Feday
12-08-2009, 12:26
Last night, I did ToC with some friends. Before fighting Paletress, I was sure to brief them, should the most complicated and difficult boss in the game appear.
I instructed my friends that odd-numbered players should stay to the left, and even-numbered to the right. (For the unfamiliar, that would be 1, 3, etc. to the left, and 2, 4 etc. to the right. The last two players were assigned to deal with young dragons.) I warned them that aggro was an issue, and that at the beginning, they should dps at a slow pace. And I meant AT AN EXTREMELY SLOW PACE. I informed them that if they draw the attention of the dragon and caused Onyxia to attack them, they would suffer a loss of 50 points that correlated directly to the amount of loot they would receive. (Primarily because by gaining the hatred of the boss, it would become apparent that a player was not entirely sure of what his or her role was.)
I also reminded my friends that the rear of the dragon was a dangerous place to stand, and that if they were forcibly placed in a situation that caused extra young dragons to spawn, they would suffer another loss of 50 points. (This is because such an event would only occur if the party member did not know where he or she should be standing for this fight.)
I also clarified that there was no wipe of Onyxia's threat list, an furthermore, that any rumors my friends may have heard about some mythical "aggro reset" were, in fact, completely fallacious. However, I told my party members that once our warrior tank had applied two stacks of "Sunder Armor" to Onyxia, they would be able to, essentially, begin damaging the boss - assuming, of course, that a thorough comprehension of monster hate was held by all, and that no mistakes would be made in this department.
Then, a brief recap: I reminded the dps members of my group how to perform their jobs, by using both direct-damage and damage-over-time spells. I also reminded people to help any person assigned to kill young dragons. This served as my segue to a brief summary of the second phase of this fight. Phase 2 would require an enormous effort on behalf of the dps players in order to lower the hit points of Onyxia in the quickest way that could be managed. I reminded them to be sure that their damage-over-time debuffs had excellent uptime, with fully two rows of these "DoTs", including the Priest spell, "Shadow Word: Pain", Warlock curses (such as "Curse of Agony" and "Curse of Doom"), the Warrior ability "Rend", as well as any other abilities they may possess.
However, as I expected, there were not enough of these DoTs applied to the target. I called for more DoTs. I called for higher dps in general. This part of the fight, I told my friends, would require them to hit the boss like they meant it. I tried to allieviate the tension by informing my group that they would have a brief respite during the third phase while I regained Onyxia's attention.
I instructed my group to reserve any cooldowns that would help them reduce their threat until Onyxia descended to the ground. These abilities included the Hunter's "Feign Death", the Rogue's "Vanish", and, after a brief pause for some obscenity, I recalled that it also included the Priest ability, "Fade".
At 40%, I called out, the damage-over-time must end! However, prior to that point, it was imperative, I reminded my group, that more damage-over-time effects were applied, more damage-over-time effects, more damage-over-time effects, more, and more, and more, and MORE DAMAGE-OVER-TIME EFFECTS!! Suddenly, I realized that enough DoTs had been applied, and I instructed my group to cease casting them immediately. I called for an increase in dps. I called my friends, Lee, Mogris, Foresight, Sarth, and Isis to come immediately to the middle of the room, only to realize that I had violated an important principle! I yelled for everyone to remember not to stand next to other people. Then I called Mogris back to the center and asked for my hit points to be restored. I noticed that Lee was standing too close to Onyxia's breath ability, and instructed him to move away from the head.
I had a bad feeling about the fight at this point, and I could sense that a wipe was imminent. Just as I was about to yell something about watching aggro, I was informed by one of my close friends that one of the members of the group had been placed, against his will, into an area that caused him to draw the attention of quite a few, I daresay, young dragons.
Unfortunately, I don't remember much past this point. I began to lose my normally serene composure started yelling incomprehensible and oft-contradictory instructions to no one in particular. I suppose it was a result of some stress I had been feeling as the result of my hectic work schedule. But whatever the cause, I took out my frustration on my friends. My parents must have heard me yelling in my room, because then my mom got scared, and said, "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air." So I whistled for a cab, and when it came near, the license plate said "FRESH" and it had dice in the mirror. If anything, I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought, "Naw, forget it. Yo holmes, to Bel Air!" I pulled up to the house about seven or eight, and I yelled to the cabby, "Yo holmes, smell you later!" I looked at my kingdom; I was finally there to sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air.
