Wrath 101: An introduction to raiding
by Matt Low 
Nov 14th 2008 at 2:00PM
For some of you, your eyes will be on the goals of end game. You're not going to need as many consumables now as you did before. This represents a change in Blizzard philosophy. Don't even think about using Mana Oils or Wizard Oils (or stones) as they will not work on items over level 70. Pro tip: Chances are, you'll be using your present weapons for a while. Might as well use any you have left over for those while you level until you come across a replacement weapon.
Naxxramas
It once hovered over the Eastern Plaguelands. Now you can find this entry level instance in Dragonblight to the east. Players that experienced the old version of Naxx will notice many similarities in this latest rendition. Many of the bosses have returned (with the exception of a particular Knight from the 4 Horsemen).
Obsidian Sanctum
This is the first entry level Onyxia style boss you'll encounter. Sartharion is surrounded by 3 mini-boss dragons. Think of it as a modified Zul'Aman instance challenge. You can set the difficulty of the encounter by sparing any number of dragons. Leaving all 3 up when you engage Sartharion results in more items (and better quality). The Sanctum is also located in Dragonblight below Wyrmrest Temple.
The Eye of Eternity
Malygos makes the Eye of Eternity his domain. This is the only raid instance you will find in The Nexus. Before you can summon Malygos, you need to have the Heroic Key to the Focusing Iris (or its 10 man counterpart, the Key to the Focusing Iris). It'll be the first instance where you get to engage the boss on flying mounts!
Check out our walkthrough of these three early Wrath raids in the gallery below!
Arthas awaits and so do your questions. Find the answers you've been looking for that will help you with your journey into Northrend and to level 80 with Wrath 101.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Screenshots, Raiding, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jack Spicer Nov 14th 2008 2:36PM
I believe there is one more raid available atm, that is Vault of Archavon - a 10 or 25 man raid where you take on Archavon the Stone Watcher. It is accessible to whichever faction claimed Lake Wintergrasp last.
Creampuff Nov 14th 2008 2:36PM
Nice little info,esp for me who didnt raid anything pre TBC and never have killed Onyxia or been to Naxx.
Btw Couldn´t you anytime soon make an article about guilds that arent so elite when it comes raiding? That doesnt have 2 have the perfect setup when it comes 2 raiding?
xin Nov 14th 2008 3:45PM
you don't need the perfect raid to kill stuff, specially you, since you never raided before. better to learn it than read about it
Creampuff Nov 14th 2008 4:04PM
I know that you dont have 2 have the perfect setup,but most guilds are so elite in their thinking that they would as an example never let a priest that are specced lolsmite join the raid or even the guild for that matter! and by the way,i have raid experieance in The Eye and SSC,just havent raided any of the oldschool ints.
Salty Nov 14th 2008 4:11PM
Knowing how to play your class in a party, know the boss encounters, and not stand in fire, there are a lot of things about raiding that need to be said:
1 – Show up on time and show up period. If you sign up, you’ve made a commitment and your RL and raid-mates are probably relying on your warm body, your class’ abilities, your designated role and your skill. In his mind that base is covered, when you don’t show up he has a problem to deal with and your friends are tapping their feet.
2 – Realize the other 9 or 24 peoples’ time is just as important as yours. The raid starting late (#1), not being able to complete an encounter, the extra nights of wipes, etc, are all avoidable if YOU come prepared in every respect. When everyone follows this rule, great things happen.
3 – Be consistent – if you want to raid whenever you want, raid every time (#1, #2). Chances are good that if your RL has to fill ‘your spot’ constantly, he’s eventually going to find a more permanent member of the team. A tight raid roster is more consistent, more experienced and easier to gear and train and a good raid leader is looking at people who are unreliable at #1, #2 and #3 as a spot to be filled.
4 – Be considerate with loot – you may find this hard to swallow, but your tank or healer winning a Tier token over you is a direct buff to your character, especially if you’re #1, #2 and #3. Chances are good your team will kill more new bosses, sooner and quicker if the meat shield and his health bar are A-OK.
5 – If you are the raid leader, all of this goes double for you – keep people in check, don’t let them distract others, get them there on time, start the pull at the right time, keep buffing short and organized, don’t accommodate slackers, be strictly constructive with criticism, keep your players happy with a short bench and reward regular attendees with regular raid spots.
