Posts with tag raid-guide

25-mans have higher Thunderforged drop rate than 10-mans

by Megan O'Neill Mar 11th 2013 at 7:00PM

The new Thunderforged loot designation -- much like the affix Raid Finder -- was introduced into Patch 5.2 for a number of reasons by Blizzard. While the affix does stay certain pieces from disenchantable execution on farm bosses, players largely regarded Thunderforged items as another attempt to help 25-man raiding guilds stay afloat. The developers didn't want to go back to late Wrath of the Lich King model of completely higher loot in 25mans, so instead Thunderforged items can drop in both sized raids. However, the drop rate in 25-mans would be higher than that of 10-mans.

"How frequent is more frequent?" players would ask, especially when given the chance to chat with the developers about patch 5.2. Ghostcrawler deflected the question on TotemSpot's interview, preferring to let players figure out the drop rates themselves.

Fortunately for us, WoWProgress has analyzed the loot drops using its database of characters, guilds, and bosses killed this first week of Patch 5.2. Looking at loot gains from Jin'rokh the Breaker, specifically:

11.7% of the 10-man loot equipped by characters was Thunderforged
25.7% of the 25-man loot equipped by characters was Thunderforged

Even figuring in disenchanted items, WoWProgress figures the drop rates to be approximately 10% for 10-man and 25% for 25-man. From personal anecdote, my 25-man raiding guild saw usually one but sometimes two Thunderforged drops per boss in addition to four to five regular mode drops. Tier pieces, of course, will never drop as Thunderforged.

Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.

Filed under: Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

GuildOx interviews Ion Hazzikostas

by Olivia Grace Feb 28th 2013 at 3:00PM

As patch 5.2 looms ever closer, Blizzard has opened their doors, offering insights into the ideas, plans and processes behind the upcoming patch. WoW Insider's Anne Stickney interviewed Lead Quest Designer Dave Kosak yesterday, and now GuildOx has published their interview with Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas.

The GuildOx interview brings up many interesting insights into the new raid, from the man leading the team who designed it. WoW Insider found several of Ion's answers particularly interesting, for example, he indicated that the Dark Animus fight, as pictured above, is probably the most innovative, and we certainly agree.

Ion also has some tips for guilds tackling the new raid:

Take your time, pace yourself, and enjoy the variety of the tier. It's a large one. There are fights that focus on different skills, and if you're struggling with one encounter, it's quite possible that a fight that plays to your group's strengths, and which you'll have a much easier time with, lies just over that hill.

If your guild runs into a roadblock on Normal mode, consider revisiting any 5.0 raids that you never finished, or trying some of the 5.0 Heroics for more gear upgrades to complement the ilvl-522 and -528 gear you'll be getting from your Throne of Thunder kills each week.

Filed under: Interviews

Patch 5.2 Raid Preview

by Olivia Grace Feb 26th 2013 at 4:00PM

Blizzard Community Manager Daxxarri posted a lengthy blog over on the official forums today, providing a preview of the upcoming Throne of Thunder raid. This blog provides two really interesting elements, quite separate from reviewing the actual content itself.

First off, Daxxarri has shared a summary version of every single boss's lore with us. If you're wondering just why exactly you're fighting a triceratops, this blog will tell you! It's really interesting to learn the lore behind the bosses, making the raid more than just a series of puzzles. The stories revolve around power and its destructive effects, from Jin'rokh, who started life as a quest-giver in Zul'Gurub, before being corrupted by the Thunder King and given shamanistic powers, controlling lightning alongside his huge strength to crush his foes. Horridon is a sadder tale, for me, as he seems to have simply been captured by Jalak, and forced into battle. Having fought him, though, he doesn't seem very peaceable.

There are several other great stories in the blog, for example, did you realise that the Mogu actually created the Saurok? I sure didn't. The stories, in brief, are very similar to those in the dungeon journal, along with the recent addition of Ra-den, who, it is revealed, was guarding the Engine of Nalak'sha.

But more than that, there is what could almost be considered a director's commentary, provided by Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas. Ion provides a brief summary of the team's approach for every fight, how they came into being, what was the inspiration behind them, and so on.

Filed under: Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2 PTR: Crushing the Council of Elders

by Matt Low Feb 23rd 2013 at 8:00PM

Patch 52 PTR Crushing the Council of Elders

Thought you saw the last of Gara'jal in Mogushan Vaults, did you?

Yeah, so did I. Mogu'shan Vaults was merely a setback!

