August 21, 2011
It’s been over a month since I last posted as there wasn’t much to talk about in July. On the other hand, August has been a busy and exciting month. Besides the release of Patch 4.2 - Rage of the Firelands with a new raiding zone, Lanakila has been busy on the membership and raiding front.
We have recently acquired a bunch of great players: Vashude, and Bunta & Chandare, a married couple that used to raid with us back in our Ulduar/Coliseum days. Vash came from a progressive raiding guild and brings a whole wealth of knowledge, while I have raided with Bunta and Chan before and know what great players they are…. I wish I had the time to tell you about the epic fight we had in the Coliseum where it was just me, Bunta, and 3 others left to fight Icehowl. Oh man, what a fight! Anyways, with the addition of these great players Lanakila’s raid teams is very solid and have been making great progression. So much so that I have been able to hang up my healing helm and don Tsanga’s Helm to be a fite kitty.
With a solid raiding team, we have seen much progress in August. On August 2nd, we entered Blackwing Descent to face our final nemesis here: Nefarian and his sister Onyxia. Previously we have been struggling with this encounter, mainly due to the massive damage of Nefarian’s Electrocute. Thanks to Patch 4.2, the damage from this encountered has been reduced to a much more manageable level. After many attempts, we were finally successful in defeating Nefarian and Onyxia, which resulted in much celebration and happiness in finishing one of the raiding zones.
Being full of confidence, we then headed to the Bastion of Twilight to challenge the Ascendant Council. After a number of attempts, we had also defeated the Council.
We also made an attempt at Cho’gall, and after getting him down to 48% vowed to return to finish him off.
On August 5th, we remained true to our word and took on Cho’gall. This boss fight seemed to be a bit easier than fighting Nefarian even though both are the “final” bosses in raid zones. I guess fighting a warlock-ish ogre is suppose to be easier than fighting two undead dragons. Again, much celebration and happiness endured in finishing another raid zone.
We topped off the night by clearing the Throne of the Four Winds. Fighting Al’Akir took many attempts to learn, especially Phase 3 with floating in air and vertical movements. Fighting in 2 dimensions (horizontal and vertical) is never easy and never easy to coordinate. Yet through sheer determination and luck, we finally defeated Al’Akir.
Besides the sense of accomplishment, the guild earned the “Guild Glory of the Cataclysm Raider” achievement, which rewards guild members with the ability to purchase the Reins of the Dark Phoenix. This is a great reward and shows just how great our raiders are. And while we were not able to clear these 3 raid zones before Patch 4.2, it is still rewarding having cleared those zones especially since we are not hardcore and able to raid every week.
Besides clearing the first 3 raid zones of Cataclysm, Lanakila members have worked hard to level the guild to level 25. XP for the guild was earned by doing guild activities, from raiding to running dungeons to doing weekly guild challenges. And despite not having a steady raid schedule, we were able to reach level 25 by running a lot of dungeons together and other guild activities. Our reward for reaching level 25 is the Reins of the Golden King mount. Now Lanakila members are riding and flying in style!
June 5, 2011
Yes, Lanakila is still around and still in the raiding business. We went through a period of a couple successful raids to a slow period as a couple of our healers were on hiatus to a successful yet busy month of May as we progressed through Blackwing Descent and the Bastion of Twilight.
We ended February on a good note when on February 16th we went in to Blackwing Descent and defeated the Omnitron Defense System,
and then on February 23 we went in to the Bastion of Twilight and defeated Halfus Wyrmbreaker.
What a month May was! It started off with a bang when in Blackwing Descent we defeated that potion loving Maloriak.
The following week we continued the success streak by defeating Atramedes.
And one week later we defeated Chimaeron.
We ended May by progressing in Bastion of Twilight and defeating those two fabulous dragons Valiona and Theralion.
And I must say how awesome our raiders are for them to be able to kill a new boss every week! These fights were all about learning the mechanics and adjusting your strategy, and our raiders did an awesome job with that! It is looking really good that we will defeat Nefarian soon, and will be able to progress through Bastion of Twilight.
February 4, 2011
Cataclysm has been a bit hard on us as our raiding ranks have been thinned due to the Real Life boss. It’s been worrisome finding the numbers and roles to get a proper raid going, hoping that everyone can make it, and yet hoping it isn’t a depressing night of wipes. Yet it never ceases to amaze me how we can all pull together and make such great efforts to emerge victorious. A few weeks ago we got a taste of our first real raid by entering Blackwing Descent. To say it was a frustrating night would be an understatement. Frustrating in that there seems to be a change from ‘bring the player not the class’ to ‘having crowd control makes thing so much easier’. Yes, having no real CC made fighting Magmaw very difficult due to not being able to control the Lava Parasites.
The following week we again went in to fight Magmaw. This time we were lucky, we had a mage. And not just any ol’ mage, but Ashtarath, a guy who’s been with Lanakila since the beginning and IMO one of our best players. But being the only gnome there, he thought he was the sacrificial gnome, especially when we told him to stand away from the raid to attract the Pillar of Flame. Little did I realize how big of a difference having proper CC can make the fight. So much so that we actually got Magmaw down to 15%. Things were starting to look promising especially if Ashtarath could raid again.
On February 2, 2011, we headed back to Blackwing Descent to fight Magmaw. And this time we emerged victorious. It got a little scary towards the end when our tank Honoroll went down. But Magmaw’s health continued going down and soon we had one dead worm.
Vylent busted out a bottle of Tequilla and proclaimed that he was going to swallow Magmaw and then take a shot. Although it would have been very amusing to watch, clearer heads convinced him that wouldn’t be such a great idea. Instead, he settled for a piece of the loot. Congratulations to Vylent for receiving the Breastplate of Avenging Flame, and to Honoroll for receiving the Symbiotic Worm.