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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Banging our heads against the wall
by Tori Eidson 
May 14th 2010 at 8:00AM
Fast forward to Wrath of the Lich King, a different guild and a different server. We have found our proverbial wall in the Lich King. Many of us have successfully downed him in 10-man, but the 25-man fight is a different story. Our problem seems to come from executing phase 2 right, with having a stun rotation on the valkyrs and placing the Defiles in the right spots away from other raid members. Yes, we have the lag monster come out during this phase, but it is mostly an execution point.
In both those cases, I have seen my guildmates get so frustrated that they either leave the guild, take a break from the game or even not show up to raid on those nights we are focusing specifically on that boss. They just don't want to be hitting their heads against a wall all night, even though it would be for progression.
Raid leaders, how do you get over that hurdle? Do you just keep picking away at the boss until you get him down, or do you take a night where you go through old content to give your raiders a break? Raiders, how do you handle constant wiping on a boss? Are you the type who stays with your raid group through thick and thin, or do you jump ship when you are stuck on that one boss?
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Ayasu May 14th 2010 4:21PM
Here's how we do it in my guild.
First off, keeping a positive outlook is a must. Use the better attempts *of the night* as your bench mark. Got him to 80% the first try, then 75% the 2nd. Hey, that's progress, let's keep it up!
Also, knowing when to take a break when people are getting overly frustrated is a good thing. With my guild, when we're face-bashing a new boss, we'll just take a step back and take 5-10 minutes to cool down, get a snack, something to drink, etc. It's all about knowing people's limits, and communication. As a raid leader, if you have a few people complaining about getting frustrated, take a break and let everyone cool their heads.
This has worked on every boss we've ever had problems with, from Yogg up to Sindy. Though, we're still working on Lich King, it's only a matter of time :D
Me May 14th 2010 5:56PM
Be up front in your recruitment. We are a progression guild. We will wipe 6 hours a week on kael'thas/yogg Saron/Lich King 25 until we kill him. Progression nights are our Important nights,
Once you're there, it's harder. Discuss it in your guild forums. Make a public (within the guild) decision. Go with it from then on. Are we going to have a rule that we call a raid after 2-3 hours of straight wiping on one boss, or are we going to push until raid end time. Replace people who have "trouble" attending progression night on a regular basis. (If you reach some sort of majority consensus that's the kind of guild you are).
Heremod May 14th 2010 5:58PM
In other words, if this really is who you are, and you're clear about it, you can make it an issue of pride to go on. It's who we are, we don't give up. We work hard. [And to those who say it's a game, it shouldn't be work, I say so are sports, but if my team has a practice or a hard game against a better team, I'm sure as heck showing up, it's part of the experience. And I'll enjoy that for what it is.]
Rav May 14th 2010 6:34PM
My guild is stuck on this bastard as well. 8( We were the first guild to get to him and start plugging away at it. When people started seeing how hard he was suddenly we started having attendance issues on LK nights. People keep failing on the execution of defiles. We have made it to phase 3 a grand total of 2 times so far. It's frustrating to me and a few others that alot of our fellow players just can't be bothered to try. They show up in droves for the easy farm content of all the other bosses but as soon as it's just the big guy himself left, poof, they vanish like smoke.
Sad to say we have now been passed by 3 alliance guilds who have managed to down him and moved on to clear a bunch of the easier hardmodes. Yet here we sit, the first guild to get to him, horde side guild, still stuck on P2. 8( If you get a good answer to this attendance / attitude issue I'd love to know it.
Bonkers May 19th 2010 3:38PM
Here's a toy webapp for practicing phase 2 execution:
http://faff.appspot.com/DefileMe