The Council of Elders is the third encounter in the Throne of Thunder. I surmise it's the whole leadership of the Troll empire right there looking to stop your raid team from progressing any further into the compound.

As you can guess, this encounter is the first council-type encounter of the raid. They'll have to handle the various abilities and spells that the Council is dishing out while slowly whittling them all down. They don't have a shared pool so you do you have your work cut out for you. Now there are going to be a ton of things going on but your raid should be able to pick up on the different abilities without too much of a hassle.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raid Guides, Mists of Pandaria

Poll: The worst boss of tier 14

by Olivia Grace Feb 22nd 2013 at 7:00PM

Don't pretend you didn't see this coming after the earlier poll asking about the best boss of tier 14. Where there is light, there is shadow, and just as we love to discuss the best of a raid tier here at WoW Insider, we find ourselves duty bound to also talk about its bad sides. What was your worst boss in tier 14?

For me, again, just expressing a personal opinion, not a statement of fact, the worst bosses were the worst bosses thanks to either mechanics which I found gimmicky, or fights that seemed overly long and sluggish. Leaping to the head of the pack for my worst boss in the tier, then, is Amber Shaper Un'sok. His random transformation of players into vehicles with, as you'd expect in a vehicle, completely revamped abilities, is frustrating at best. In fact, I say it's random, but it isn't. Almost without exception, Un'sok has a remarkable ability to target the player least equipped to deal with a sudden transformation into Lord Ryolith. If the vehicle was something that could be targeted, or selected for a specific player, it would be fine, but that isn't the case. He is, therefore, number one on my worst boss list.

Filed under: Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

Poll: The best boss of tier 14

by Olivia Grace Feb 22nd 2013 at 2:00PM

As patch 5.0's raids' glory days draw to a close, it's time to look back on the first tier of Mists of Pandaria. No, you're right, it's highly likely that a lot of players will not yet have completed this tier, maybe not even seen the latter half, but most will probably have made it through the Raid Finder, at least. So, as we stand on the brink of embarking on a new patch, and new raid content, what has been your best boss in patch 5.0?

For me, and of course this is just my personal opinion, based on my experience and preferences in bosses, there are a few contenders. I actually like a lot of the fights in the earlier part of this tier, maybe because we're used to them so they're more relaxed, but I like to think that it's because they have mechanics that are innovative without being gimmicky, and because the fights don't last forever. Some of the Terrace of Endless Spring fights seem to last about a week, and maybe it's because I'm healing, but that isn't a characteristic I particularly enjoy.

For me, as a shaman healer main, the best boss contenders are the following. Gara'jal the Spirit Binder, because the Spirit Realm health knockdowns, plus mana regen buffs, mean I can blow the top off the healing meter as mastery kicks in and mana becomes a non-issue. Pure /flexing, I know. And I must admit that it's pretty terrible on the raid finder.

Filed under: Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2 PTR: Breaking Jin'rokh the Breaker

by Olivia Grace Jan 28th 2013 at 4:00PM

I headed back to the patch 5.2 PTR recently with Lore from TankSpot, and members of his guild Months Behind to test the first boss of the Throne of Thunder, Jin'rokh the Breaker. We had an entertaining time, at first, as can often be the case on the PTR. The developers had ported all the testers into the wrong part of the raid, so we set off exploring, and found a geyser that transported us all up to Lei Shen, who, while he happily continued his RP, refused to engage us in combat. We couldn't get to Jin'rokh at first, but a swift disband and regroup secured us entry into his room.

Jin'rokh is the first boss of the new raid, and as such has relatively straightforward mechanics, certainly compared to Lei Shen. Again, I was on my goblin restoration shaman, so view the fight from a healer's perspective.

Jin'rokh's fight proceeds in repeating, short phases. He engages and beats up your tank for a short while, putting out very healable damage. Jin'rokh will place a stacking debuff on the tank called Static Wound, which increases damage taken from melee strikes more and more as it builds. This is apparently designed to force a tank swap.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.2 PTR: Thunderforged items could revitalize 25-man raiding

by Olivia Grace Jan 23rd 2013 at 2:00PM

Patch 52 PTR Thunderforged items offer a six ilvl upgrade in all raid difficulties

Blizzard Community Manager Tyiliru has posted on the community forums with some information on new Thunderforged items, which offer increased item levels.