Salty Nov 14th 2008 5:05PM
Also, if you want to raid, you absolutely must resolve your dilemmas with the chicken-and-the-egg statements. Nothing I’m saying above or below is an elitist principle, just progressive.
“Why should I learn the boss fights if I’ll never get to see them?”
If you don’t learn the boss fights, the raid may be better off running with 24, especially on fights where you could wipe the raid in a moment of indecision or at worst you’re going to die early and be dead weight for the duration of the fights. These kinds of fights still exist in wrath. When your raid, as a group, is still learning the encounters, everything is more forgiving… but total ignorance is lazy. You can learn everything you need by looking at wowhead or wowwiki, both of which have information on the bosses in wrath dungeons/raids.
“Why should I gear up so hard when I’ll just be getting upgrades when I’m in the raid?” OR
“If you don’t let me raid, how am I supposed to gear up?”
A major misconception about raiding guilds is that they exist to gear their players. Understand that gear is strictly the mechanism for progression. That mindset is a major detractor to your raid leader, whose job is to prepare for when bosses are difficult, attrition is inevitable, gear drops are sparse or insignificant and 1-5% wipes are making you analyze every little inadequacy of your group.
Progressive guilds are going to be gearing up for raiding very rapidly. Being the best choice over other members is obviously in your best interest. Having a goofy unproven spec, ignoring advice from stronger players, having empty gem slots or unenchanted gear, and wearing crap quest gear when there’s an easily accessible upgrade (badge or crafted) is all a pretty good indicator of your apathy towards gaining an edge.
The issue gets worse as time goes on and the average gear level of the raid grows, but you’re stuck at plain old level 80. You’re going to find yourself competing with outside recruits, working with an increasingly inadequate equipment pool and a much broader portfolio of raid bosses to study without the experience. It’s very easy to become defeatist at this point and you’ve got to resolve to give up and be bitter or accept the challenge of proving yourself above your gear. Show the RL that you will work and invest in best-available equipment, participate in guild progression vicariously through discussion, theorycraft your class until you know it through-and-through and be available as a prepared stand-in whenever possible. Basically, be the guy your RL wishes more of his raiders were. Gear becomes very transparent when you’ve impressed him/her.
darren Nov 14th 2008 6:25PM
Hear, hear! Excellent addendum there, Salty. I could not agree more. Even when I'm not leading the raid, I hate having guildmates trying to get into the raid when I know two things: 1) You haven't even bothered to look into what is going to happen in the raid and you will need constant supervision and 2) you haven't spent any time outside of the raid to try and get geared up for the raid. Those are my two biggest pet peeves, especially considering that satisfying these two things only require: planning and a bit of internet research.
As an example, and looking back at TBC, if you are a fresh 70, you can't expect to see SWP. You must get geared for SWP, and the first step is heroics. If you know that your schedule means you can't instance grind at 70, spend some time as you are leveling to go through sites like wowhead to find the quest and profession gear that you can pick up on your way to help you move quickly into Kara and ALL the heroics. Then you can spend some time reading about the Kara fights so you don't have to have everything explained, and spend some time looking at the heroic drops so you know which to run in your valuable time.
I would also like to add that I encourage guildmates to run 5-mans and especially heroics with other guildmates during raids or nights without raids - whenever you can. Get to know your class in tight situations, and get to know the people that you are going to have to work with in raids. Doing so will allow you to communicate better, know your role and learn some tricks. And as you and your guildmates get better, you will quickly find your instance runs becoming more enjoyable - like hanging out with friends - and faster. If you are running heroics you will also be getting badges to spend for gear. Being part of a progression minded raiding guild doesn't mean you will ONLY be raiding.
Kevin Nov 15th 2008 12:15AM
So, our guild will tackle the 10-man Naxx soon and I was wondering:
I'm a paladin and they want me to go retribution - at least high enough in for the Sanctified Retribution talent - but we're also still unsure of who our OT will be.
Would a talent spec like http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?paladin=502300512200012000000000000000000000000000000000000001450053500014201533012300&glyph=121520050601 be viable for actual OT tanking in Naxx or should get our fury warrior to respec? (or, could I OT it with tanking gear as a "full" retribution build?)
With regards
Jessica Nov 15th 2008 10:28AM
So basically
Naxx = Karazhan
Obsidian Sanctum = Gruul's Lair
Eye of eternity = mags.