Priest Healer Feels Small On Kel’Thuzad’s Throne

Here’s my Holy Priest, sitting on the throne of Kel’Thuzad after my first 10-man experience all the way through Naxxramas, completing every single boss fight in the instance for the first time back in December.

Naxxramas is not a superbly difficult raid instance, especially to those people who ran the instance when it was designed back in the 40-man raiding days when level 60 was the level cap.

And then there are people like me who are benefiting incredibly from their past experiences… going through Naxx PUGs these days and hearing the 10 minute long explanation to new tanks learning the ropes is a huge reminder of how lucky I am.

Our guild team has a solid core and has also had a chance to gel with the its new lineup (since members have come and gone since level 70 raiding) by going through content that is “old” for half of the group, and “new” for the other half of us, yet still a fun adventure for all.

By the time Ulduar opens up, we’ll be a well-oiled machine.

Are You REALLY Ready For Brand New Content?

When the expansion first came out, and I was taking part in the first weeks of Pick Up Groups through the LFG channel, taking on the various instances from level 70 through to level 80 heroics, it was interesting to listen to the wide variety of player opinions about them.

Some friends cringed at the thought of going through an instance they had never experienced before, and yet others delighted in the exploration of something brand new and unfamiliar, including the multitude of ways that we could possibly die.

Eye of Eternity, Malygos 25

Thankfully, my raiding guildmates fell into the latter group instead of the former, because it made the guild runs a lot more enjoyable than the random or semi-PUGs I’d get into with friends and a few strangers. One tank in particular in our guild ran with me a lot in early heroics and we had a ball.

Ulduar, I expect, is going to need a very similar attitude regarding exploration and wondering just how many ways we can possibly be killed.

The Malygos fight was a small taste of how our larger team will handle new and difficult content – those nights when we were working on 25 man Eye of Eternity and wiping 18 times in a night, it was easy to see who has the Progression mentality and who has the We Should Be Able To Two-Shot Everything one.

Fortunately, I’m glad to say that the vast majority of those I raid with on scheduled guild raids are of the first mindset, not the second.

While none of us “like” wiping over and over in a challenging encounter, a great many of us are able to hold a few key thoughts in mind:

• This Progression barrier is temporary.
• Once we beat this encounter, the next time we take it on, we’ll go from 18 wipes to 4 or less.
• Next week we’ll have more upgrades as a raid, from running everything we CAN clear in a raid week

  And most importantly,

• Challenge is FUN!

Are you one of those who find joy in the challenge of progression raid runs?

Are YOU ready for the challenge of progressing through Ulduar?