MMQB: Deck the Halls

It's Monday and the first raid reset of patch 3.3 is about to come to close.  This week I want to share my thoughts on the new dungeon tool, Icecrown Citadel, and more.

Dungeon Finder

First off, I love the new dungeon finder.  I've had great luck with random pugs and random dungeons.  It appears that the dungeon finder is filled with the holiday spirit and is decking the halls left and right. It selected Halls of Stone, Halls of lightning and Halls of Reflection more than any other dungeon for me.  The luck of the draw buff is a great bonus as well.

Regarding moving onto another guild, I'm beginning to think that the grass may not be greener on the other side.  From a 10-man raiding perspective my current guild is quite good.

Icecrown Citadel

I love it!  I was very surprised to see our ten man group go in and clear all four bosses the first week.  We needed about six attempts for Marrowgar, we one shot Lady Deathwhisper, and we needed a bunch of attempts for the Gunship and Saurfang.  Saurfang was by far the toughest encounter, and I had to spend a fair bit of time kiting adds (not my favorite thing to do).

The thing about Saurfang is this fight gets tougher as you get closer to the end.  Contrast that with Lady D, where once you get to phase 2 you've pretty much won.  We managed to get the I've Gone and Made a Mess achievement.  Quite frankly I can't imagine downing him without getting it.

Our 25-man team was not nearly as productive.  We didnt' have our regular compliment of raiders (especially healers) so that made our task all the more difficult.  We did four attempts on Marrowgar before calling it.  I was not happy about this.  Wiping isn't fun, but it's essential to progression.  The only way you learn the fights is to keep trying.  I know that I was getting better with each attempts and really would have liked some looks.  Hopefully we'll have our A-team this week and give it a serious try.

Still, it was only the first week, and we have some solid raiders as evidenced by our two 10-man groups.  I can't imagine that we won't be DE'in all the Marrowgar gear or extending lockouts sooner than later.

Gear Watch

I'm off to good start with gear.  It's funny, I really went on a dry streak regarding range weapons, and now they seem to be raining from the sky.  Hopefully bodes well for Zod's.  Here are a few things I picked up this past week.

• Njordnar Bone Bow
• Runed Band of the Kirin Tor
• Crusader's Dragonscale Bracers (yeah I waited until badges were easy to get, and orb prices dropped before I had these made).

Ten Things I'm Thinking About

1. No more "Don't forget the quest item" when running heroics.  I like this.
2. There is a decided lack of range weapons in ICC (25).  "Kneel before him" is right since Zod's will be the hunter weapon of choice for a while.
3. My heroic runs with random groups have been better than my heroic runs with mostly guildies.
4. I got the Don't Look Up achievement in a completely random pug.  Talk about pure luck.
5. I got the I've Gone and Made a Mess achievement in ICC (10).  This is one where I can't imagine being able to defeat the boss without getting it.
6. That fact that I chose Gnomish Engineering back in Vanilla, seems like the lucky choice (at least until I get a gun).
7. Blizzard is going proc. crazy with items in the this patch.  Even the exalted ring from the Ashen Verdict has one.
8. It was very refreshing to see new raid content.  Of course I said the same thing the first time I entered TotC. /cautionary tale off.
9. Jaina, Fordring, and Muradin are some of the chattiest npcs I've ever seen.
10. This week is a four day week, followed by another four day week, followed by three day week.  It's the most wonderful time of the year...

ICC Preview: Deathbringer Saurfang

This is real simple, if you don’t want to know squadoosh about the Icecrown Citadel raid then don’t bother reading this article.  My definition of a spoiler, however, is going into a raid encounter not knowing what to do, so I’ve been doing a little homework on the first four bosses that will be available when patch 3.3 is released.

Today’s article is about Deathbringer Saurfang, the fourth boss you’ll face.

There wasn't a whole lot of testing done on this encounter, so any strategies are very preliminary at this point.  The video floating around is of a failed attempt.  That being said, it looks like Hunters may play an important role in this encounter.

During the encounter some very dangerous adds will constantly spawn and it looks like they'll need to be handled by ranged dps.  Frost traps, Distracting Shot, and kiting might all come into play here.  The goal is not only to kill the adds, but to make sure nobody gets hit by them. There are a ton of things that can happen that will heal the boss in this encounter.

This fight may end up being a lot like the Gluth encounter in Naxxramas.  It could be very easy or extremely hard.  In Gluth, if the back of the room couldn't control the Zombie Chow then you'd fail miserably.  If they could then it was a very easy fight.  I suspect that the Deathbringer Saurfang encounter will have a similar feel to it.

Resources

• Wow.com article
• Tank Spot Pre-guide

My Thought for Hunters

• Hunters will play a very big role in this fight.  This may be our moment to shine outside of the meters.
• We'll have to constantly lay down our frost traps to keep the adds slowed.
• We'll need to dps and kite the adds.
• We may need to keep distracting shot at the ready to peel off adds from other players.
• Two hunters may be needed, and those hunters may have to coordinate with each other during the encounter.
• If there's one fight I'd choose to study it's this one.

