CDs popped. With an entire vent full of players screaming, pleading, and groaning all…

The last major instance of the expansion and one that has been explored by a large number of raiders, Icecrown Citadel (ICC) has been surrounded by criticism and drama since its release. It was an expanded testing ground for a number of new Blizzard raiding mechanics, including limited attempts, heroic toggles and regimented gating, all of which seem to have developed enduring magnet for raiders’ ire. And while some have since flip-flopped their opinions about the overall challenge to be…

With the 15% buff in place and an instance of “farm” and “progression” content to clear, a number of guilds these days are facing a very real and very scary problem—raid regression. The opposite of solid progression, regression is a compounding effect, a slippery slope with disastrous consequences should you reach the bottom. I would venture every raider out there has been at a regression crossroads at some point, where attempts have been getting better and better with each wipe,…

Ever since they were released as Season 5’s Gladiator award, I have slathered over the Frost Wyrm mount model. I’m no mount collector, nor someone who is hugely motivated by nerd points, but when I read that I could obtain my very own winged flying skeleton by completing Glory of the Icecrown Raider (10 and 25), I knew that they were two sets of achievements that would not fall by the wayside. As of this coming reset, it will be…

In my travels in WoW and my quest for interweb answers, I’ve collected a number of resources and a good deal of information about Resto Shaman. Previously, all this information was relegated to a Bookmarks folder and a disorganized Word doc. But no more! Behold, the Raider’s Answer Bag—a collection of answers obtained through my own experiences, efforts, and theorycrafting to some of the most regular questions asked by new and experienced resto shaman alike. Where applicable, I’ve added links…

Upon seeing the encounter for the first time, my impressions of the Lich King were many—“holy heck that’s a small throne”, “did he shrink since Wrathgate?” and “oh lord, not more RP”. Looking forward to breezing through this final boss, I was a little bit shocked when we took our first serious attempts at him last week, only to discover, Arthas isn’t a pansy. In fact, over the xpac I’ve come to realize: the hallmark of a great fight is…

There are times where something looks amazing in theory but falls absolutely flat in application (Bizuri’s Totem of Shattered Ice, I’m looking at you here). And there are other times when something seems okay on paper but turns out to be hugely beneficial (t8 4piece towards the end of Ulduar, I miss you). And then there are times where despite the hype, doubt and hoopla, an underdog emerges triumphant—such is the case for Resto Shamans’ t10 4pc bonus. While t10…

Excitement ran high this past week as the Frostwing Halls and the Lich King (plus cut-scene spoilers) were finally made available for raiders across the world. Amid some joy, some trepidation, and some controversy, we ventured into ICC’s final wing, intent on besting the last of the Northrend dragon-based encounters—Valithria Dreamwalker and Sindragosa—and possibly getting a look at the villain of the xpac. Healers (read: holy pallies) were especially anxious to try their hand at the “first” healing-centric encounter, while…

After a lazy Tuesday of avoiding lag on the population-heavy Mal’Ganis, Aftermath went into ICC and took down the bosses in the Crimson Halls, amid some disappointment, some laughter, rampant BT nostalgia and lots of raid damage. The two new bosses released this week—The Blood Princes and Blood Queen Lana’thel—marked a definite step up in terms of raid coordination. And while the first of the Blood wing encounters actually proved to be one of the easier fights in Icecrown (at…