November 14, 2008

The Journey to 80

Northrend — Kawaihae

It’s Friday evening and we have breached the shores of Northrend. At the moment we have 21 people level 71 or higher. Our Paladin CO, Butchone, leads the pack at level 74. About 10 of us are level 72 and the rest 71. After this weekend we will have a good idea of who the first Legionnaires capable of 25 man raid content will be.

So far our T6 gear is holding up remarkably well. No quest reward or drop has proven yet to surpass the gear we wear now. Many of the mana drinks go untouched, for as of yet, in dungeons or questing, mana is not a problem. It seems that the only deaths are caused by Horde, and we manage to hand out the stick beatings just as good.

Next Monday we’ll see what dungeons we’re capable of running. One thing about Northrend, the scenery is absolutely stunning. There is so much to see and do. And we’re doing it, all the while focusing on gaining levels.

November 11, 2008

Brutallus Cleared

Boss Kills,Sunwell — Kawaihae

This was our last Burning Crusade raid night. More than the loot, or bragging rights, we wanted this boss down, to show ourselves, the only audience that really matters to us, what we can do. The recent patch has definitely accelerated our pace. Hyjal and Black Temple are cleared in single nights, but even with such a fast pace, our guild can acquire only so much gear in a week. The instances just can’t be reset fast enough for us.

Brutallus last week was brought to 55%. Before we stepped back and rethought things, the best we could do this evening was about 38%. We knew our tanks were getting stomped and needed a bit more gear. Or did they?

So we huddled up and rethought the fight. What if we did this, what if we did that? It wasn’t a let down not to get this boss at this point, no one was complaining, but, why not give it a go using one last change to our strat?

And so we did. The strat used is not important. What is important is that we have the fortitude for these kinds of fights. We adapt. We held it together and two attempts later took Brutallus.

Our next raid is somewhere in Northrend next Monday. We’ll be splitting up into five and ten man teams looking for the next level of gear and encounters.

November 6, 2008

Warglaive of Azzinoth

Black Temple,Just News — Kawaihae

Grats to Superboo on the first official legendary nab for Steel Legion. While we’ve all handled legendary weapons from the Kael’thas fight, none of us except a server transfer to our guild, have had a permanent weapon.

Getting a Warglaive of Azzinoth was a fitting reward for our last Black Temple run in the Burning Crusade era. The fight began with less than the full compliment of Centurion and Legionnaire raiders. But our new recruits learned the fight quickly, and after about 5-6 tries, we had Illidan down for the third time in three weeks.

Next week, we’ll try Brutallus, and then get in line for the expansion. Woohooo!

November 4, 2008

Steel Legion, A Sunwell Guild

Uncategorized — Kawaihae

Kalecgos was freed last night by our steadfast crew of raiders. That was after we took Illidan for the second time. We went on in the evening to bring Brutallus down to 55%.

It’s been quite a journey from piecing 5 mans together for Black Morass and Karazhan atunement runs, through the halls of the haunted tower in Deadwind Pass, into Gruul’s Lair and Magtheridon’s keep. Struggling through Serpentshrine Caverns and Tempest Keep only made us stronger for Hyjal Summit and Black Temple. We are very much looking forward to the expansion and the new challenges that lie ahead.

October 24, 2008

We Won the Game

Black Temple,Boss Kills — Kawaihae

Does it really matter how many attempts it took us? Does it matter who got what loot? Does it matter that ret pallies are over powered? No.

What matters is that we’ve stuck together, picked up new friends along the way and beat many odds getting to where we are now. That’s right, after killing Illidan, we volunteered to become infected and we turned Darkshire into the ghoul infested hell that it always should have been.

What’s next? Well, before the ghoul fun last night we cleared the alliance camp in Hyjal in preparation for another Archimonde hat run. After that we’ll poke our way into Sunwell, to see what its like. The next few weeks will provide us with more opportunities to get some guildies a chance to don tier 6 gear.

October 21, 2008

Another Fast Paced Night in Black Temple

Black Temple,Boss Kills — Kawaihae

The Steel Legion steam roller continues.

Mother Shahraz in two tries. Illidari Council in three. We made about seven attempts on Illidan and got him to phase four. Prognosticators and magic eight ball say signs point to Yes about us getting Illidan this week.

October 17, 2008

Bosses Agree: Nerf Steel Legion

Black Temple,Boss Kills — Kawaihae

OK, first up. These fights were fun. They certainly felt easier, but we also came prepared knowing the strats. Starting with a fresh instance we carved our way through Naj’entus, Supremus and Akama. Then we faced new territory going on to two shotting Reliquary of Souls, one shotting Teron Gorefiend and Bloodboil. Only Mother Stopped us (although we did get her to 49%). You know, that shadow gear might actually help out!

October 15, 2008

Archimonde Down. Hyjal Cleared in One Night.

Boss Kills,Hyjal — Kawaihae

On our fourth attempt, we got it.

The effect of the patch was significant. We did more dps, Archi had less health, we had more mana, even our fear wards came up sooner. Some things didn’t change though. Fires can still kill, and they did. People still could land in trees, or get separated. Last night 25 people finally got their game together and broke a bit of a dry streak for us.

Now we head back to Black Temple. Reliquary of Souls is our next target.

October 14, 2008

There is a Bear in the House

Zul'Aman — Kawaihae

We close this chapter on content with a successful bear mount run. I believe we did it with about two minutes to spare. Grats to Mistborn for the actual mount! Grats to the rest of us for padding our slacker resumes! On the last day possible we score one for the guild.

Like other successful ventures this was a big group effort. Over the past six weeks or so, we have really started honing our ZA runs and developed a crew of about 12-18 regulars who would run the event and learn the speed pulls. It wasn’t until about 3 tries ago, that we were in actual striking distance though.

We were basically hyped up today, knowing this would be our last chance to get the event accomplished. Other people not pictured here who deserve some acknowledgement include Gabe, who was excited about getting us back in here after we basically ignored the place. Eriolanna, Otome and Ronnin, and Jazira who have provided a steady stream of heals, and additional thanks to Delroy for leading the final successful raid.

Tomorrow brings lots of fun stuff with the pre-expansion last patch. We have Black Temple and Hyjal to clear! Hurry up Blizz and get the patch done!

October 13, 2008

Last Monday Before the Patch

Just News — Kawaihae

This is where we stand. In Hyjal we have the first two bosses down. We are very capable of more Archimonde attempts this evening. Our biggest challenge, however, will be getting past the number of epic real life challenges that have been thrown our way.

On a side note, there will be at least one if not two groups this evening making their final attempts for Zul’Aman bear mounts. ZA has never been a big content priority for us given that it is 10, not 25 man content. But over the last two weeks a group of ours has come within seconds of rescuing all hostages in the instance. It could very well be that some of us will be leveling to 80 on the back of a bear.

Other than that, we’re looking forward to the new talents, Inscription, and making a killing at the auction house. Wednesday brings us new hope for major progress into Black Temple with our new abilities and nerfed bosses.

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »