How are those Heroic PUGs coming?
by Mike Schramm 
Nov 15th 2007 at 6:45PM
Lane asks a good question on WoW LJ that I'd like to ask you as well-- how are those Heroic PUGs coming? With the recent changes to reputation requirements for Heroic dungeons, there's probably a whole lot more players out there ready to run Heroics and looking for groups to do it with. But as classically unorganized as most pick up groups are, and as much concentration and skill that Heroics require, I can't imagine a Heroic PUG would ever been a good time, unless you got really, really lucky. Heck, I have enough trouble running with a normal PUG-- a Heroic PUG seems like it would be hell and a half.I'm sure it's not impossible-- if you've already got a good tank and some good CC, you can probably PUG a DPS or Healer and do OK. And I'm sure that, just like real PUGs, every once in a while, you'll strike gold and get a group that really has it together. But as easy as badges are to come by nowadays, I have to stand in awe of the people who still go for Heroic PUGs. How's it going out there?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Instances, Raiding, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Zhalseran Nov 15th 2007 6:53PM
I've noticed more people looking to PuG heroics becuase of the daily quest than the reduced rep required.
I haven't done heroics in a long while, but I used to do them very regularly, and they were almost always PuGs. This was a long time ago though, and at that time, I never got a bad PuG.
Now adays I don't bother with heroics, especially when I can get badge from Karazhan now. I would be scared to PuG, especially if it were a tank or a healer.
jimmy Nov 15th 2007 6:58PM
On bloodscalp, horde side, heroic PUGs happen often and I've been in very few bad ones. The key is to never join one that is already halfway through and looking for healer or tank + 1 dps. That usually means the group isn't doing very well and people are bailing out.
Paul Beard Nov 15th 2007 7:00PM
Its more of a server thing. If good players find good pugs they continue to pug and the the pug quality impproves. If they dont then the good players dont pug and the server pug groups continue to suck.
Proudmoore? No problems. Last week I did a Heroic Underbog+heroic slave pens+heroic ramparts all in 1 night and the only person who was common across all 3 was a healer i had pugged with twice before. I havent pugged since 2.3 except for 1 feral druid to fill a dps spot but pre 2.3 Generally every person in a heroic pug would average around 3-4 epics.
Good_Idea Nov 15th 2007 7:02PM
I find most PUGs in general break up not because there was anything wrong with the group, it's just that many people can't commit 2 hours of their time. For that reason, PUGs are very annoying and it's rare you'll finish the instace. Sigh.
Varshak Nov 15th 2007 7:16PM
It's strange, but I always had a much BETTER experience from Heroic PUGs than normal PUGs. Better people, with better gear, who know their jobs and don't waste time.
Since the patch I've only done one Heroic Mech run (plus the daily for the two extra badges, whee) and it was with a nice bunch who seemed to have T5 gear up the wazoo... needless to say it went pretty well, even though we swapped tanks halfway through.
Rizel Nov 15th 2007 7:14PM
I have been in Hellfire Ramparts heroic pug.
The people were not really geared up for it well that was my first impression, we did pretty well ... we couldn't kill the last boss but we did most of it atleast lol
The last part it required some more skill from the tank and maybe the healer but they lacked.
Ofcourse gear was also part of the issue.
But otherwise a pretty good run although I expected worse.
Duncan Watson Nov 15th 2007 7:32PM
I have had excellent luck with heroic pugs. Fast, clean efficient work has been the norm.
Procyon Nov 15th 2007 8:04PM
Trying Heroic Sethekk Halls today was an epic fail. Couldn't get past first boss. The tank was seriously undergeared for the fight. Not his fault, but wearing a bunch of greens does not a good heroic tank make.
Stig Nov 15th 2007 8:06PM
I've had pretty mixed results. A couple of them have been great - no wipes, went through smoothly, no bickering over loot. Then again, a couple have been downright awful. Its obvious that a lot of people have never run a heroic and don't know what they're doing. I was tanking in bear for a bot run the other day and had 75 or 80% of a DPS warrior's DPS (confirmed by two other members of the group). I've also seen people with straight greens offering to solo tank or heal for a lot of the heroics.
On one hand, it was nice to not have to grind rep for all the alts...on the other, its a pain to put up with some of the people that now think they're ready for a heroic...
Reise Nov 15th 2007 8:19PM
well, tuesday evening my guild decided to get a group together for heroic ramps... but we could only get 4 people, so we decided to pug a dps (what harm could they do?). we got to the instance and summoned, then the pug wondered why he was zoning into an empty instance... he had NO IDEA that you can only do a certain heroic once a day. guild group proceeded to 4 man heroic ramps, i plan to avoid heroic pugs as much as i can...
Frogonius Nov 15th 2007 8:42PM
As a healer, i will never, ever PUG a heroic. I have too many horror stories from normal instances, why in the H would i wanna subject myself to a heroic PUG.
im sorry, but count me out.
alienatheart Nov 15th 2007 9:01PM
I have ran a lot of Heroic PUGs, just last night i did Heroic Mech, and we were able to do the entire run without a single wipe, infact other than the death of the warlock (once) and mage (once) we did this perfectly . We did not even wipe or have a single death dealing with Nethermancer Sepethrea. It was a good run.
AndyF Nov 15th 2007 11:22PM
Attempted Heroic Slave Pens for the daily quest today. Group was two warriors, tank and dps, rogue, warlock, priest.
Not a random PUG as we were all from familiar guilds, however the warlock was fairly lightly geared and no threatmeter (fun!). Was going ok up to the clearing of the last boss. A pair of Defender mobs patrolling joined a pull in progress and caused a wipe. Long corpse run.
Then there was a problem during a pull with only the priest + warrior near the tank. The tank dies, the other warrior dies, the priest runs away .. and pulls the two stealth-detecting mobs right into me, which I can't get out of combat with.
Then the server gives a 15 min shutdown warning. Gave up at that point.
HalcyonGT Nov 15th 2007 11:39PM
"But as easy as badges are to come by nowadays..."
In reference to badges dropping in Karazahn and Zul'Aman...like its easier to PUG those places?!?
Thats the silliest thing I've read on this site. I've been in 4 GODDAMNED guilds that have broken up over loot, commitment and leadership in regards to Kara and you thing heroic PUGs are painful?!?
Ninja please. Heroic PUGs happen all the time and quite successfully. There may be the unexpected wipe or two. The healer who gets DC'd every 20 min. Or the tank who says, "Didn't know I shouldn't fear in here."
But they happen.
Apoc Nov 15th 2007 11:54PM
Did heroic SV last night... had a PUG...
I'm a lock, Demonology/Destro, moderately geared, a few epics, mostly blues, some greens...
Everyone else (warrior, rogue, priest, druid) basically the same, new to heroics...
We only wiped once because our tank (a feral druid) DC'ed in mid-fight and healer pulled aggro.
All in all it was en enjoyable experience, as we did quite well, and I never downed that final boss so fast.
Perhaps blizz tuned down the insanity within heroics a bit? Or are we just good players?
Fireflash38 Nov 16th 2007 12:06AM
Before patch 2.3, doing heroics meant you had to run at least a few of the lvl 70 instances several times to even get revered. People had experience with the instance, and most times were decently geared. Now with the requirement reduced to Honored, there will be alot more people queueing for heroics that are not geared enough for them.
But in general, on Lightninghoof, I have had mostly successful heroic groups, with just a few failing.
Nyx Nov 16th 2007 12:11AM
I've only done one heroic PuG, and we kept losing people [the usual "my guild wants me to run Kara" excuses - oh, how I could punch everyone in the face who uses that; be a man and fake a disconnect], and ended up wiping a bunch of times near the end of the instance because the other hunter in the group would not leave my CC alone; every trap I dropped was his to break and take, so finally I just dropped group and hearthed.
It wasn't the worst PuG I've ever done, but it did bring home to me how bad a bad hunter can be - I'm not the cream of the crop, but at least I know how to let the rest of the group do their job without getting in the way.
Fizzl Nov 16th 2007 3:25AM
The problem i see is unless i get a competent group my hyjal/bt gear is going to lose more in repairs then i get from the quests.
Brian McBride Nov 16th 2007 4:45AM
I think PuGs are pretty much exactly the same as a guild run. After all, you can seek members on LFG or you can seek members in guild chat, either way your picking up a team to go to an instance.
I find the guild members vs. PuGs just means that you tend to forgive your guild member more if they screw up, are not geared well enough, or they have to leave early for some reason.
Before BC, joining a pickup-group was not a big deal and for a LONG time it was typical. You got to know lots of people on your server, guilds got to know one another, and so on. Now it seems in BC the idea of joining a PuG is suddenly so revolting?
My take, WoW must be getting less fun for the majority of the people. If the goal is to get that gear fast, only run with the most elite folks you can find, and a lack of tolerance for a learning/low geared player; then it might be that WoW became work instead of an adventure. The Tier-X grind is really not good for MMOs.
superfrank Nov 16th 2007 5:26AM
On the day of the patch I found myself in heroic ramparts with a priest with 4k health and a similar mana pool; the mage and rogue in the group were outdpsed by the protection warrior.