I love it when a plan comes together

First off, thank you everyone for the replies. Please post up details on the results you've found so others can benefit--including me! Include a link to your armory profile and let us know what glyphs you're using. Post any WWS links you have as well.

Last night I took a group into ZA to see what was in the fourth chest. (SPOILER ALERT) It's just another one of the rings from the 3rd chest. lame.

In the prep room you could feel the excitement in the air; everyone was anxious to try out their new specs and talents. I didn't want us to be cocky and play sloppy so I told them "in truth we don't know what to expect so play tight, tanks keep us moving at a decent pace, healers watch your mana if if you get low call it out, and DPS for god's sake don't pull of the tanks because we're all working off new talents here." And then I started the event.

It was like life in fast forward. killkillkillpull.killkillkillpull.killkillkillpull.killkillkillpull.Boss. WTH?!? We were killing mobs so fast my precious rotations were pointless. I was lucky if I could mash my buttons fast enough before a mob went down. Akil'zon only got off one storm, Halazzi only one bear form, and Jan'alai was at 35% before the second hatchers even spawned. In fact on Jan'alai I had to call to stop dps because we would have had him at 35% (when he hatches all the remaining eggs at once) before the first hatcher was even done. It was lightning fast. 4 chests in 31 minutes flat. Blazing.

Hexx Lord only got off 2 rounds of Spirit Bolts. We killed Zul'jin in record time and with one rogue stuck outside the flames (sorry Oldbie!). We definitely could have finished faster if I didn't call for a bio break along the way.

If you have not torn up ZA I highly recommend you get in there with a group and rip it apart.

As for me? How was the newness? It was awesome--until WF ran out and I forgot to refresh it. Damn me and my mod reliance! Before my WF expired I was keeping up a solid stream of damage and keeping up with the DPS Warrior who was doing Warrior things all over the place. He was basically AoE Melee and I was able to keep up with him just through single target damage.

The pace of play for Enhance is much faster, couple that with the increased speed of kills and it means I'm spending a lot more time with my head buried in my action bars and much less time with my head up watching the action. This could be a problem later on, but hopefully it also has to do with just getting used to the new play mechanics.

As for spell rotations, on bosses I find it thoroughly enjoyable to get into a groove with shocks, MW5_LBs, SS and LL. In fact, I don't often find myself wondering what to hit next as usually when my GCD is up there is only 1 spell that is ready for action.

Key points to remember for boss fights:

1. Keep FS active, it does great damage over the long haul. Edit: some are saying FS is a dog because it can't crit. I'll have to look into this.
   
2. Don't use MW with less than 5 procs. Edit: 4 or less resets the swing timer and reduces dps so only use with 5 procs.
   
3. If you get in trouble you can use MW for a Healing Wave on yourself
   

Two other quick points:

• The ShockAndAwe mod is incredible. I'm relying on that for keeping track of Maelstrom Weapon procs. If you don't have it go grab it now from wowinterface
• MW5 Chain Lightning = good times! I was throwing CL so much on trash I felt like an Ele

I must say Enhance is really coming together beautifully. In the words of the A-Team: I love it when a plan comes together.

Stoney's Bear Mount

So much to say about this.

Should I talk about the 11 months of work in here? The fact that we would be rolling in bear mounts if I didn't take a break from the game in August? Should I reminisce about when we first stepped into ZA and were wiping so bad that most of the guild stopped running it forever--well, until my groups started getting close to the 4th timed chest and then many wanted to come in and partake in the loot. Should I bring up the heartbreaking 1% wipes on Hexx & ZJ? Or the night we wiped 10 times on Jan'Alai due to my stubbornness? What about when the mace dropped off ZJ on our first kill and an initiate won the roll over Awl and I gave it to the initiate--and Awl didn't speak to me for a few days. Or two weeks ago when we missed by 30 seconds? So many experiences. So many times I took groups, pushed them to their limits and tested them against the clock; pushed to the edge and brought back again. So many strategies laid out, pep talks given, and tongue lashings administered. So many damn Healthstones!

The bear mount is the culmination of all of this for me. To most it's a mount and a helluva fine trophy mount at that. To me, it's every wipe, every win, and every moment of my time I've invested up to this point in the Burning Crusade. This represents the blood sweat and tears of hundreds of hours of work, practice, and play.

