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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsFirst impressions: Icecrown Citadel raid and 5-mans
by Allison Robert 
Dec 11th 2009 at 1:00PM
- Forge of Souls is the easiest of the new 5-mans. The most common gripe is that group members don't pay attention to their raid warnings and move in as necessary for Bronjahm, or stop DPS on Devourer of Souls if they get Mirrored Soul.
- Pit of Saron is pretty cool, though quite sad at the end (at least if you're Horde). The trash pulls full of casters are on the tough side if people aren't good about interrupting or moving out of Hellfire on heroic. Also, don't bank on getting Don't Look Up in a pug.
- Halls of Reflection is widely cited for the intense difficulty of the first two bosses (or, more accurately, the trash waves preceding them). The heroic version is not recommended for undergeared groups, and a successful run demands a decently high level of play from all members of the group. The end is really cool.
- Lord Marrowgar is considered a utility fight; it's a gear check for the tanks and a basic competence check for everyone else. This is possibly the result of its being one of the weekly raid quests. Alex Ziebart characterizes Marrowgar as "the first half of Black Temple in review."
- Lady Deathwhisper is the first real challenge for a competent raid and tests your ability to get Deathwhisper's shield to 0% while controlling adds and mind-controlled (on 25-man) players. The encounter punishes players swiftly for a lack of raid awareness, but it's not too steep a learning curve, and once you've gotten her to phase 2, you've pretty much won. Melee DPS are unhappy about yet another set of mobs in the game with nasty cleaves who have to be jockeyed into position.
- The Gunship battle: Very positive reactions in general. On a personal note, I think this is one of Blizzard's best, most unique, and most interesting fights since Sunwell. I want this fight to get married and have kids.
- Deathbringer Saurfang: Phase 4 Illidan meets the spawn of Saurfang. Players everywhere wonder: why can't Saurfang Jr. cleave?
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Raiding, Bosses
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
Mordockk Dec 11th 2009 1:59PM
Lady Deathwhisper was the biggest challenge in 25man for my guild. Add control was quite difficult at times but we implemented a new strat the next night and got her down. Keeping a group dedicated 100% to the mana shield and seperate side groups for adherent adds is what we did. we pulled magical dmg dealer off of deathwhisper when their were reanimated fanatics...everyone else was just burning down adherent/fanatics. dont forget to kite empowered fanatics!
We one shot marrowgwar and gunship battle. Cool fights....marrowgwar looks awesome :P
And deathbringer saurfang wasn't too bad either, just took a couple pulls to learn how to handle the beasts.
Valis Dec 11th 2009 1:49PM
"Pit of Saron is pretty cool, though quite sad at the end (at least if you're Horde)."
Indeed it is sad...heartless and sad.
...and it's making me start to utterly loathe Sylvanas.
Fierna Dec 11th 2009 2:09PM
Oh she's just... practical. The woman has bloody vengeance to deal out for the slaughter of her homeland she can't worry about a few dozen mortals.
I'll take her over Varian for my leader.
Valis Dec 11th 2009 2:12PM
Meh I dunno....with the boob job and her new...ugh...voice...she seems to be turning into the 'bad gurrrrl' of WOW.
To me she seemed to go from 'interesting' to 'typical'.
N-train Dec 11th 2009 2:14PM
Have you seen what they did to UC? All the aboms are gone and replaced with Garrosh's elites who insult me and call me a "bonebag" when I ask them where the BS trainer is. The whole Wrathgate coup was neither Sylvanas or my fault, yet we both have to suffer for it now. As a proud undead, I can't say those guys deserved getting Sindragosa-melted, but I can't say Sylvanas is unjustified for not being too happy with the rest of the Horde right now.
jealouspirate Dec 11th 2009 2:17PM
@ Fierna
How is Sylvanas any better than Varian? People make no sense to me.
1) Varian lost everything to the Orcs and hates them for it
Player response: "What a dick, get over it you pigheaded racist!"
2) Sylvanas loses everything to the Scourge, and as a result not only hates the Scourge but also hates everything that breathes and swears revenge on the world.
Player response: "Man, Sylvanas is awesome! Long live the Queen! For the Horde!"
Valis is completely right. Sylvanas, folks, is EVIL. I honestly don't know why people like her so much. Her mentality is basically "If I can't live, no one can!" So she goes off to take revenge on Arthas and destroy all life on Azeroth. How people ever thought Sylvanas wasn't rotten to the core is beyond me.
Valis Dec 11th 2009 2:19PM
Yes but she's also taking it out on the blood elves (many of them also died via the dragon)....her own people.
Everyone and everything is just a tool for her revenge....and thats not going to end well for her or the horde.
Garrosh might be a hothead...but she's a cold hearted fiend.
...well she's turning into one.
Valis Dec 11th 2009 2:21PM
@jealouspirate
Sadly I think the double boob job was a clever ploy to make...some folks...not notice her wicket ways.
/fancepalm
PirateEmery Dec 11th 2009 1:51PM
QQ
JR Dec 11th 2009 1:57PM
My guild did ICC-25 on Wednesday for the first time. We had read some strats for the first boss, but not for the trash, which resulted in some trash wipes. We got Morrowgar down in the third attempt. As the article says, it's an easy fight, and it will be easy for people to pug the weekly quest when he's the target again. Feeling all cocky, we came back the next day and spent the whole night wiping on Deathwhisper. This is definitely a step up in difficulty compared to Morrowgar, and requires a good amount of coordination in the raid.
