Saturday 2/4/2012 Raid (12-man) Skirmishes

[Miriel]

Next run this Saturday, January 28th at 8:00 AM** EST!

**It may be possible this Saturday to run the Dragon, but the time for the first 1 or 2 runs will need to be made earlier in the day (see Galdor's reply below). More information will posted as soon as possible.
All need to do the quest "There is Gold in the Hills". Starting npc Ariene, she is standing at the entrance of the south inner gate of Galtrev. This will lead you on to the dwarf Frithgeir at Zudrugund in Thror's Coomb in Enedwaith for a short quest chain to unlock the raid.

Xax -
Miriel - minstrel
Irmo - guardian
Galdor - burglar?
Thran - burglar
Indis - lore-master
Melkor - rk/champ?
Hurin - captain
Gildor - captain
Nimrodel - champ/hunter?




*The raid skirmish challenge resets only once a week early morning Thursdays, 3:00AM EST

It is appreciated if those able or unable to attend would post a response in this thread.

General Requests
Please be on time and prepared with morale/mana potions, appropriate food, scrolls etc.
Commit to paying attention.
Be considerate of everyone's effort. Practice makes for success & failures teach us what to improve upon.
Keep afks to a minimum, limited to collective afk breaks.
Keep it friendly, keep it fun!

[Galdor-ex2010-2012]

I have been chatting with Xax as I was informed by Nim that Maha had asked whether he'd agree to lead us on a kin raid of the Dragon. He's willing to lead us and teach Irmo how to tank the dragon...or Maha how to heal the tank...or both if we have time. 1 PM EST is too late for him on Saturday's. He usually gets rolling around 8AM EST(or at least thest's when I see him log on). Do we have the flexability to move our raid time to an earlier time? he hasn't given me an exact time yet, but I typically run with him in the mornings on Saturday's when he does the raid.

[Miriel]

Much appreciated news there Galdor! I will update the post for this week's run.

We will need the time set up as soon as possible to see who can attend. Perhaps a bit after 8 would be better on those west of EST zone.

[than]

I am planning on being there this saturday and am flexible on times, so just let me know. Question, who is gonna lead the bottom? Gildor maybe? I know he's been through numerous runs with Xax. By the way, I think it's a great idea to have him help us out especially on our first try. He's a great teacher and very patient with people new to the encounter.

[Indis]

Let me know the time, and I'll bend every effort to joining, even if it means (ugh) getting up early. I've run the raid quite a few times, as burg (FM starter), healer, and DPS. Unfortunately I still don't feel capable of leading the DPS group around, though I admire those who can.

[melkor]

I can come early (0800 EST...0600 here, but that's fine). Would like to learn how to do the Dragon!!

[Galdor-ex2010-2012]

Xax has gotten back to me. 8:00AM EST is when he'll lead us though. Please reply and let everyone know if you can make it.

[Indis]

I plan to be there. I'd like to bring Mereniel, but if needed I can bring Isa (heals) or Celebrethil (FMs).

[hurin]

I'll be there, preferrably on captain.

[pippin]

Looks like I'm just gonna have to wait til the rest of you all master this and get back to me on it because I cannot do 8am. Normally, that would mean me bleary-eyed and unfocused trying to play champ but this weekend it means me bleary-eyed and unfocused at work for a meeting.

Since you all will be worn out from the attempts at the Dragon, I guess that means I'll see everyone the following weekend. -Pippin

[nimrodel]

both Gildor and I can be there. He would like to bring his capt. if possible, but can go with his guard or mini if need be. I can bring either champ or Hunter. see you then

[Galdor-ex2010-2012]

I will bring Andwegar, my Burg. I can lead the FM/DPS group...be advised to have Tokens and scrolls...also, you'll need to purchase 3 perks before we beging the raid...Xax will let you know which ones when we get in there.

Also, Xax will use in-game chat to direct traffic. Please have that ready to go if yours is currently not working (unless someone wants to give him Vent instructions when we begin).

[Miriel]

From the news:
Corrections for 2/4

Saturday run: Draigoch 12-man challenge training:
We showed up at 8 am Eastern in order to take training from Xax on the Dragon raid (Draigoch). Xax was unable to come for a few hours since he had family obligations pop up. Undeterred, we went in anyway and tried learning it on our own. We figured out quite a bit but weren't making good progress due to problems in the top section, but figured out what went wrong. Then Xax dropped by briefly (as Xaxen) and gave us a quick instruction using himself as the dragon in a demo before having to leave again. This time we were able to run the top with Irmo's guardian and Miriel's minstrel doing heals. Galdor ably handled the crazy back and forth runs in the lower group through Phase 1, with Galdor and Thranduil's burglars handling the fm's. We didn't miss a single fm. Then we all had to break for supper/ lunch, and general collapse.

Some tips that may or may not help in future runs, a mix of info from both Xax and our tries:

Coming in, light is a warning of the dragon looking through a hole and that one-shot fire is about to come through; don't run into it, pillars to hide behind show as holes on the map. Gold with fire on it becomes lethally hot. The path in is a zig-zag leading to a place to jump down on a pile of safe gold.

Destiny points/Perks that are useful:
Morale: veteran's resolve. Run speed: continued swiftness. Recovery: sustained recovery. Damage bonus: accomplished strength.

Classes good to include are burglars for fm's (burgs will want Reveal Weakness, Improve Counter-offensive) , a hidden rune-keeper to put Prelude and HoT's on the guardian on top (who starts at the 9 o' clock position on the upper rim and mostly needs to just stand there "looking pretty" rather than taunting, et cetera), and two captains (one gives Telling Mark, the other Reveal).

The top group should not use fm's, just ignore them as those are the bottom group's problem. The guardian calls out left or right to the bottom group from seeing where the dragon's going. When the dragon goes green, it's time to run to a new platform. In Phase 1, the dragon's head will go right or left. Always go in the opposite direction of his head. For directions in Phase 2, one claw grabs a rock and one goes flat; if the dragon's left paw is flat, then go right - if the dragon's right paw is flat, then go left - opposite direction.
Clockwise is "left", counter-clockwise is "right".

The bottom group needs to bunch up tightly; we bunched up on Galdor's burglar and put a raid mark on him. Don't walk through or stand in fire patches, obviously. Hunters need to either be in both groups or turn off the fast run. DPS classes need to wait until all of the group are bunched up because of the dragon's distributed damage. Lore-masters de-buff. Captains heal minstrels, minstrels heal the group. Captains need to save in-combat rezzes for Phase 3. Usually the bottom group starts on the right at the left back claw. Feel free to let a cycle pass to heal up if needed, rather than getting in a hurry and dying.

Phase 1 and 2 use up to 8 fm's and not more to avoid a bug. Phase 3 use the last 4 fm's. After those 12, it's safe to use Twisting the Dagger.
Phase 1 is when the dragon's morale is between 100 and 75%.
Phase 2 goes to 50%.
Phase 3 is below 50%.

Heroes present for the run were: Galdor (Andwegar, burglar), Gildor (Marrella, guardian then on the good run as Livinola, captain), Gorlim (Morwena, hunter), Hurin (Hiurred, captain), Indis (Mereniel, lore-master), Irmo (Irmogar, guardian), Melkor (Passim, rune-keeper), Miriel (Mahariel, minstrel), Nimrodel (Ardisian, hunter), Thranduil (Artemas, burglar), and Varda (Tinwetari, minstrel).
Other runs later in the day without the pressure included a 6-man Grand Stairs and several runs of Fangorn's Edge before "prime time".