To be honest, I did loot it to myself. I took advantage of my position of power and asked the raid if I may be so bold as to take it. Almost everyone said for me to take it. But almost isn't unanimous. No one spoke up either in raid chat or in a whisper to say, stop. But I know that some wanted to do so. And so I broke our loot guild policy. I do apologize to you for taking advantage of my position. I promise you this mount means more to me than it possibly could to anyone else. That's not to diminish your desire for it, but only to say the meaning it takes on for me. I mean, I couldn't even look at Awl and Dwarfknight on their mounts for the past two weeks. And when we blew our chance at another one this last Saturday I was devastated--and pissed.

To some it may seem strange to wrap up so much emotion in a virtual item, but again to me the item is symbolic. Raid leading is not easy. I've endured plenty of name calling both to my face and behind my back. I've driven some away and pulled some in closer. I've managed conflicts and dealt with drama. I've yelled at people for their mistakes and apologized profusely for my own. I've cool hot heads and breathed vigor back into those who stopped caring. I've earned this fucking mount.

Amani War Bear with 4 Minutes to Spare!

Done! Did it! Complete! Tonight Unorthodox earned its first Amani War Bear.

Congratulations to Awl, Paladin extraordinaire of Unorthodox and a good friend who was with me from the very beginning of Zul'Aman and stuck with me through all of our trials and tribulations.

Before we started I gave everyone a quick pep talk about Sunday's run and how we missed by 30 seconds. It could have been hesitating at bosses, or taking too long to loot, or any number of things. We all agreed to keep moving forward at a solid pace but without rushing and getting into trouble.

We did just that. We took every shortcut we knew. We didn't CC. We left it on Free For All loot the entire time. I didn't even bother to pick up the loot for DE. Eagle went down fast. Next to bear and we ripped him apart. Things were going smoothly even when on Jan'Alai's trash we had to face down 2 Flame Casters in the first pack and 2 again in the 5 pack around the bend. Things got a little dicey at one point because I didn't allow any CC and I kept missing the interrupts on the volleys. We were getting pummelled with fireballs, everyone's health was low and it looked like chaos in there. To the healers credit and the with no deaths; we recovered and got up the the platform.

Jan'Alai dealt us 3 deaths--one mage died twice and one of the healers bit it at the end (I think). It was a sloppy kill whereas our other two kills and clears were nearly flawless. We had 16 minutes left on the clock. Our previous best time was with 12 minutes remaining. I knew we had it at that point but I couldn't let it show for fear of the raid thinking it was in the bag and getting sloppy.

Awl and Lasthope, our Prot Pally and Feral Druid, kept the raid moving along through Halazzi trash. I got smashed to little bits by the gators on patrol, got a rez from Arkuss our Shadow Priest so the healers could keep moving. The pulls were coming along perfectly. With one mob still up the tanks would move forward and pull the next group. Mana was running low but we had to keep pressing forward. Up to Halazzi's room and the patrol was just coming around the bend. The patrols in this instance seem to be on a perfect rotation--as long as you are on pace to get the 4th timed chest.

With the three packs dead in the lynx's room we still had over 6 minutes on the clock. Everyone was anxious and ready to go; people calling for the pull but I needed healthstones and I'm sure others did too after the MC mobs and Flame Casters took their toll. It was OK at this point to take a minute to be sure everyone was buffed, had full mana and a healthstone. But the group couldn't take it anymore, they were on the edge of their seats and itching to down him. And we did.

We unleashed holy hell on Halazzi. It was going so fast I didn't know what phase we were in towards the end. When he did his split into the final Phase 2 and we got hit by the Transfigure it totally caught me by surprise--I thought we were already in the split phase! Awl peeled the lynx off Nosferot, the resto Shaman, and we just completely decimated the boss. At 2% with everyone alive and full health people were starting to get excited. A quick shout to finish stong and we did just that.

Halazzi dead.

4th chest opened.

A journey that began 10, nearly 11, months ago was completed for the very first time in Unorthodox.

Before we opened the chest Zhentar, Warlock and long-standing member, told the raid that he is rolling on the mount but if he wins his roll goes to me. Nearly half the raid chimed in with their agreement. I was really moved by the sentiment. Thank you everyone for offering It means a lot to me because the bear mount is more than just a prize, it's a symbol of a player's dedication to overcome a very difficult challenge as a team member. For a raider to offer up that symbol is very moving. It means more to me than you'll know--and believe me I will take you up on that!

