Warcraft Experience

We did our BWL outing last night and took down Razorgore after several tries. We had no problem popping the eggs but once it came to tanking Razorgore he was being a bit fiesty and our tanks couldn’t maintain aggro.

The [item]Arcane Infused Gem[/item] dropped, which is great for PvP BTW. Jadzia won that with a 100. Next up were the [item]Judgement Bindings[/item] for Kizvaar to win with a 58 and Burthona won the [item]Bracelets of Wrath[/item] with a 79.

We spent the rest of our evening trying Vaelastrasz (I think they had to try to use every letter twice for his name. geez). We got him down to 28%, 19%, 14% and 7%. Not to shabby for our second try and I anticipate taking him down the next time we go in there.

What we learned: Have the casters stand on the top right-side and have plently of healers since bandages don’t work with the buff. Make sure the tanks and their healers are standing on the same side otherwise healing aggro can take out the tanks with Vael’s tail swipe. And make sure everyone knows where to run to when they are “burning” since you will blow up and don’t need to take out the rest of the party.

I think we might be heading back to BWL after Onyxia on Thursday and I can’t wait. It’s been a long time since I’ve been excited about running through an instance.

Before it gets to far behind I figured I should post our fabulous loot from the past raiding cycle. We had a new master looter in town which was Galvar so the MC run was a tad slow as he got used to it and handing out loot for all of MC for a first timer must be scary as hell, regardless of a confirmation dialogue or not. Overall he did a great job though!

The cute as a button Lucifron handed out some different loot this go-round. Some of which we haven’t seen in awhile. Dworkinn won the [item]Arcanist Boots[/item] with a 39, but sadly the [item]Felheart gloves[/item] went to nexus shard DE time with a roll of 99 to Marragies. BTW the gloves yield 1 nexus shard.

Magmadar dropped the [item]Medallion of Steadfast Might[/item] for Mynn’s roll of 79, the [item]Pants of Prophecy[/item] for Phifer and the high-roll of 28 and the [item]Earthshaker[/item] which Static won as a greed roll.

A molten giant was feeling left out so had to drop the [item]Lawbringer Bracers[/item] which went to the trading bank.

Gehennas was nexus city for us. Both items dropped went to DE. The [item]Nightslayer Gloves[/item] were won by XAnthony (99) and the [item]Sabatons of Might[/item] went to Wendra with a 100. Both items yield 1 nexus shard.

Garr dropped the [item]Felheart Horns[/item] for AmbianceForc to win with a 23, Pagonos won the [item]Cenarion Helm[/item] with a 80 and the [item]Flamewalker Legplates[/item] went to Kizvaar with a 96.

Baron Geddon gave us some more felheart, this time the [item]Felheart Shoulder Pads[/item] which also went to AmbianceForc as a default, the [item]Pattern: Core Felcloth Bag[/item] to Tasmpriest with a 86 (look him up on Blackhand if you want one), and the [item]Lawbringer Spaulders[/item] which were DE’d for a nexus that Mez won with a 97. The Spaulders yields 1 nexus shard.

Shazz dropped the [item]Giantstalker’s Gloves[/item] for Bahouth with a 93 and the [item]Salamander Scale Pants[/item] for Moonwinna to win on a greed roll. Good FR on those.

Sulfuron cowered in fear and happily gave us the [item]Shadowstrike[/item] to shard with Paganos won, which yields 1 shard. He also dropped the [item]Nightslayer Shoulder Pads[/item] for Kugnar and his roll of 54.

Golemagg dropped the [item]Breastplate of Might[/item] for Burthona (93), the [item]Robes of Prophecy[/item] for Lorick and his 65, [item]Aged Core Leather Gloves[/item] for a greed win for Wendra and finally the [item]Schematic: Core Marksman Rifle[/item] for Gwadraw and his roll of 84.

Domo dropped the [item]Finkle’s Lava Dredger[/item] for Daalny to win with a 34, The [item]Sash of Whispered Secrets[/item] which went to greed and was won by Tasmpriest and the Leaf which went to Asterioidea.

We took down Ragnaros with one try again so I’m hoping that is officially on farm status now. He dropped the [item]Cloak of the Shrouded Mists[/item] which Schnitzel won with a 98, two [item]Stormrage Legguards[/item] which Daalny won with a 84 and Moonwinna with a 50. Finally the [item]Essence of the Pure Flame[/item] dropped and Phifer won that with a 78. Although what a priest would want with that is beyond me. Poor Gern actually wanted the stupid thing but it was announced as “anyone that hadn’t received a purple roll for it” so Phifer was within his raid rights.

Monday night we again attempted BWL and 10 minutes before the end we took down Razorgore! WOOOOT! He dropped 193 gold, [item]Dragonstalker’s Bracers[/item] that Marragies won with a 62, the [item]Netherwind Bindings[/item] that I almost won with a 73 but Quisver DCd and we waited for him to come back and roll. The turd beat me with a 87. [item]The Untamed Blade[/item] also dropped and Static almost won that but at the last minute Kizvaar came in and snipped it with a 91.

Now I know it is within Kiz’s right to roll since BWL and MC are different instances but the dude already has the Obsidian Blade, The first half of the orange sword and now the Untamed Blade. With only two hands how many swords can the dude use. Static hasn’t won any weapons and is one of our main tanks. I would have passed and rolled next time it dropped.