These Thunderforged items can drop from both Normal and Heroic mode raids, but not from the Raid Finder, and have an item level which is six higher than the standard item level of items obtained from those sources. So, item levels will be as follows:

Raid Finder: ilvl 502
Normal mode: ilvl 522
Normal Thunderforged: ilvl 528
Heroic: ilvl 535
Heroic Thunderforged: ilvl 541

Tyiliru also adds that these items will be more likely to drop in 25-man raiding, which will lead to 25-man raiders having a slightly increased item level compared to 10-man raiders. Tyiliru clarifies that this is definitely an attempt from Blizzard to offer greater rewards to 25-man raiders, without overly rewarding them to the extent that 10-man raids will feel undervalued.

Ghostcrawler was kind enough to clarify that this was not the unannounced feature he mentioned last night!

@rastailian @oliviadgrace Thunderforged is the controversial idea I mentioned weeks ago, not the cool unannounced feature from yesterday.
- Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) January 23, 2013

Hit the break for Tyiliru's full post. Will this make you more inclined to push for 25-man raiding over 10-man? Is item level inflation getting totally out of hand, and will this really make an impact, given that 25-man raiders already gear somewhat more quickly than 10man raiders?

Filed under: Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

Ways to avoid LFR wipes

by Olivia Grace Jan 22nd 2013 at 5:00PM

We all know that feeling of dread. The one when you zone into your LFR group, and see the aftermath of a wipe. People start leaving, your group that you've waited an hour for falls apart at the seams, and all because of a wipe. It seems that patience, while undoubtedly sill a virtue, is in short supply once players zone in to the Raid Finder. Players leave when wipes happen, and if I put on my impatient hat, it's not that hard to see why with the sheer duration of some Raid Finder battles. Certain fights seem to last forever.

So, how do you avoid wipes in the Raid Finder?

Check roles and readiness

It's often the case that players in the Raid Finder aren't really paying attention just before a pull because of the group waiting while the tanks discuss strategy, or that the tank has zoned in, glanced at their panes, and gone barreling in without paying too much attention to the status of other players. As a result, a ready check is often a great idea. Fire one off just before the pull happens just to see whether people are paying attention, and to say "hey we're ready to go."

Filed under: Raiding, Mists of Pandaria

Six simple tips for getting started in healing

by Olivia Grace Jan 15th 2013 at 5:00PM

A little while back, we had six simple tips to getting started in tanking. In the brief introduction to that, I asserted that tanking was among the more stressful and pressured roles in WoW at the moment, just because of the low numbers of tanks compared to others in situations like raids, particularly the Raid Finder.

While the same is not true for healers in the raid finder, you're the only one of your kind in 5-man content, where you're likely to start to learn to heal. Healing's a little tricky to get started with, just because there's not much scope to practice out in the world, without other players. I would definitely have a go with all your spells out in the wild, just to see what they do, but it's only going to be when you get into an instance that your skills are actually tested.

Starting as you mean to continue

One of the things that's going to affect your gameplay and learning experience as a healer is how you're getting started. Leveling a new healer from scratch is a great way to go, as the low level dungeons are pretty well stress free, and you'll get your abilities little by little, so you can learn how each one works and, just as importantly, weaves in with the other spells at your disposal.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

Raid Rx: Healing through Gara'jal and Spirit Kings

by Matt Low Nov 10th 2012 at 2:00PM

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests.

A few weeks ago, Joe wrote a piece about personal survivability on my blog. After healing some raid finder and pug runs, I wanted to help echo his sentiment. Whenever there's a new expansion, there's always additional abilities, bosses, and so forth. There's new players picking up the game and old players returning. It bears some reminding that you absolutely should help look after yourself.

Your class has talents that helps you live.

Use them!

Filed under: Raid Rx (Raid Healing), Raid Guides

Raid Rx: Healing through Feng

by Matt Low Oct 19th 2012 at 5:00PM

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests.

We'll get into healing tips for Feng momentarily but I wanted to examine the state of raiding healers.

It's been a couple of weeks since Mogu'shan Vaults opened up for raids. We've got another week and a few days to go before Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Springs open. A quick cursory glance at the preferred healers show that monks are the class to be right now. They appear to be dominating at the 25 level while in normal 10s, we're seeing additional representation from shaman and paladins. Priests have received some minor hotfixes. Prayer of Healing and Prayer of Mending was buffed by an additional 25% not too long ago.

5.1 is introducing another set of changes to priests:

Chakra: Serenity now increases single target healing by 25% (was 15%).
Chakra: Sanctuary now increases area healing by 25% (was 15%).

No additional healing changes have been announced for the other classes yes, but I'd expect some more tweaks coming down the road.