When ZA first opened we set out to just gear up and get some loot. Then we started clearing timed chests and we got better and better at it. By the time we were getting close to the third chest the instance started to take on a new life for us as a team. It became a new challenge and a very difficult one that required flawless execution and cutting every spare second of slop out of the raid.

With our first bear in the guild I want to say congratulations to Awl and to everyone who's run ZA with me. Thank you for the hard work, for ever second saved, and for every sacrifice made.

We'll be back in here after every reset until the patch to collect as many bears as possible!

Heartbreaker

I cried a little tonight. Really.

Well, ok maybe not.
But it was emotional.

We missed getting our very first bear mount in the guild by 30 seconds. Thirty freakin seconds. It could have been the extra time we took after Jan'alai. It could have been the three deaths along the way to Halazzi (mind included) that took an extra 10-20 seconds each. It could have been the 1 extra scout and the 1 extra pat we had to kill. It could have been anything in that 45 minutes.

We got to Halazzi's room with under 5 minutes to go. The first time we got the 3rd timed chest it was under 6 minutes. I knew we could do it and reminded everyone about that first ring.

The first phase was not promising; it was not going fast enough. By the time he popped out of his first split phase the mages must have started up their engines and we were roaring through him. We unloaded on him. Hard. DPS was unreal. Then in the 2nd split we lost our rogue to a Flame Shock. Then a mage to a totem. It was down to the wire with Fire Elementals out, Heroisms used, all pots and HS on cooldown and every major trick in the book already blown. The hunter went down and we were now down to only 3 DPS. Then a healer. We were on our last legs coming into the final 25%. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the little gnome step out of her cage and catch fire. The mount was lost. Less than 30 seonds after that Halazzi fell.

There was screaming, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth. It was lost.

According to WWS we did the fight in 3 minutes 16 seconds. Maybe we could have shaved off 15-16 seconds with all the dps up. Realistically the time was lost along the way in the prior 45 minutes. No one is to blame. Everyone did their job and did it splendidly.

In all likelihood the patch will drop on Tuesday. In all likelihood that patch will replace the bear mount with something else. In all likelihood I have failed in my mission to bring the bear mount to Unorthodox.

If it is the end of the Amani War Bear mount then I want to thank everyone in Unorthodox that stuck with me along the way. Nearly a year of running ZA, learning it while undergeared, gearing up while wiping, and most importantly pressing deeper and deeper into the content against the clock. Too many names to name but thank you all for learning with me, for wiping with me, and for standing by me.

And by the way, the timer is still there and we're going to beat that clock even if there isn't a mount at the end.

Zul'Aman Timed Run: Greatest Thing Ever

Whoever came up with the idea of the ZA timed chest run deserves a raise. Or if they already got one then give them another. I have to say that ZA has proved to be one of the most challenging and thoroughly enjoyable instances I've played in my 3 years of WoW. Now I am slightly biased because I love troll content. I loved ZF while leveling and I loved ZG in pre-BC, so naturally I'd be a fan of ZA. However my love this time goes beyond just the models and skins and gets to the heart of the instance: its timed reward system.

The instance was released 10 months ago and I still find it exciting to clear and challenging to work towards that last timed chest. When we got the 3rd chest for the first time in our guild I went bananas. I was as excited for that as I was for our first Zul'Jin kill.

While ZJ and clearing the instance is a goal, there remains another goal: the bear mount. So despite having cleared ZA we have not mastered it and so we have not captured the trophy of ZA mastery. And that is the ultimate goal; not just the mount but the complete mastery of the instance. That is the brilliance of the instance: despite having it on farm, we still have more to accomplish in there.

To give you an idea of how far we’ve look at the timeline of ZA in our guild:
• 11/16/07 – Nalorakk gets skinned
• 11/30/07 – Akil’zon gets killed
• 12/7/07 – Halazzi gets hated on
• 2/2/08 – Jan’alai gets jacked
• 2/4/08 – Hexx Lord Malacrass? Done.
• 3/11/08 – Zul’Jin loses his other arm and we get to experience the lovely music of ZA for the first time
• 6/5/08 – We crack open the 3rd timed chest

It took us four months to get our first full clear. It took another three months to get from 2 to 3 timed chests. Three months of shaving off time, minute by minute. It has been nearly 3 months since first getting that 3rd timed chest and we still have 5 more minutes to take off the run to get the 4th chest.

