Unbearably HoT is currently having moderate formatting problems. Please bear (HAHA GET IT) with me while I attempt to fix the issue. Sorry for any folks who read the RSS! EDIT: Big thank-you to Phaelia from Resto4life for helping me troubleshoot. And by troubleshoot, I mean totally fixing my mess.
Sathrovarr’s been vanquished. Kalecgos can fly off and inevitably get possessed again, as those pesky dragons tend to do, and there’s only two trash pulls between the raid and Brutallus. You toasted Illidan—you were prepared. This guy doesn’t have any adds, and he dual wields just like Illybeans. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Wrong. Brutallus effectively makes Illidan look like a flame-spouting Girl Scout and brings back nostalgic memories of the gear test Patchwerk presented in Naxxxramas.
Regardless, you’re optimistic. The raid easily dispatches the token trash pulls and charges into the Den of Iniquity. Suddenly, you’re greeted by exceptionally bad voice acting and a panoramic view of the Dead Scar:
“Hold friends! There is information to be had before this devil meets his fate!”
Madrigosa, the chick blue dragon who you can see taunting Brutallus during “Distraction at the Dead Scar”, bids you sit quietly and wait while she tries to grill the enormous pit lord. The scenic vista seals up with a sheet of impenetrable ice* and you essentially get to watch a psionic death match that sounds like it’s dubbed over by the original American voice actors from DBZ. Despite some cool giant-beam-of-death shit, Madrigosa dies in a dramatic heap, and Brutallus turns his attention to the raid. With a cry of challenge, he tilts his head back and roars, shattering the ice and sending your raid flying. None of us were expecting it the first time, and it’s particularly awesome seeing a bear soaring through the air. The once dynamic Brutallus now sits dormant in the Dead Scar, patiently waiting for your raid to take thirty-five minutes to figure out how they’d like to set up.
<Singularity> downs Felmyst, 5.7.08!
In actuality, I wasn’t even there. Well, technically I was sitting outside the instance, but while I’d been in for some exceptionally close learning attempts, last night we decided to sit a few of the melee and stack casters for more damage while she was flying. Obviously it worked, and grats to everyone who was in for it! Hopefully I’ll get in on her soon—she’s got two of the really big upgrades for me. Either way, we’ll be farming her for quite some time. The fight itself isn’t hard; in fact, I’d say it’s a lot easier than Brutallus. Felmyst requires coordinated movement, however, and that’s something <Singularity> has never been great at. Healing, in particular, is difficult on the run, and that coupled with timing Mass Dispels definitely keeps folks busy. Being a druid here naturally kicks ass—Incoming Breath? Hop into Travel Form and peace out. Oh, and a pally tank? Pretty much a must, in my opinion.
While my new job has foisted some necessary scheduling changes on me, I am still raiding—although admittedly, I pass out almost as soon as we call it. Leveling alts has ground to a halt, farming is a trial and it’s been an effort to log on for anything beyond normal raid time. In the meantime, I’ve been staring at an ever-growing backlog of posts that I haven’t had the proper time to fine tune, and (more exciting) I’m making inexperienced forays into the world of video editing.
To capture video, I use Fraps and then import the massive video clips into Adobe Premier for further editing. I have no idea how to utilize the veritable toolshed of capabilities Premier presents, and I’m still just trying to figure out how to render my workspace in the proper aspect ratio. Regardless, I wanted to include one of my trial videos with a discussion of the Brutallus encounter and thus present the following:
The above was not rendered properly (as you can see that the sides were cut off), and the picture quality didn’t end up being as crisp as it should have. Additionally, there isn’t an intro like I wanted, and the end screen disappears more quickly than it should. My UI is another issue altogether, and I’m attempting to maximize the viewing area for videos while still including all the information I need to use for tanking. The video is taken from my (a feral druid’s) perspective and showcases an ill-fated 1% wipe on Brutallus. The encounter is approximately six minutes long (that’s the time before his enrage) and has been sped up by 280% for ease of viewing. The enrage is clearly visible as that’s when he beats the shit out of me and one-shots Lycentia through Shield Wall. Premier advice is greatly appreciated (and anticipated). Music is “See the World” by The Kooks, and was chosen purely on a basis of tempo and duration. Discussion of the encounter to follow.
As an additional addendum, I’d like to note that I’ve recently joined the staff over at Girls Don’t Game. This shouldn’t at all effect my rate of update on this site, and it certainly won’t change the focus. I will generally be posting articles to GDG on Saturdays/Sundays (depending on when I have overtime), if you’re interested in keeping up with my other thoughts about gaming.
Let’s go back a year.
The FDA was just approving a for-use-in-humans Avian Flu vaccine, plant geneticists identified a latent gene in tomatoes that, if activated, would have made them taste like cucumbers, President Bush was attempting to officially rejustify his horribly misguided No Child Left Behind plan, Egypt threatened Germany with “scientific sanctions” if the bust of Nefertiti wasn’t returned to her home country and the US Army gave an airman second degree burns trying to test out their non-lethal anti-crowd heat ray. Among other things, of course.