OH WAIT, NEVERMIND. THIS FIGHT IS THE SAME AS EVERY OTHER.
arf.
I instructed my friends that odd-numbered players should stay to the left, and even-numbered to the right. (For the unfamiliar, that would be 1, 3, etc. to the left, and 2, 4 etc. to the right. The last two players were assigned to deal with young dragons.) I warned them that aggro was an issue, and that at the beginning, they should dps at a slow pace. And I meant AT AN EXTREMELY SLOW PACE. I informed them that if they draw the attention of the dragon and caused Onyxia to attack them, they would suffer a loss of 50 points that correlated directly to the amount of loot they would receive. (Primarily because by gaining the hatred of the boss, it would become apparent that a player was not entirely sure of what his or her role was.)
I also reminded my friends that the rear of the dragon was a dangerous place to stand, and that if they were forcibly placed in a situation that caused extra young dragons to spawn, they would suffer another loss of 50 points. (This is because such an event would only occur if the party member did not know where he or she should be standing for this fight.)
I also clarified that there was no wipe of Onyxia's threat list, an furthermore, that any rumors my friends may have heard about some mythical "aggro reset" were, in fact, completely fallacious. However, I told my party members that once our warrior tank had applied two stacks of "Sunder Armor" to Onyxia, they would be able to, essentially, begin damaging the boss - assuming, of course, that a thorough comprehension of monster hate was held by all, and that no mistakes would be made in this department.
Then, a brief recap: I reminded the dps members of my group how to perform their jobs, by using both direct-damage and damage-over-time spells. I also reminded people to help any person assigned to kill young dragons. This served as my segue to a brief summary of the second phase of this fight. Phase 2 would require an enormous effort on behalf of the dps players in order to lower the hit points of Onyxia in the quickest way that could be managed. I reminded them to be sure that their damage-over-time debuffs had excellent uptime, with fully two rows of these "DoTs", including the Priest spell, "Shadow Word: Pain", Warlock curses (such as "Curse of Agony" and "Curse of Doom"), the Warrior ability "Rend", as well as any other abilities they may possess.
However, as I expected, there were not enough of these DoTs applied to the target. I called for more DoTs. I called for higher dps in general. This part of the fight, I told my friends, would require them to hit the boss like they meant it. I tried to allieviate the tension by informing my group that they would have a brief respite during the third phase while I regained Onyxia's attention.
I instructed my group to reserve any cooldowns that would help them reduce their threat until Onyxia descended to the ground. These abilities included the Hunter's "Feign Death", the Rogue's "Vanish", and, after a brief pause for some obscenity, I recalled that it also included the Priest ability, "Fade".
At 40%, I called out, the damage-over-time must end! However, prior to that point, it was imperative, I reminded my group, that more damage-over-time effects were applied, more damage-over-time effects, more damage-over-time effects, more, and more, and more, and MORE DAMAGE-OVER-TIME EFFECTS!! Suddenly, I realized that enough DoTs had been applied, and I instructed my group to cease casting them immediately. I called for an increase in dps. I called my friends, Lee, Mogris, Foresight, Sarth, and Isis to come immediately to the middle of the room, only to realize that I had violated an important principle! I yelled for everyone to remember not to stand next to other people. Then I called Mogris back to the center and asked for my hit points to be restored. I noticed that Lee was standing too close to Onyxia's breath ability, and instructed him to move away from the head.
I had a bad feeling about the fight at this point, and I could sense that a wipe was imminent. Just as I was about to yell something about watching aggro, I was informed by one of my close friends that one of the members of the group had been placed, against his will, into an area that caused him to draw the attention of quite a few, I daresay, young dragons.
Unfortunately, I don't remember much past this point. I began to lose my normally serene composure started yelling incomprehensible and oft-contradictory instructions to no one in particular. I suppose it was a result of some stress I had been feeling as the result of my hectic work schedule. But whatever the cause, I took out my frustration on my friends. My parents must have heard me yelling in my room, because then my mom got scared, and said, "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air." So I whistled for a cab, and when it came near, the license plate said "FRESH" and it had dice in the mirror. If anything, I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought, "Naw, forget it. Yo holmes, to Bel Air!" I pulled up to the house about seven or eight, and I yelled to the cabby, "Yo holmes, smell you later!" I looked at my kingdom; I was finally there to sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air.
OH WAIT, NEVERMIND. THIS FIGHT IS THE SAME AS EVERY OTHER.
arf.