Loot

Things a hunter might want.

Item	iLevel	Item Type	Slot	Source
Hauberk of a Thousand Cuts	251	Mail	Chest	10-man
Saurfang's Cold-Forged Band	251	Miscellaneous	Finger	10-man
Bloodvenom Blade	264	Sword	One-Hand	25-man
Deathbringer's Will	264	Miscellaneous	Trinket	25-man

ICC Preview: Gunship Battle

This is real simple, if you don’t want to know squadoosh about the Icecrown Citadel raid then don’t bother reading this article.  My definition of a spoiler, however, is going into a raid encounter not knowing what to do, so I’ve been doing a little homework on the first four bosses that will be available when patch 3.3 is released.

Today’s article is about the Gunship Battle, the third encounter you’ll face.

I've got one word for this one - Jetpacks!  Between that and my Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket I move closer to becoming Boba Fett every patch, but I digress. This Gunship Battle has the makings to be one of the most fun encounters in the game.  I enjoyed the vehicle encounter in Ulduar, I think this will blow that away.

Basically the raid will be split into two main groups: Ship Defenders and Boarding Party.  The breakout of the groups will be similar to Thorim in Ulduar.  The ship defenders are your AOE specialists and the boarding party are your strong single target dps.  As hunters we can probably be in either group. The boarding party gets to use the jetpack so I will stage my own mutiny fly there regardless of my assigned group.

Also some raid members will get to man the ship's cannons which will be key in destroying the enemy ship.

Anyway check out the video and read through the available strategy information and get ready for Icecrown.

My Thoughts For Hunters

• The adds on the enemy ship are great for single target DPS.  This means we will likely get to use our jetpacks and fly over to the enemy vessel.

Resources

• Wow.com article
• Tank Spot Gunship Battle Pre-Guide

Loot

Things a Hunter might want.

Item	iLevel	Item Type	Slot	Source
Icecrown Rampart Bracers	251	Mail	Wrist	10-man
Pauldrons of Lost Hope	251	Mail	Shoulder	10-man
Scourge Hunter's Vambraces	264	Mail	Wrist	25-man

ICC Preview: Lady Deathwhisper

This is real simple, if you don’t want to know squadoosh about the Icecrown Citadel raid then don’t bother reading this article.  My definition of a spoiler, however, is going into a raid encounter not knowing what to do, so I’ve been doing a little homework on the first four bosses that will be available when patch 3.3 is released.

Today’s article is about Lady Deathwhisper, the second boss you’ll face.

Please note that this is just one of three videos that folks over at Tank Spot recommended for viewing.

Unlike Marrowgar this fight is going to be a real test.  It's all about getting to Phase II.  Phase I looks like a real cluster with lots of adds running around.

Crowd control will be useful (especially priest's Shackle ability).  Also focused targeting of certain adds will be important.  Players will get mind controlled and will need to be CC'd when that happens.  All of these things are part of Phase I.  If you make it to phase two the fight becomes more or less a tank and spank.

Resources

• Tank Spot Pre-Guide

My Thoughts for Hunters

• Phase I requires a ranged tank, but I do not think Hunters will be used to fill this role.
• We'll be trying to burn down her mana shield.
• We'll be DPSing adds
• We may have to help with CC on both adds and MC targets.
• Oh and stay out of the green stuff.

Loot

[EDIT: Since I published this article MMO-Champion updated their database with items from this boss]

Item	iLevel	Item Type	Slot	Source
Handgrips of Frost and Sleet	251	Mail	Hands	10-man
Njordnar Bone Bow	251	Bow	Ranged	10-man
Leggings of Northern Lights	264	Mail	Legs	25-man

ICC Preview: Lord Marrowgar

This is real simple, if you don't want to know squadoosh about the Icecrown Citadel raid then don't bother reading this article.  My definition of a spoiler, however, is going into a raid encounter not knowing what to do, so I've been doing a little homework on the first four bosses that will be available when patch 3.3 is released.

Today's article is about Lord Marrowgar, one of the first bosses you'll face.

Here is a video from one of the PTR encounters.  It's also featured in the pre-guide from Tank Spot.  Based on what I've read so far, this seems like a pretty straight forward introductory encounter.  It looks as if competent raid groups should be able to take him down on their initial attempts.  He is also one of the bosses featured in the new weekly raid quests.

Resources

• WoW.com article
• Tank Spot Guide

My Thoughts for Hunters

• We'll need to be on the lookout for Cold Flames that shoot out.  As ranged we should have plenty of time to avoid them.
• We need to be ready to dps folks trapped in the Bone Spike Graveyard.
• We need to move out of the way of his whirlwind while still watching out for Cold Flames.
• No CC or adds to deal with so it's pretty much about raid awareness.

Loot

Things a Hunter might want.

Item	iLevel	Item Type	Slot	Source
Linked Scourge Vertebrae	251	Mail	Waist	10-man
Snowserpent Mail Helm	264	Mail	Head	25-man
Band of the Bone Colossus	264	Miscellaneous	Finger	25-man

Marrowgar loot list from MMO Champion (at least what's been discovered thus far).