In the same time frame our guild went from wet-behind-the-ears in SSC to being 4/9 in BT. We are plowing through Black Temple in 25 man content and have not yet mastered the ZA challenge. The challenge is why I keep coming back to ZA and why I love it.

To me, ZA is pure awesomeness.

Third Timed Chest in ZA

We did it. We nailed the third timed chest in ZA last night. It was close, I mean real close. We had 60 seconds to spare, maybe less.

Now before I get into the nitty gritty details of it I have a caveat: Stoney wasn't on this run. In fact, there was no enhance shaman on this run. OK, I did bring in Stoney for the Hexx Lord kill, as that is extremely difficult to do without an Enhance Shaman. But as far as the timed loot is concerned I tanked it on my druid, Finnmaccool. I really owed a run to our of our raiding rogues, Zorren, and it does not make sense to have 2 melee dps in the 10 man run. So I gave him the melee spot and tanked it on Finn. Having put that caveat out there (this is after all an enhance shaman blog not a feral druid blog) let's get on with the details.

We do Bear, Eagle, Lynx as our kill order for timed chests. Bear and Eagle both went off without a hitch and we saved both Tanzar and Harkor, who is by no small coincidence a distant relative of our uber-hunter Farkor despite Farkor's protestations otherwise.

For the Lynx boss we cut across the top of the waterfall and go in from the backside, killing one AoE pack, jumping through a hut and in the end skipping 4 pulls versus going in from the main entrance. This takes us directly to the Tamer and his 2 crocolisks on patrol. I must confess at this point I did not think we would make it to the boss in time. Our previous best run was about 3 minutes short of killing Halazzi, and that was with a 7+ minute boss kill. We had a Warrior (our guild's MT) and a Druid (me) tanking this time, versus the Pally tank we had on our previous best attempt. I was not expecting to get there and clear it in time, but I kept quiet about it because I wanted to see how close we could get.

We got to the chamber and the patrol was coming around to the entrance right at that moment. We picked up the pat and the next two pulls, with our Shadow Priest surviving the Mind Controls of the Amani'shi Flame Casters. We got to the boss, assigned healers and tanks and had 6 minutes on the clock. And then the magic began.

We DPS'd him so fast that he only got Fenzy off twice--normally he does it four times, once each time in Phase 1 just before shifting out to Phase 2. We were absolutely crushing him. As he came out of Phase 2 the second time, meaning we were dpsing from 50% to 25%, I called for heroism and I think it was a good use there. We barely even touched that phase and he split out. In the split phase he only got 2 totems down before he was back in combined phase and ready for the final stretch. It was blazing fast DPS. In 5 minutes he was done, and we freed Ashli for the first time in our guild.

The other thing that I think helped us dps him down so hard was that we had 3 leatherworkers in the tank group. Why was that helpful? Drums of Battle rotation!! That means for 75% of the entire fight that group was hastened. Granted that group only had 2 dps'ers, but it was hunter Scuttle and rogue Zorren. However I do believe it helped me and the MT keep a generous threat lead allowing for all of the dps to go all out.

As for loot? Bah. Bear dropped Elunite Imbued Leggings, which were subsequently DE'd. Eagle dropped Tuskbreaker which was given for an off-set. And damned if Ashli didn't give us the crappiest ring ever: the Signet of Eternal Life, which went to our Shaman healer alt for his PvP set. I hate that we DE'd so much, but no worries the real accomplishment was in reaching the timed chest.

Now for the long hard crawl to the 4th chest and the Amani War Bear mount. In case you are not familiar with the timed run, you get 15 minutes added to the clock for killing the bear, 10 minutes for the Eagle, and that's it. You have 45 minutes to kill 4 bosses. As of last night it took 44 minutes for us to kill 3 bosses. Jeez.

My game plan is to keep running that same route and shave 2-4 minutes off the run each week. When we get to the point that we can do 3 bosses in 35 minutes on a consistent basis then I'll change our kill order and we'll start working our way towards MY mount!