We continued our treck through learning the ropes in BWL last night for about 2 hours. We tried several different strategies, once of which was to kill the Mages and the Legionnaires as they came out of our respective corners. Crowd control was also strongly enforced but the plan never did come together. On our first attempt on Monday we had 5 druids which assisted in the sleeping of Legionnaires and Dragonkin as well as healing but this time we only had 2 or 3 and I think that severly hurt our chances. We also learned that the [item]Green Whelp Armor[/item] is pointless so don’t waste your money and maybe some speed enchants on boots for the kiting warriors would be worth it. I guess we’ll find out on Monday.

Onyxia was a bit of treat last night. Burthona hit her with a trinket as well all ran in and it seemed to bug her or something. In the first minute Hurtu and Rapunzel went down and shortly afterward Burthona died also. So down 2 warriors and (by then) several more healers we all just died and reset it.

The second attempt was a success, so we were back to our winning streak. Two pally tier 2 helms, [item]Judgement Crown[/item], dropped again and went to Gern and Theseus by default. Pandion was next on the list to receive the [item]Black Dragon Sinew[/item] and Chriara won the roll of the [item]Onyxia Hide Backpack[/item] with a 94. The [item]head of Onyxia[/item] went to Mez and his high rollin’ 92. And finally Burthona won the [item]Eskhandar’s Collar[/item] but after discovering Kugnar didn’t have a purple neckpiece passed it onto him.

All in all not a bad night. Hopefully we’ll take down Razorgore on Monday so I can have something to gloat about.

How many members will “drop” after we start having repair costs again… Suprisingly we only had a few not show for our first attempt at BWL on Monday. Which is good because you come to depend on your partners-in-crime and feel like there is something missing when they aren’t there.

So what did I learn? I learned the strategy made no bloody-sense to me until we did it at least 3 times. I don’t care how many times they told me what do to (and believe you me there were about 20 voices reiterating the same thing in vent, which I think was part of my confusion).

What we did?
Assign groups to all four corners and our only job is to kill the mages as fast as we can as they come out. Each of the raid mages/druids should sheep/sleep an Orc Legionnaire as they are kited around the room by warriors. There are plently of LOS problems for most of the healers and really don’t expect to be healed. I generally made as one of the last standing but couldn’t defend myself once the warriors went down and the Legionnaires all come after you.

Rezzing? No way. It’s a short jaunt really, but it does get tiresome after awhile. Once you are back in the instance, do everyone a favor, and stand at the top of the stairs for buffing and to make sure you don’t get closed behind the gate and out of the playfield.

Mats to Bring: Plenty of mana and health potions, bandages and anything that helps you DPS the Orc Mages down quicker, some fire gear (since the Orc Mages use it). A second set of gear isn’t a bad idea either simply because you will die A LOT. And of course some repair bots. It has also been bandied about that the kiting warriors should wear [item]Green Whelp Armor[/item].

We really did very well for our first try in Razorgore land. On each attempt we wound up with 3-6 eggs that still needed to be popped by the time we wiped, but we improved with each try and popped all the eggs on our last run. Unfortunately 99% of us were dead by then so it didn’t do us any good.

Our raid schedule has changed again and we will be in there tonite after Onyxia so hopefully we will continue to improve and kick some butt. Now that we understand our job duties and what to concetrate on I forsee a good time with less whiping. I hope.

A guildie pointed out this site on our forums and I thought I would pass the wealth. I copied it and pasted it exactly as it appears on their forum. Thanks for the awesome write-up guys!

Instance
Blackwing Lair

Location
There are two entrances to Blackwing Lair, but due to the way instance player caps work, when raiding with the Leftovers you will always be entering Blackwing Lair from one and not the other. The first entrance you will encounter is located within the (Upper) Blackrock Spire instance, just beyond the Stadium where you fight Warlord Rend Blackhand and first meet Victor Nefarius. As you leave the Stadium and turn right on your way to the Spire Throne where General Drakkisath can be found, the green raid instance portal will be visible to your left.

The second entrance, and the one you will be using while raiding with the Leftovers, is special. It is only available once you have completed the appropriate quest, and only while you are already in a raid group. This entrance is located within Blackrock Mountain, near the balcony entrance to Blackrock Spire but opposite it down the curving corridor leading to the Scarshield Quartermaster. In the small room where the Quartermaster may be found at the southern end of this corridor, you will find an orb on a pedastal. If you have completed the necessary quest, and are currently in a raid group, then you may place your hand on (use) this orb to portal directly into Blackwing Lair. If you ever zone out of Blackwing Lair, you will reappear on the balcony in front of the entrance to Blackrock Spire, at the northern end of this corridor.

Because a maximum of 15 people from a single raid group can zone into the Blackrock Spire instance at any one time, the first entrance to Blackwing Lair will not be a reasonable way to enter when you are raiding with the Leftovers. Not to mention the additional time and effort wasted by clearing the intervening portions of Blackrock Spire to get to the portal. Instead, the alternate, “attuned” portal will be used exclusively.

How to Gain Entry
To be able to raid with the Leftovers in Blackwing Lair, you need to have finished the quest Blackhand’s Command, which when completed will allow you to use the alternate “attuned” portal mentioned above.

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