Filed under: Raiding, Raid Rx (Raid Healing), Raid Guides

Raid Rx: Getting started with healing Mogu'shan Vaults

by Matt Low Oct 6th 2012 at 6:00PM

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests.

Raids are out! If you're anything like me, you spent a good chunk of week 1 powering to 90 as fast as possible. With raids open in the second week of Mists of Pandaria, you are no doubt in the process of preparing to step inside Mogu'shan Vaults! Today we'll cover some of the pre-raid items you should be doing before taking on the Stone Guard.

Yes, we'll be going over Stone Guard healing tips, too!

Reputation grinds: Blizzard has generously nerfed the reputation requirements when it comes to purchasing select gear. Now you only need to be revered to purchase those delicious valor level items. If you managed to cap out your valor last week, you have the ability to pick up a neck piece from the Klaxxi (provided that you have been diligent with their dailies). As a bonus, many of these quests provide those Lesser Charm of Good Fortune which gives you an extra chance at loot in any raid difficulty level.

Consumables: Have you been leveling your cooking and farming abilities with the Tillers? If not, Megan has a great introductory guide. We're looking to become Master of the Steamer due to their spirit food. For potions, arm yourself with stacks of Potion of Focus. Look for the safe periods in a fight where you can use these without getting interrupted. Finally, expect to spend some money on Flask of Falling Leaves. Gold Lotus prices are typically going to be really high. But you'll want that extra regen.

Filed under: Raiding, Raid Rx (Raid Healing), Raid Guides

Convert to Raid talks to Ion Hazzikostas: Theramore, Raiding, and more

by Olivia Grace Sep 21st 2012 at 5:00PM

Convert to Raid talk to Ion Hazzikostas about Theramore, Raiding, and the LoreAction balance

This Sunday, September 23, raiding podcast Convert to Raid will be broadcasting an interview with Blizzard Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas, a.k.a. Blizzard Blue Watcher. Convert to Raid's host, Pat Krane, a.k.a. Zhug, was good enough to give WoW Insider a sneak preview of this weekend's broadcast so we could give you some snippets to whet your appetite!

You guys just released the Theramore scenario, and I wanted to check how the feedback was from the players?

I think we're learning a lot from player reactions to the Theramore scenario. A lot of it is what player expectations were going into it, it was never really designed to be the epic world event prior to the expansion, things like the zombie plague come to mind. It was a story-driven little sneak preview of what the scenario system had to offer, and showing players a glimpse of one of the key events that's going to lead to greater conflict between the Alliance and the Horde... Something we've learned from repeatable content is that players don't always want very lengthy dialogue or cutscenes or cinematics...

Healing Mogu'shan Vaults Part 1 in the raid finder

by Matt Low Aug 13th 2012 at 9:00AM

Raid Rx Healing Mogu'shan Vaults part 1 in LFR ANY

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poohbah of World of Matticus and a founder of Plus Heal, a discussion community for healers of all experience levels and interests.

Imagine my delight when I realized that the raid finder in the Mists of Pandaria beta was available for testing. The only instance available at the moment is Mogu'shan Vaults, but heck, who cares? I've been dying to get more practice in. I must've waited around 50 or so minutes before we had enough players to jump in. There were times where we had two tanks, six healers, and 11 DPSers. Other times we had 17 DPSers, 6 healers, and no tanks!

The raid finder for Mogu'shan Vaults has been split into two parts. You can't access the second half of it until you clear out the first three bosses in the first half.

There are some spoilers after the cut. Consider yourself warned!

Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Raid Rx (Raid Healing), Raid Guides, Monk

WoW Insider Show

Subscribe via iTunes for our latest show.

Hot Topics

Upcoming Events

Event	Date
Call to Arms: Isle of Conquest	5/14 - 5/16
Call to Arms: Alterac Valley	5/17 - 5/20
Call to Arms: The Battle for Gilneas	5/21 - 5/23
Call to Arms: Warsong Gulch	5/24 - 5/27
Call to Arms: Twin Peaks	5/28 - 5/30
Call to Arms: Strand of the Ancients	5/31 - 6/3
Darkmoon Faire	6/2 - 6/9
Call to Arms: Silvershard Mines	6/4 - 6/6
Call to Arms: Temple of Kotmogu	6/11 - 6/13
Call to Arms: Arathi Basin	6/18 - 6/20
Midsummer Fire Festival	6/21 - 7/5
Call to Arms: Eye of the Storm	6/25 - 6/27