Last April,<Awen> was making ill-fated forays into Gruul’s Lair, had just lost a few clutch tanks, feral druids had recently taken that massive nerf, and my guild leader idly explained that if I wanted to continue tanking, I’d need to finish leveling my alt warrior for guild use. Back then, the leafy-prospect of healing, for which I had absolutely zero gear, terrified me into feverish level grinding. I’d recently hit 70 on Eluneadora (now Rueful), and was carefully picking and choosing various quests that’d yield me useful rewards. You know, back when quest rewards were still useful for raiding and weren’t immediately replaceable.
I had initially skipped Blade’s Edge for various reasons, but seduced by the prospect of Natasha’s Battle Chain, I picked up my Damaged Mask and headed out to the fel forges. Blade’s Edge used to be deserted. No, seriously. There wasn’t any real need to quest there unless you were a masochist, and most folks went directly from the mushroom speckled Zangarmarsh to Nagrand (fun if you’re a feral druid and enjoyed The Lion King) to Netherstorm.
Speaking of masochism, it was altogether fitting that I ran into another warrior doing the same questline I was–prot specced. Who does that? I hear it’s actually rather efficient to be able to pull eight million mobs and slowly wear them down, but unless you’re a paladin, it seems more tedious than anything else. So for sheer ease of questing, this warrior and I teamed up to beat down some elites and kick some serious ass despite the fact that we didn’t have any real method of keeping ourselves alive. We rocked the tag-team tank/sexecute and eventually got our respective rewards. But here’s the thing–regardless of gear, you know when you see someone who can play. Those are the people you know you won’t mind taking the time to gear up because they’re going to destroy everyone else you know in that class.
This guy, standing around in crummy greens and a shield shaped like a lion-face, of all things, was probably the best warrior I’ve seen move mobs around. Naturally, I felt a little defensive since the <Awen> tag and gear I was wearing was absolutely zero indicator of my skill level. While I was and still am a totally jawesome druid, I knew very little about tanking as a warrior (and got quite the quick crash course). As we conversed a little more, I learned that he’d been the main tank for a Naxx progression guild Pre-BC (which explained a lot), and, even more strangely, that we both knew a good friend of mine, Lauchis, whom I’d pulled into <Awen> on the basis that I knew she’d be a veritable encyclopedia of random knowledge.
And that was how it started. Lycentia got into <Awen> based on his prior tanking experiences and a few recommendations, and we began an exceptionally badass MT/OT relationship that clearly evolved into something…more serious (and tanking is already srsbznss!). I cannot even begin to explain how strange it was to consider any kind of serious “dating” via the Internet, nevermind through WoW. Try explaining that one to your friends.
“No guys, seriously. Wicked hot. No no, him, not his toon. Yeah, his toon’s a chick. No, that’s not gay, the human males look retarded. Listen, nevermind. I realize he lives halfway across the country. No, I’m pretty sure he’s not an axe murderer, although that’d be pretty cool, m i rite? Yes, I know what I’m doing. Probably.”
Fast forward to today. We still rock the MT/OT dynamic duo, but from the same room, in a different guild, and on slightly different toons. We theorycraft over dinner or discuss strats on long car rides. I have listened, endlessly, to the myriad array of changes rogues have undergone in the last million patches.
All I’m saying guys, is that it can happen. It’s a little out of this world, non-traditional, and difficult to explain, but in this day and age when we’re all connected at the hips to our electronics, love can be found in the strangest places.
Brutallus downed by <Singularity> on 4.16.08!
For a high quality image, click HERE. He dropped some shit that accidentally got auto-looted to me and a pair of DPS plate legs that Lycentia took to turn into Felstrength Legplates.
Up Next: FELMYST
Between starting a new job and farming endlessly for raid consumables (2+ stacks of Crawdads, 40 Ironshields, any scrolls I can get my paws on, flasks, Nightmare Seeds, Fel Blossoms, Adamantite Weightstones and Greater Runes of Warding for each night of attempts), I’ve been more than a little busy. I have not, however, forgotten this blog, and as soon as the new job gets squared away this week (and I don’t feel like a zombie), posts will resume as per normal.
Thanks for all the positive feedback, folks.
Kalecgos just downed by <Singularity>! Or, technically, we killed Sathrovarr the Corruptor!
He dropped: [Dragonscale-Encrusted Longblade], [Bracers of the Forgotten Conqueror] x2, and [Bracers of the Forgotten Protector]. Grats, guys!
It’s recently come to my attention that someone was trying to claim my druid as their own—and in a piss-poorly written application post, no less.
Thus, if you ever see or hear of anyone using “Runyarusco” as a reference or claimed as an “alt”, they’re totally full of shit. Why? Because I’m the only Runyarusco in the Armory. I’m also the only “70 resto name Runyarusco in the guild <Singularity>”.
Link to the Application Itself.
Please let me know if you hear of anything else like this. Thanks!
