Same Old ZA

Eagle in two, Bear in one, Lynx in two. No timed events. And there's nothing wrong with that, considering we had two people who were new to the instance.

Unfortunately, we got a late start last night. We knew we'd be waiting on healers; They let us know in advance that they wouldn't be able to make it until 8:00 (as opposed to the normal 7:30). It turned out that we didn't actually get started until 8:20 or 8:30. So, we didn't have much time.

We headed to Eagle first, pushing our second-timer pally tank Hennith to push through the gauntlet. He does a decent job once we get him moving, but there are a few deaths. I feel like this is partially my fault, but I don't really know how to deal with the charge stun that I get when on rear-guard duty. Basically, they get within range of me shooting them, or doing anything to them, and they charge me, stun me and move on to a healer. I Intervene/Intercept as best as possible, and hopefully nobody dies. (Any tips would be much appreciated). It didn't quite turn out that way this time.

We made it, though. We didn't wipe, and we were up to Akil'zon with the timer still up. A bad storm fixed that, though. Apparently we were still warming up, remembering the fight, etc, because our druid healer Hequrus died as well as our shadow priest Aliera. On the second storm, a whole bunch more people died, and it was declared a wipe.

Before the instance, Hennith had asked whether he'd have to heal at any point. Both another officer and I told him he wouldn't. We both lied, as we don't need an off tank for Akil'zon. So, once he rezzes, he hearths back to IF and gets his healing gear, and we summon him back. No biggie, but I feel like a jerk Anyway, the second attempt at Akil'zon is flawless, and he drops [item]Signet of Ancient Magics[/item] (and then everybody passs, as we still had ourselves on group loot). Eventually, the ring goes to Maevie, replacing a blue ring.

It's only when we move on to Bear trash, that we realize we don't have a sheep. No problem! Our shadow priest starts MCing the axe throwers, and we kick the crap out of the bear trash. I accidentally pulled twice, but we had already marked, and the second time I died, so I learned my lesson. We take out the last of the trash without too much trouble, and down Nalorakk in a pretty much textbook example of how he should be done. Hennith and I were really good with the transitions, the healing was great, and the DPS was awesome too. The only thing I could do better would be to hit Devastate once or twice during the other tank's phase, simply to keep the full stack of sunders up there.

In a guild-first experience, Nalorakk didn't drop [item]Fury[/item]. In fact, he dropped something for the other newbie on the run, Bellatrexa: [item]Fury of the Ursine[/item]. It's kind of a joke that if we haven't gotten Bella some gear, then we haven't don our jobs. She had a great night in Kara the first time she was there, coming out with at least three - possibly four or five - pieces of loot.

After a little discussion, and a biobreak, we decided to do Lynx. Because we know we can do him, and we don't have to deal with Dragonhawk trash without a sheep. We get through the cats with only a couple deaths, discovering along the way that Paranoia doesn't help with the stealthed kitties, so we get the imp back instead of the felhunter, and I'm back over 20k health.

Our first attempt, I took a 6k hit followed by an 8k hit, which dropped me. Hennith did a great job picking up the lynx spirit with consecration, and the DPS was taking out the lightning totems and burning Halazzi down very quickly. All in all, it was a good attempt, and it showed, because our second attempt was almost flawless. The lynx spirit ran free a few times, and I had to Intervene him once, but we had the right stuff, and took Halazzi down anyway. Hequrus, the druid healer, had only come along on the run because we didn't want to wait for Zigystardust any longer. It was great that he did, though, because [item]Shimmer-pelt Vest[/item] dropped. It's 10:30 by this point, and the Raid Leader/Guild Master calls it.

So, five badges, but no progression and no timed events. It wasn't anything special, but it was a good time anyway. There are a few of the officers that think we should do a "picked run" as they called it. Basically, instead of our usual "whoever signs up can roll for a spot", we might put together a custom group and see if we can't make some progress through the instance.

What I Learned...

Keep those debuffs up. Seriously. Thunder Clap and Demoralizing Shout are invaluable on tougher content like ZA (or whatever the tougher content happens to be for your gear level). I noticed a huge difference in how much damage I was taking when I let them fade. For an indicator, take a look at your rage bar. Rage is, after all, tied to how much damage you're taking. If your rage bar seems to fill up more often than not, then make sure you Thunder Clap and Demoralizing Shout. They're a necessity.

Also...

Veneretio answered one of my questions on his most recent podcast. I'm J.R. It was the question about hit rating vs. expertise. I'm a giant nerd. (Well, of course I'm a giant nerd, I write a tanking blog.)

And again, I write a freaking book. Big thanks to everybody who actually reads the whole thing.