Overall I'm really happy with the new instances and the new raid. The feeling of entering a raid not knowing exactly what to expect is exhilarating, something we hadn't felt since Ulduar (ToC is just a room, it can't compare to huge fortresses like Naxx, Ulduar and ICC). And ICC just looks and feels epic. Can't wait to explore more of it.
VSUReaper Dec 11th 2009 2:01PM
My only complaint is a pretty small one - some of the pulls are stupidly difficult to get under control. 5 casters, all out of range of one another for an aoe aggro move (dnd, consecrate, swipe, t-clap). Its "fun" b/c it is so difficult, but the first few times thru there I was about to rip my hair out trying to get all the mobs to stick to me.
HOR, running from the LK is also annoying b/c the witch doctors will stop and wait for the LK to get to you, and if one person is under performing even a little its a wipe. Its a little unforgiving, but if everyone does their best, then its an awesome encounter.
I'm enjoying the new 5 mans immensely.
Craash Dec 11th 2009 2:06PM
i like the new heroics. our guild run of them ended on arthas, sadly. we just couldn't get the adds before the 4th wall down before he walked up and frostmourne'd us to oblivion. we wiped twice on trash before marwyn because the ranged weren't being pulled closer and they pew pew hard.
overall i like the new dungeons.
Zazinwow Dec 11th 2009 2:18PM
I've only done the 5-mans but I'm pretty happy with them.
FoS is a visually stunning set up and it's pretty simple if people just pay attention. I get a little irritated when the tank (if I'm not tanking) doesn't move Bronjahm away from the soul shards and dps doesn't take em out...but that's just me being picky.
PoS is also very well done. Massive caster packs can be tricky, but are manageable if everyone is on the same page about interrupts and such. Tyrannus is a ball to tank, personally, since it swaps now and then from a tank and spank to a kite game, so it keeps ME entertained. Very different from most of the other bosses I've tanked in Wrath so far.
HoR...well, I'm sure evrything anyone could say about it has been said, I've i've been furiously posting on the tanking forums. It's a great instance to be sure. It's also a PuG disaster if people are not going to be team players. While methods of "all you need is a good tank to carry you" or "all it takes is a good healer to keep the party up" are I guess legitimate, I like the play style of EVERYONE should be on their game, not hoping that OTHERS are so they can progress. Sort of a steep learning curve in Heroic, but if people just slow down and work together, this could be one of those instances that improves player skills across the board...I think that's a good idea from where I'm sitting. The ending is just epic too!
nikdaheratik Dec 11th 2009 2:21PM
I like the new dungeons alot. I wish they'd came out with something like PoS at the start instead of oculus or old kingdom. Even the annoying caster pulls are still more fun because there's only a few of them, instead of an entire level of dragonkin you have to line of sight like oculus. And the whole HoR was very fun to heal, and DPS, though probably not that much fun to tank. I had alot of fun on HoR with my DK because you could actually use things like chains of ice and that deathgrip on trash at the end.
Tridus Dec 11th 2009 2:32PM
Why is the Pit of Saron sad if you're horde? (Alliance player, I'm curious. :) )
I like the new 5 mans, except for the trash waves at the start of HoR. Those are a real hassle and seem tuned out of line with everything else, especially with a tanking class that can't easily silence and corral everything, a coupe of casters and a rifleman all in different areas of the room basically force the healer to use the LoS trick. Second half of HoR is epic, though.
Overall 3.3's content gets a thumbs up from me.
Valis Dec 11th 2009 2:41PM
I won't give too much away...but I will say this.
Many of the hordes bravest die neadlessly......and Sylvanas does nothing....nothing.
jealouspirate Dec 11th 2009 2:59PM
Sylvanas not only does nothing to stop the freed Horde slaves from dying, she actually expresses RELIEF that they died.
The reason? They were boring her by talking too much.
Silhavey Dec 11th 2009 4:15PM
I guess it's sad that Sylvanas doesn't care, but does that surprise anyone? She's undead. Not a big fan of the living. But isn't it also sad that master magician Jaina Proudmoore can apparently only teleport 5 people to safety?
JR Dec 11th 2009 5:34PM
"But isn't it also sad that master magician Jaina Proudmoore can apparently only teleport 5 people to safety?"
Jaina doesn't express relief that those people died. She actually seems sorry and ashamed that she couldn't save them.
Valis Dec 11th 2009 5:50PM
Sadly her indefference and new look is a bit of a shallow ploy on Blizzards part.
I mean look at her now...she looks like an undead barbie doll. >_<
I don't know how to explain this but in some male geekdoms mind she's now become WOW's 'bad girl' and her amorality and disdain for others is actually a turn on...to them.
Personally my one ounce of sympathy for her few out the window when all those slaves died....I suppose the writes didn't think beyond "Durr undead hot elf woman with even bigger booooobesss durrr." but....to me...she's as horrible...if not more horrible...than the litch king.
I want the blood elves to forsake any loyalty they had to her...before she gets them completely wiped out.