For the past few weeks, my guild has been trying to down the Lich King on 25-man. Like many guilds right now, we are experiencing a lot of pre-expansion burnout. A lot of our raiders have left for one reason or another, and some choose not to show up for reasons we don’t always understand.
When we do have a full raid, we head to the Frozen Throne. We’ve only made it to Phase 3 one time. Sometimes it’s an issue of timing and practice; sometimes it’s an issue of negligence and complacency. Regardless of the underlying issue, though; the symptoms are the same. In my first “Five” since my hiatus, I present to you the 5 ways to fail at Lich King!
*Note–While I won’t be mentioning anything I would consider a spoiler, I know there are those of you out there who want to go into the Lich King fight with little to no knowledge about the experience. If this describes you, read on at your own risk!
1. Spread Your Germs. Some of you might remember last year’s flu season. The swine flu scare hit a lot of people pretty hard, and public service announcements about handwashing and proper tissue usage popped up with more and more frequency (they even got Elmo involved). The fact is, no one wants your germs.
During Phase 1, when you get the Necrotic Plague, just go stand behind the big ugly rotting guys, please. They don’t care if you blow snot on them, they’re practically made of the stuff. Letting your Plague jump to your neighbor is what makes this a good way to fail.
2. Anger a Spirit. When was the last time you went out and danced on a grave site? How about a native burial ground? While there might be some of you with a hearty skepticism, most people are unwilling to risk even the slightest chance that there might be something to all those ghost stories they heard growing up.
During the transition phases, people spawn Raging Spirits. The target is frozen for a second, and they could be anywhere along the edge of the platform. This means that it takes a few seconds for the misdirects, taunts, and the tank’s threat-producing abilities to take effect, so you could easily aggro a Raging Spirit. Unfortunately, the Spirits do a wicked AoE cone that is pretty much guaranteed to kill you and possibly the guy standing next to you. Let the tank dance in the graveyard while you play it cool.
3. Go Cliff Diving. You couldn’t talk me into bungie jumping, skydiving or para-gliding if your life depended on it. I don’t have even the slightest inclination to go somewhere really high and fall down. When the Val’kyrs come down during Phase 2, they’re going to carry people off to the closest edge. Being too far one way or the other from the rest of the group could result in being picked up and dragged away from the rest of the raid, making it harder for them to kill your Valk and set you free. You might just find yourself plummeting into snowy Northrend, and the next thing you know you’ll be waking up at the spirit rezzer. Rein in your daredevil impulse and stand with the raid during Valks.
4. Poop on the Floor. Yuck. Defile starts in the second phase and involves raiders dropping huge puddles on the floor that expand and kill as you stand in them. It has it’s own DBM timer, it’s own raid warning, a /say announcement, an in-game cast announcement, and puts a big skull on your head. I know it happens lightning quick and it’s easy to mess up (guilty as charged). But if you’re dropping Defile in the middle of the raid or in the path of the Val’kyr every time, take a step back. Forget dps, forget whatever you’re doing. When the defile warning is ticking down its last 5-7 seconds (and the Valks aren’t coming first), go ahead and stand out on the edge away from the raid. Leave your dirty little pile far away from everyone else, and maybe we won’t bang you on the nose with a newspaper (no guarantees, though).
5. Dance with the Dead. Presumably, if you’re fighting the Lich King, you have at least participated in the Lady Deathwhisper fight once. You know those ghosts that pop in Phase 2? You run away from them because they blow up on you. Vile Spirits are no different–when they touch you, they blow up on you for a good portion of your health. Get hit by more than one and you’re toast.
Spread out so you and your buddies aren’t sharing splash explosions, kill the Vile spirits, and if you’re being chased, kite them around. These little guys want to get their hands all over you, spray them with mace and run, and you’ll live long enough to…
Sorry, you’ll have to find that part out for yourself!
You are armed with information–go and fail not, my friends! 😀
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