On a roll in ICC

Last night we ran out of bubblegum in Icecrown and posted our best night yet, speed-wise. Invites went out at 6:28 server time, first pull was at about 6:40, and Saurfang was down by 7:30. This was probably the fastest we ever made it into the Upper Spire. Things were looking good.

We easily one-shot Festergut and Rotface and then rolled into Putricide. Unfortunately it took five goes to drop him (one day we’ll get him on the first go), thanks to some awesome RNG-arrific attempts. However, at least when we did kill him everyone was up.

Once the Plague Wing was cleared it was about 9:15. 45 minutes left in the raid.

So we headed over to Dreamwalker and easily one-shot her. Er, one-saved her. Something like that. Honestly, I’m disappointed with how long we put off this fight. Once you get the hang of it and your dps internalize the kill order (and the healers get the hang of the orbs), it’s total cake. With Dreamwalker down, we had about 20 minutes left, so we went and banged out the Blood Council.

This now sets us up for tonight with Blood Queen (which should be doable within an hour) and then we’ll have on Sindragosa for the better part of the night. I’m expecting a good two hours to learn the encounter, get everyone some experience on it, and teach them the fear of magic betrayals.

Personally, I am very excited to have so much time for progression tonight. A month ago we were terrified of Putricide (confession: I still kinda am), completely unable to do the BQL fight, and seemingly hopeless against the future challenges of Icecrown. What a difference a month makes. I think it’s reasonable to say that within a few weeks we’ll be working on the Lich King.

I’m especially happy with the fact that we took two new raiders with us last night, and both did pretty well. We’ve been recruiting a little lately, just to keep the “buffer” up (my goal is at least 35-37 capable raiders to make up for people not showing or not signing up, which seems to be working well so far). These last two pick ups were already 245 geared, and with the core already pretty much decked out in off-set drops, they should be gearing up pretty quickly soon enough.

It feels so good to be optimistic about 25man raids.

I picked up my last 264 tier piece last night, giving me the 4pc bonus. I like the idea of an extra “cooldown,” especially now that we’re doing ICC-10 hardmodes where it’ll be a boon on some fights. However, I am not liking the fact that I have to somehow balance my gear around a tier chest with no defense, the Pillars of Might with no defense, and the Boots of Kingly Upheaval with no defense.

And not to mention I like to sport the Bloodvenom Blade on farm content… I’m suffering a major crisis here. I’m going to just make a special set just for the 4pc for specific fights and stick to the Cataclysmic Chestguard for the rest. The CC is still better than the tier chest until 277, anyway.

But, I digress. On a different note: I’m going to leave you with why I hate Gearscore.

Gotta love that reasoning.

11 Comments to “On a roll in ICC”

  1. Joe Ego 21 April 2010 at 3:05 pm #

    …as most all paladin healers continue to run around with a ilvl 200 libram.

    Yeah, I feel his pain. I’m pretty sure my Valithria gimmick set (several extra pieces gemmed pure +SP) has a higher gear score than my progression set.

  2. Antigen
    @hazmacewillraid
    21 April 2010 at 4:00 pm #

    Yeah I’m pretty jealous of our other pally tanks with their 4/4 Sanctified, while I’m chilling in a bunch of ICC tank drops. That extra cooldown would be just lovely, although I’m sure its use in ICC is kinda gimped by Chill of the Throne.

    And watch what you say around Captain Grondel, he’ll Conflag you and nom on a clothie if you’re not careful.

  3. Curtana 21 April 2010 at 6:31 pm #

    Grats on the progression. That’s what it’s all about, slow gradual progression followed by a crash through alll farmed content. I call it the Waterfall syndrome.

    Gearscore is not perfect, but until there is a mod that tells me what their probable DPS output will be, I will use it in conjunction with their other stats.

    Would you take a DPS that has 5k Gearscore to 25man Festergut?

  4. Dan Paladin 21 April 2010 at 11:41 pm #

    @Antigen “That extra cooldown would be just lovely, although I’m sure its use in ICC is kinda gimped by Chill of the Throne. ”

    12% dodge is 12% dodge, even in ICC. Yeah, going from 7% to 19% isn’t theoretically as good as going from 27% to 39%, the same way that going from 7% damage reduction to 19% isn’t as good as going from 27% to 39% damage reduction, you are still getting nearly an extra 1/8 chance to dodge a hit regardless of Chill of the Throne.

  5. Antigen
    @hazmacewillraid
    22 April 2010 at 1:42 am #

    @Dan Paladin: Doh. I was thinking that CotT would reduce the 12% by 20% to 9.6%… why I was thinking that, I have no idea. Anyway, thank you for the correction.

  6. Lanaka 22 April 2010 at 1:45 am #

    So there are fights where having a 4piece 264 tier is beneficial in 10 man hard modes? I figured the 4 piece was something to aspire to if you plan to do 25 man hard modes, and just kinda meh everywhere else. Seeing as how I intend to start working on hard modes shortly, if this is helpful I plan to get it.

    • Rhidach
      @Rhidach
      22 April 2010 at 8:28 am #

      @Lanaka: For example, on Saurfang you really want to minimize how much Blood Power he gets and how much damage gets transferred to the Marked people. So, the more you dodge and the more damage you mitigate, the better. This is one fight that seriously rewards avoidance over EH.

      @Curtana: I have no idea, honestly. I’d just look that person up on Armory and judge their gear, gems, enchants, etc.

      @Antigen/Dan: Like Dan said, the percent increase isn’t as impressive as it would be without Chill of the Throne, but the most important thing is the 12% dodge is unaffected by diminishing returns. Basically doubling your dodge chance for free is amazing in some cases. Definitely should not looked down upon when we get free hitpoints just for walking in the place.

  7. Rilgon Arcsinh
    @Rilgon
    22 April 2010 at 1:49 pm #

    Would you take a DPS that has 5k Gearscore to 25man Festergut?

    Absolutely, assuming there’s a demonstrable reason why it’s low – trinkets like DMC:G or Mjolnir Runestone, Tier 9 bonii that are stronger than 264 gear (see: Hunters), etc.

    Gearscore is a completely irrelevant, worthless “statistic” that means nothing. If you’re going to use anything, use Elitist Group/Elitist Armory.
    Rilgon Arcsinh’s last blog ..Jump to Warp Speed My ComLuv Profile

  8. Rhidach
    @Rhidach
    22 April 2010 at 1:52 pm #

    @Rilgon: Seconded. I cannot stand the debilitating dependence on Gearscore that is afflicting this game right now. There so many variables in how a character is geared, looking at one number number derived from one facet of their kit is beyond myopic.

  9. Curtana 22 April 2010 at 10:58 pm #

    All statistics are useless in and of themselves. George Box once said “Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful”. Would you take someone solely on Attack Power? What about Crit chance?

    Absolutley not. To decide whether you want to take a person, you need a selection of stats. The more the better. Gearscore is just another one of those.

    Don’t hate the mod. It provides just another stat. Hate the misuse of it like you illustrated above.

  10. Falowin 23 April 2010 at 10:12 pm #

    Gearscore is useful because mine is high. When mine is low it will no longer be useful…until it is high again.